Librizzi puts Sassari behind and aims to win derby with Cantù
“Looking up instead of behind changes the perspective; last years there was always the anxiety of having to win at all costs to save the season. Fighting for the playoffs, on the other hand, is a great feeling, I hope to get used to it.”
“Regardless of the stakes, it is stimulating because of the electricity it generates in the city and in the team. It will be an important game for us and for them, albeit for different reasons; I expect a good but very close game because for both teams the victory would be of fundamental value for their respective ranking goals,” adds the Openjobmetis Varese’s point guard.
Words that sound like a confirmation of what Librizzi had already anticipated in the days leading up to the challenge against Dinamo Sassari, when guest on the ‘Luci a Masnago’ program on Radio Materia had said: “The playoffs remain a goal within our reach. In these months we have shown that we can compete and win against anyone.” A confidence that turned out to be well-founded: Openjobmetis overcame Sassari 91-90 in a heart-stopping finale, with Iroegbu starring in the decisive action.
The victory did not come without controversy, however. Coach Veljko Mrsic, at the end of the challenge, harshly contested the referee’s direction, “In the decisive action, a made-up foul was called on Iroegbu. I believe that, in these circumstances, one should let the players determine the outcome of the game.” The Dinamo coach put the episode in a broader context, recalling the apology he received from the referees’ commissioner after the match with Cantù and a similar episode against Treviso, while acknowledging the merits of the opponents: “Congratulations to Varese for the important victory.”
On the disciplinary front, the home success also brought with it a trail of sanctions. The sports judge fined Openjobmetis 1,333.00 euros for collective and frequent offenses by the public against the referees, as well as a warning for irregularities in mandatory equipment, with the stopwatch siren found to be inaudible during the game. This is not an isolated incident for the white-and-red club: already last March 30, Varese was fined the same amount for similar conduct of its public toward the referees.
The defeat significantly complicates the salvation race of Dinamo Sassari, which in the last three days of the championship faces a prohibitive schedule against the top three in the standings. “We are fully involved in the salvation struggle and will have to give everything to try to bring home as many results as possible,” Mrsic himself admitted after the game. For Varese, on the other hand, the success further fuels the playoff ambitions of Librizzi and his teammates, with the 2002-class playmaker, who grew up in the red-and-white youth sector, increasingly representing one of the symbols of this newfound season of ambition.
