1971–72 Serie A (basketball)

Preseason

Holders Ignis Varese were seen as the favourites to retain their title, with habitual rivals Simmenthal Milano - whom they had beat in a title playoff game the previous season - as challengers. Ambitious teams Forst Cantù and Splügen Venezia could take a few points off the leading duo but were not considered as strong enough to join the title fight.

A Nikolić coached Ignis had kept all their major players, with star Mexican Manuel Raga complemented by Italian internationals Dino Meneghin, Ottorino Flaborea, and Ivan Bisson among others. The addition of Tony Gennari and Marino Zanatta (both from Mobilquattro Milano, the re-sponsored All'Onestà) had created an abundance of star players in their squad, something ironically seen as their only potential weakness.

Simmenthal, coached by Cesare Rubini, had virtually kept the same squad yet were seen as more potent, with combative American Art Kenney settled in and youngsters Giulio Iellini and Mauro Cerioni more mature.

Regular season

Simmenthal's title hopes took a dent when they lost 69-67 away to Forst Cantù during the fourth round, leaving Ignis as the only undefeated team at that stage. When the two met in Varese on 9 January 1972, Simmenthal was already in a do-or-die situation, trailing the leaders by four points (having lost again in between, to mid-table Norda Bologna led by league top scorer John Fultz). Ignis' 62-57 win in a nervous game characterized by poor shooting from both sides (Bisson and Renzo Bariviera top-scoring for their respective teams with 16 points each) led some observers to already declare them champions, with their now 6-point lead seen as insurmountable.

However, the same month, Pierluigi Marzorati and Carlo Recalcati helped Cantù end Ignis' four-year invulnerability at home with an 84-83 overtime win that made that claim less certain. Soon after, the leaders lost by a single point again, this time to Venezia after two overtimes, to see their lead on Simmenthal reduced to only two points.

That gap remained the same until the penultimate round game between the two freshly crowned European champions (Ignis winning the Champions Cup and Simmenthal the Cup Winner's Cup) played on 26 March 1972 in Milan. Contrarily to the previous encounter, the game was reportedly an entertaining affair, Cerioni neutralised a diminished Raga defensively whilst adding 18 points to a vindictive Kenney's 21. Meneghin's 28 points were not enough for a Varese missing the injured Bisson, as they were undone 77-72 to concede their hold on first place. Both teams comfortably won their last round games, which meant they finished as joint leaders, making a one-off playoff game at a neutral venue necessary to decide the title.

Standings

Source: Lega Basket

Individual scoring table

Source: unofficial statistics compiled by the Giganti del Basket magazine (official statistics started from the 1975–76 season).

Title playoff

The title-deciding playoff game was played in Rome's Palazzo dello Sport on 4 April 1972 in front of more than 15,000 people. Raga, having returned to fitness, scored a game-high 25 points, with Meneghin adding 22 points for the defending champions as Varese led by 9 points in the first half. Despite this, a team-effort by Simmenthal's mayor players such as Kenney, Giuseppe Brumatti and captain Massimo Masini allowed them to get back in the game, with the teams tied on 60 with only 29 seconds left to play. Barivera scored twice in succession to allow Milano to win the closely contested game and the league title for the first time in five years.

Italian Cup

Simmenthal completed the domestic double over Ignis, beating their rivals 81-77 in Turin to lift the cup. As both teams were already qualified for the 1972–73 European Champions Cup (Milano through the league and Varese by winning the 1972 edition), the spot in the European Cup Winner's Cup was given to Mobilquattro Milano after they beat Forst Cantù 84-83 in the third-place game.

Championship-winning squad

Source: Lega Basket