Italian Lega A Gameday 5 roundup

Gameday 5 in Italy saw Roma suffering a shock defeat home to Biella, a great away win for AJ Milano over Virtus Bologna in overtime while Montepaschi Siena had yet another easy afternoon dropping a +40 on Ferrara.

Gameday 5 Results:

Caserta – 95:  Jum. Jones 21 pts + 8 rebs + 4 stls (3/6 2p, 4/5 3p, 3/4 ft), T. Bowers 18 pts + 5 stls (6/14 2p, 0/1 3p, 6/9 ft), A. Michelori 17 pts + 7 rebs + 2 blks + 2 asts in 22' (5/5 2p, 7/7 ft), E. Ere 14 pts + 4 stls (3/6 2p, 2/7 3p, 2/3 ft), F. Di Bella 13 pts (4/5 2p, 1/4 3p, 2/2 ft)
Pesaro – 81: M. Hicks 26 pts + 7 rebs + 5 stls but also 6 to (6/9 2p, 3/5 3p, 5/6 ft), Marq. Green 12 pts + 4 rebs + 6 asts (0/3 2p, 4/5 3p), E. Williams 11 pts + 6 rebs in 19' (5/8 2p, 1/6 ft), S. Flamini 10 pts (2/2 2p, 2/4 3p, 0/1 ft)

Third win in a row for Caserta (4-1), that confirms their status of being one of the hottest teams in the league despite some problems (Kavaliauskas injured, Doornekamp with the flu). Pesaro started very strong, putting great defensive pressure on the ball and took a significant early lead (6-20). But Caserta reacted, thanks to a mighty performance by Michelori, who came off the bench and provided defensive hustle and a perfect offensive performance, but Jumaine Jones also played a very solid game, he knailed most of his shots and did a good job pulling down defensive rebounds. Also good contribution  from Di Bella, Bowers and Ere (who also defended well), they all stepped up their game in the 2nd half when Caserta went ahead in the score and made the decisive run. Good debut game offensively for Eric Williams, he is far from being in shape but in his limited playtime he did show that Pesaro will have a solid inside game with him (but he desperately needs to work on his free throw percentage. Michael Hicks (top scorer of the league last year), who's been struggling early in the season, had his best game so far, but his teammates didn't help him that much and at the end he seemed tired and suffered from Ere's defense a bit. One more very poor performance by Dusan Sakota, who is not contributing as expected (low shooting percentage, no rebounds).

In the meantime Caserta's owner confirmed they're close to seal the deal with Maurice Taylor.

Virtus Bologna – 83 (OT): M. Maggioli 17 pts + 7 rebs + 3 stls (6/9 2p, 0/1 3p, 5/5 ft), D. Moss 15 pts + 8 rebs + 7 stls + 4 asts (5/15 2p, 0/3 3p, 5/6 ft), D. Vukcevic 15 pts in 22' (0/3 2p, 4/5 3p, 3/5 ft), L. Hurd 13 pts (4/16 2p, 0/4 3p, 5/10 ft)
Milano – 87 (OT): M. Petravicius 16 pts in 20' (6/9 2p, 4/4 ft), A. Acker 16 pts + 5 rebs (2/4 2, 2/3 3p, 6/6 ft), M. Finley 13 pts + 5 asts (3/6 2p, 1/5 3p, 4/4 ft), M. Rocca 11 pts + 8 rebs + 3 stls (4/6 2p, 3/7 ft), S. Mancinelli 11 pts + 4 rebs (5/7 2p, 0/1 3p, 1/2 ft)

Pathetic shot percentages, turnovers, silly mistakes and all the negative things one can imagine. Good effort by fighter Mason Rocca, but that's it, this game was too ugly to be true.

Siena – 89: R. Sato 21 pts + 7 rebs in 24' (5/5 2p, 3/4 3p, 2/2 ft), H. Domercant 12 pts in 19' (1/2 2p, 3/8 3p, 1/1 ft), B. Eze 11 pts + 4 rebs + 2 blks + 3 stls (5/8 2p, 1/2 ft)
Ferrara – 49: A. Grundy 18 pts (3/6 2p, 3/9 3p, 3/4 ft), H. Jamison 11 pts (5/7 2p, 1/2 ft)

Ferrara kept close for one half. In the second half they were simply crunched by Siena that let the opponents score only 16 miserable points. One more terrific game for Romain Sato, whose numbers are simply amazing so far.

