SAN JUAN (Puerto Rico) - Italy took care of business Tuesday evening with a comfortable 114-53 win over Bahrein in the inaugural game of the 2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Gianmarco Pozzecco's squad dominated the action from the jump, quickly establishing a big lead that they nurtured throughout the night at Coliseo Jose Miguel Agrelot.
Turning Point
Italy started the game on an 11-2 run after getting Wayne Chism in early foul trouble. Bahrain’s big man picked up two quick fouls in the first 2:58 and headed to the bench soon afterward.
That opened up the paint for drives that in turn allowed Italy's shooters access to better looks. A quick 8-0 run to start the second quarter extended the lead to 18 points and a pair of buckets from Stefano Tonut made it 47-23.
Italy would go up by as many as 61 points in the fourth quarter as the benches emptied and the clock expired.
TCL Player of the Game
Nicolo Melli had a game-high 23 efficiency after finishing the game with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. He shot 6-of-7 from the field and made both of his free throws.
Danilo Gallinari also had 14 of the bench (on 3-of-3 shooting from long distance) with 4 rebounds, an assist and a block, while Achille Polonara finished with 13 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Seven different players scored in double digits for Italy.
Ahmed Haji shot 4-of-13 from downtown to lead Bahrain with 12 points, while Mohammed Hamoda added 10 points.
Stats don't lie
Italy displayed a balanced attack, as evidenced by their 39 assists on 45 made baskets. They shot 60 percent from the field (including 11-of-27 from beyond the arc) and outscored Bahrain 62-22 in points in the paint.
They were also more disciplined taking care of the ball and turned their opponents' 19 turnovers into 24 points.
The Europeans also held Bahrain to just 36 percent from the field, dominated the boards (45-21) and allowed them only 8 free throws.
Bottom line
The victory put Italy in pole position to advance to the next round. A win by Puerto Rico over Bahrain on Wednesday would officially qualify them for the Semifinals.
That would set up Thursday's matchup against the host country as the one to determine who finished in first place in Group B.
They said
“I’m really proud of all of them. They did their best in maybe the biggest game in their career playing against a team such as Italy, one of the biggest teams in Europe and that world.”
-Jad El Hajj, Bahrain head coach
"It's such a blessing for us as a group and as national team to be on the stage. Probably it is the biggest stage that the national team ever was in or so I hate to say this as a competitor or as an athlete, but Italy is such a great team.They compete for the World Cup, for the Olympics and we compete to qualify for the Olympics for now. Hopefully in 10 years from now, Bahrain is gonna have a different (reputation)."
-Ahmed Haji, Bahrain guard
"What I really liked is that they didn't stop playing. They played for more or less like 40 minutes. So aggressive, we put pressure on the ball with our guards and with the bigs, we were there all the time ready to help because of course, if you put pressure on the ball, sometimes the opponent can beat you one on one. So we had really perfect behavior on the court. I wanted my players to respect all the opponents and so we did, we did our job."
-Gianmarco Pozzecco, Italy head coach
"We approached the game very well. Maybe in the first half we were not so aggressive, we were not so focused, but the second half was much better and we respected them until the last second. I think we can be happy with what we did."
-Achille Polonara, Italy forward
FIBA