Heavy victory in Georgia for theItalbasket from Marco Spisso. The Azzurri beat 84-85 the Georgia and thus mathematically earn the 2023 World Cup to be held in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines. It will be the second consecutive world championship, something that hasn’t happened for 32 years. In the very tight final some offensive choices of the Sassarese were decisive, who closed the game with 15 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds.
The race
Spissu started as a quintet, together with Petrucelli, Ricci and two other former Dinamo Sassari players such as Vitali and Tessitori. The Azzurri immediately found a good offensive rhythm, this time also from the arc, thanks also to some choices in defense, with precise doublings on Georgian longs and trying to limit Shengelia. After a first quarter closed ahead on +5 (19-24), Italy reached the maximum advantage at the beginning of the second period going up +8, but Georgia remained in the wake thanks to some flashes from McFadden. During the second 10′, Italy lost Nico Mannion due to a questionable technical foul called for flopping which, after the unsportsmanlike action in the first quarter, meant expulsion for the Virtus Bologna play-guard. A complex first moment for Pozzecco’s men, resolved by a heavy triple from Spissu that kept the team’s nerves steady, with Italy then finishing ahead in the first half 40-43.
Back on the pitch, the national team built the new +8 on the Spissu-Tessitori axis. A small illusion extinguished by the increase in Georgian defensive intensity and poor shooting accuracy. Sanadze and Shengelia thus first brought their team back into contact and then put their team forward (58-57), before Italy with a new effort also closed the third period ahead on 58-60 with an important triple from Baldasso. In the last period, Italy opened with a loss by Spissu, with Georgia which on the other hand gained strength from its public. Shengelia first and Berishvili then dragged the hosts to +4 (71-67). Pozzecco thus decided to change the score, trusting Severini and choosing to change on every block. An idea that later turned out to be decisive, as well as that of giving Spissu a breather before the final minutes, when the Sassarese took charge of the team by putting two decisive triples and putting Ricci in rhythm for 79-85 with 33” to go. A turnover and two missed free throws by Pajola, author of a great game but not very cool at the decisive moment, risked reopening the dispute in the last seconds of a match which however saw the Azzurri come out victorious after a mistake in a shot by Shengelia caused by Severini.
Marco Spissu’s test as leader who, despite a complex moment at the beginning of the last period, came back to hurt when it mattered most. These are his words to the Rai microphones at the end of the match: “We are ready, but above all we deserved it. It was a tough game, in the end we had little energy but we brought it home with our heads and hearts. We are very happy, now we rest because we are devastated“.
Georgia: Andronikashvili 4, Jintcharadze, Tsintsadze 11, Shermadini 14, Sanadze 14, Korsantia, Berishvili 11, Bokolishvili, Shengelia 15, McFadden 13, Bekauri 2, Londaridze. Coach: Zouros
Italia: Spissu 15, Vitali 11, Petrucelli 5, Ricci 8, Tessitori 15, Mannion 6, Pajola 6, Severini 5, Baldasso 3, Biligha 11, Moraschini, Caruso. Coach: Pozzecco.
Matteo Cardia
