If it were to reach the playoffs in May it would be a surprise, but for the moment Enel Brindisi is the absolute star of our championship. Bucchi's team also manages to beat Cantù 75-74, rejecting the final comeback of the Brianzoli led by a great Aradori (28 points), and in the delirium of its fans (who at the end of the match sang "the leaders are leaving") gets the sixth consecutive success that takes her to 14 points, increasingly leading the standings. For the group of president Nando Marino, with a minimal budget but supported by the main sponsor Enel for six years, it is an exciting moment that is leading to the revival of old records of a club with a long basketball history, but in recent decades ended up in the back of the scene national team, until the bankruptcy of 2001 and the birth of the current New Basket Brindisi, which, restarted from the fourth series amidst a thousand problems, for the first time at the end of last season achieved salvation in the top division, after being relegated in 2011 after just one year of Serie A. They also know it in Puglia that the favorite teams for the final victory remain others, but in the meantime they enjoy this primacy, the players on the field have fun and, barring collapses in the remaining 7 matches of the first round, have almost mortgaged their presence at the next Italian Cup. Meanwhile, the next exam will be at Virtus Bologna, we'll see in seven days if Enel has surprised us once again.
In solitary second place with 12 points goes Dinamo Sassari, capable of conquering the field of Venice 87-95, thanks to the usual offensive super performance, embellished by a crazy 18/31 from three, a last quarter of 37 points and with the cousins Diener who together made 48 (24 each). Thus the Sardinians obtain the fourth success in a row, in attack they are an almost perfect machine and are starting to really frighten the other contenders for the Scudetto, while for Venice, which remains at 6 points, after two good victories the first stop from when Markovski sits on the bench.
Sassari can only be reached by Siena, on stage tonight in one of the two postponements, since besides Cantù, Bologna also remains at 10 points, defeated on Saturday by the Emilian derby at Reggiana's home. Grissin Bon, driven by the spectacular plays of Bell and White, deservedly wins 86-76, keeping her field clean sheet (while so far only defeats have arrived away from home) and climbing to 8 points in the standings. For the young Granarolo, on the other hand, second consecutive knockout and a bit like this after a start beyond expectations, but with the possibility of redeeming herself in the next round by challenging the leaders Brindisi on her own parquet.
At 8 points, in addition to Reggio Emilia and Rome and Milan who will be the protagonists of the other postponement of 20.30, there are Varese and Avellino, who took advantage of the favorable home round, beating respectively Pesaro (91-77) and Cremona (77- 72). Varese returns to victory after seven knockouts (between the championship and the Eurocup, where it is last in its group), a success made easy also thanks to the 24 points on the debut of the returning horse Adrian Banks, protagonist of last season, but finished in these first months playing in the Israeli league. Banks was also recalled by Cimberio to protect himself with the Coleman case, the 26-year-old former Biella guard officially excluded from the squad a few days ago, after he continued to claim that he had an ankle problem, which however was denied by the medical tests. Banks was supposed to be an extra weapon to relieve Varese from this stuttering start, but in the end he will take the place of the other American (who so far hadn't impressed, however averaging 12 points per game). For Vuelle Pesaro, which also had its latest reinforcement Ravern Johnson (8 points), yet another defeat has arrived that condemns it alone to the bottom of the standings.
Sidigas Avellino also climbs (with 29 points from Richardson), from which however more is expected and which overcomes Vanoli Cremona with a few too many difficulties, penultimate with Pistoia at 4 points. Finally, a nice external shot by Caserta, who after five defeats returns to success on the Montegranaro field, reaching the Marches at 6 in the standings, thanks to a last run of 24-9 for the guests, which led to the final 77-94 .
The day ends tonight, with the two postponements scheduled and at the same time between Rome-Milan and Siena-Pistoia, or the ever-felt challenge between the two cities (and also to understand the real level of the two teams) and the first Tuscan derby of the history between Mens Sana and the new red and white club (the last clash was 14 years ago, on February 14, 1999, when Siena defeated the then Olimpia Pistoia 72-57, who were relegated at the end of that season, giving up the sports title in Fabriano). Today the company is called Pistoia Basket 2000, in the meantime Siena has won everything there was to win in Italy, but if until last season this could have been presented as the derby between David against Goliath, this year the reigning champions , while remaining clear favourites, are a "human" formation, so we could also see a more exciting and fought match than expected.
