Brindisi, 460 km to play in Europe

Happy Home in Veroli

We are at the halfway mark and from now on all the more it will be forbidden to make mistakes. The FIBA Europe Cup 2022/23 regular season phase, in which the only Italian team competing, Happy Casa Brindisi, is taking part, is coming into full swing.

Group F represents well the forces on the court: on one side Brindisi-Budivelnyk-Kalev/Cramo the three contenders paired with two victories apiece that will compete until the last possession for the two places up for grabs valid for the qualification to the next round; on the other side the tail end Groningen still stopped at zero successes.

The fourth day of the Europe Cup features the big match between BC Budivelnyk Kiev and coach Frank Vitucci’s Biancoazzurri. The match will be played at the Pala Coccia in Veroli, home venue chosen by the Ukrainian team for the current sports season. A dip in the past for Brindisi basketball history. It was May 17, 2007, a date that is still very much in the minds of the many New Basket Brindisi fans, when coach Tony Trullo’s New Basket Brindisi was defeated in Veroli in the Serie B Eccellenza playoff semifinals. Heartbreaking 3-1 defeat in the series after leading the league to first place animated by an intense and battling atmosphere at Pala Coccia. Fifteen years later, the Brindisi team will return to tread that parquet with quite different ambitions, goals, past and historical present.

The first leg match at PalaPentassuglia ended with the score of 70-74 in favor of Budivelnyk dragged by top scorer Goodwin author of 19 points. A points difference to be taken into account in case of a tied finish in a classification that is expected to be very balanced.