Gianmarco Pozzecco warns Italy: ‘It will be complicated’
The words of Gianmarco Pozzecco on the eve of Italy-Portorico
A rainbow quarterfinal is missing for Italy since the 1998 World Cup, an edition in which Gianmarco Pozzecco also took the court. In Greece, it was the United States that stopped the Azzurri’s run (77-80), who a few days earlier had beaten Puerto Rico 68-62 guaranteeing themselves access to the quarterfinals.
Well, 25 years later, Italy is asking the way again to Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (10 a.m. Italian time, Rai Due, Sky Sport Summer, NOW, DAZN) to get into the shortlist of the world 8 best teams. No matter how many points off, a win is needed. Instead, it will be necessary to wait for the outcome of the match between Serbia and the Dominican Republic (another in/out) to know the final placement of the Azzurri in Group I: in case Serbia wins, it will be first place; otherwise, second place.
"Ité will be complicated – said CT Gianmarco Pozzecco at the end of the morning training session – because ité now è become complicated to play against everyone. There are no more affordable teams and every opponent è capable, in one way or another, to put you in trouble. Therefore, we are even more proud of the path that has brought us this far. We want to continue dreaming. As for Gigi, tomorrow’s will be an historic and well-deserved achievement for him. I am happy and honored to have been part of his professional".
"We will have to play our game– said Marco Spissu – and not think about the game against them in Ravenna. Every year the level is getting higher and higher– and we can never relax. There are always surprises and no outcome è is a foregone conclusion. Not only in our round. The World Cup è soì".
Tomorrow’s will be a special night, the umpteenth, for Captain Gigi Datome, who will celebrate presence number 200 in the national team. A historic milestone reached so far by only 10 athletes in the entire history of Azzurro basketball: Marzorati (277), Meneghin (271), Brunamonti (271), Galanda (215), Basile (210), Bariviera (209), Magnifico (208), Villalta (207), Riva (207), Vecchiato (201). A parterre de roi in which Gigi deserves to be by virtue of his 21 summers spent running and scoring for the national team (19 consecutive) since as far back as September 13, 2001, the day he wore his first Under 14 shirt. Playing against Puerto Rico, Gigi will collect his presence number 320 with all the National Teams (Bronze Under 20 in 2007 and Bronze Under 18 in 2005): an absolute record. Since his debut in the Senior, Italy-Croatia in Bari on June 2, 2007 with Recalcati on the bench, he has played two editions of the World Cup (2019, 2023) and 6 editions of the European (2007, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2022).
First, forò there’è to beat Puerto Rico and if Italy’è is still in the running è also thanks to "100 seconds of fire" propro of Datome against Serbia. So much è elapsed from when he entered the court to when he finished an 8-point spree with an opening dunk and two triples. From 62-51 to 62-59 that revived Italy by propitiating the rabid comeback and final victory.
The Puerto Ricans surprised everyone by beating the Dominican Republic 102-97 starting as underdogs and thus earning the’opportunity’to be able to advance to the quarterfinals by beating Italy itself. Leading the "Boricuas" è Tremont Waters, 1998 point guard among the World Cup’s top scorers so far with 21.8 points per game average and a high of 37 points just against the Dominicans (7/13 from three).
The Puerto Ricans’ path so far has followed a similar trajectory to that of the Azzurri: second in the group behind Serbia with 2 wins and one loss, the team coached by Nelson Colon experienced its sliding doors at the debut, when&negrave; they were able to retake a match practically lost against South Sudan closing it then in their favor only after an overtime (101-96).
The record against the Azzurri speaks of 17 wins and only 2 losses since 1963 but recently the paths have crossed numerous times. The last one a few days ago in Ravenna, in Datome’s last match in Italy (98-65 Italy). Even earlier during the Pre-Olympic in Belgrade in 2021 (90-83 Italy). As many as 7 of the previous 19 have been played during a World Cup and the balance è of 6 wins and one loss (in the 1963 Rio de Janeiro edition, 72-75). The’last one in Wuhan in 2019, an irrelevant match since both teams were already eliminated (94-89 after an overtime). A previous one right in Manila, the opening match of the 1978 World Cup, ended 90-83 for the Azzurri with 24 points by Captain Renzo Bariviera. It will be played at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
