New Sardinia gives Trieste and Cremona no hope
La Nuova Sardegna does not give hope to Trieste and Cremona: the Sardinian newspaper speculates that Dinamo Sassari will also be at the start of the top league next season. In these hours, in short, there is talk not only about Italy’s resounding reinstatement to the World Cup but also that of Stefano Sardara’s club in basketball’s top series. “Among the rumors circulating is that of a possible repechage to complete the puzzle of Serie A, from which two teams will be missing after the now certain farewell of Trieste and Cremona. Rome should take the place of the Giuliani, while that of the Lombardi could go to the relegated from Serie A, as has always happened so far in similar cases,” we read there.
Dinamo’s relegation came mathematically after the defeat against Virtus Bologna, which condemned the islanders to leave the top league after 16 consecutive years, during which the Sardinian club had won a Scudetto, two Italian Cups, two Italian Super Cups and a FIBA Europe Cup. A respectable palmares for a square that, as former basketball player and Sky commentator Davide Pessina pointed out, “has now become almost historic, an important square, a square that in any case involves a whole region, an island like Sardinia.” Pessina, when asked on the subject, spoke of “a bad year, however, within Sassari’s especially recent history of a high level.”
The situation of Trieste and Cremona has provoked broader reflections on the state of Italian basketball. Again Pessina, exclusively for Sportal.it, commented with regret on the difficulties of the two clubs, “Unfortunately, this is also a bit of modern sport, where there are shifts of capital, shifts of sports titles. Squares like Cremona and Trieste surely should no longer have a top league team would be a shame, it would be serious both for the squares themselves, for the people, for the fans and for the movement in general.”
On the sports front, the last day of the regular season is scheduled for Sunday, May 10, and will see among others precisely the Trieste-Cremona direct confrontation, a challenge that, however, will not change the fate of the two clubs on the level of registration for the next championship. The standings see Virtus Bologna firmly in the lead with 44 points, while behind it there is still a fight for playoff positions: Brescia and Milan are paired at 40, followed by Venice at 38, Tortona at 32 and Reggio Emilia at 30.
Even from the world of the court came words of esteem for Sassari. Walter De Raffaele, coach of Cantù – which won salvation precisely thanks to the Sardinians’ simultaneous defeat – wanted to pay tribute to the island piazza: “At this time I also want to remember Dinamo Sassari, which is going through difficult times. I remember it for the wonderful Scudetto final a few years ago with Reyer Venezia. I am sure that next year it will return to the stage that suits it best.” Words that, in light of repechage rumors, may prove prophetic sooner than expected.
