«Ior I am proud of nature, just think when something of this kind happens to me with two of my student coaches who play for the primacy of the Serie A championship ».
For Tonino Zorzi, 85, from Gorizia, a monument to Reyer and beyond, coach of over a thousand benches in A and five promotions, April 11 will not be any Sunday.
At around 8.30 pm he will turn on the tablet and on Eurosposrt he will enjoy the thrilling postponement between Heppy Casa Brindisi and Ax Armani Milano.
If the Apulians win they hook Olimpia to the top. At the helm his favorite “basketball sons”, Frank Vitucci and Ettore Messina, who with the battleship Milano, also great in the Euroleague, will try to repel the assault.
Zorzi is a lot for the two coaches. one Venetian, the other from Mestre, one assistant, the other coach in Treviso and friends among themselves. He explains: “To Ettore, whom I was taught at the high school in Mestre, I gave Reyer’s student team into my hands and from there he began a dazzling career that led him in over 30 years to win championships, Euroleague and coach in the Nba, Frank he was my assistant in Venice in the Dalipagic era and is one of the best coaches on the market ».
First memories? Zorzi leaves Messina, with whom he keeps in touch “even if I prefer phone calls and the fact that you communicate with messages on the phone penalizes me”, he clarifies.
«First day as a youth coach, Messina looks impeccable: Bermuda shorts, T-shirt, slate and briefcase.
Prepared on everything, strong character. He also made a good lever for Reyer, only Forti escaped him, but not through his fault but because Celada gave a fur coat to the player’s mother. Ettore has had an incredible career, he doesn’t need advice.
He trains a battleship even if I don’t like Olimpia’s one-string game so much: if he doesn’t get the three-point shot despite the great defense he risks losing. But, I think, not in Italy even if basketball is a bad good ».
Vitucci? «He was in Calabria for a minibasket course, I called him to ask him to be my assistant coach at the end of the 1980s. Years later he confessed to me that for joy he risked falling to the ground. He was also there on January 25, 1987 when Dalipagic in the Reyer jersey scored 70 at Virtus at the Arsenale.
We talk to each other at least twice a week, even superstitiously before each of his matches, we talk about basketball, strictly in dialect ».
Who will the coach cheer for? “Tough. Let’s put it this way – he gets along -: Franck has a team in which I see many of my basketball principles, he also had to do without two strong players but he always got away with it.
Sunday I will cheer for him, Ettore will win the championship a lot, even if it won’t be a walk in the park because Virtus Reyer and maybe Sassari are also there ».
Final with thrill thanks to the legend coach recently vaccinated with the second dose of Pfizer (xe bon, i was also sponsor in Reggio Calabria but i was already going away», He says):« I am proud of these two boys of mine, as of all the others, as well as of my players.
They lived with me with respect, it is true they also took some “bullshit” but it was only to make them improve. I have always told them: reach the maximum ».
Ettore and Frank made him dear coach. Good game.