Italbasket, honorable defeat to Jokic’s Serbia

©Getty Images

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.

You may also like...