Fortitudo challenges Cantù in game 5: decisive for the playoff semifinal

Head and heart, but also an extra Gabriel. Down 2-0 in the series after the double defeat suffered at PalaDesio, the Fortitude he had the strength, but also the courage and the desire to impact the quarter-final series against Cantu and reverse a verdict that after the first two games seemed favorable to the Brianza team. In the decisive moments of the season the PalaDozza has confirmed itself as an impregnable fortress. The warmth of the crowd and the advantage of a home field advantage that has always been decisive up to now, as before the start of the playoffs captain Matthew Fantinelli had underlined, has made the difference so far. tomorrow in the decisive 5 race It will be up to Fortitudo to turn the tables and give Effe the victory that would mean the semifinals, starting on Saturday. A semifinal where, in the same part of the scoreboard, Rieti has already qualified after beating Urania Milano 3-0. Returning to tomorrow's decisive game 5, after the balance between two teams in the first 4 matches of the series, the pressure is now all on Cantù's shoulders, who have the duty to exploit the advantage, so far as mentioned proven decisive, of playing in front of their own fans, at the PalaDesio. In a game 5 that promises to be very hot, the nervousness factor will certainly be added to the technical-tactical factor, for a match that, as the protagonists on both sides have often recalled, has the feel of an early playoff final. Mentally, the two teams will arrive at tomorrow's match in a decidedly different way. A Fortitudo charged up after the two victories at the PalaDozza will take to the field.

The performances of captain Fantinelli and the America duo kenny gabriel-Deshawn Freeman they dragged Attilio Caja's team, but as confirmed by the coach from Pavia, it is expected that tomorrow others will also be able to contribute to giving a hand in the offensive phase. Fortitudo will start again from its defense capable of stopping Cantù's attack with great efficiency thanks to its intensity and the physicality that Freeman and his teammates have put on the parquet.

On the other side of the fence, Effe will face an angry Cantù. Brianzoli angry with themselves for a few too many mistakes and that in the end may have affected the outcome of the match. Brienza after game 4 confirmed that the team must raise its level on all fronts, but he also underlined how he was very angry with the referees, even if he highlighted how the defeat did not come for this. On the other side, Caja instead took an objective figure as a reference, that of the fouls whistled 27 against Fortitudo, 19 against Cantù, numbers that speak anything but of a home refereeing: the dialectical skirmishes in view of tomorrow have already begun.