Italy Gianmarco Pozzecco hugs Niccolo Melli in the post-game press conference after their loss to United States in the Fiba World Cup.
MANILA, Philippines—Gianmarco Pozzecco and Niccolo Melli entered the post-game interview with an obvious aura of disappointment after their demoralizing 100-68 loss to Team USA in the 2023 Fiba World Cup quarterfinals at Mall of Asia Arena on Tuesday.
Pozzecco remained calm and collected despite his wards being manhandled by the Americans in the knockout phase. Melli, however, had not been that good at keeping his composure in check.
He didn’t want to make it obvious, of course, bowing his head and casually wiping his nose all the while but the microphone in front of him made it known that he was, indeed, on the verge of tearing up.
Before the conference’s mediator opened the floor for questions, Pozzecco gave Melli a concerned look trying to assess the situation.
After a few more seconds, he realized the situation and did whatever a good mentor would do. He stood up, ignored the number of people watching and hugged his student to console him.
“[This] reaction of Melli means everything to me. There is nothing else to tell you… You know which kind of person, which kind of players, which kind of mentality we showed everybody to the world in this tournament.
Melli, a former San Antonio Spur, churned out five points and nine rebounds but that hardly put a dent in the Americans’ attack.
‘CALABRONE’
Italy coach Gianmaro Pozzecco. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
Pozzecco likened his team’s run to the quarterfinals–a first in 25 years–to that of the path of “calabrone,” a bumble bee.
With Team USA losing to Lithuania, Italy ran right smack into one of the tournament favorites with an all-NBA lineup that had dominated the group stages by sheer talent.
“There is one little animal that cannot fly…” the tactician said, looking around the room for members of the press who would know the English word for calabrone. “You understand me?”
“Ah, bumblebee. My players are saying that they won’t make it here, but they didn’t know, so we still came here, [turns out] best eight teams in the world.”
“We cannot fly, we didn’t know but they did. That’s amazing. They didn’t deserve it. They didn’t deserve to play against America because we were first in our group. My players were first in the group.”
RESPECT FOR HIS PLAYERS
Italy exits the Fiba World Cup in the quarterfinals. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
Pozzecco, always dressed to the nines and jumping animatedly on the sidelines during games–has been a class act the entire Fiba World Cup. He also has gotten the attention of Filipino fans with his intense admiration for boxing legend Manny Pacquiao.
He is open to talking about his love for his players and he doesn’t shy away from showing affection.
That love and praise he has for his players didn’t diminish one bit even if the Italians exited the Fiba World Cup, despite a good group stage showing, with a 32-point beatdown at the hands of the U.S.
“I loved all my players before the game but now even more. I respect them more,” he said.