The tournament starts in the best possible way Pre Olympic dell’Italiawhich respects the prediction and easily beats the Bahrain at Coliseo de San Juan with a score of 114-53The Azzurri will return to the field Thursday, July 4th at 8.30pm local time (2.30am on July 5th in Italylive DAZN, Sky Sport Max, Now) to face the hosts Puerto Rico, without a doubt the most complicated match in Group B. Bahrain and Puerto Rico will instead meet on July 3 at 8.30pm local time (July 4 in Italy, 2.30am).
First match also in Group A, with Lithuania having the better of Mexico with a score of 96-84 after a balanced first half. 21 points for Grigonis, 18 for Ibarra.
The top scorers of the evening were Danilo Gallinari and Nicolò Melli (14). Achille Polonara (13), Awudu Abass, Giordano Bortolani and Guglielmo Caruso (11) and Stefano Tonut (10) also scored in double figures.
Thus the CT Pozzecco: “At the beginning of the game I was a little nervous because we were not playing well, which we then started to do. We have great respect for all the opponents we face and tonight it was the same. Happy that the boys played for 40 minutes with aggression, putting pressure and doing exactly what we had prepared. Now we look forward with confidence and think about Puerto Rico. We are here for a dream and we want to make it come true.“.
The gap between the two teams is wide and goes well beyond the ranking (Bahrain at number 67 in the world rankings). Coach El Hajj’s team, Lebanon’s coach at the World Championships in the Philippines, pays the price on a physical and technical level, managing to battle in some way only with the naturalized Wayne Chism. Melli dominates, Abass and Gallo score three-pointers and the first quarter ends 19-9 for the Azzurri.
Not much changes in the second quarter, with Italy leading the operations. Bahrain tries but Pozzecco’s boys are on the ball and patiently take off going into the break at +22 (47-25). Gallinari and Melli in double figures, both with 12 points.
Polonara opens the third period with a bang: his 7 consecutive points are however watered down by a couple of flashes from Hamooda, perhaps the best of his team. The score is not affected, however, always firmly on the side of the Azzurri (62-37 at the 25th). The gap widens further to +34 with the 76-42 that introduces the match to the final period. The CT extends the rotations also giving space to Guglielmo Caruso and Giordano Bortolani, who quickly enter the scoreboard. The Asians try to shake things up in the final but the Azzurri easily exceed the 100 point mark and close the contest. Now it’s time to focus on Puerto Rico, the first real watershed of the tournament.
The +61 is the largest gap ever recorded by a National Team in a Pre-Olympic tournament. For the Azzurri it is the fourth largest gap ever inflicted on an opponent after the +79 of 1976 (vs Ireland), the +66 of 1987 (vs Switzerland) and the +64 (vs Georgia) of 2005.
The scoreboard
Italia-Bahrain 114-53 (19-9, 28-16, 29-17, 38-11)
Italy: Spissu* 6 (2/3; 0/2), Mannion 9 (3/5, 1/2), Abass 11 (3/4, 1/3), Tonut* 10 (3/5, 1/3), Gallinari 14 (2/3, 3/3), Melli* 14 (6/6, 0/1), Ricci 9 (3/7, 1/2), Bortolani 11 (1/1, 3/4), Caruso 11 (4/4), Polonara* 13 (4/7, 1/4), Pajola (0/1 three-pointer), Petrucelli* 6 (3/3, 0/2). All: Pozzecco
Bahrain: Buallay (0/1, 0/1), Chism* 4 (2/3, 0/2), Haji* 12 (0/1, 4/13), Rashed 5 (0/1, 0/1) , Isa 5 (1/1, 1/6), Hasan S. (0/1 to three), Azzam 6 (3/4, 0/2), Melad*, Hamoda* 10 (5/6), Hamooda* 9 (2/4, 1/4), Hasan A. 2 (1/3). All: The Hajj
It is due to Ita 34/48, Baht 14/25; It is located 11/27, at 6/30; Its release is 13/16, but 7/8. Matches: 45 (Polonara 8), 21 (Chism, Azzam, Hamoda 3). Assist Ita 39 (Spissu 7), Bah 13 (Hamooda, Hamoda 3).
5 fouls called: none
Referees: Yohan Rosso (France), Carlos Peralta (Ecuador), Rabah Noujaim (Lebanon)
