Gianmarco Pozzecco enjoys success against Turkey
Gianmarco Pozzecco enjoys success against Turkey
The journey to the FIBA World Cup, which for the Azzurri will kick off on August 25 at the Philippine Arena in Manila against Angola, begins with a smile. In fact, Trento greeted the success that coach Pozzecco’s team achieved tonight at the BLM Arena against Turkey at the end of an overtime (90-89) with an extraordinary crowd. On Saturday they return to the court at 8:30 p.m. to face China in the finals (live SkySport), which today overcame Cape Verde 86-66 (Yongxi 18, Almeida 20).
Top scorer was Simone Fontecchio with 21 points, for Turkey 23 points and 20 rebounds by Omar Faruk Yurtseven.
Coach Pozzecco’s analysis at the end of the game: “It was a good night. The guys are training hard and despite the fact that only a few days have passed since the start of the gathering we have already built a well-defined team identity. This is thanks to our veterans, whom I thank, and the spirit of all the younger guys. It was a tough test, Turkey is ahead of us because they have to play in a few days. Marco Spissu is the most sorry of all for what happened but then in the overtime he was decisive in the most delicate moment.”
Marco Spissu’s words: “It was the first game, after 10 days of training: we take this victory in front of a beautiful audience and restart from the things done less well to improve again in the next outings. For example, we have to help each other in rebounding because we know we have smaller size than many of our opponents. My shot at the end of regulation? Pure instinct, certainly a levity that I will not repeat again but certainly a feat like Kabaca’s is seen very very rarely.”
The enthusiasm of the 3,576 at the BLM Arena propelled the Azzurri to a brilliant start: Fontecchio’s triple opened a first quarter of absolute quality, during which Poz got the answers he wanted. Polonara effective at offensive rebounding, Melli engraved in both halves of the court and Italy on offense turned out to be a perfect machine in the first 4′, in which they put up 18 points.
As the minutes went by physiologically the percentages dropped and the first quarter went into the archives on 25-24, not before cheering Fontecchio’s alley-oop (12 in the first 10′) and a resounding stoppage by Tonut. The second quarter was shaken by the three-point play of Spagnolo, beloved by the Trentine public, and by the first triple by captain Datome: a solid team well coached by Ataman, Turkey, and so for the Azzurri the first test was also valid on a physical level after just 11 days of training.
The Poz’s rotations were wide, space also for a “green” quintet that featured Spagnolo, Procida and Momo Diouf on the court. Fontecchio’s triple was worth the first double-digit lead (43-32 at 16′) and at halftime it went to +11 (49-38) despite the deficit in rebounding (14-26).
The Azzurro fasting in the first 3 minutes of the third quarter allowed Turkey to put together a 12-0 run and get back in front (49-50) but immediate came our reaction, with Spagnolo’s free throws to bring us back to +7 (61-54). Italy remained in control of the score even in the fourth period but failed to close the account early: a knee sprain took Ozdemiroglu out of the game and at 6 minutes the Azzurri were facing 70-63. Kabaca’s free throws were worth -4 with 2′ to go before the buzzer, and then it was Kabaca himself who stamped the incredible tie at the edge of the buzzer with a shot from 25 meters.
In the overtime Turkey frightened us with Korkmaz’s two triples (80-85), Spissu and Polonara did the stitching and then Tonut materialized yet another overtake on the counterattack. Closing a heart-stopping game was Polonara himself from the lunette. A true, throbbing game won in front of an exceptional crowd. Good job.
