Givova Scafati’s winning streak stopped at three. Coach’s boys Attilio Caja they failed to follow up on the blitz on the Virtus Bologna parquet, clearly giving way at home to Bertram Tortona. The gap between the two teams was clear, accentuated by the day of grace to shoot by the Piedmontese, who in the first half entered anything thrown beyond the arc of the three points.
The defeat, attributable much more to the merits of the opponents than to its own demerits, does not cause excessive concern in the club from Campania. Caja knows well that the road that leads to salvation is long and that there are other races not to be missed to reach the goal. Among the happy notes the confirmation on good levels of the long Stanley Okoye (13 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists), despite the not exciting day with three-point shooting.
On paper, even the confrontation with Happy Casa Brindisi (PalaPentassuglia, Monday 26 December at 19.30) is difficult, with the Apulians determined to keep a place among the top eight in the first round, which guarantees access to the finals of Italian Cup.
Brindisi has been coached since 2017 by an old acquaintance of Scafati, coach Frank Vitucci, on the Gialloblù bench in Legadue from 2002 to 2004. And in the national second division the only two meetings between the two teams took place, in the 2011/2012 season. The Apulians ended the year by winning the championship in the playoffs and obtained promotion to Serie A, also winning the Italian Cup in their category. Both confrontations ended with the success of the Brindisi team.
Despite an alternate current start to the championship, in which coach Vitucci’s team was unable to fully express its potential, the roster is young and top-level, being able to count on a foreign pack with many points in hand. The center Nick Perkins (14.5 points and 5.5 rebounds average), the guard Marcquise Reed (14 points average with 53.3% from two points), the winger Jason Burnell (11.5 points and 5.6 rebounds on average) and the point guard KY Bowman (11.2 points and 2.4 assists on average) are reliable elements, able to put their mark on the match at any time.
Having individuals with high offensive potential is a cross and delight for the Happy Casa, which risks becoming excessively dependent on the outcome of the plays of its guns, to the detriment of the construction of the game (sixteenth for assists, with just 12.2 per game), unlike Scafati who tends more to play as a team, spinning the ball in search of good shots (first for assists with 18.3, 7.0 of which produced by Julian Stone). The rebound challenge will also be interesting, where two three of the best interpreters will face each other in this fundamental (second Givova with 37.8, fifth Brindisi with 37.3).
Salvatore Possumato
PHOTO: David Logan, Scafati’s leading scorer with 16.8 points per game
