Tortona makes up for Venice, Mario Fioretti enjoys it (but not too much)

The second day of the LBA Italian Cup quarterfinals opened with the comeback success of Bertram Derthona Tortona, which beat Umana Reyer Venezia with a final score of 95-87 earning a place in the semifinals of the Frecciarossa Final Eight. Shining for the bianconeri were Prentiss Hubb, who scored 17 points and dished out 6 assists, and Tommaso Baldasso, who scored 16 points.

“We struggled a lot at the beginning, not being able to make effective stops on defense, while on offense we did what we’d set out to do throughout the game, more or less – said coach Mario Fioretti in the press conference -. It is also not easy to play offense against Venice, they are very physical, we did everything to limit Wiltijer, but it is clear that they are such a high quality lineup that somewhere else you have to pay”.

“However, we had the composure and toughness not to get down after that difficult start, to stick together and then put our heads forward and be sharp in the final, after a third quarter that was the most solid of our periods – added the Piedmont coach – Now we have to be happy, reset and be ready tomorrow to prepare for what will be”.

“I thought we were in great difficulty but that, the way we have been working since we have been together, which is six months, we could still be able to put the game back on its feet, as we have done before. You don’t always get it right, clearly, but you have to try to think about what is not going, what is working and tell the guys two-three things that are needed to fix you. On the one hand there is anger, but on the other hand you have to try to keep a positive attitude and trust that things can be fixed” Fioretti concluded.