Next weekend will be one of the most important ones in Italian basketball. It is derby time in Basket City – Bologna.
And the winner takes it all. This is especially true for this game, where the whole city will vibrate and follow the players. And for the loser, it normally means: Bye bye coach, bye bye PG, bye bye. This year, it looks pretty dangerous for the coaching staff of Upim Fortitudo Bologna.
Andrea Mazzon, who came back to Italy from Aris Saloniki, another Basket City, tried to assemble a number of stars that would make a good team. But so far, the chemistry is not working. Without a real PG, they only have Horace Jenkins who is more a SG and Daniele Cavaliero, there is already a big problem. A loss againt the bitter enemies and Jenkins or even Oscar Torres will probably be shown the door. We heard through the grapevine that 2 former NBA players Andre Barrett and Keith McLeod are on the front office’s shortlist.
On the other hand, Virtus had a correct start in the Lega but this does not protect them against the worst thing that could happen, a defeat against Fortitudo. So for Stefano Pillastrini, failure is not an option if he wants to have the confidence of the team environment for the next weeks.
So let’s stop speculating and wait for the derby and then talk about it after the game and see what will happen.
