Bologna –
After three years, Segafredo is back in the semifinals of the national cup, waiting for Tortona, already faced in the quarterfinals of the September Supercup: a balanced time, the acceleration of the Italian Champions in the third quarter and the final comeback attempt for the 74-66 that guaranteed the semifinal to Virtus. Revenge at the end of October, when at PalaFerraris in Casale Bertram inflicted the second defeat of the championship to Segafredo, forced to limit the changes to the minimum and to dose even the oxygen tanks. Useless the 28 points of Weems, led by Daum and Macura (18 and 15 points) after a balanced first quarter, before the 15 points in a row that gave the 51-36 at halftime to the Piedmontese. At the return the comeback brought Virtus back to 8 lengths, useless raid towards the 93-76 final. So, after the historic promotion and the Final Eight of the Supercoppa, here is this Italian Cup semifinal: the freshman team of coach Ramondino never ceases to amaze and it would be a good idea to take note. A loot taken away with clear merits where in the well of competitive mysteries stands out the center Tyler Cain, (7.8 rebounds), the scorer JP Macura (12.9 in just 24.5 minutes) with 35.7% from three. But here the team is third in the league (37.7%) because even Jamarr Sanders is close to 42% from distance, Ariel Filloy sets his 39% and Mike Daum, a wing with an average of 11.8 with 33% from the arc, is surprising for quantity. Tactics and legs, brains and organization in the reliable hands of Chris Wright, an able guide in making Cain and the other American forward Jalen Cannon find easy points around the iron. A Saturday to look for that final that Virtus has been missing for 12 seasons because the cup remains a strange beast and certainly aligns teams of firm dough, if you’re not well, they’ll punish you.
Tip-off Saturday, February 19, 9:00 pm, Vitrifrigo Arena (Pesaro). Directed by Rai SportHD, Eurosport 2, Discovery+ and Radio Nettuno Bologna Uno.
