ITA - Blatt, Benetton desperate for wins to avoid drop

TREVISO (Lega A) - Benetton Treviso coach David Blatt has appealed to his players to give their all as the club fight to avoid relegation for the first time.

Sunday's 78-67 home defeat to league leaders Montepaschi Siena saw Treviso fall into Lega A drop zone - one point adrift of Air Avellino, Siviglia Wear Teramo and Bipop Carire Reggio Emilia with four rounds remaining.

"We must focus only on things which we can control," said Blatt.

"My players must go on the court looking to win, being solid and concentrated for the entire 40 minutes.

"The rest doesn't depend on us, we must try to win as many games as possible."

Benetton are living a nightmare.

They won last year's title and despite losing key players and front office personnel, continued to win with 18 victories to date from 30 games.

The club had ran into trouble when they signed Erazem Lorbek in January on loan from Unicaja Malaga.

With Lorbek, they won the Coppa Italia.

But it was later discovered that Lorbek's arrival had put them over the limit of registered players allowed per team.

After an investigation, Italy's basketball bosses meted out a 12-point deduction for the club.

Treviso appealed, only to see the deduction increased to a further three points.

With the bottom two sides falling into Lega Due, Blatt's men will be looking to finish the season with wins against Climamio Bologna, Bipop, Livorno and Napoli.

FIBA