Three weeks after the convincing success achieved against Armani Milano, Pallacanestro Trieste is back on the PalaRubini parquet for the match that will see Israel Gonzalez’s team against Unahotels Reggio Emilia on Saturday at 6.15pm, live on Sky Sport basketball.
First chapter of an intense week which will continue on Wednesday with the decisive match against Würzburg which will decide the placement of the red and whites in group E of the Champions League and will end on Sunday 21 December with the away match in Masnago against Openjobmetis Varese.
With the recovery of Colbey Ross and Jeff Brooks completed, the choice on their possible use at this point becomes only technical, Trieste faces a challenge that must allow it to move up the rankings by erasing last Saturday’s misstep in Sassari.
However, be careful of Unahotels because, despite an open series of seven defeats in the championship, Priftis’ team is by no means a resigned or resigned team. This was clearly seen in the last round against Brescia, where the performance was solid and the team fought until the final stages and even more so in the Europe Cup, on a difficult pitch like that of Zagreb, where they were able to prevail 94-90 over Cedevita. An away victory that not only breaks the hemorrhage of defeats, but shows that Reggio Emilia still knows how to win and, fundamentally, has the mentality to conquer the parquets far from home.
«We must face the match with the utmost respect – confirms the red and white coach – because Reggio is a decidedly better team than its ranking suggests. It’s a well-trained group and has lost many games with minimal margins. A group has a lot of quality, at the beginning they suffered from injuries, but now they have recovered Cheatham and in the last two games they have added Thor, who brings athleticism and lengthens the rotations. The team is now even deeper and more competitive.”
Speaking about the work carried out during the week, Gonzalez explains on which points the team insisted to present itself with greater order and continuity in a match that promises to be physical and hard-fought.
«For us a key point is to start the matches better – concludes the coach -. We cannot allow easy baskets and we must not lose offensive balls that generate counterattacks. These are aspects that affect the pace and we need to improve there. I expect an approach made of intensity, physicality, determination and high concentration for all forty minutes. Against a physical team like Reggio, it will be fundamental.”
With confidence and without great pressure, Unahotels will try to play its cards to the hilt.
«Trieste is a strong team, which plays in a well-defined way especially in attack: it loves to run, shoot at any time and maintain a very high pace – the opinion of Unahotels coach Priftis -. We will have to be very focused in the first seconds of our defense and contest their shots. It is a team that plays in a physical manner and we will also have to know how to read situations based on their defensive choices. Rebound control will certainly be very important. Every victory, like the one in Zagreb, is important and can help the psychology and confidence of the players; this was a result we really needed – concludes the coach from Reggio Emilia –. It’s an away game and as a result concentration, communication and attention to detail will play a key role in the final result. We will all try to give our best and fight hard, with great team spirit.” —
