PESARO (Italy) - It was an exciting start of the road to FIBA EuroBasket 2025, with national team heroes making their mark already in the early days of the journey. Among them, there's one guy who hasn't stopped smiling after leading his country to back-to-back victories.

First in Pesaro against Turkey and then heading to Szombathely to face Hungary, Gianmarco Pozzecco and his beloved staff – this time without Riccardo Fois, occupied with the Arizona Wildcats – brought back home a solid 2-0 start in Group B.

Italy are one of eight undefeated teams in the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers.

Whether taking advantage in the paint, which accounted for 78 out of the team's 170 points, or spreading the floor for open looks, going 22-of-53 (41.5 percent) on shots from beyond the arc, Italy looked solid in both fixtures.

The Italian national team's head coach will have plenty to be happy about ahead of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in July, when the Azzurri will travel to Puerto Rico in search of a ticket to Paris 2024.

The first two games in the EuroBasket Qualifiers will also have brought back some good memories for Pozzecco, with the qualification campaign set to continue with back-to-back clashes with Iceland in November.

Having played four games each in the Qualifiers for FIBA EuroBasket 1999 and 2003, Gianmarco Pozzecco knows what it means to fight for a spot in Europe's flagship competition. In fact, it might even be bit easier these days than it was back then.

Back in his playing days, only 14 spots were up for grabs through the Qualifiers, with the hosts and respectively the FIBA EuroBasket 1997 and FIBA Basketball World Cup 2002 champions qualified directly, to complete the 16-team field. Still, Italy didn't have much trouble securing qualification both times.

Going back to when he was leading the Italian national team with the ball on his hands instead of sharing love from the bench, he talked about the  Azzurri's power.

"We were among the strongest," he  recalled. "Qualifying for EuroBasket was a breeze for us, it was never in doubt and coach [Bogdan Tanjevic and Carlo Recalcati in this span] was able to experiment. We were having a lot of fun."

The Atomic Fly didn't earn a spot on the Final Round roster in either 1999 or 2003,  where Italy won its latest medals in the competition, lifting the EuroBasket trophy in France and finishing third in Sweden.  He did go on to participate in the 2004 Athens Olympics, where Italy won a historic and unprecedented silver medal.

But the Qualifiers games pitted him against some of the top names in Europe, who were all battling for EuroBasket berths.

On the road to EuroBasket 1999, for example, he squared off with a mightily talented Turkish national team, powered by huge names like Ibrahim Kutluay, Kerem Tunceri, Hidayet Turkoglu and a young Mehmet Okur. 

Fighting for a spot in EuroBasket 2003, he clashed with British icon Andrew Betts an with one of the best Slovenian rosters in the pre-Doncic era which included the likes of Jaka Lakovic, Beno Udrih, Bostjan Nachbar and Matjaz Smodis.

How does that compare to the Qualifiers these days?

"In my memory, surprises like Germany losing to Bulgaria rarely happened," Pozzecco said. "[National team basketball] has regained enormous charm. It's nice to play during the windows and competing in various competitions,"said Pozzecco, who has been on the Italian bench (or, more often pacing the sidelines) at FIBA EuroBasket 2022  and at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.

"I'M WATCHING THE GAMES, AND ALL THE VENUES ARE FULL. IT'S BEAUTIFUL."

This February international window has also marked the return of several EuroLeague players competing for their national teams, just like Nicolo Melli, Achille Polonara, or Gabriele Procida, among others. "I'm happy, because the dialogue is indispensable for healthy coexistence. We're on the right track," he also commented.

Some may question his style, but the 51-year-old has performed remarkably with the Italian national team, which reached the Quarter-Finals in its latest international appearances, knocked out by France at 2022 EuroBasket and USA at the 2023 World Cup.

He also hasn't stopped being a basketball fan, keeping a close eye on what's happening in other arenas in the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers. "I'm watching the games, and all the venues are full. It's beautiful," he said.

You're right, Poz. We're all excited about it. 

FIBA