Trento dominates rebounding, Milan trembles

First match ball for Trento, 10 points but Armani is Armani and in the first leg of the quarters Simon, Milan’s best of the season, Jenkins and Esteban were not in the lineup which means one thing: having 15 players sometimes the downside is “the boomerang effect.” Ask Varese how it lost in the days of the Ignis sixties-seventies at least two championships.

About the unstoppable ascent of the Trentino Eagles: it is not true as Darwin claimed, that in life one does not proceed in leaps (in the sense of leaps). The proof is the progression of the club: newly promoted to A 4.a in the 2014-15 regular season, remounted in the playoffs by Sassari who would later win the scudetto, in 7 days they play the semifinals at the Forum and whoever passes the round faces the winner between the Russians of Ninzhny Novgorod and Strasbourg.

Armani is the only one present in the history of the Cups, already has a guaranteed place in Eurolegue, is the only one among the 8 in the quarters to have won continental trophies although not the Eurocup , is surrounded by 7 rampant clubs. With the arrival of Repesa, although several times with difficulties, this still imperfect, working-class team that has not yet assimilated the concepts of turn-over, in itself a random variable, has always managed comuque to win in the reparation exams. With managements we know well, he would probably be on the bench again this year, but the Croatian coach they tell was already in Sassari’s plans halfway through last season where he always goes wins something, and has already brought home a Coppa Italia that Milan had been missing for 20 years. Already qualified for the Eurocup, with Gentile and Cinciarini below the standard of Trento’s two blues, Pascolo in continuous progress, MVP for the statistics but not the match winner, because the turning point was given by Beppe Poeta , more than 100 games in the national team ,a figure inversely proportional to the points scored, this Cincinnatus of basketball who starts from the bench, with humility, always positive in everything he does and thinks. Practically absent the Argentine Forray, he took to directing, best sniper (20 points), order to the game, the acceleration and the escape in the 3rd quarter with the 16-2 and the partial of 21/12 that cut the legs to the Milanese arrived to 3 points (73-70). Historical figure ( and first reason for the defeat) of the Milanese “fifteen” the 25 offensive rebounds of the opponents, 5 less than the Armani total, a waterloo that allows Trento to enter the basketball almanacs as the second best performance of this entry in the Eurocup.

Treasuring a 16-rebound difference and double-doubles by Pascolo and Wright, Trento managed to win by as many as 10 points, a delicate threshold, despite a night-no from 3-point shooting (27.3) by the so-Americans. Milan shot better, 19/38 from 2 (50 percent) and 8/20 from 3 (40 percent), but not in free throws (11/19, 57 percent) where instead Trento “chewed up” (17/22, 73 percent) precious points with Poeta perfect in his 7/7.

The first leg of the quarterfinals closes today with two more games, for the two protagonists of the Italian derby the match between the Russians of Ninzhny Novgorod and the French Alsatians of Strasbourg, the team of French CT Collet, is of particular interest. It is from there that the rival for the semifinals will emerge. In the other match , between the Poles of Stelmet Zielona Gora, and Aito’s Herbalife Gran Canaria, 50 years on the bench and second place in the Copa del Rey, comes out the finalist who will meet the winner of Bayern-Galatasaray. In the first leg, +10 also for the Germans of Svetislav Pesic, the historic Serbian-Bosnian coach, but Ataman, the Turkish coach of Galatasaray, has already won a European Cup in 2004 with Siena, the first and the last of the Montepaschina epic and who played them to the Italy of his deputy Pianigiani, at the pre-Olympic renewing the team. One thing is for sure, the rookie Maurizio Buscaglia coach of The Year, is facing Hall Fame colleagues, meanwhile he did better (statistically) than Repesa: 13 wins and 6 losses against 9 Armani losses with 3/7 in Euroleague qualifiers from where Strasbourg, Bayern Munich and Zielona Gora also came.

As a reminder, the winner of the trophy will be among the 16 teams to play in the Euroleague new format, the one who has the positive balance in the double-header passes the round, a draw is allowed.

