By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
MANILA, Philippines – Italy is part of one of the four do-or-die games scheduled for today in both Manila and Jakarta, as they must beat Puerto Rico to advance to the Quarter-Finals, where they will face one between Team USA and Lithuania.
Before the encounter, coaching staff member and former national team playmaker Giuseppe Poeta spoke to Eurohoops about the upcoming clash with the Caribbean team. Earlier, though, he took some time to comment on the last feat completed by Italy, beating Serbia for the third straight year.
Commenting on the game against Svetislav Pesic’s squad, the 38-year-old former point guard had nothing but great words. “It was a beautiful night, the guys proved to have guts. 90% of teams in those physical-mental conditions, with Serbia playing wonderful basketball, being tired and down by 16 points, would have left that there. Instead, this team, dragged by its leaders, had the strength to deliver another amazing result. We take and put it in the books among the best games of this national team”, he said.
Going on to comment on Puerto Rico, he headlined the most dangerous player on their roster, who was named Player of the Game by FIBA after delivering a winning performance of 37 points, 7 rebounds, and 11 assists to lead his team against the Dominican Republic. “We must stop Tremont Waters, who produced almost 60 points against the Dominican Republic between scored and assisted. He and Howard are surely the most talented players who can light up. They run the floor and score a lot from three. We need a great effort and mostly forget the friendly game played in Ravenna”, Giuseppe Poeta added.
Continuing on Puerto Rico, the former Virtus Bologna player recalled the game played against them on August 13 in Ravenna, celebrating Gigi Datome‘s last game in Italy. “They arrived one day earlier, and tomorrow it will be a completely different game. They’re in rhythm, with different players available. Jordan Howard, for example, wasn’t there. It will be a completely different game than the one in Ravenna”, he said about that 98-65 win.
This will once again be an intense battle on a physical note for the Italian national team, after facing Nikola Milutinov’s Serbia and Karl-Anthony Towns’ Dominican Republic. “The physicality is growing, both with the years passing and as the time passes in the competition. The farther you go, the more physicality you find in 99% of the cases. We are already in the second round, bodies start to be huge in the 3, 4, and 5 positions. Puerto Rico is an absolutely competitive team. They proved it by scoring more than 100 points against the Dominican Republic”, he added.
Finally, Gianmarco Pozzecco’s coaching staff member pointed out which are the teams that intrigued him he most so far. “We are mainly focused on our group and situation, but looking around I never had doubts about Latvia making it thus far with such an excellent coach like Luca Banchi, who I had the pleasure to work with in Torino. They are even putting the bar higher than expected”, he commented on Latvia.
Then, he moved to the favorites. “Germany is playing really well and they have high self-confidence: they can put anyone in trouble. I’m leaving out of this conversation Canada and Team USA, who in my eyes are the favorites for the gold. Not to mention Slovenia, Luka Doncic in an unreal body shape. They’re displaying such a high-quality basketball”, Poeta stated.
PHOTO CREDIT: Ciamillo-Castoria
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