
Hello everyone! After the first four games of the competition, I have to say that
I'm very happy for our performance so far. Before starting the season, I think
nobody thought we would be able to get three wins in a row (losing the
fourth game just in overtime), especially since we played against powerhouses like CSKA,
Caja Laboral and Maccabi Electra! Nobody around the team is able to explain the
difference in our abilities in the Euroleague games as opposed to Italian League games, but it probably has something to do with the name of the opponents, their tradition, and the level of concentration we place on the Euroleague games. By the way, I did not play the last game against Maccabi because I was injured a few days before in one of those Italian League games, against Biella at home in PalaLottomatica. I jumped too high for a rebound and coming down I sprained my left knee. I have to remain sidelined still for the next three weeks!
The next time we play in the Italian League against Biella, I will ask Coach Gentile not to play me because I was injured playing against the same team during the 2008-09 season when I broke a finger!
We started our Euroleague season with Caja Laboral at home. We played a great
game, and we probably surprised them. They did not expect us to play so
team-oriented and with great intensity, but we showed ourselves to be solid and we won
the battle under the glass despite a lot of experts saying we don't have the
size to be competitive at this level.
A week later we travelled to Moscow to face the 2009 Euroleague runner-up. In this case, it was easier because we did not have any pressure on us! Many teams
go to Moscow first of all to contain the difference. We played a good...
ANGELO GIGLI - ROMA, ITALY
novembre 19, 2009