Treviso – 95: G. Neal 21 pts + 5 rebs (6/10 2p, 3/7 3p), C. Martin 16 pts + 5 rebs + 4 stls + 0 to (3/4 2p, 2/4 3p, 4/6 ft), S. Nicevic 14 pts + 4 rebs (7/9 2p), CJ Wallace 12 pts + 9 rebs + 3 stls + 1 blk + 1 asts (5/6 2p, 2/2 ft), D. Motiejunas 10 pts + 2 stls in 19' (4/6 2p, 2/3 ft)
Montegranaro – 77: G. Brunner 20 pts + 11 rebs (9/12 2p, 2/6 ft), D. Ivanov 16 pts + 8 rebs (7/9 2p, 0/3 3p, 2/6 ft), M. Marquinhos 12 pts + 6 rebs + 3 asts (3/7 2p, 0/5 3p, 6/7 ft)

Easy win for Treviso, that kept a comfortable lead throughout the game. Cartier Martin finally had a convincing game. Third loss in a row for Montegranaro, which could mean that giving the point guard duties to Maestranzi might be a very bad choice as he is  really struggling and what's even worse is that Montegranaro doesn't even have a real backup for him.

Roma – 69(OT): I. Jaaber 17 pts + 8 rebs + 3 stls (5/7 2p, 1/7 3p, 4/6 ft), K. Winston 11 pts + 4 rebs (5/10 2p, 0/5 3p, 1/6 ft), H. Toure 10 pts + 9 rebs in 22' (2/3 2p, 0/1 3p, 6/6 ft)
Biella – 73 (OT): JT Smith 20 pts (2/6 2p, 4/9 3p, 4/5 ft), P. Aradori 17 pts + 6 rebs (5/8 2p, 1/3 3p, 4/4 ft), M. Soragna 14 pts + 7 rebs (3/4 2p, 2/6 3p, 2/2 ft)

Biella did it again. After knocking Roma out of the playoffs last season, Biella beat them again on the road after an  overtime.  Smith and Aradori confirmed being a good scoring duo, but Roma played horribly and missed too many free throws. With this loss they've got a record of just 2-3.

Cantù – 74: Jer. Green 17 pts (4/4 2p, 1/2 3p, 6/6 ft), M. Markoishvili 15 pts + 4 asts (4/8 2p, 1/4 3p, 4/5 ft), N. Mazzarino 12 pts (2/5 2p, 0/4 3p, 8/9 ft), M. Leunen 11 pts + 9 rebs (4/6 2p, 1/4 3p), B. Ortner 11 pt + 5 rebs (5/9 2p, 1/4 ft)
Teramo – 69: R. Hoover 13 pts (4/6 3p, 1/2 ft), G. Jurak 10 pts + 5 rebs in 18' (4/4 2p, 0/1 3p, 2/2 ft), G. Poeta 10 pts (2/6 2p, 2/5 3p), D. Diener 10 pts (0/4 2p, 3/6 3p, 1/2 ft)

Still without Othyus Jeffers, Cantù found a way to win their four straight game. Once again Teramo stumbled in the final minutes of the game, missing shots and making bad choices. Poeta is not performing well and the main impression is their coach Capobianco still has to work a lot…

Varese – 74: G. Galanda 19 pts + 8 rebs + 4 asts (6/8 2p, 2/4 3p, 1/1 ft), S. Cotani 16 pts + 5 rebs (3/6 2p, 2/3 3p, 4/6 ft)
Avellino – 91: DeM. Nelson 27 pts + 6 rebs + 4 stls (9/13 2p, 1/3 p, 6/6 ft), Dee Brown 17 pts + 8 asts (3/6 2p, 2/9 3p, 5/6 ft), F. Dylewicz 16 pts + 9 rebs (6/8 2p, 1/1 3p, 1/2 ft), S. Szewczyk 11 pts + 7 rebs + 1 blk (3/5 2p, 1/4 3p, 2/2 ft)

Varese had all kinds of problems (Slay and Morandais injured plus other players hurt), but once again Avellino really impressed with their fast-paced spectacular basketball. After a slow start, DeMarcus Nelson is now showing not only remarkable offensive skills, but also an all-around attitude, even if the leader of the team remains Dee Brown, no doubt about it. So, Avellino remains at the top as the only undefeated team alongside Siena (5-0).

Standings:

*Cremona and Napoli have a game less.
** Napoli has been penalised with the deduction of 2 points

Author: Pierluigi Iliceto

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