Italian Federation president Petrucci warns Pozzecco: 'Italy cannot dirty its image' / News - Basketnews.com

Italian Federation President addresses coach Gianmarco Pozzecco's behavior vs. Dominican Republic: "You don't lose a game because of the referees. It's a wrong mentality. ... I won't tolerate this."

Credit: FIBA, Zuma Press – Scanpix Credit FIBA, Zuma Press – Scanpix

Italian NT head coach Gianmarco Pozzecco once again caught the attention of the media on Sunday due to his ongoing struggles with technical foul issues. This matter has persisted since the emotionally charged FIBA EuroBasket 2022 held last September.

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During Italy's second game in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 against the Dominican Republic, Pozzecco faced yet another ejection, resulting in the team's eventual defeat against Karl-Anthony Towns and company.

Italian Basketball Federation president Gianni Petrucci appeared to be frustrated with this behavior.

"To all the coaches, I said that I don't want to see any more episodes like the one we saw yesterday. You don't lose a game because of the referees. It's a wrong mentality," he underlined to Italian journalists in Manila, via Sportando.

"The Dominican Republic won the game because they played better than us. As a team, we always need to accept the result of the court," Petrucci continued. "Referees always make mistakes, but that's not why we lost the game. We have an image of ourselves that we need to protect, and I told the coaching staff, I won't tolerate this behavior."

Pozzecco was gone with 2:20 to play until halftime, as he was punished with the second technical foul.

"What happened yesterday is different from last year's FIBA EuroBasket 2022," the executive said. "Pozzecco is an extraordinary person from every point of view. He is the first to be sorry, and he realizes it. He is a good coach, and this doesn't change, because you lost a game. But we can't lose like that, because we are a federation with a good image: we are respected all over the world, or at least I think so."

Before leaving, Pozzecco gathered his players on the court and offered words of encouragement. He then hugged Dominica's coach, Nestor Garcia, and exchanged high-fives with players from the opposing team.

"But when you exaggerate, you exaggerate," Petrucci went on to say. "It's not a youth match. It's a World Cup, where you could qualify for the Paris Olympics. The image is the main thing of a national team, and Italy cannot dirty its image. The coach is convinced of it, I told him clearly.

"The coach is aware of what he has done. He is an intelligent person," the federation's president added. "His character leads him to have these reactions. We lost a game that can be lost: the Dominican Republic is a strong team, and they also beat Argentina.

"It's not so much about the defeat. I repeat, it's the attitude that shouldn't exist. Pozzecco has many positive sides. I don't want to show that he is the only one responsible, but certainly, these things cannot happen."

Italy is scheduled to meet the Philippines in the last First Round game on Tuesday.

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