AT 10.20 THE FOURTH FINAL: EYE GOBERT, NBA ACE
FROM THE ENROLLED TO TOKYO
It is the moment of truth. Meo Sacchetti’s national team faces France today in the quarterfinals (10.20 in Italy) of the Olympic tournament. At the Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo the knockout stage starts, either win or quit. Having qualified last for the Games in chronological order among the blue teams, basketball Italy won well with Germany and a comeback with Nigeria. In between the defeat against Australia which prevented the Azzurri from placing first in the group. The draw assigned France to Italy, who won group A by beating the very favorites from the USA. The French one appears to be a high mountain to climb, especially given the presence under the scoreboard of Rudy Gobert, ace of the Utah Jazz, repeatedly judged best NBA defender with his two meters and 15 of muscles and technique. A crucial point is that of rebounds for the blue team who suffered a lot under the boards even in the last match of the group against the physicality of the Nigerians. “At this point – said Sacchetti – any opponent would have been of the highest level: we will go down on the parquet to play our chances”.
«France is a very strong team with experienced players – explains the blue Amedeo Tessitori -. We will try to bring all our determination to the field with concentration and grit to try to limit France’s athleticism and the physical strength they have in rebound. We must be very attentive to these two aspects and try to do our best ». Tessitori, together with Danilo Gallinari, the tallest of ours with his 2 meters and eight, also has an open account to settle: “Against Gobert I already had the opportunity to play a couple of years ago in China, he is a very strong player with a great athletic and physical potential. We will have to be careful to limit his internal play, putting on him as physical as possible, making him feel that we are there. It will be a good match because I will be able to play against him again and see if I can do better than last time ».
The Bleus’ selector, Vincent Collet, judges the fourth against Italy “affordable”, warning his players not to “trust excess of confidence”. “These Italians are a solid opponent – he declared -. Clearly, playing against Spain would have been more complicated ». And if Collet says so … –
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