Coach Paolo Moretti at the end of Giorgio Tesi Group Pistoia-Openjobmetis Varese:

“This was a date that from the time I saw it there on the calendar, frankly as it approached, I wish I could have shut my eyes on Saturday night found myself awake on Monday morning. It was a whirlwind of emotions and very strong feelings and all I can do is thank everyone for the wonderful welcome, which was much more than I could have expected. Special thanks go to the public, the boys on the Curve for the banner, which is exactly what I would have done for them, for the club and for all Pistoia. Speaking of the game, I first congratulate Vincenzo Esposito for everything he is doing and that he has done tonight. The most important thing as manager is to see what the team is like on court, and in this sense, Pistoia is everything a coach wants. It was a game full of emotion and events, despite the problems that the two teams had. The end result rewarded Pistoia, but for us, at a time as complicated as the one we are experiencing, coming here and staying in the game until the last second means that we did well and that was our game plan . We had to do a little magic, shuffling the deck to try to do our best right to the end and cling to the game. Unfortunately, it had been a tough week for us, and we were not able to train to the best of our abilities and where we just could not put in that little extra that would be needed tonight to get the energy and clarity we needed in the final. We knew that to have any chance of victory we had to keep up the pace with a low score - we managed very well, especially in the first part, but then we got to the end with too little clarity and freshness to make the winning move. Too bad, because I honestly believe that we could have even taken home the two points and maybe we would have deserved it - this indeed is our moment. We must stand tall and look at what's in store in the near future.”