Montepaschi Anxious about Carter

La Nazione

A NASTY situation in casa Montepaschi. Josh Carter was injured the day before leaving for Milan. The club’s press release reads as follows:  “The player sustained an injury to his right thigh during practice. His condition will be evaluated in the next few hours.”   That’s a troublesome situation, seeing as though the bus leaves at 8:30 this morning for Milan, where they’ll be holding a final practice late this afternoon.  It’s too soon to throw your hands up, but it’s clear that this problem upsets Marco Crespi’s plans a little. Except for the Maccabi Haifa game, Josh Carter’s performance has not been at top level in recent weeks. The last two championship games his score from the arc has been pitiful: 0/5 against Reggio Emilia and  0/4 in Bologna against Virtus. But the American player is always a constant point of reference for opposing defense. It’s no random thing that for he was the Italian Championship’s best shooter for long stretches of the first round. If his injury keeps him out of the game tomorrow (jump ball 1pm, live on Raisport and gazzetta.it), Mens Sana would have one less important option on offense. Virtus Roma certainly isn’t doing much better, as they communicated yesterday they they have “consensually ended Jordan Taylor’s contract. The decision was made necessary by a re-occurence of a hip problem that emerged this summer, and now no longer allows him to continue with regular sports activity.” So, it’s a tricky moment this eve of a game that kicks off the Coppa Italia Final Eight. Mens Sana is heading into it with five consecutive wins in the event, another record among records.   And they’ve done it with many teams, two of which were completely different. First, there were Simone Pianigiani’s teams, then there were Banchi’s triumphs with leaders Brown and Hackett. Almost no one’s left except for on the coaching staff and, obviously, the people in the office. Benjamin Ortner and Tomas Ress are the only two returners from the adventure in Milan last year. Their job is to infuse their teammates with the excitement capable of bringing in a Coppa Italia win. Even just the first game.

f.c.