Coach Gianmarco Pozzecco’s Italbasket takes to the court in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to face the Pre-Olympic tournament and hunt for one of the last four spots still available for the Paris 2024 Olympics. The Azzurri will face Bahrain and the hosts Puerto Rico in the preliminary round: the top two teams will face their counterparts from the other group composed of Lithuania, Mexico and Ivory Coast in the knockout phase. Whoever reaches the end of the tournament will get a pass to Paris.
Italy-Bahrain, the LIVE-Blogging of the match
Italy beats Bahrain with ease, living up to the predictions, and is already in control of the passage to the knockout phase. The Azzurri will return to the field on the night between Thursday and Friday to face the hosts Puerto Rico, with first place in the group at stake.
114-53 FINAL RESULT – Another bomb by Bortolani pulled out of nowhere. Nice basket by Caruso on a back-line. Bortolani scores again on a floater and goes up in double figures in the fourth quarter alone.
107-53 al 38′ – Three-pointer with space for Bortolani to push Italy to 100. Polonara easily taps in on an assist from Bortolani. Three-pointer from Mannion to close out a beautiful team play by the Azzurri. Then Caruso recovers the ball at midfield and dunks in the open field, forcing Bahrain to call another time-out.
97-53 al 36′ – Polonara scores on the counterattack, Hamoda responds with pure physicality in the low post. Isa’s triple in transition after a turnover by Bortolani. Abass scores again from the half-corner.
93-48 al 34′ – Beautiful basket in a twist from the half corner by Abass. Bahrain interrupts the Italian partial with Hamoda from the medium. Ricci responds with a three-pointer from the corner. Asan also scores from the half corner amidst the jubilation of the poor San Juan crowd. Another free throw for Caruso: 1/2, while Asan gives a perfect assist to Isa.
85-42 al 32′ – Caruso, who has just entered, immediately enters the scoresheet: basket in approach, then 2/2 at the free throw line. Ricci scores again on a counterattack on a touch assist from Mannion from another recovered ball. First points also for Bortolani: three-pointer in the open court, and time-out for Bahrain.
76-42 END OF THIRD QUARTER – Mannion’s no-look for Ricci, who finally manages to get going. Chism’s first high-flyer in the low post against Abass. Mannion serves another assist for Ricci’s roll, then closes the third period with an elegant runner at the buzzer.
70-40 al 28′ – Tap-in by Petrucelli on a mistake by Ricci from mid-range. Then a splendid no-look assist by Pajola for Gallinari. Bahrain returns to score from the arc again with Haji, but continues to leave the area unguarded and Mannion takes advantage of this to easily lay it off.
64-37 al 26′ – Hamoda shows his physique against Polonara in the low post. Melli responds by dunking again in the heart of the area. Then a perfect assist from Melli for Petrucelli’s cut on the baseline. Bahrain’s defensive returns are completely off, and Spissu takes advantage again in transition. Time-out for our opponents.
58-35 al 24′ – Polonara flies to dunk on the break from a steal for the Azzurri. Nice basket by Zee Hamoda in a pull-up from mid-range. The Bahrain area opens up for an easy central penetration by Tonut. Spissu taps in on the break after another steal. Haji has warmed up his hand and scores his third triple of the evening.
52-30 al 22′ – The third quarter opens with a triple by Polonara. Hamoda scores a layup, immediately replied by Polonara. Then a triple by Zee Hamoda.
At halftime, Italy shoots 11/20 from two (55%), 5/15 from three (33%) and 10/13 from free throws (77%). They have a 25-14 advantage in rebounds with 7 offensive, and have 5 turnovers with the opponents’ 8. The top scorers are, with 12 points, Nicolò Melli (5/5 from two) and Danilo Gallinari (3/3 from three). Stefano Tonut follows with 8 and Awudu Abass with 7.
47-25 END OF SECOND QUARTER – 2/2 in the free throw line for Zee Hamoda. Nice basket by Tonut in penetration after a great team action by the Azzurri. Then Tonut scores again in a counterattack, and-one. Free throws for Spissu: 1/2. The quarter ends with a trip to the free throw line for Rashed: 2/2.
41-21 al 18′ – Hamoda scores a half-corner kick. Unsportsmanlike foul on Polonara on an offensive rebound: 2/2 free throws. Bahrain runs out of bonus and sends Abass to the free throw line: another 2/2. Another terrible defense by Bahrain on a throw-in, Melli dunks.
35-19 al 16′ – Another bomb by Gallinari (3/3), which Haji responds with a lucky long-range shot. Italy misses a cut by Azzam and pushes coach Pozzecco to call a time-out. Italy comes back with another assist by Gallo for an and-one by Melli. Then Gallo again in the low post: turn on the baseline and dunk!
27-14 al 14′ – Mannion recovers and dunks on the counterattack, extending the break to 8-0 at the start of the second quarter. Azzam puts an end to the Azzurri partial by scoring in the next action. Then comes the first triple of the evening for Bahrain with Haji.
25-9 al 12′ – Gallinari opens the second quarter with a three-pointer from the tip. Then a very easy basket by Abass, lost on a throw-in from the baseline in the heart of the area. Free throw for Gallinari: 1/2.
19-9 END OF FIRST QUARTER – Abass’s corner triple, just entered the court. Zee Hamoda breaks free on the break, Gallinari responds from the arc. The quarter ends with a 3/3 from the free throw line by Ali Rashed.
13-4 all’8′ – Tonut’s triple from a throw-in. Then a free throw for Spissu: 1/2. Gallinari’s field, who immediately makes his mark with the assist for Melli’s dunk.
7-2 al 6′ – Bahrain scores its first points after more than 5′ with Chism. Melli responds by laying in from the low post. Chism, however, already commits his third foul, and that’s great news for the Azzurri.
5-0 al 4′ – And-one by Melli in central penetration, also good the additional libero. So far, a very modest match.
2-0 al 2′ – The start of the game was very frenetic and with several errors. Italy broke the deadlock with a cut basket by Petrucelli.
0-0 – Let’s begin! – The first possession is managed by Bahrain.
This is the starting five chosen by coach Gianmarco Pozzecco: Spissu, Tonut, Petrucelli, Polonara, Melli.
Bahrain has passed the Asian Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament, beating its group of Saudi Arabia, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Syria with a clean sweep of 5-0. It occupies the 67th position in the FIBA ranking, while Italy is 13th.
These are the 12 Italians chosen by coach Gianmarco Pozzecco to attempt to qualify for the Olympics: Marco Spissu, Nico Mannion, Awudu Abass, Stefano Tonut, Danilo Gallinari, Nicolò Melli, Giampaolo Ricci, Giordano Bortolani, Guglielmo Caruso, Achille Polonara, Alessandro Pajola, John Petrucelli.
Friends of Eurosport, greetings from Daniele Fantini and welcome back to Italy-Bahrain, the opening match of the Pre-Olympic tournament for our national team.
Pozzecco: “Focused on the Pre-Olympic, being a coach is the best”
