Zurab Talakvadze

Gianmarco Pozzecco: best coach of Eurobasket so far

You never know, how and when will Italy will conclude this Eurobasket. The team is relying on unusual suspects. The team is playing most unsuperstarish basketball on the tournament. And, the team nears then big and deserved good bye to the legend, Danilo Gallinari. This team is built to undress your feelings and calmness. And, this team has one real rock star. And, we are not talking about Simone Fontecchio. The one true leader of this suicide squad is no lee than the Head Coach.

Gianmarco Pozzecco.

Do you actually remember a player-Pozzecco? Stylish, extraordinary, pulsating and always playing on the edge point guard, who was Europe’s Jason Williams? Well, sometimes, even more flashy and out of his mind, that Jason himself? Pozzecco was dictating the tempo and alongside other greats of his generation, he was the star. Basketball was like a madmen’s podium for Gianmarco. He was killing the opposition with his unreal passes and if he was playing today, Pozzecco would have been an ideal role model for Philipp Plein. He was Plein brand representative in sports before Plein started to deliver mass madness in fashion world.

Pozzecco controls the pulse of this team. Pozzecco feels the rhytm of passion for Italy. He takes timely time outs and coming after the short conversation with the head coach, Italy is killing the other team. Italy is ready to die on court, to sacrifice the good for the better. And this is what Gianmarco does. He is the ideal head coach for Italy. Not to say, that his NT career was too decorated. Italy was never a serious contender on any given tournament. Itali was always near the top, but always below it as well.

Italy lost only one game at this Eurobasket. To Greece, or should we say, To mighty Giannis The Freak. Other games were not always pretty, but often – predictable. Cyprus was happy to host the tournament, but in reality was the weakest team among all. Spain had the change of guards and often lacked the real stars. Georgia was sensational, but Italy always edges Georgia. On any given day. Bosnia did not play well and lost the battle of crunch time. So, all good, all won for Italy.

But the real challenge was to give this bunch of players a team spirit, a belief, that they can fight with anybody amd most important, they can outlast almost everybody.

And here comes the talent of Pozzecco. The swagger of being special helps this young man a lot. He is dictating the tempo and he deserves to named  the Best Coach of The Group Stage.

The battle with mighty Luka Doncic could have been won. Or, lost.  Nevermind the result. Pozzecco was fantastic and this Italy needed his craziness.

As the slogan of Mad Max says, The Future Belongs To The Mad.

To Pozzecco. So long.