Bologna –
In store for a Segafredo victorious in the recovery against Akronos Moncalieri, there’s the away game in Milan against Sesto S. Giovanni, third last appointment of the season. Not an idyllic moment for Allianz that has to cope with a difficult March in terms of results with only one win, against Broni at home, and three losses that caused a slide in the standings to the limits of the palyoff zone.
Having taken note of the absence of Graves (11.6 and 8.1 rebounds, his averages in the season), who ends his season because of the knee operation he will have to undergo, Virtus must take care of finding a way to harness the other two Allianz’s firemen: Gwethmey and Raca. The first one can count on a crystalline talent (15.1 and 2.2 assists on average this year) but she also has to contend with an emotionality that can either be a booster or make her an adversary of herself. The second is certainly less flashy but extremely more reliable from a character point of view and follows in her teammate’s footsteps from a scoring point of view with an average of 12 points in 33.8 minutes on the floor. A challenge within a challenge, the one between Crudo and Tassinari, even if the former is in doubt due to a knee injury suffered during the week’s recovery against Faenza: the two best shooters from beyond the arc will compete face to face, with the Milanese player chasing: 25 made on 50 attempts compared to 21 scored on 39 attempts for the Segafredo captain. In the first round, where Virtus was defeated, it was the free throw count that made the difference, with Virtus scoring an anomalous 63.6% (in the season it travels at an average of 74.2%) and also accusing a revisable percentage from inside the area (30.4%), aspects that belong to the past, because now it has solid certainties.
