21.11.2022 – 07:00 – The boys of Basketball Trieste 2004 yesterday evening they took to the floor of the Assago Forum to face theOlympia EA Milan in the seventh round of Serie A. With a full line-up thanks to the reinstatement of Lever, the Giuliani are up against an Armani with several absences due to injury, such as those of Datome, Tonut, Baron and Shavon Shields, but who can still count on a roster of absolute level. To open the dance in the first fraction it’s Trieste with a triple from Gaines which is followed by the prompt response from Milan with a three-point basket. In the fifth minute on 9-5 Coach Legovich calls the first timeout of the game. Back on the pitch, Trieste finds itself relying on long-range shooting until it comes close to overtaking on 18-16 in the seventh minute. Milan is not caught unprepared and extends until the end of the first fraction by raising the offensive pressure until the first ten minutes are up on 25-19.
The second fraction it opens with a bomb from Bossi that brings the Giuliani back to just one possession from the hosts. Milan tries to hinder a strong-willed Trieste, able to keep up the pace, and tries to extend with Mitrou-Long’s triples by scoring +9. The Canadian responds to AJ Pacher, capable of hurting from the arc, who in the middle of the second period brings his team up 30-26. Davis and Bartley finalize two counter-attacks bringing Trieste up -2. In the sixth minute, Frank Bartley balances the score at 30-30 by giving the Giuliani’s first lead thanks to another shot from 6.75 by AJ Pacher. Milan shortens with Ricci but Trieste still has the upper hand and with Bartley, in the ninth minute, it goes up +5. Milan tries to react by limiting the damage and increasing the intensity. Trieste does not worry and closes the second quarter with a triple on the siren of the usual Bartley, who scores 16 points in just 17 minutes on the pitch. 38-42 the partial at the end of the fraction.
Back on the field after the long interval, Trieste restarts strong with Davis, however without realizing. Milan continues to demonstrate its qualities in defense. Four minutes into the second half, Pangos re-establishes the hierarchies and brings the partial back into balance at 48-48. Gaines is not there and puts the ball back in the field he scores the +2 shot. Brandon-Davies from the line and Melli from the paint give Milan’s advantage back. At this point of the match Milan seems to have found the feeling with long shots and puts in a 3/3 which marks the first heavy break for Legovich’s men. In the middle of the period Davis and Lever close the gap once again restoring the balance at 53-53. Milan plays well in attack but does little thanks to the good performance of the Trieste defence. Legovich’s team is there and continues to push, retaliating blow by blow. Messina’s formation in the last junctures of the period finds the square and advances with Pangos, Davies and Mitrou-Long reaching an eight point lead. 65-57, the partial at the end of the third quarter.
Vildera opens the dance in thelast quarter with a semi-hook, immediately canceled however by the 3 points on the opposite side of Davon Hall. Captain Deangeli puts his name on the scoresheet with a 2/2 free throw resulting from a penetration. Wet dust for a couple of minutes on both sides of the field, the fast is broken by a counterattack by Hall that leads coach Legovich to interrupt the game to put things in order. Ricci on his return to the field still extends on Trieste bringing his to +14, immediately brought to +11 by a Bartley who tries to rekindle. An unsportsmanlike action by Vildera on Biligha and Davon hall from 3 score a gap of +16, then retouched by Mitrou-Long (7/12 from three in the game) who brings the maximum lead on +19 with 5’40” still to play. Milan tries to slow down the pace in the last part of the match, however finding important points from the usual Mitrou Long and Hall who don’t stop hitting from distance, to which I respond with offensive solutions from Bartley and Gaines. There are minutes in the final match also for Matteo Rolli, who treads the Assago Forum parquet for the first time. 98 to 81 the final result.
Trieste heads out of the field in a match played at a very high level of intensity, more than half on par with the Messina team. The red and whites will immediately return to work to prepare for next Saturday’s important match at the Allianz Dome, when coach Legovich’s boys will face Leonessa Brescia on their home parquet.
Coach Marco Legovich’s comment at the end of the game:
“I think the team performed very well in the first twenty minutes and we executed what we prepared in this week’s work. We also got into the game with some tactical tricks that paid off. Then in the second half the strength of Milan came out and found confidence in the three-point shot and at a certain point we were at the mercy of his physicality which we honestly cannot equalize. We shut down in some sections in a bad way and we didn’t deserve to end up like this. Let’s take the positive things from the first two quarters of a very difficult match, because coming to play in Milan isn’t easy for anyone and we will continue to work so that these downs like those seen in the second half never happen again. We put what we could on the pitch until the first part of the game; then, when our energies ran out, Milan managed to put physicality and skill into the field, finding percentages from three to the limit of perfection. The 10 out of 19 in the last twenty minutes practically bent our legs so let’s take what was positive to bring him onto the pitch next week against Brescia”.
The scoreboard:
OLIMPIA EMPORIO ARMANI MILAN 1936 – BASKETBALL TRIESTE 2004: 98-81. OLIMPIA EMPORIO ARMANI MILAN 1936: Alviti 0, Davies 16, Hall 18, Melli 7, Pangos 12, Baldasso 0, Biligha 6, Mitrou-Long 23, Ricci 5, Miccoli 2, Thomas 2, Voigtmann 7. All. Messina. BASKETBALL TRIESTE 2004: Bartley 28, Davis 10, Gaines 12, Pacher 10, Spencer 2, Bossi 5, Campogrande 0, Deangeli 2, Lever 3, Rolli 0, Vildera 9. All. Legovich. Partial: 25-19, 38-42, 65-57, 98-71. Referees: Baldini, Borgioni, Catani
