By Michalis Gioulenoglou/ info@eurohoops.net
Limassol, Cyprus –Gianmarko Pozzecco and Italy are thinking of the Eurobasket Round of 16, and despite missing Achille Polonara, his spirit guides the team.
This is not just something theoretical. It’s totally practical, and coach Pozzecco explained that the only time Polonara missed the phone call before the game, the team lost.
Fighting back tears, Poz talked about his player who was diagnosed with myeloid leukemia, and he is currently hospitalized: “We miss a lot Achille Polonara, and usually Stefano Tonut is also with us. Of course, Tonut has an injury and he is not with us, but Achille is different, everybody knows that now he is in the hospital in Valencia. It’s not easy for us to think about him. We call him… I called him before the game against Greece, one hour before the game, and I said Achille, I will call you back 30 minutes before the game with all the guys in the locker room. And then I called him, and he didn’t answer. I don’t know why, and we lost the game. And then I called him before the game against Georgia and told him that he had to answer. And he answered. Then against Bosnia, the same, and today the same. So we are 100% when he answers the phone before the game. And that’s something that maybe you can think is just a coincidence. That’s not true”.
Speaking about the game and Spain, Pozzecco added: “Congratulations to Spain for playing this game; they played really tough, and in my opinion, they are the best team in Europe for the last 20 years. They are playing right now with young guys, so all my support to Sergio (Scariolo), even if he doesn’t need it, because he is one of the best coaches in the world”.
And of course, the Italian coach didn’t forget his players: “And last one, congratulations to my players. We started down 13, and the problem is not this, but we didn’t score for seven minutes. I played basketball and happened to me once or twice, because you completely lose your confidence, but those guys never gave up, and we qualified, and now we go to Riga”.
Photo credit: FIBA