ISTANBUL (FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2019 / EuroLeague Women) – Italian and Fenerbahce ace Giorgia Sottana might just be the perfect dinner guest if the main topic of conversation around the table is to be women's hoops.

Although at this early juncture, it may be wise for us to issue a caveat that anyone suffering easily from indigestion might want to tread with some caution.

But, if you want a lively debate about the women's game, then look no further than the guard, who is guaranteed to ensure it is intense, emotional and most importantly of all - absolutely fascinating.

 
During the past couple of years or so, Sottana has been riding quite a roller-coaster with both club and country. The elation of several highs has also been punctuated by some worrying lows and she can reveal with absolute certainty, that it has not been a straightforward path.

RE-DISCOVERING SOME NATIONAL TEAM FUN

Take her experiences wearing her beloved Italian jersey. Like many of her compatriots, she had to swallow the most bitter of pills in the summer of 2017 at the Final Round in Prague, when her country was controversially denied a ticket to the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup in the cruelest of circumstances.

If that was not painful enough, the campaign to make it to FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2019 started with another kick in the stomach. Hoping to pick themselves up from the canvas after that knockout blow in the Czech capital, they crashed badly in front of their own supporters against Croatia in the first Qualifiers window. It led to some genuine soul searching at one of the lowest ebbs of Sottana's career.

She revealed, "It was a real roller-coaster, I'm not going to lie.

"After FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2017, a lot of things changed, starting with the coach. There was a lot of attention around us and also expectation. It was tough to lose in front of our fans, but the worst part was that we didn't play as a team.

"After that game, we had serious talks with each other and I had a long conversation with Marco (Crespi), and we all knew that the Italy we showed against Croatia wasn't our real face.

"We started over new from there, went back to the good old chemistry that we had during the Final Round and re-focused on having fun and giving our best."

 
Out of the ashes of their World Cup hopes going up in smoke and the wreckage of that Croatia defeat, Italy rose up. They showed their heart and that true face which Sottana and Co admitted had not been in evidence. They subsequently did a super double over Sweden and exacted revenge on Croatia to punch a ticket to the Final Round again.

Sottana was glued to the recent draw and perhaps because of the extra significance that arose in the wake of a sometime torturous experience in getting the job done.

"In the past, I never used to care about the day of the draw, but this year it felt different," she confessed.

"It was a mix between emotion and anxiety, and I just wanted to see who we had to play."

Italy were paired with Turkey, Hungary and Slovenia, with Sottana continuing: "Our group is, in my opinion, the most balanced one.

"It is going to be very tough and that's why I can't wait to get back to work with Italy to try to accomplish something important and to set our goals a little higher than we have been used to.

"I am sure all of my teammates think and feel exactly the same way."

ESCAPING THE COMFORT ZONE ; WRITING HER OWN STORY

Now very much the leader as she prepares to pin a badge marked 'veteran' to her chest, Sottana has found herself in a delicate position in having to process the challenge of her teammate Cecilia Zanadalsini receiving uber-level attention in what continues to be a permanent eruption of media coverage.

Considering she has an impressive resume of her own, anybody in Sottana's shoes would feel like a shadow has been unfairly cast and even more so when Zandalasini also arrived to join her at club level in Istanbul, with Fenerbahce.

"It was actually easy, and the thing is, I am writing my own story. 'Ceci' and I are walking in two completely different paths, two different careers," she mused.

"And, I can just be happy about having a lot of Italians in the Fenerbahce family (such as Luigi Datome and Nicolo Melli in the men's team - plus General Manager, Maurizio Gherardini), so it feels a little like being home."

Another pertinent question is whether Sottana got 'too comfortable' when she was at Famila Schio? She spent five seasons at the club and until 2017, had spent her entire career playing in her homeland.

"I don't look back and I think I moved when I felt I had to move," she declared.

"I'm a very determined person, and I've always taken the decision that I felt was best for me in that very exact moment.

"Eventually I decided to leave Schio because I was craving new experiences, not just basketball wise, but also life experiences. I was simply ready to see something new, and challenge myself outside of my comfort zone.

"Should I have done that earlier? I don't know. My faith drives me to believe that it's not about my timing. I think I did it when I was supposed to."

Ending up at a world famous club such as Fenerbahce feels like she has at least now reached the kind of destination she always craved – albeit via a super short stop-off in France.

"I've always been pretty honest about my feelings on coming here, and I know for some it might sound 'too much', but for me, it was a dream that came true," insisted Sottana.

"I've played so many times against them, and I've always hoped to wear this jersey. It was crazy how it happened to me, how fast I had to move and it wasn't easy, since in Montpellier I was having a great time and I loved every day there.

"But, I felt this was a train that doesn't pass at the station that often, and I had to take the opportunity.

"What’s really amazing here, and unique, is that Fener is not just a team, or a logo, or a brand: it is almost a religion. The fans are all over Europe. Sometimes, when we play away games, we have more fans than in our own gym, because people want to see Fenerbahce teams.

"For sure, when you step inside such a club, you get to know that with all the great things, there is also the pressure. They are ambitious and you have to win. In the big arena here, when you walk in, the walls are covered with banners saying 'Never Enough' and that is the Fenerbahce mentality - winning is #neverenough."

DEATH OF THE SPECIALISTS AND FUTURE OF FEMALE HOOPS

If you enjoyed the Italian starter and the main course of the road to Fenerbahce, the real crunch talking points of dinner parties are often those held over dessert and beyond. In the case of Sottana, you would enjoy a feast of conversation and an exchange of opinions that would last long into the night. And, that is a big positive – whether you agree or not.

For example, there was no mere shrug of the shoulders when asked if shooters are now a worryingly dying breed.

"Can I be honest? The specialists, I think, are being killed by the media," said a forthright Sottana.

"Nowadays the only thing social media seems to cover, is 1 vs 1 basketball skills, some ankle breakers, or fancy finishes, but there really is so much more to the game.

 
"To me, each team needs specialists, as much as they need players who can dribble, drive and play 1 vs 1. But how many times do we talk about that amazing shooter? Rarely, because what attracts the eyes are other kind of plays.

"I'm a supporter of specialist players, because even if nobody talks about them, they are the ones that complete a team: those that go unnoticed, but get the job done.

"In this era and not just in basketball, everyone wants to be able to do everything. But only a few are able to do one thing and do it well for real."

Meanwhile the challenge of growing the women's game is something that Sottana is also acutely aware of.

She said: "I've heard so many people judging us because we can't dunk, or we are not as athletic as the men are. But this is my point: we work as much, possibly even more, as the men.

"The selling point is that we honestly love what we do and we sacrifice a lot, because we have dreams and because we hope one day to be just as visible as men.

"Most of us have a lot to say, and a lot to give - not just sports related. I think most people just assume sports isn't for women, when if they took the time to come and watch, they simply might fall in love with the passion we put into it."

And, whatever the respective opinions at the dinner party, this is certainly something most of us would surely raise a glass to.

FIBA