By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
Ettore Messina’s second tenure at the helm of the Italian national team didn’t gone as planned. The “Azzurri” failed to make the Olympic Games, even though they hosted the qualifiers in Turin. At home, playing in front of thousands cheering for them.
The defeat in the OQT Final by Dario Saric’s and Bojan Bogdanovic’s Croatia certainly hurt the 57-year old coach who had hoped to steer his guys to the tournament of Rio. “I can’t deny I took it very badly. It was one of the hardest hits in my career.”, he confessed in an interview for Italian newspaper La Repubblica. But I’ve had fortune in my career, I’ve been privileged. I’ve coached excellent teams and players. Overall, if I have achieved more wins than disappointments, I know that I have to be grateful to those that have allowed me these successes.”
“All defeats in sport are painful. One morning you get up, you understand it has passed and you pull up your sleeves in order to do your work even better. That day came for me and it helped me to see the lads at the Paralympics. If life continues for them, for us it should be a minimum effort to continue.”, he added.
Italy carries enormous pools of talents in its ranks. Established NBA-ers, Euroleague superstars, young yet quite experienced players. The squad has everything to hope for a success in the Eurobasket 2017. But will Messina be there to lead them from the bench? “Well I was a coach of the national team until September 30. But I will remain as such after that date, if things go as they should.”
Meaning? “The idea is to continue in the national team. But I must have the okay from my club, the San Antonio Spurs, first in light of the tasks that my coach Gregg Popovich has. If they are in agreement, I will immediately get to a meeting with the Italian basketball federation. They have honored me with their offer to coach the team at EuroBasket 2017. I think the issue will be resolved in a few days.”