Tortona is hinting at a move for Luca Banchi to make a splash in the transfer market
Bertram Derthona Tortona is looking to the transfer market to try to turn things around after a season start that fell short of expectations. Among the names still on the Piedmont-based club’s radar is Diego Flaccadori, currently with Olimpia Milano. The situation also hinges on the assessment of Luca Banchi, who has returned to lead the red-and-white team (in his debut on Thursday night, the team suffered yet another home loss, this time to Zalgiris Kaunas), and on the decisions the coach from Maremma will make regarding the player’s future.
Meanwhile, Tortona is set to play on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. at the PalaDesio, where it will face Acqua S.Bernardo Cantù with the goal of securing its first road win of the season. They’ll face a team still stuck at zero points and looking for a turning point, which has just bolstered its roster by bringing back to Brianza an experienced and talented player like Erick Green.
Green, a 191-centimeter American guard born in 1992, returns to Cantù after starting the season with Venice and rejoins a team where, in the final stretch of last season, he averaged 14.8 points per game. “I’m excited to return to a city that really made me feel at home, and I’m ready to get to work to win with my teammates,” the player said, while general manager Simone Giofrè expressed confidence that “he’ll be able to fit into the new team very quickly.” Selected by the Utah Jazz in the 2013 NBA Draft, Green has played in the NBA for Denver and Sacramento and in the EuroLeague for Olympiakos, Valencia, and Fenerbahçe.
His arrival comes at a very delicate time for the Brianza-based team. Cantù has yet to earn any points after seven games, and head coach Frank Vitucci’s position is hanging in the balance: for the Venetian coach, the games against Tortona and, on the road, against Scafati represent two chances to turn things around, while the names of possible replacements—such as Maurizio Buscaglia, Attilio Caja, and Gianmarco Pozzecco.
The Semaj Christon situation has also weighed on Cantù’s start to the season. The point guard, named co-captain alongside Riccardo Moraschini, had been provisionally suspended on November 2 following an adverse result from a doping test conducted after the October 11 game against Napoli, and on November 6, the club officially announced the mutual termination of his contract. This triggered a scramble in the transfer market for a new point guard, which led to the signing of Green, following the arrival of Osvaldas Olisevicius in October. Among the options being considered under the basket is center Chris Horton, born in 1994, who currently plays for Aliaga Petkimspor in Turkey.
