Mario Fioretti is downcast after the crushing defeat in Rome: “It wasn’t even a game; we’re angry and disappointed”

It was a night to forget for Bertram Derthona on the second day of LegaBasket Serie A. The Piedmontese team suffered a decisive defeat on the road against BC Roma, which won by a wide margin of 108-70. The game remained close for essentially one quarter, which the visitors ended trailing by just two points. From that point on, however, the game took a different turn.

The team coached by Mario Fioretti gradually fell behind and went into the locker room at halftime trailing by 12 points. The gap widened further in the second half, when Roma took definitive control and posted a crushing 52-26 run that ended any chance of a comeback.

Derthona’s struggles were compounded by poor accuracy from long range. In fact, the Piedmontese team finished with just 5 three-pointers made out of 26 attempts. At the end of the game, Fioretti did not hide his disappointment with the team’s performance:

“We got off to a bad start, unable to contain them on defense. We had a good first half offensively, but then we fell apart there too. It wasn’t even a contest; we’re angry and disappointed. We need to get back to the gym, work hard, keep our heads down, and try to turn things around.”

The coach, however, isn’t looking to blame the recent European road trip to Riga, though he acknowledges a dip in energy levels:

“I don’t want to dwell on that. Sure, there was a drop in energy, but I don’t think it’s related to the road trip. I’ll say it again: we need to buckle down and get to work to fix things. We’re already doing that, but we’ll have to do better.”

Finally, Fioretti addressed the difficulties encountered on offense, noting that the team had initially managed to create promising scoring opportunities before losing their rhythm as the game went on:

“In my opinion, we missed some good shots in the first half, and even at the start of the third quarter. Then we lost our cohesion a bit.”