Last call for Fortitudo and bounces a name for the market
The last call for Fortitudo Bologna, called on Monday to win in Verona after having lost the first two home games against Ramagli’s team, which was able to come out on top in both cases by only one point. In case of defeat, a cycle, Tedeschi’s and Caja’s, which is destined to leave anyway with a handful of players, would already close tonight. The market, of course, will be a function of the category: a name bounces around in case of non-promotion and it is that of Grant Basile (who will play in Puerto Rico for a few months), but watch out for Brindisi especially if Nicola Brienza, who in A2 in Cantù formed a winning partnership with the 2000 class forward.
The two narrow defeats against Verona have left their mark on the Bolognese environment, but also a certain bitterness for how they matured. In game 2, which ended 75-74 after an overtime, Caja did not hide his regret: “We are down 0-2 but we had the last possession in both cases: we are proud, we always played on a level playing field, one we would have deserved even if we accept the verdict on the court.” The coach then pointed his finger at the poor scoring streak: “We can’t get good percentages on offense but on defense everyone did theirs.” Sorokas (21 points) and Moore (19) were not enough to bend a Verona dragged by Zampini (19) and McGee (18).
On the market front, the divorce between Grant Basile and Cantù is already official. The Brianza club announced the consensual termination of the contract with the naturalized Italian American forward, thanking him “for his decisive contribution to the promotion to Serie A in the 2024/25 season.” Basile, who averaged 7.2 points and 3.4 rebounds in 16.2 minutes last season with Cantù, is currently committed to Puerto Rico with the Piratas de Quebradillas – where he impressed in the playoffs last season with 22.3 points and 6.8 rebounds in six games – and is expected to return to A2 in the summer. In addition to Fortitudo and Brindisi, Pesaro, Sassari and Verona would also be on him should the Scaligeri fail to win the playoffs.
