At the halfway point of the Christmas break, the balance of Campus Varese and from 5.5 or 6–: you see, dear readers, which type of vote you like best between the two. The young people from Varese brought home two victories (one against bottom side Langhe Roero, the other battling against Gallarate) against 11 defeats. In these lost races the dominant theme was one, namely the defencebut we will come back to this later.
Certainly the vote is also influenced by those two against Casale Monferrato and most importantly, the last cons Borgomanero in which the people of Varese could compete for victory. In fact, Borgomanero is the copy of Varese: only Benzoni, born in the 1980s, to act as mother hen for a gang of unleashed kids from the 2002 vintage onwards. The approach to the race was lacking and this is one of the constants of the season so far. Another constant is the abuse of the 3-point shot. Varese is clearly first in this ranking with 449 archery attempts in these first 13 races which are equivalent to 34.5 attempts while the second, Piombino, chases at 29.2. Varese is also the only team in the group to shoot by more from 3 than from 2: 449, in fact, against 417 shooting from inside the arc. It almost seems that there is no alternative or, even, that the difficulties in building something inside the arc lead the people of Varese to take refuge in the 3-point shot which, by now, is considered the panacea for all ills. The future also depends on a better balance in shooting choices: only an evolution of this data will lead to an improvement in the conditions of the team.
TOP
One cannot fail to mention Wei Lun Zhao. The very young point guard born in 2005 showed crystalline talent in the offensive phase so much so that today he is the top scorer in group A with an average of 18.3 points per game. However, Zhao doesn’t just excel as a solo player: he’s also a good passer as evidenced by his third place in the assists standings (4.3 per game). In short, the offensive fortunes of the Varese team pass through the hands of the Italian-Chinese point guard who produces, directly or indirectly, about 26/27 points per exit. Wait where to improve? Obviously given his young age there are many, but surely Zhao has to raise the level of his performances in the defensive half, where he has suffered the most.
FLOP
We do not identify a player, but a characteristic of the team. The defence. The Campus turns to the Christmas break with the last defense of group a 86.7 points conceded per match (7 more than the penultimate Borgomanero); it is penultimate in the percentage allowed to opponents inside the arc (53%, only Pavia is worse who concedes 55%), it is also penultimate in the rebounds allowed to opponents (45.5 per game). All numbers that highlight the difficulties in producing volume in one’s own half. Even Donati’s words at the end of the last home match of 2022 show a negative defensive trend. Beyond the team’s structural limits, it’s clear that the growth of these guys will go through an improvement in the defensive aspect.
Matteo Gallo
Photo by Camilla Bettoni Varese Basketball
