Italbasket, honorable defeat to Jokic’s Serbia

Italy-Serbia 86-90

A beautiful Italy came out narrowly defeated against Serbia (86-90) in the first semifinal of the Hamburg Supercup. If the knockout against France in Montpellier had marked a step backward as said by CT Pozzecco, the defeat against the Serbs marks instead a clear improvement on the way to the official competitions in late August and early September.

Tomorrow, Saturday, Aug. 20, the Azzurri will face at 4 p.m. (live Sky Sports) the loser of the Germany-Czech Republic match, currently being played in Hamburg.

Italy, without Gallinari (sprained right ankle injury) and Amedeo Della Valle (rotation) starts strong from the beginning, dictates the pace, scores a lot, defends but is forced to suffer the comeback, in the last minute of the game, of an extremely long and extremely talented lineup, for sure a candidate for the title of European champion. A defeat that stings because of how it happened but that can only be a stimulus for the Azzurri, who in just five days will be called upon to win against Ukraine in Riga to mortgage qualification for the 2023 World Cup.