Pistoia fourth straight win for Sassari
The Dinamo’s ride continues in Pistoia. Fourth consecutive victory for the Giants, who conquer PalaCarrara 86-63 and climb to 22 points in the Serie A Unipol standings.
Against a combative Estra, determined to pursue the goal of salvation, Banco di Sardegna responds blow by blow in the beginning and then takes control of operations in the middle phase of the match, posting a break of 17-0 that allows them to file the case without risks. In the final also came the joy of the’Serie A debut for the very young Enrico Casu.
Bibbins, Bendzius and Thomas were on the shields, scoring 16, 17 and 13 points, respectively, but Coach Bulleri can be comforted by another consistent team effort.
ESTRA PISTOIA-DINAMO BANCO DI SARDEGNA 63-86
ESTRA PISTOIA: Benetti 7, Della Rosa 2, Ceron 9, Paschall 5, Santi NE, Cooke 4, Forrest 11, Boglio NE, Stoch NE, Saccaggi 14, Allen 11. Coach: Okorn
DINAMO BANCO DI SARDEGNA: Cappelletti 4, Bibbins 16 (5 r, 5a), Weber 6, Casu, Trucchetti 3, Fobbs 11, Tambone 7, Veronesi 7, Bendzius 17 (4/8 3p), Vincini 2, Thomas 13 (6 r), Renfro. Coach: Bulleri
PARTIALS: 15-18; 32-35; 43-57
ARBITORS: Carmelo Paternicò, Sergio Noce, Martino Galasso
NOTE: Banco di Sardegna still shows up without Halilovic, but recovers Renfro. Among the 12 available to Coach Bulleri is still young Enrico Casu. Erten Gazi remains out. Among the hosts, Maurice Kemp is out. Not yet available is Vincent Valerio-Bodon’s newest addition.
KEEP OF THE MATCH: The defensive intensity put on the court by the Giants, who, after taking measures against Pistoia’s outsides (especially Forrest) in the early going, split the game in the middle phase, conceding just 2 points to the Tuscans in 5 minutes straddling the end of the second and the beginning of the third quarter.
MVP: Justin Bibbins, key with 16 points (5/5 2p), 5 rebounds, as many assists, 23 rating and lots and lots of leadership.
FORREST GUIDE PISTOIA
Dinamo confirms the quintet consisting of Bibbins, Weber, Fobbs, Bendzius and Vincini. For Pistoia, on the other hand, there are Saccaggi, Forrest, Allen, Benetti and Cooke. The Giants developed their early attacks quite well, but were not comforted by the percentages (1/8 from the field in the first 5′). Estra tries to take advantage of it with Forrest’s creativity on the perimeter (two consecutive bombs for +6), but Banco doesn’t stand idly by: Bulleri’s second unit, led by Cappelletti and Thomas, propitiates a 7-0 break that reverses the inertia and allows them to take the lead, keeping it until the first buzzer on 18-15 after even touching +5. The only blemish was the two fouls committed in quick succession by Thomas.
BENDZIUS ANSWERS TO ALLEN
At the start of the second period Renfro, returning from injury, is back on the court. Estra relies on Paschall’s back-to-the-basket receptions to pull back ahead, then Kadeem Allen goes wild from the arc and signs a 10-0 run that warms up PalaCarrara. A three-point play (unfinished) by Tambone stops the bleeding, but Pistoia still touches +5 with Forrest’s alley oop to Cooke. Bulleri intervenes with a new timeout, then Bibbins takes charge with a leader’s flair: the point guard propitiates a new 6-0 break that puts Banco back ahead, ahead even at the long break thanks to a blaze from the arc by captain Bendzius (two triples in a row for 35-32).
The Banco is now in the lead.
WHITE-BLUE INERTIA
The’excellent momentum continued when they returned to the court: the white-blue stretched their partial lead to 17-0, even touching the 14-length advantage thanks to a counterattack dunk by Bendzius. An airtight defense (just 11 points allowed in the quarter) allows not to accuse too much of the ups and downs from the arc, and the Banco takes the reins of the match with authority. Saccaggi tries to reignite his own with a triple from the table, but Tambone promptly pushes back, and Dinamo even touches +15 before going to the last mini intermission ahead 57-43.
BANCO CONTROLS
At the start of the last period it is still the Banco that leads the dances: Veronesi’s three-point play bends the legs of a nonetheless generous Estra Pistoia, and with a new 12-5 break in the first 3 minutes the biancoblu give the decisive push. Fobbs scores for +20, giving his team a chance to calmly manage in the final minutes. Bulleri also gives minutes to Trucchetti (scoring with a triple in transition) and young Enrico Casu, on his absolute debut in Serie A. At the end it is a big party together with the Sardinian fans who reached Pistoia: Dinamo continues to travel fast, with a smile on its face.
The COMMENT – Coach Massimo Bulleri: “In the third quarter we put in a harder, more intense emotional approach. We knew that it was not going to be an easy contest, beyond the final score.
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I am pleased with the team’s mature performance: it was a serious game, against an opponent that was struggling but still fought for all forty minutes.
We played it well, although in the first half we could have closed by a wider margin if we had better percentages.
We are satisfied with the result, the game expressed and the work we are doing during the week. We must continue on this path”.
The’MVP Justin Bibbins: “We knew it was going to be a tough game, regardless of the standings. Pistoia fought with great intensity and could count on the support of its audience. That is why it is an important and very good win for us. We are training well, we are aware of what we are building and we want to continue on this path”.
