Serbia was already eliminated in the round of 16 after a huge sensation.
Nikola Jokic finishes the Eurobaxt even before the quarter-finals and yet the one who took all the focus in the huge story that happened yesterday in Berlin is the one who was not on the floor in the last quarter of the surprise of the tournament - Italy's coach, Gianmarco Potzko.
Potzko is a one man show.
The emotional player became an even more emotional coach.
As mentioned, the colorful and emotional coach was not part of the big change, but he had a big impact when it happened.
In fact, his ejection in the middle of the third quarter, when his team was behind by 4 - completely changed the game.
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— FIBA ​​(@FIBA) September 11, 2022
Notice what the Italian coach did when he was sent off.
He went player by player and every staff member on the bench, hugging and kissing them.
He called the players on the floor and also hugged them and encouraged them that they could do it.
And if that wasn't enough, he went down to the dressing room crying bitterly.
Then a crazy turn took place on the floor.
The Italians could not be stopped.
Center Marco Spesso, who averaged 3 points in the tournament, scored 7 times in this game. Simona Pontacchio, Niccolò Meli and Achila Pollonara hit the spot and Great Serbia collapsed.
One of the main candidates to win the title goes home surprised already in the round of 16.
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— #EuroBasket 2022 (@EuroBasket) September 11, 2022
"We stunned the world," Potzko said after the game after kneeling down, "This is perhaps the greatest victory in the history of Italy." Potzko did not end his performance here. He suddenly ran into Giannis Antetokounmpo in the corridor, who was preparing for the Greece match, hung up on him and hugged him warmly .
This is Potzko.
He was a great coordinator, his emotions led him to a great career, but more than once they hurt him, when he lost his head.
As a coach he was removed many times.
His behavior and suspensions often hurt his team, but his character unites and drives the players crazy.
This is the package called Gianmarco Potzko.
A volcano of emotions.
The one who replaced him on the lines when he was removed was his assistant Eduardo Casalon, who also helped him when he coached Sassari.
According to the Croatian center Miro Bilan this thing is a method.
Bilan who played at Sassari at the time tweeted yesterday that his two years in the team were blown up and he was sent off 8 times.
All times Casalon replaced him and won them all.
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— El_chachos (@EChachos) September 11, 2022
Potzko was appointed Italy's coach only two months before the start of the championship.
The Italian federation decided to say goodbye to coach Mao Sacetti, who led the team to the Olympic Games last summer.
Going for Potzko, who is relatively inexperienced, was a kind of gamble.
Potzko left the best school for the team.
Last season he was the assistant of Italian coaching legend Ettore Messina at Armani Milan.
By the way, the one who replaced him in the position of assistant in the club is Dan Shamir.
Italy came to the championship with expectations also because it hosted the early home in Milan.
The thing is that close to the championship it suffered a very hard blow - the star Danilo Gallinari was injured and it turned out that he would miss the championship.
Needless to say, the bar of expectations has dropped significantly.
Pontacchio.
One of Italy's heroes, photo: EPA
The failures continued in the championship as well.
A surprising loss to Ukraine in the early game in front of the home crowd caused Italy to qualify from fourth place and receive the toughest opponent in the round of 16.
Potzko immediately said that he trusts the group of players with him.
It turns out he was right again.
With a passion like her coach's no wonder it happened.
Sepiso and Polonnare are happy, photo: AFP
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