Cantù returns to Serie A after 4 years, coach Nicola Brienza's gift to his city: "It was such a big dream that I was almost afraid to think about it"

“For Cantù , for my city ”. Returning to the origins to complete a challenge after four years – and 1946 days – of illusions and failed attempts. Nicola Brienza dragged Cantù out of a limbo called A2 to return to the top step of Italian basketball . “A dismembered apple that came together perfectly” the coach told ilfattoquotidiano.it . Between metaphors and a sense of belonging, a “Pantani-style” climb.

A long and intense season. Mentally, how hard was it? The playoffs were extremely grueling. The tension is always very high: when you have the adrenaline peak – as happened in the last few days – then you are calmer, you relax and then you have time to think back to the season. We are tired, but clearly happy: imagining and remembering where we started exactly a year ago and understanding where we have arrived today is incredible, I can say that a lot of water has passed under the bridge.

Have you always had the belief that you could reach the finish line? Honestly, I have always been convinced that we would return to Serie A, but I say this without bravado: seeing the team on a daily basis, I knew the problems and where they arose. The fan sees the result, but we – meaning the coaches and staff – have months of work within which you have a perception of how things are going, you know the moods of the players and what they do. Precisely for this reason I have never had doubts. Then we could have also lost but not because we were not ready. Even when we lost five consecutive games – which actually affected our race for first place – I knew exactly why we were unable to win. At that moment we were good at maintaining focus.

Would Nicola, as a child (and from Cantù), ever have imagined he would win something for his city? When I was a child my dream was to play for these colors: I went to Pianella on Sundays, I saw the champions of Serie A who trained before me, so I had that dream. Then when I started doing this job - so we're talking about more than twenty years ago - the idea of ​​being able to give something to my city was so distant and so big that I was almost afraid to think about it. Today I have succeeded: it is a pride that I will be able to say I have for the rest of my life.

You had the opportunity to coach players who won a lot. What did you learn from them, both professionally and personally? How stimulating was it to lead this group? This year was a challenge from all points of view: it was the first time I had such an important roster at my disposal both in terms of length and experience/quality; in all the other situations in which I worked - from a certain point of view - I had rosters 'a little more to discover than to manage'. This year's group gave me a lot: when you train players of this caliber you have to be good at stealing situations and their ideas that are the result of an important experience. At the same time, as a coach, I have to keep the team firmly in place: they let themselves be guided, and I appreciated that a lot.

In this successful year, how important were the people who worked “behind the scenes”? I was lucky to find and choose people here in Cantù who followed and accompanied me all year. There was the daily life in which the figures of Michele Carrea, Mattia Costacurta and Matteo Cara (the technical staff) were fundamental: we were like a dismembered apple that came together and built itself perfectly. Then there was the field staff led by 'Sam' Bianchi and the staff that I call away staff where our photographer and social media manager Walter Gorini and the press officer Andrea Brenna came. They had the ability to fit into a context that worked parallel to theirs during the week: they made our trips pleasant because a relationship was created that went beyond the professional aspect. The team perceived this climate of sharing: this relationship protected us each other even when things didn't go as we would have liked.

Apart from the promotion against Rimini, what was the best moment of the season? The victory at the last minute against Cividale thanks to Valentini's triple took away the performance anxiety that we had in a period in which we were unable to win. However, paradoxically, the highest moment of the season was the defeat in Udine: it was a beautiful match. Obviously losing is never nice, but that was the match of awareness because we were recovering after a negative moment and we went to face a team with great confidence and first in the standings. I returned from the PalaCarnera aware of finally being a distant relative of what we were ten days earlier. The progression of those weeks was perfect: after coming out of the negative period against Cividale, we played the best match of the season in Udine and shortly after we won the Coppa Italia.

Which match would you like to replay instead? Against Pesaro (90-67). I always think about how we lose games and try to understand where each defeat comes from: in that situation we were not very present mentally. It was the game where with a clear mind you think: 'today we really sucked'.

To whom do you dedicate this success? To my entire family. They are always close even when I am away from home, but they have suffered much more from my daily ups & downs . When you live under the same roof in the morning they see if you sleep badly, if you are more nervous than usual. They are always there and are always willing to listen to me, to cheer me up when I need it. And that is not a given.

Imagine this season as a movie: a title, a cover, and the main actors. Undoubtedly the title is “La risalit”. For the cover I imagine a mountain road going uphill and the people who are close to you and pushing you. I have always been a great cycling fan: the most beautiful thing is the warmth of the fans who wait for everyone, really everyone. Not just the first one. I like to imagine our Eagles (the Cantù curve) on this road who never fail to support us. The main actors in the end are my boys: as in every sport, we would all like to be that player who decides the match for you. Me, the director? I just push and encourage those who take to the field, but the real effort is up to them. For this, I can do nothing but thank them.