The former center recalls Athens: “In Tonut and associates I reviewed the strength of my group” And assistant Molin: “I struggle to believe it, it was a dream, it becomes indescribable”
/ TREVISO
There is always a pinch of Northeast in the Olympic Italbasket. At the time of Barabba Bariviera, there was the wing of Cimadolmo which was the column of the Azzurra di Monaco 1972 and Montréal 1976; there was in the muscles of Dino Meneghin, the giant from Alano di Piave, totem of the National team who lived four editions of the Games, crowned by the 1980 Moscow silver paired with Renato Villalta from Treviso; there was a lot of Northeast Italy in Tanjevic first and then Recalcati, the one that thanks to two European medals played in Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004, repeating on this last occasion the Moscow result with a silver behind Ginobili and partners. Seventeen years after that team led by the genius and recklessness of the Trieste Pozzecco, supported by the centimeters in the area of the Treviso Marconato and the Cividalese Chiacig, dangerous from the perimeter both with the Gorizia Michele Mian and with the atypical long Friulian Galanda, another Italbasket returns at the Olympics.
THAT NORTHEST WIND
This time the flag of Italian basketball will fly in Tokyo, run by a true Trieste. Stefano Tonut, son of art, confirmed his mvp title in Serie A on the field, showing the evident progress that had led him to become Reyer’s new point of reference in the pre-Olympics in Belgrade. With him, another son of the Northeast, Emanuele Molin, today head coach of Trento but emblem of a life as a wingman of the bench and for four years deputy of Sacchetti: Treviso by adoption, in the Marca he spent almost twenty years in the youth sector and first team. «I still struggle to believe it – confesses Molin – going to the Olympics is the dream of every child who, however, also takes adults. Doing it with the shirt of your own country is something indescribable. Revenge towards the past? I would not say. The dream was there, we lived it thanks to Meo who passed on his experience and to the guys who showed cohesion even off the pitch. They may seem simple words but the serenity that has been breathed in the national team in these days has been of great help, the players have lived in a carefree way, really building the team ».
IMPORT TALENTS
In the group we must not forget all those elements passed through the local clubs that contributed to their arrival in blue. For references, ask Amedeo Tessitori, the only pivot of the current Italbasket: sorted like a parcel for years, the center of Pisa has regained enamel, safety and nationality in the two years spent in Treviso, starting from A2. Who will soon know the Veneto of the baskets up close will be Michele Vitali, special defensive agent of Italy and new signing of Reyer. And what about Achille Polonara? A missed Treviso: in 2012, before the chaos that excluded the new TvB from Serie A, the Ancona winger had been optioned by coach Djordjevic who had seen in him important qualities, confirmed on Sunday evening at Pionir with 6/8 from ‘ arc that disrupted Kokoskov’s defensive ideas. Only Nicola Akele will be missing, who spent a month with the Azzurri troop and was one of Sacchetti’s last “cuts”.
“VERY STRONG EMOTIONS”
«Earning the qualification in this way is like winning a championship». Words from Denis Marconato, who was on the pitch in Athens in 2004 and cheered in front of the television on Sunday evening. «The Belgrade match reminded me of the semifinal we played against Lithuania: we too started with an unfavorable prediction but once we entered the field we gave everything, playing openly. In those moments the strength of the group emerges and Sacchetti’s was compact, I also saw it in the previous phases in which there was maximum harmony between the field and the bench. The Olympic Games? They give very strong emotions, it is impossible to explain what it is to be able to live, eat, compare with athletes from all over the world, of any discipline. These guys deserved the pass to Tokyo, now they can enjoy it ». –