SAN JUAN (Puerto Rico) - After winning the previous Olympic Qualifying Tournament and taking a pleasantly-surprising 5th place in Tokyo 2020, Italy is at the doorstep of another Olympic shot.
The Europeans will head to the OQT in San Juan, Puerto Rico ready to fight for the ticket to Paris 2024, where they’ll surely have a medal in their sights this time around.
The competition will be fierce, as they’ll share Group B with the host country and Bahrain, but their past success in this format is sure to be an asset.
The Roster
Head coach Gianmarco Pozzecco, an Italian basketball legend and member of the historic silver-medal finish in Athens 2004, had to overcome some significant absences to put together the best possible squad.
Gabriele Procida, Matteo Spagnolo and Simone Fontecchio are all out for this event, forcing Pozzecco to rely on other perimeter options.
The good news is that Italy still has a wealth of choices at the guard and wing positions.
Marco Spissu, Alessandro Pajola, Stefano Tonut and Nico Mannion will handle the ball. Giampaoli Ricci and Achille Polonara are there to provide size and experience, while Nicolò Melli and Guglielmo Caruso are expected to man the paint.
The Question
Does Italy have enough firepower?
Their absences on the perimeter, especially Fontecchio’s, leave the team without a true No. 1 scoring option.
Danilo Gallinari could be the answer almost 2 years removed from an ACL injury, but at 35-year-old he isn’t getting any younger.
More likely they’ll have to do it by committee and ride the hot hand during crunch time.
The Hope
This is a squad composed of mostly players in the prime of their careers and others nearing breakouts.
Italy finished 8th at the 2023 FIBA World Cup and 5th at the last Olympic Games, proving they’re within striking distance of the top. Even their No. 13 spot in the FIBA World Ranking Presented by Nike doesn’t do them enough justice.
The hope is that Gallinari can work his magic one last time while the guards wreak havoc and the bigs hold down the fort inside.
The Fear
As currently constructed, the team probably relies too much on the 33-year-old Melli.
He provides a solid combination of scoring, rebounding, outside shooting and rim projection, but Italy doesn’t have a backup that matches his quality and versatility.
And while the Europeans won’t face that much size in their group games against Puerto Rico in Bahrain, the semifinals loom as a much bigger threat with the likes of Domantas Sabonis or Mo Bamba potentially awaiting them.
ITALY IN THE LAST 10 FIBA EVENTS
FIBA