Gianmarco Pozzecco stays in Italian NT: 'His way of coaching struck me' / News - Basketnews.com

The president of the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP), Gianni Petrucci, confirmed that head coach Gianmarco Pozzecco will stay in his position. The operative did not blame Simone Fontecchio for his two missed free throws and compared him to Maradona and Pele.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

After delivering a top-five upset in modern EuroBasket history in the Round of 16 of EuroBasket 2022, Italy got eliminated in the quarterfinal by France. However, the end result did not change the opinion of the Italian Basketball Federation.

Italy / Schedule

Serbia Italy86-94 France Italy93-85

The president of the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP), Gianni Petrucci, gave an answer about the national team's performance this year to Corriere dello Sport.

"Positive balance for the performance and the enthusiasm generated. A bit of bitterness remains for the outcome of the match against France but we cannot blame any player or staff, the one that deserves the win not always wins," Petrucci said. "We need to go ahead on this path, [Romeo] Sacchetti has smoothed it out and Pozzecco is continuing in the best possible way, it is 100% confirmed, his way of coaching struck me."

Simone Fontecchio missed two clutch free throws at the end of the game against France which could have sealed the game. The mistake ultimately allowed the opponents to tie the game in regular time and win the battle in overtime.

However, Petrucci did not want to place any blame on the future NBA player. Instead, he offered a bold comparison with two of the greatest football players in history.

"Fontecchio? He missed the decisive free throws, it's true, but how many penalties did Ronaldo and Maradona miss? The sample size is even wrong," the president told.

Petrucci was happy that the national team was able to reach the result it did without Daniel Hackett on the roster and wondered why he wasn't called up to the squad. It is worth noting that Hackett announced his retirement from the national team in 2019.

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