Tomorrow, however, the Euroleague also resumes with the 11th day of the Top16, with four to go so far only Gigi Datome’s Fenerbahce, MVP of the penultimate round, is already qualified and faces freshman Durassafaka, which has won 3 games in the last 4. The big game is the Barcelona-Real Madrid superderby, the Catalans won in the first leg, the two teams are not leading the standings and cannot afford to lose. So is Trinchieri and Melli’s Brose Bamberg with Khimki, which in a downturn gave the sack to Lithuanian Rimas Kurtinaitis and chimed Slav Dusko Ivanovic, 58, a former European champion gicator with Split who as a coach won a Korac with Limoges and led Laboral Vitori to the Euroleague final in 2011 and 3 votes in the playoffs, and led Barcelona and last year Panathinaikos with the final in the League and the Cup of Greeks. He was CT of Switzerland and in the last Europeans Bosnia and Herzegovina . For Daniel Hackett’s Olympiacos two points needed against the Lithuanians to try to get back into the top 4, at least 3 wins are needed.

EUROCUP QUARTERFINALS

Quarterfinals (first leg)

BAYERN Munich-Galatasaray Istanbul 99-89 (spect 5927; 29-22, 21-22; 24-23, 25-22; Rating 108-103; 20 D.Thompson 8/14 9r val27; 19 D.Savanovic 5/11 3/4 da3; 22 V.Micov 4/5 4/9 da3 vl20, 18 S.Lasme 7/7 0/1 da3 tl4/4 6r 3st val28. MVP: 28 Stephen LASME, Gab)

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DOLOMITI Trento-Armani Milano 83-73 (spect 3349; 21-19, 24-22, 21-12; 24-23, 25-22; Rating 87-76; rebounds 46/30 (25 offensive Tn) 20 B.Poeta 2/5 3/7 d3 tl7/7 3a val18; 19 D.Pascolo 7/10 1/1 a3 9r 6ro val23, 13 J.Wright 6/15 0/3 da3 tl1/410r 5ro ; 16 M.Kalnietis 4/6 2/3 da3 tl2/2 7a 3r val23, 9 A.Gentile 2/5 1/5 da3 tl2/3 4a, 4 A.Cinciarini 2/2 tl0/2 1r 1a 15′. MVP: p.m. Davide PASCOLO, Ita and Mantras KALNIETIS, Lit).

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Today’s schedule

STELMET Zielona Gora-HERBALIFE Gran Canaria (7:15 pm); NIZHNY Novgorod-Strasbourg (5:15 pm)

Next round (return): March 22 Galatasaray-Bayern (7 p.m., a. 89-99); March 23: Herbalife-Stelmet (9:30 p.m.); Straburg-Nvgorod (8 p.m.); Armani-Trento (Forum 8 p.m., a. 73-83).

EUROLEAGUE TOP16 (11.a g)

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GROUP E, 10.a g.

Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar-FENERBAHCE 52-55; Cedevita Zagreb-UNICAJA MALAGA 71-98; Darussafaka Dobus Istanbul-EFES 68-72; RED STAR BELGRADE-Panathinaikos 69-67.

Ranking: 9/1 Fenerbahce Istanbul; 7/3 Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar; 6/4 Red Star Belgrade, Panathinaikos Athens; 4/6 Efes Istanbul; 3/7 Darussafaka Dogus Istanbul, Unicaja Malaga; 2/8 Cedevita Zagreb

Next round – 17/3: Fenerbahce-Darussafaka (Istanbul 7:30 p.m., a. 106-100); Panathinaikos-Lokomotiv (Athens 8:15 p.m., a. 67-76); 18/3: Efes-Cedevita (Istanbul 7:30 p.m., a.80-84), Malaga-Red Star (8:30 p.m.)

GROUP F, 10.a g.

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BROSE BAMBERG-Olympiacos 72-71; LABORAL KUTXA-Khimki Msca 98-83; Zalgiris Kaunas-REAL MADRID 75-90; BARCELONA-Cska Moscow 100-98.

Standings: 7/3 Cska Msca, Laboral Kutxa Vitoria; 6/4 Real Madrid; 5/5 Barcelona, Khimki Moscow; 4/6 Brose Bamberg, Olympiacos Athens ; 2/8 Zalgiris Kaunas.

Next round – 17/3 Cska-Laboral (Moscow 6 p.m., a.71-81); 18/3 Barcelona-Real Madrid (8:45 p.m., a.87-86), Brose-Khimki (Bamberg 10 p.m., a. 61-78), Olympiacos-Zalgiris (Athens 8:45 p.m., a. 55-75).

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Edited by ENRICO CAMPANA