Pre-Olympic: Italbasket’s opponents unveiled

Pre-Olympic: Italy in Group B with Puerto Rico and Bahrain

The Mies urn has given its response: if Italy wants to make it to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, it will have to do so via San Juan. In fact, the Azzurri have been included in the Pre-Olympic Tournament that will be played in Puerto Rico from July 2 to 7 next year.

The first step will be Group B, which will feature challenges to the hosts of Puerto Rico and Bahrain. The top two ranked teams will play the semifinals and possibly the finals by crossing the path of the two best teams in group A, the one composed of Lithuania, Mexico and Ivory Coast. The winner of the Tournament will join the 8 teams already qualified (France, Germany, Serbia, Canada, USA, Australia, South Sudan and Japan) at the Olympics.

For the first time in its history, the national team will play in Puerto Rico.

Technical Commissioner Gianmarco Pozzecco commented on the draw this way: "It’ really difficult to be able to understand, today, what the real values are on the court in July. We have learned that over the years. We will be able to make more accurate evaluations when we have certainty about who we will have at our disposal, us and our opponents. The thing that è certain, as of now, è that we will do everything to achieve a very high goal: the Olympic Games. We can’t wait to meet again and take one more step forward. Together".

The schedule will be announced later.

The 4 Pre-Olympic tournaments

Puerto Rico (San Juan)
Group A
Lithuania
Mexico
Ivory Coast

Group B
Puerto Rico
Italy
Bahrain

Spain (Valencia)
Group A
Lebanon
Angola
Spain

Group B
Finland
Poland
Bahamas

Greece (Piraeus)
Group A
Slovenia
New Zealand
Croatia

Group B
Egypt
Greece
Dominican Republic

Latvia (Riga)
Group A
Georgia
Philippines
Latvia

Group B
Brazil
Cameroon
Montenegro

Track record against our opponents

Puerto Rico
20 games played (18 won/2 lost)
8 games played in the final stages of the World Championship (7 won/1 lost)
The first: World Cup, May 24, 1963 (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), Italy-Portorico 72-75
The’last: World Cup, September 3, 2023 (Manila, Philippines), Italy-Portorico 73-57
The widest win: Friendly, August 13, 2023 (Ravenna, Italy), Italy-Portorico 98-65 (+33)
Heaviest defeat: Goodwill Games, July 28, 1994 (St. Petersburg, Russia), Italy-Portorico 80-94 (-14)

Lithuania
31 games played (12 won/19 lost)
9 games played in the final stages of the European Championship (9 lost)
2 games played in the final stages of the World Championship (1/1)
The first: European Championship, May 3, 1937 (Riga, Latvia), Italy-Lithuania 20-22
The’last: Qualif. World 2019, February 25, 2019 (Klaipeda), Lithuania-Italy 86-73
Widest win: Friendly, December 1° 1999 (Trieste), Italy-Lithuania 80-64 (16)
Heaviest defeat: Friendly, June 8, 1992 (Athens, Greece), Italy-Lithuania 94-116 (-22)

Mexico
10 games played (5 won/5 lost)
The first: Olympic Games, August 12, 1936 (Berlin, Germany), Italy-Mexico 17-34
The’last: Pre-Olympic Tournament, July 9, 2016 (Turin, Italy), Italy-Mexico 79-54
The widest win: Intercontinental Cup, May 21, 1977 (Ancona), Italy-Mexico 115-83 (+32)
Heaviest defeat: World Cup, May 29, 1967 (Mercedes, Uruguay), Italy-Mexico 60-78 (-18)

Ivory Coast
2 games played (2 won)
1 game played in the final stages of the World Cup (1 won)
The first: World Cup, July 8, 1986 (Malaga, Spain), Italy-Côte d’Ivory Coast 98-62
The last: Friendly, July 31, 2019 (Trento, Italy), Italy-Costa d’Avorio 69-58
Widest win: World Cup, July 8, 1986 (Malaga, Spain), Italy-Costa d’Avorio 98-62 (+36)

No previous record against Bahrain.