Yesterday’s defeat in Brescia is the 13th of the season for the Virtusout of a total of 23 official matches played.
One defeat came in the Super Cup final, two in the championship and ten in the Euroleague. The peculiarity is that many of these came in a sprint: eight defeats within 5 points of margin, often wasting advantages in the final, as happened last night when a +8 with 3′ to go was not enough to bring home the victory .
Coach Banchi, some time ago, spoke about “curse”. In the endgame there is no “safe” man to go to to try to resolve broken game situations. Furthermore, there is no player designated to take the decisive shots, which time after time fell into the hands of Pajola, Belinelli, Diouf, and last night Hackett. It is evident that the team is very fragile from a mental point of view, and that the one who was supposed to be the designated leader – Clyburn – is unable to be so. Even last night, after a good game, the former Efes switched off in the final minutes and first allowed Burnell two triples, then he fouled the three-pointer which effectively decided the game.
