AFTER TWO years without a break, Marco Carraretto could finally catch his breath. He didn’t have a chance during the summer when Pianigiani called him to the Nationals and he got high quality court minutes in that jersey. “The All Star Game break was important for us,” the Italian admits to MSB TV microphones. “Playing two games a week got us to the point where we were just really tired. Having a few days to recover was surely important. It’s normal to lose your pace after a couple of weeks without games.” He continues, “But we’ve recovered from an athletic standpoint with a lot of practices running, and we get back to playing this week, in practice too, to get back into game mode – with the clock and decisions that have to be made during the game.” THE SPOTLIGHT is on Euroleague’s playoffs, but first there’s Teramo. “It’s true. In general, attention is on Athens. However, the game Thursday against Teramo is also very important to us. We built our first place by facing every game as if it were a final match. So I think we need to prepare for Thursday as best as we can. After so much time without playing ball, it could be harder than predicted. In any case, they’re a highly motivated opponent: they need points to save themselves.” And after two weeks without games, the desire to get back to playing, and most of all winning, has contaminated the entire team.
|