Cantù: Two Chances for Frank Vitucci, but Names of Possible Alternatives Are Circulating
Zero points in seven games and a host of problems. Acqua S.Bernardo Cantù’s season couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start, and it’s no surprise that Frank Vitucci—who was brought to Brianza to succeed Walter De Raffaele—is on the hot seat. The Venetian coach has two upcoming opportunities: the home game against Tortona and the road game against Scafati, where he’ll face the team he led back to Serie A.
However, the first names are beginning to circulate in case the trend doesn’t reverse: among them are Maurizio Buscaglia, Attilio Caja—who was with Fortitudo last year—and Gianmarco Pozzecco, who recently wrapped up his stint with Galatasaray in Turkey.
The situation has also been complicated by the case of Semaj Christon. On November 6, the club officially announced the mutual termination of the contract of the 33-year-old point guard from Cincinnati, who on November 2, just a few hours before the Desio derby against Olimpia Milano, had been provisionally suspended due to an adverse result from a doping test conducted after the October 11 game against Napoli. Christon, selected in June as one of the key players for the new Cantù team and named co-captain alongside Riccardo Moraschini, had not gotten off to a strong start: the preseason had ended with six losses in as many games and had been preceded in late August by a broken nose sustained during a scrimmage in Tortona. As early as late October, following the Eagles’ protest, management had placed him under scrutiny, expecting more leadership and consistency.
Cantù has therefore immediately returned to the market in search of a new point guard, and the hottest lead points to Erick Green. According to *La Provincia*, the Brianza-based club is in the lead in the race for the American guard, who played a key role in the team’s survival last season and is currently under contract with Reyer Venezia on a pay-as-you-go basis. The player has reportedly already expressed a desire to return to Cantù, communicating his intentions to both the Venice-based club and his agent, and the financial and on-court offer from the Brianza-based team has placed him ahead of Udine, Reggio Emilia, Scafati, and several Turkish clubs. However, the transfer will have to wait: his contract with Venice expires on November 19, with the possibility of an extension until the 22nd. Without early approval from Reyer, Green could make his debut only in the away game at Scafati on November 22, while in Brianza, the hope is to have him available for the home game on the 15th against Tortona, a team that is also struggling.
The club is also looking to bolster its frontcourt. According to *La Nuova*, they have their sights set on Chris Horton, a U.S. center born in 1994, standing 203 centimeters tall and weighing 102 kilos, who has already made his mark in Italy with Trapani and Reyer Venice and is currently playing for Aliaga Petkimspor in Turkey. In his last season in Sicily, he averaged 9.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, and a 16.1 efficiency rating, leading the team to the championship semifinals, and in April he was named LBA MVP of the Month. An experienced player for a team that was already bolstered in recent days by Osvaldas Olisevicius, who arrived in October to replace Miles. There is little room for error, given last season’s precedent, when Chris Chiozza took over for Jacob Gilyard in January without managing to significantly improve the team’s performance.
On the coaching front, the possibility of Pozzecco taking over stems from his departure from Galatasaray, which occurred in mid-October following a third consecutive loss—a league defeat against Bursaspor and a Champions League loss to Cibona Zagreb. The former Italian national team head coach, who has previously led Asvel, Dinamo Sassari, Fortitudo Bologna, and Varese, has been absent from the Italian league since 2022, when he left his role as assistant coach at Olimpia Milano.
