By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
An emotional Gianmarco Pozzecco praised his players’ efforts in the 2022 EuroBasket after Italy’s elimination in the quarterfinals with an overtime loss to France.
“I’m really proud of my players,” Pozzecco said. “You saw the game. Everybody saw the game. Of course, congratulations to France. They never gave up.”
“I love my players,” Pozzecco then mentioned. “I can stop coaching tomorrow and my life doesn’t change. What they showed in the tournament is something amazing. They fight from the first day in every fucking practice to achieve their goal. And everybody has to respect this. Everybody. Everybody. How they give 100 percent, everybody has to give 100 percent. I’m suffering for them. I’m suffering really. Not for myself. I told you I can stop practicing now. I want to watch my players continue to dream. I’m really proud of them. We showed the best basketball in the EuroBasket.
“In one moment you could watch the difference between us and everybody else,” Pozzecco added. “And then you watched my players and you’d be like ‘Oh my God’. Just because they [Italy players] have really big balls.”
Pozzecco was asked about Simone Fontecchio who lost two free throws that could’ve sealed the win for Italy in regulation in the last seconds. The new Utah Jazz player went 0-2 from the line with 16 to play and his team up 75 – 77.
“It can happen,” Pozzecco said. “A couple of days ago. Cedi Osman is a huge player, an NBA player. It can happen. One time I was with Bane Prelevic. You know him. And he told me, when I was so upset after a game we lost against Virtus and I missed some shots. And he told me. How many shots are you going to miss in your life? How many shots did you miss until today and how many you’re going to miss in the future? And I tell him, I don’t know… 5000? Yeah, so? This is our life. This doesn’t count. It’s how you play that’s different. The connection you have with basketball. The love for the game that you go.
“Fontecchio will be in NBA in one month and he’ll be a monster, you’ll see. I’m suffering for him because he doesn’t deserve it. But OK. He’s a strong, tough man. He won’t sleep tonight but tomorrow or in a few days, he will understand what he did in this European championship. He’s the MVP by far.”
Italy captain Gigi Datome also spoke in support of Fontecchio. “I want to mention that without Simone we wouldn’t be here today. Whoever blames him isn’t with the spirit of the game.”