Bologna –

Fates that intertwine those of Sassari and Virtus: both involved in the cup this week, both opponents in the championship, this weekend.
In the championship, for now, the team’s path has been swinging, with only two points against Empoli on the third day.

Coach Restivo’s team is extremely dependent on the two American players: Lucas, who scores 23 points and 8 assists, and Shepard, from Minnesota just like Zandalasini, capable of scoring 30 points and an average of 18 points. What the islanders have lacked so far is the contribution of the bench, and more generally the rest of Sassari’s cast, explaining the decidedly underwhelming start to the season with only one game won. None of the players, from Orazzo to Moroni, passing through Dall’Olio are able to approach the averages of the two stars and stripes girls, limiting Sassari’s offensive choices and making the game very predictable, despite the two fire mouths. Even the statistics show the bad moment: the shot from beyond the arc, with 18% (14/77), has produced very few results as well as very few rebounds, demonstrating the difficulties under the floor despite the centimeters (193) of Shepard.
For Virtus, it was a game to attack from the first minute, given the great difficulties of Sassari that usually conceded the first gaps during the second part of the game, in which most of the teams had the opportunity to stage their escapes, especially in the cup.