Nicolo Melli on Italy's group stage finish: 'We qualified from the worst possible position' / News - Basketnews.com

Nicolo Melli talked about reaching 100 games with Italy and his team's chances against EuroBasket Round of 16 rivals, Serbia.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

Having lost to Greece and Ukraine, Italy knew that regardless of the outcome of their clash with Great Britain, their fate had been predetermined.

As Croatia beat Ukraine, essentially forcing a three-way tie, EuroBasket Group C hosts would end up in fourth place. It's not ideal, but it's still a finish that allows them to compete in the Round of 16 hosted in Berlin this weekend.

One of Italy's oldest members, Nicolo Melli, celebrated 100 games with the Azzurri jersey on Thursday night. The crowd in the Mediolanum Forum was not as big as it had been in the games against Italy and Croatia, but still, the moment holds a special significance for the 31-year-old forward.

"It's a beautiful feeling, even if you're realizing that you are getting older," Melli told reporters in the mixed zone.

"But it's nice, anyway. My 100th game with the national team isn't to be taken for granted. I'm glad I've managed to reach that milestone. Let's see how many more games I'll get to play."

Italy is set to face Nikola Jokic's Serbia next Sunday in the O2 Arena.

Melli is hopeful that his Italian NT resume will include another four games by the end of next week. That would mean that Italy will go all the way to the EuroBasket final.

"Let's hope I make them 104 next week. Let's take it game by game from now on," the captain of Olimpia Milano said.

Melli has no intention to embellish Italy's overall performance and results in the group stage. The hosts took easy wins over Estonia and Great Britain, held off Croatia in the closing minutes, and showed a competitive face against group favorites Greece. Their 3-2 balance isn't bad, but it's not something to brag about.

"We should be honest with ourselves," Melli clarified.

"We qualified from this group finishing in the worst possible position. But it's also true that we ended up here due to two unfavorable results. Estonia lost by very few points to both Ukraine and Croatia. That didn't help us."

Melli thinks Italy "paid a heavy price" for their mistakes in a single game, the one against Ukraine.

"In my opinion, we've made a great run this summer. Let's build on it and try to face the game with Serbia as best we can," he added.

In early July 2021, Italy celebrated a heroic and historic qualification for the Tokyo Olympics, beating hosts Serbia in Belgrade. The Olympic Qualifying Tournament final game was the high point of Italy's run last summer, but Melli can't see a clear pattern going into another fixture with Serbia.

"Everything has changed," he pointed out. "Last year, we were able to do certain things, but now, you have two different teams, with different coaches. So, I don't think we can rely on last year's win," he pointed out.

In fact, the real game-changer for Serbia in this EuroBasket has been Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets' big man is averaging 19.6 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 4.4 assists in Serbia's first five games in the tournament. In contrast to Italy, the squad coached by Svetislav Pesic hasn't even come close to losing a game.

"There's Jokic, Micic, Guduric, Kalinic, Lucic, Milutinov. I can go on and on," Melli commented on Serbia's depth chart.

Credit FIBA

This is Nicolo Melli's fourth EuroBasket, after the 2013, 2015, and 2017 versions. The former Pelicans big man is averaging 11.4 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Although Group C was by no means the toughest Italy could find themselves in, Melli thinks that every contest matters and no loss will go unpunished.

"We learned that we can't lose any games. This applies to every team, not just to us. This EuroBasket is a high-level competition and from now on, there are no more games that you are sure you're going to win.

Maybe ten years ago, some teams were easy to play against. It's not like that anymore," he stressed.

Although no one can say whether Italy will return the favor to Serbia for their 86-90 defeat in Hamburg on August 19, Melli is sure about how he felt during the one-week-long preliminary tournament. Born and raised in Reggio Emilia, but now living in Milan, he's not too keen on leaving the fashion capital and the noisy crowd of the Forum in order to spend an entire week in a place where Italy will be one of the visiting teams.

"The emotions we felt in Milan at the end of June are beautiful. They are different emotions, all special.

When the Forum is full, the atmosphere is truly unique. We tasted it twice in this group and it helped us very much. We will definitely miss this arena when we go to Berlin," Melli concluded.

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