Forlì, with this Adrian you can really dream

by Valerio Rustignoli

In today’s basketball, the role of the big man is increasingly fluid, multifaceted; a role that allows players to express themselves in a variety of ways, according to their own characteristics: there are big men capable of playing with their backs to the basket, those more adept at finishing in dynamic situations or as rollers in a two-player game, long shooters and those who the more you have, the more you put. Finding complete players, able to be efficient in all the various situations is not easy at all, but Nathan Adrian represents the prototype of this player.

The long red and white, in fact, is a player with a double dimension, good at playing both near and far for the basket. Right outside the three-point line, the Morgantown big man spent much of his first half of the season showing more confidence with his three-point shooting and front play than he did near the basket. It must be said, however, that from January onwards, his game changed, perfecting itself: from the match against Ravenna, which ended with 32 points scored (seasonal high), the former Brindisi player began to consistently increase the number of shots near to the basket.

As many as 16 shots attempted against OraSì, but also against San Severo, Chiusi and Udine Adrian threw 10 or more shots, instead stopping twice at 9 against Cividale and Nardò. Only in the last match at the PalaDozza did he remain below this figure, however he compensated with an excellent evening shooting from outside (59 from three). In the first round, however, the long red and white had never gone beyond 9 conclusions.

The watershed of his season was the beginning of January when, in the space of a week, he put together two very opaque performances: first in Pistoia, where he finished with five points in 27′; then in the cup against Turin, where he totaled 2 points and -2 in the 14th minute. From there, the American pivot strung together seven games over 17 points (of which 32 with Ravenna and three times over 20 points), remaining behind only in the victory at Cento, closed by 4 points in 30′.

Of course, by connecting the dots, one wonders if the American from Forlì will be ready for the yellow group and the playoffs, given that in three months of play he has hit the fence three times in the three highest-level matches, against solid and well-equipped formations . Surely the coming weeks will help coach Antimo Martino and his staff to understand this, together with all the Forlì public who, however, cannot ask their big man for anything more than that: numbers in hand, Adrian is the team’s best scorer, with almost 16 points per game in 31′ minutes, making him one of the top twenty scorers (15th) of the championship.

But in the top 20, the red and white also falls for total rebounds (12th), offensive rebounds (17th) and evaluation (16th). In short, the big American is one of the team’s references and a real big name for the tournament, as he has repeatedly demonstrated. Precisely for this reason, already from Sunday, against Cremona, winning and continuing on the path taken so far could be the best rite of confirmation in view of the continuation of a season that will become increasingly ‘hot’.