Shortly before the gang caught him the three folders. One grabbed Gianmarco Pozzecco’s foot, the other two an arm each. Sent off by the referees for two technical fouls just before the end of the third quarter, the Italy coach tried to get back to his side in the spirit of triumph. But security had a firm grip on him, and Pozzecco remained motionless on the gang, eyes wide.
Eventually his players noticed him and ran towards him, a blue cluster of huge, hooting basketball players formed, the three folders were gone for a moment. Only after hugging and kissing everyone he could grab did Pozzecco let himself be led back into the belly of the Berlin Arena.
It was the happy end of an already spoiled working day at this European Championship for the Azzurri coach, too impulsively he had cried, scolded, suffered on the sidelines. As soon as he was sent to the dressing room, he hugged every player, then a few officials in the stands, before sneaking away in tears. At this point, there was a strong fear that Pozzecco would have to make his way home to Italy after the game – in the round of 16 against the big favorites Serbia, there were many indications that the tournament would be over. The Serbs acted too confidently, they marched through the preliminary round too well.
The highly talented Serbian side once again had to put up with a disappointment
Things turned out differently, the Italians turned the game around in the last quarter and won sensationally with 94:86 points. Now they are next Wednesday (5.15 p.m.) against France, second at the Olympics, in the quarter-finals, the big favorite for the title has to leave.
Nicolò Melli, who celebrated two Bundesliga titles and a cup win with Brose Bamberg in 2016 and 2017, could hardly believe it: “Honestly, I don’t know what happened there. On paper, we were clearly the worse team, but everyone contributed, everyone fought. We played with heart and we played for our coach.”
He still didn’t know what to do with his feelings. “My players fought, on the field, on the bench. It was tough, crazy, emotional, I love my players.” Pozzecco was so flooded with endorphins that during his analysis he posed like a boxer, fists raised, pinching a journalist’s cheek. Then, with appropriate pathos, he said: “It was perhaps the best game by an Italian national team.”
Even Giannis Antetokounmpo, Greece’s NBA star, got a dose of Italian exuberance as he walked into the arena and crossed Pozzecco’s path. He jumped into his arms, clung to the 2.11 meter giant like a child and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. Which Antetokounmpo accepted with a big grin.
Traveling home instead of a medal: Nikola Jokić, the NBA’s most valuable player, loses his round of 16 against Nicolò Melli and Italy.
(Photo: Annegret Hilse/Reuters)
On the field, however, the Serbs dominated for a long time, led by Nikola Jokić, who plays for the Denver Nuggets and was named the NBA’s most valuable player for the second year in a row. The Serbian center scored 32 points and caught 13 rebounds, all of which was not enough against unleashed Italians. Jokić is by no means the only top player in the squad, playmaker Vasilije Micić was voted the best player in the Euroleague, contributed 16 points, and until the final phase one had the impression that the Serbs could improve if necessary. But the passionately fighting Italians scored too well, Marco Spissu sank four threes in a row in the last quarter and became the top scorer with 22 points.
Serbian coach Svetislav Pešić, who led the German team to their only European Championship title in 1993, took note of the drama on the sidelines in a strangely unemotional way by his standards. He, too, was obviously of the opinion that his highly talented selection could somehow lead the game to a happy ending.
The 73-year-old successful coach, who won a European Championship trophy (2001) and a World Cup title (2002) for Yugoslavia, was brought back by the Serbian association after the disappointments of the past few years in order to finally lead them to a title. Now, visibly touched, he had to state that his players simply weren’t fit enough: “Italy moved the ball well and hit all the important shots. To prevent that, you need fresh legs, which we didn’t have.” The tournament in Jokić, considered by many to be the best basketball player in the world, lost a move number.
The Italians, on the other hand, want to confirm a trend in their game against the French: the truly large number of NBA players are by no means a guarantee for victories.
