Tortona come into their first home Eurocup game on the back of two defeats, and the problem is at the back. The coach and the guard both say the defence and the rebounding have been poor since the season started, and that is exactly the kind of weakness an athletic, open-court team goes after. That is what my read of this match turns on.
The heavy loss in Rome shows it. Roma won 108-70, Tortona's biggest margin of defeat since they came up to Serie A, and the rebound count was 43-21 by the end. Before that they lost their Eurocup opener in Riga 86-84 on a basket at the buzzer, even though the market had them as clear favourites. Two rotation players, Eboua and Di Meo, are still out, so the group that struggled in Rome is the group that plays this match.
Le Mans bring a different profile. Their side presses, runs, and leans on young scorers: Stewart has been scoring around 29 in league games, Ajinca is next, and Grasshoff has chipped in too. They scored 103 in overtime at Gravelines and 101 against Paris, a game they lost by two. Their Eurocup opener at Aris went the other way, 87-74, with 16 turnovers, so they are not flawless, and their big man Thomas is doubtful after missing the last two games.
Tortona do have things going for them. They shoot better than Le Mans over the box scores I have, and a first home night in Europe is real motivation. But the sample is small, and what the club itself describes as the main issue is defence and rebounding, not shooting. In this matchup I would rather trust that structural problem than a bounce-back story.
