I was walking in Varigotti on a Sunday morning. Many noisy cars looking for a parking spot. My legs exhausted yet satisfied from a 14 km run. 

A different sound interfered with the loud traffic. My phone rang; it was the Italian Federation President, Gianni Petrucci.

As he started to talk, my mind went on a trip wondering what could be the reason behind his call. He told me. I would have never guessed it. He kept talking and I was thinking: "Well...that's interesting."

180 seconds. I wanted to keep that feeling. I wasn't in a position to elaborate, to second-guess…no. I wanted to wait until the morning after. I didn't think about it again. But I deeply felt something inside me.

Monday came and I felt like, "wow, I would totally take this challenge." I saw that as a completion of what I've been through during my career. I called Petrucci, we set up a meeting in Rome and, 48 hours later, I was officially the coach of the Italian women's national team.

I loved it. Without any hesitation. The exact same feeling I had when I said yes to Siena, becoming the head coach of a team that had won six consecutive championships and was facing a season with a tenth of the budget they used to have. And it was known they would go out of business by the end of the season.

I didn't have any doubt back then; even when people came to congratulate me, smiling ironically and failing to hide their dissent.

Same here - no doubts. Even when someone added: "Wonderful, a new challenge for you…", clearly wanting to say "well, coaching women - good luck with that."

No doubts. Let's get to work. I had a deep desire to know more about the environment, but I couldn't do it if I wasn't able to select whom I trust. So, I selected the people that I knew I would listen to all the time: it wasn't arrogance, just a quest for quality.

I listened. I asked questions. And very soon, I realized what our biggest enemy was: "Yes, BUT…"

I didn't want to hear any of it. We must not think about differences between men's and women's basketball. It's basketball. Period. Easy. We must not put any limit or border.

(The project) #contagioazzurro was our first way to pay a visit to the clubs, get to know the players. See them on the court. Not just observing them on the court, but talking with them and listening. Communicating.

Soon another rival arose, as dangerous as the first one: cliche. Cliche is what led us to "Yes, but…"

Again, I didn't have any doubt. I put energy into it. At first, I was looked at, observed, before they could get to know me.

And energy is exactly what I'm looking for. I was hearing that "always the same players" were called up for the national team. All of them have to dream together, everyone needs to have the desire to feel part of the team.

I was in Venice for #contagioazzurro. I was impressed by the intensity and the growing quality in each session. I had heard from many people: "She's just the weak twin sister."

I was looking at Caterina Dotto. And I was thinking that she played quite well.

She can accelerate, always maintaining a clear direction.

She plays hard on defense, with desire. She doesn't do it as a burden, instead, as an exciting part of the game.

More than one person, when I called her up to the national team, told me: "I genuinely thought you must have lost your mind."

I knew I had found someone who could be contagious with her smile and her energy. I saw her joy to play the game, I was struck by her genuine love to be in the gym.

Finding someone like Caterina matters in every life situation. But as a coach, it matters the most. I wanted her to be a part of the team.

Ragusa. Monday morning, October 2017. My first practice as the head coach of the national team. I was walking around the court, very emotional. The girls came in.

The first two sat on the bench. Then, three more. And all the group followed.

I went to my assistants, Giovanni Lucchesi and Cinzia Zanotti.

"Are they on strike?"

"No, it's always like that."

That summer, I watched a lot of games and I always had that feeling. Likewise, when I visited clubs and attended practices. Always the same feeling: it's (almost) like we didn't play to shoot the ball.

But I couldn't just leave it at my feeling. So, I did a very simple statistic research. How long does it take for one of our players to take a shot in-game? I analyzed our national team players, comparing them to France and Spain as they were at the top of the European game, and also to Croatia and Sweden, our opponents in the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2019 Qualifiers.

I decided on two parameters: time spent on the court and shots taken. Very simple. One of our girls shot every 3'25", while one from the other national teams did that every 2'30" or 2'45". A difference that confirmed my first feeling.

Collecting data has to be goal-oriented. So, we set the goal: we have to make shooting a pleasure.

Starting from the beauty of the gesture. Then embracing the challenge, and celebrating when the ball goes in.

The message and the path couldn't be the old ones. Shooting is not only about technique and learning the best way to do it.

Shooting is feeling good about yourself. Loving yourself. Feeling proud of what you're doing. It's also about looking around to emulate others.

So, the #ragazzeintiro project came to life. We put together the staff: a shooting specialist, a trainer, a sports psychologist and a nutritionist. A team to face a cultural challenge.

We tried to be innovative even with communication tools. Always giving them data, numbers, different perspectives to know more.

Then we analyzed the details. Without ever judging any of the girls.

And all of this brought us to discovering—more so, to confirming—that our girls love to be challenged and coached. They love to feel good about themselves. They have the desire to be protagonists.

The atmosphere is now contagious.

We were inside the locker room, after the Italy-Croatia qualification game. November 2017. It was a bad loss.

Yet, I didn't want to tell them just: "Goodbye, see you soon." It was a difficult time to say something, but I wanted to. I was very vocal in stressing that there is a difference between being a great group and playing like a team.

I won't forget that moment. I was wrong. However, looking back that communication mistake was key in bringing us closer.

Today we are a team. We love to be contagious to one another.

There's little time left until the two decisive games in November. Finally. We can't wait. The Women's EuroBasket is on the line: we have yet to qualify. We have to go there if we want to keep the Tokyo dream alive.

I know we're not qualified yet. But we have to keep dreaming. It's beautiful and we shouldn't be hiding it.

There were 3,000 fans at our game against The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia last February. Many people said, "Oh, what a great basketball game you played in Sweden." The U16 team, coached by Lucchesi, came back from Kaunas with the gold this summer. Sooner than later, some of them will join the senior team; maybe in November.

And we have all the NCAA girls doing well: Elisa (Penna), Lorela (Cubaj), Francesca (Minali), and many more.

We can do it. We have a generation ready, and another on the way. We are hungry for attention, we're hungry for ambition. And we have quality. A combination we not only have to protect, but to amplify each and every day. By avoiding cliches, and instead implementing a modern vision.

Women's basketball is not only a game of passing. Let's shoot, have fun, challenge ourselves. It's easier. More entertaining. Just better.

When I was in the locker room after we lost Game 7 of the Italian championship against Milano, I told my Siena team:

"Now I'm in real trouble, because you gave me the dream that I've had since I decided, at 12-years-old, that I wanted to be a basketball coach. And now I have to find another one."

There it is. I found it. This is my newest dream.

Doing everything we can to win and to see more young girls with a ball in their hands.

This text first appeared in Italian on The Owl Post on Friday, October 26, and was reproduced by fiba.basketball in English with full permission. Click here for the original text.

FIBA