Cold shower, actually ice cold. It had been defined as the strongest national team of all time, and as an individual talent perhaps it was, but the Italian national basketball team after the disappointment at the 2015 European Championships also failed at the pre-Olympic tournament, saying goodbye once and for all at the Rio de Janiero.
It seemed done: there was only one game left, against Croatia already beaten in the group which, moreover, was played at the Azzurri's home, in Turin, but the Azzurri surrendered to their opponents 84-78, after having chased for the whole game by hooking up to overtime at the last second.
Italy, which could count on talents of the caliber of Bargnani, Gallinari, Belinelli, Gentile and Datome, as well as on the experience of Ettore Messina in the tummy, in the crucial challenge of its Pre-Olympic therefore ended up highlighting its offensive problems by failing to fully harness the amazing skills of two indisputable talents such as Saric and Bogdanovic.
Above all, it will be possible to start again from the great growth of Melli and Hackett, who have matured exponentially after a season played abroad (Bamberg for the long, Olympiacos for the point guard). But it is too little satisfaction on such an evening.
