Treviso Basket, no miracle: Trieste wins, the playoffs fade

The Nutribullet falls by one point at Allianz: in the final Dimsa misses two free throws and sends Banks to the bezel, Green’s prayer fails

TRIESTE. “With the ifs and the (Darnell) Mee you don’t go anywhere”: words attributed to Ettore Messina who, with a remarkable sense of humor, thus commented twenty-two years ago on the unfortunate choice of relying on a carneade to pursue a playoff dream destined to go out for the Black Vu. But if on that occasion the Bolognese reached the semifinals even with the ball and chain of a wrong foreigner, the miracle does not succeed in this Nutribullet. And it is worth very little to ask what could have happened if some variable had intervened in a heart-pounding second round.

Yes: what would have happened if Henry Sims hadn’t missed that dunk (a vice repeated twice at PalaRubini) in the final against Fortitudo? What if Erick Green had arrived in Treviso a few weeks earlier? And what if Sokolowski hadn’t got hurt, saving Tomas Dimsa from an inevitable set aside by technical choice in the turnover of foreigners? We will never know. But if Darnell Mee had been the cross without delight of Messina in Bologna, the Baltic seems to be his reincarnation for TvB with equally disastrous results.

The last seconds of the game of the former Gran Canaria are enough to act as a mirror of such a contradictory season for Nutribullet: +1 guest, two free throws both on the iron and a foul on Banks who gives Allianz the decisive advantage and victory .

And to say that the last regular season game had opened in a different way, with Dimsa hammering the retina, well supported by Green and Chillo. The +15 at the opening of the second quarter (10-25) even authorized us to hope for a resounding and ample external success, useful to keep that faint flame of hope of qualifying for the playoffs alight. Nothing to do, however: a bit for his own demerits – Jones who eliminates himself for fouls after a few minutes, Sims who lets himself be ridiculed by Grazulis, Bortolani who argues with the heavy shot – and a bit for the desire of the halberds to try anyway to believe in that much more affordable qualification. The aforementioned +15 was nibbled at the end of the first half (34-41), then another red and white break to transform the game into a continuous bullfight.

The awakening of Weezy Russell is worth several attempts to reappear, but without finding the double-digit advantage. Then, other naiveties: a foul by Bortolani gives Campogrande the second trip to the line of the evening with three free throws available, all scored, which are worth 72 all; Banks warms his hand from the arc giving the first advantage to the hosts, for a very hot final in which only Green and Russell seem to have enough energy to close the matter. Until the capital mistakes of Dimsa that deny the last joy to coach Nicola.

The curtain falls, the season goes to archive. Fortunately, with the goodbyes of a good part of the team: it will start again from Jurkatamm and Sokolowski, perhaps from Imbrò and Chillo but without a Cup, Bortolani will not be able to be held. And after seeing the Sicilian awarded as best young man in BCL, this is perhaps the greatest regret.