Italy, Sacchetti have their stars on board for World Cup
FOSHAN (China) - Italy will have their big guns on board for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 to go along with a major core who carried the team through the European Qualifiers.
FOSHAN (China) - Italy will have their big guns on board for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 to go along with a major core of the players who carried the team to China.
Head coach Meo Sacchetti's 12-man roster features a trio of players who appeared in all 12 European Qualifiers games - Awudu Abass, Paul Biligha and Luca Vitali - and Ariel Filloy, who played in 11 contests on the road to China. The coach teamed them up with the sextet of Luigi Datome, Marco Belinelli, Danilo Gallinari, Alessandro Gentile, Jeff Brooks and Daniel Hackett.
| Italy's roster for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 | |||
| Awudu Abass | Marco Belinelli | Paul Biligha | Jeff Brooks |
| Luigi Datome | Amedeo Della Valle | Ariel Filloy | Alessandro Gentile |
| Danilo Gallinari | Daniel Hackett | Amedeo Tessitori | Luca Vitali |
Also included is Amadeo Della Valle, who rose to prominence via the European Qualifiers.
Sacchetti did make a surprise inclusion in his team as Amedeo Tessitori made the squad. The 24-year-old big man from De'Longhi Treviso played for Italy at the U16, U18 and U20 national team level, and recently helped Treviso win the Italian second division title to earn promotion to Serie A.
Il roster Azzurro per la @FIBAWC è fatto! ✅
— Italbasket (@Italbasket) August 29, 2019
Ecco i 12 di Meo ⬇️https://t.co/a62morU1aO
#00 Della Valle #3 Belinelli #5 Gentile #6 Biligha #7 Vitali
#8 Gallinari #10 Hackett #12 Filloy #15 Brooks #16 Tessitori #23 Abass #70 Datome#Italbasket #NothingButAzzurri #ItaliaGotGame pic.twitter.com/RL0C7LjoDX
Italy will start their Group D campaign against Philippines on August 31 in Foshan, followed by games against Angola on September 2 before a matchup with fellow Europeans Serbia on September 4.
FIBA