The Azzurri debut against Greece: physicality and experience to break the quarter-final taboo that has lasted 22 years

Since winning bronze in 2003 with Recalcati, followed by Olympic silver the following year, Italbasket has been unable to cross the Columns of Hercules of the continental quarterfinals. If a taboo has lasted 22 years, breaking it may be desirable but not predictable. It is certainly one of the objectives, to regain that podium that gives a different meaning to a generation. That is why surprising Europe, and perhaps even themselves, is the mission this summer for Pozzecco’s Azzurri at the European Championships, which tip off today in Tampere and begin tomorrow for Italy against one of the big teams, Greece—this time at full strength—which gave us some food for thought in last Friday’s final warm-up game.
Aware that they are not starting in the front row, and perhaps not even in the second row, the goal of returning to the medal podium stems not only from the ambitions that a movement with our tradition must have, but also from an awareness of the path taken, bringing to Eurobasket a group that is a careful mix of veterans, young players on the rise, and players in their prime. For many, this could be the summer of maturation, not only in terms of age but also in terms of a leap in quality in their careers. After maturation, the second key word is athleticism. “An athleticism that I don’t remember we ever had,” said Datome, who has been playing for Italy for 18 years. Diouf, the center of the future who had been missing for years, then Niang, Procida, Spagnolo, but also those like Akele and Pajola who have more mileage, bring a physical presence that is the hallmark of this team so as not to abandon Fontecchio to the loneliness of being too easy a target for opponents. This is the register with which this group has proven to give its best, given that, beyond Gallinari’s last dance, there is no doubt about the energy brought by captain Melli, the praetorian Spissu, and the other veteran Ricci. If there are those who have walked on eggshells so far, starting with Thompson but not only, for many it is first and foremost a test of personality.

opponents—  Whether or not this is Poz’s last, for these guys it is not the beginning of a new era but the culmination of Pozzecco’s work, in his fourth summer as coach and second European Championship: the previous one, in 2022, ended – easily – in the quarterfinals. In between, there was eighth place at the World Cup, Italy’s best result in 15 years, and qualification for the Games missed at the Pre-Olympic tournament by a couple of wins. Hopes for a podium finish will be played out from Riga onwards, but the path to the best match-up in the round of 16 will be built immediately. Having established the need to avoid stumbling against host Cyprus and Bosnia, which, without Musa, has only center Nurkic as its star, in addition to the familiar faces of Alibegovic (Trapani) and Halilovic (Sassari), the goal is to get past Georgia, which, around the rock Shengelia, who left Virtus as the championship leader, has big bodies (Bitadze from Orlando, former Biella player Mamukelashvili from Toronto, and even the 217 cm former Cantù player Shermadini) led by a point guard like former Trento player Baldwin, who proved himself at European level in Vitoria. And then there are the big teams. Even above reigning champions Spain, playing their last dance with Scariolo, a deep collective already capable of winning three years ago in the post-Gasol era but now also missing the newly Milanese Brown, the most ambitious is Greece with Giannis and his brothers: around him a caliph like Sloukas, then Dorsey, Papanikolaou, Mitoglou, and the tall Samurodov ready to explode. Like many of the Azzurri. And the fuse is Poz.