Playoffs, Forlì ‘loses’ home factor The game will be played on Monday in Chiusi. The company is not there

by Simone Casadei

After days in which the 2015 basketball playoffs were shrouded in a cloud of great uncertainty, the first important news arrived yesterday evening from the club in viale Corridoni. Race 2 was skipped to all intents and purposes, for obvious temporal reasons, today’s evening, and the scenario that seemed more probable then materialized as the hours went by: the reversal of the fields for the second and third round of the series . It is the same forced decision that Faenza also had to resort to, in Serie B, which announced the move to Ruvo di Puglia (the PalaCattani, however, is occupied by families affected by the flood).

Forlì and Chiusi will therefore return to the field in Tuscany, at the PalaPania, for match 2. Match to be played on Monday, with a tap-off at 20.30. As anticipated, the series will then continue in the Siena area: match 3 is played on Wednesday evening, again at 20.30. At that point, in the event that Unieuro – currently ahead 1-0 after last Sunday’s victory – has not already closed the series, they will return to via Punta di Ferro. Respecting the canonical 72 hours of detachment generally observed when the fields are inverted. Game 4 would in fact be staged on Saturday 27 at 20.30, then any race 5 on Monday 29 (20.30).

The National Basketball League (Lnp) has not yet communicated anything in this sense, but it is clear that the dates of the semifinals will also have to be recalibrated. Paradoxically, Game 1 is currently scheduled before Game 5: Sunday 28. When recalculating the dates, pay attention to one last ‘detail’: the football season ends – as do the player contracts – on 30 June. And the possible final match 5, for the Gold board, is scheduled for Wednesday 21 June.

Staying with current events, for Basketball 2.015 the inversion of fields sounds like a joke. The concrete risk, in the event of a knockout, is to even find yourself with your back against the wall, down 1-2 in the series, without ever having lost within the friendly walls. On the contrary, if Cinciarini and his companions were to close the accounts on 3-0, the Forlì-based club would also lose an important home collection. Race 2 tickets have already been sold, moreover (there was the promotion with the playoff shirt as a gift).

It is no coincidence that the decision was digested with difficulty by the red and white managers, who this afternoon, with a press conference convened at the Unieuro Arena, will make their reasons heard. The president Giancarlo Nicosanti, the members of the Fondazione Pallacanestro Forlì 2.015, the general manager Renato Pasquali and coach Antimo Martino are announced. An official statement anticipates the content: “In recent days we have acted with a single objective: to allow the fans, who have followed the team with great passion throughout the season, to be able to attend match 2 at the Unieuro Arena, at their home Faced with the serious situation in which the city finds itself today, the club hoped for greater understanding to avoid moving the series to Chiusi”. On the positive side there is only the extra time for the red and whites to train after several days off.

A curiosity. The format envisaged is the same adopted in the top flight in the 1996 championship final. The home factor was always respected (perhaps it will be a good omen for Unieuro) but this meant that Treviso, even with the home factor, found itself 1-2 down after the two consecutive away games. This formula was not liked and since then it has never been adopted: instead it is up to Forlì to experience it.

Meanwhile, the playoffs are going on without Forlì. Tonight we play match 3 Cividale-Udine. In the other series of the Gold draw, Fortitudo took 1-1, beating Cento in game 2 (74-88). In the silver draw, Nardò and Piacenza (this one after extra time) avoided elimination in game 3 against Cantù and Pistoia respectively. The third quarter was sensational with a 25-3 run in favor of the Apulians. Treviglio took the match point by defeating Rimini 72-81 (1-2).