He had his team’s qualification at his fingertips. But Simone Fontecchio broke at the worst moment. His team was leading by two points with 16 seconds left when he showed up at the free-throw line. But rather than offering two possessions in advance to his selection, the winger missed his two attempts.
Then, after Thomas Heurtel equalized in stride, he put his hands on his annoyed face. Gianmarco Pozzecco rushed to try to console him, while his team was about to play fatal extra time.
Cruel fate for Simone Fontecchio who, before these two failures, had… 89% success on the line in the competition. For his coach, no way to blame him. Gianmarco Pozzecco start with an anecdote with a former coach, Banja Prelevic. ” I was pissed off after a game where I missed a lot of shots. He asked me how many shots I had missed in my life so far. I said I didn’t know, maybe 5,000. Yes, so what? Banja said it was our life.“
The former player continues: It doesn’t count. The way you play and how you train makes the difference. The love of the game that he has… He will be in the NBA in a month. And it will be monstrous, you will see. It’s happened to everyone. I suffer because he didn’t deserve this. He is a strong and tough boy. He won’t sleep tonight. But in a few days you will realize what he has done. He was by far MVP of EuroBasket.“
“Without Simone, we wouldn’t be here”
” Without Simone, we wouldn’t be here “, even interrupts Luigi Datome. “ You see, these are my players. That’s the whole difference. He adores Simone, he wants to protect him. I’m proud of him “Bounces the coach.
If Italy had continued its fine course, the future Jazz player would indeed have made a good candidate for the title of best player in this championship. The winger, author of 21 points against France with a bunch of complicated shots, finished top scorer in his training, and by far, with 19 points (49.5% including 45% from afar), in addition to 4 rebounds and 3 assists. He has scored 18 or more points in six of his seven games. In comparison, only Antonello Riva did better in this area in the Italian selection (8 games with 18 points or more in 1987).
Simone Fontecchio is not the only one to receive and deserve the congratulations of his eccentric coach. ” I’m really proud of my players. You saw the game. Everyone saw the game. Of course, congratulations to France. They never gave up. I love my players. What they did and what they showed in this tournament is amazing. They fought from day one. Every fucking workout. To achieve their goals. And everyone has to respect that. Everybody. Everybody.“
