The possibility of an immediate redemption and the desire to try and give their fans a good emotion in view of Christmas, trying to reverse a trend so far unhappy against the yellow and black quintet.
Determined to go beyond the recent setback on Sunday in Moncalieri, The Molisana Magnolia Campobasso is ready to take to the Arena’s friendly parquet floor to challenge the Veneto team of San Martino di Lupari, a historically difficult opponent for the #fioridacciaio who, between the first team and youth formations, have never managed to bring home a squad report against the wolf.
MIDWEEK EVENING On the last Wednesday before Christmas with a tap-off scheduled for 20.30, the rossoblùs will come to the contest with the spirit of those who want to demonstrate that the empty pass in Piedmont represented only a bad parenthesis in an overall very concrete path . Already mathematically qualified for the Italian Cup Final Eight, after this dispute the Campobasso will know their actual position at the halfway point. Currently sixth, in the worst case they could find themselves seventh or even eighth.
“Definitely – acknowledges the rossoblù coach Mimmo Sabatelli on the eve – the opportunity to be able to play again immediately represents a significant stimulus for the group, on the other hand, however, there is also the limited time available to be able to prepare the contest and have an overall impact on those unfortunate situations that emerged in Moncalieri” .
HARD OPPONENT Fresh from the internal derby against Reyer Venezia, a match in which the comfort of the result was lacking, but which saw the yellow and blacks create more than a few difficulties for the lagoon players, San Martino di Lupari, a team entrusted to the expert technician Lorenzo Serventi, is formation with a strong tricolor traction presenting only one American Delicia Washington, two Europeans who are well aware of the top national series such as the Polish Kaczmarczyk and the Croatian Dedic, but above all an Italian nucleus that represents the backbone of the team rotations such as the one made up of play Ilaria Milazzo, from guard Francesca Russo (within the Italbasket 3×3) and from wings Marta Verona and Silvia Pastrello. Next to them many millennialmany of which are products of the thriving yellow and black nursery.
Precisely by virtue of a not exactly happy tradition for his, the magnolia technician Sabatelli strongly warns his: «It is a complicated match, we are aware of it, also because San Martino di Lupari has all the credentials to create problems: Venice itself, on Sunday, was able to realize their potential. In other words, it will not be a simple commitment at all».
Also adding: «We’re talking about a formation that has tradition and that has a base of Italian players who are in any case part of the national team. A coach like Serventi is an expert coach and he will be able to create difficulties for us, we will have to be ready to defuse all dangers ».
SESTE BELOW META In fact, the absolute priority for magnolias will be to try to keep the current sixth place.
«Apart from any consideration related to the ranking, we are returning from a bad performance and we want to resume our journey which was interrupted in the last two rounds and which saw us come out defeated in Moncalieri at the end of a bad performance. We know that we have many aspects to improve and there is in all of them the will to do it fully».
GAME PLAN In the meantime, however, we need to focus on the challenge at San Martino di Lupari and on the desire to defuse «a team whose keystone is energy. They are very fearsome and quick in offensive transitions. Milazzo is an element capable of significant numbers, Russo has returned from some physical problems, Pastrello has a lot of defensive intensity. Overall they run a lot and all of them and, for our part, it will be crucial not to get caught up in the attacking mistakes we make when we play in excessive haste. For the rest, it will be crucial to keep our tactical pick tight: that is the defense, trying to limit their plays as best as possible ».
CLEAR RACE The confrontation between the magnolias and the wolves will represent the ‘unencrypted’ match of the last leg with direct satellite television on Ms Channel (channel 814 of the Sky bouquet and in any case receivable on the polarizations of the Hotbird satellite, thirteen degrees East), as well as free live streaming on Lbftv (the specific service of the Women’s Basketball League) and on the Italbasket Twitch platform (the Federation’s channel).
Operations will be directed by an all-male triad formed by Francesco Terranova from Este, Edoardo Ugolini from Forlì and Mirko Picchi from Ciociaria.
