The fifteenth round concluded the first leg of Serie A and made it possible to form the draw for the next Coppa Italia, which will be played for the second consecutive year in Assago between 7 and 9 February. These are the pairings: on the one hand the two quarter-finals will be Brindisi-Venice and Siena-Rome, while on the other side there will be Milan-Sassari and Cantù-Reggio Emilia.
Before this last round there were still two places to be assigned with seven teams involved, one would be awarded to the winner of the direct match between Reggio Emilia and Avellino, while for the eighth pass, in the event of a Venice harakiri at home against Pesaro, Bologna, Pistoia, Caserta and Varese could still have hoped. The play-off (and seventh place in the standings) went to the Emilians early on Saturday, who defeated the Campania side 96-73, at the end of a match without history which confirmed the hosts' unbeaten home season.
Then on Sunday, in the only match played at 17 pm, Venice lived up to expectations and liquidated Pesaro 89-65, leaving the Marches in the last solitary place with only two victories in the first 15 days and taking away all hope from the other four teams still in the running for the cup final eight. Venice, after a bad start which culminated in the change of coach, thanks to 7 successes in the last 10 matches thus managed to close the first leg in eighth position and to achieve one of the club's objectives, participation in the event which will award the first trophy of the season.
Objective achieved by all the best formations, with a single intruder compared to the predictions of the beginning of the year, the terrible Brindisi, while it can be said that they failed this first appointment in addition to Avellino, too alternating and never fully convincing, also Varese and Bologna, defeated at home respectively by Rome (78-86) and Cantù (69-78).
The red and whites from Lombardy were protagonists of a very difficult first part of the season while at Virtus, which collapsed in the last month after a great start to the tournament, one could not ask for much more anyway (the current ninth place, paired with Avellino and Caserta, at least for this year it should be its most logical dimension).
The big surprise, so far, is obviously Brindisi, who skipped all the rankings at the start of the tournament and incredibly, but deservedly, closes the first leg at the top of the standings (albeit on equal points with Cantù). The eleventh victory, which sealed his primacy in front of all the others, was the icing on the cake of his exciting first part of the tournament, as it came against an opponent like Sassari, beaten 89-80 at the end of a match intense and with continuous score reversals. For Brindisi it is a dream that continues, but if it were to go on playing like this the playoffs in May would become much more than an idea, as far as Sassari is concerned, on the other hand, slipped to sixth place with 9 wins and 6 defeats, its role as the contender for the Scudetto does not change, but these first few months have shown how when its guns jam, Dinamo becomes a "normal" formation.
Milan, Siena and Rome (true loose cannon both in the next Coppa Italia and in the league) close the first leg on equal points, but due to the difference in baskets, third place is the prerogative of Olimpia, with the Tuscans fourth and the Capitoline fifth . Milan obtains third place (which then, looking at its share of the draw in the cup, is probably not an advantage) thanks to the victory in what for a thousand reasons was the most awaited match of the weekend, the one against rivals Siena, from whom, before the star Hackett, due to the well-known corporate problems in the summer he had also taken away Moss and Kangur, in addition to coach Luca Banchi.
In a Forum filled for the third time this season (after the evenings with Real Madrid and Olympiakos), we certainly didn't see a spectacular match, contracted teams, many mistakes and very low scores, but in the long run EA7 had the upper hand to 66-56 (the ex Moss and the usual Langford are on the shields, while for Hackett only 8 points), almost the symptom of a handover of the domination of Italian basketball, it is now up to the Olimpia players to transform it into a fact. In the meantime, the third prestigious scalp of the last week arrived for the club of an increasingly satisfied Armani, which began with the away shot in Sassari (the first real ringer in his championship) and continued with the magical and historic evening of the Euroleague, with the Trentello trimmed to the two European champions Olympiacos (in what was perhaps the watershed match of the season in Milan).
But now EA7 has the duty to confirm itself on these levels, first on Thursday in the third round of the Top 16 when it will receive the Spanish side Baskonia, in an appointment that could already prove to be key for the balance of the group, and then next week on the first day return of the championship, when, again at home, against Brindisi he will be able to return the defeat suffered on his debut in Puglia.
Going back to last night's meeting, as far as Siena is concerned, which despite the knockout played on an equal footing and will certainly be a tough nut to crack for everyone until the end of the season, it can be stated that even from this latest mini-revolution (the farewell to Hackett, with the arrival of Haynes from Milan, 24 points on his debut and 12 yesterday against his former team-mates, and the return of Jenning) the Tuscan club seems to have emerged on its feet and competitive, even if obviously weakened, as further evidence who in those parts on a technical level always know how to work.
The last leg also left us the home victory of Caserta over Pistoia 80-74, with the Campania players continuing on their honest path towards a peaceful salvation (and next Sunday they won't have to make mistakes again at home against Pesaro), while the Tuscans , with 6 successes, are going even beyond expectations, despite the fact that their performance drops radically away.
The picture closes with the very important victory in terms of salvation for Cremona on the Montegranaro field 90-95, a blow that allows the Lombards to catch up with the Marches at 8 points. For Sutor, the worst defense in the championship, another bad misstep at home after the knockout on Santo Stefano with Pistoia, and after the match there was also the harsh outburst of coach Recalcati for the corporate situation that could undermine the tranquility of the group.
