Olympic Legends - Gianluca Basile’s great game

LONDON (Olympics) - Gianluca Basile has always been a player for the big occasion.

When some of the teams he has played on over the years have needed someone to take over a game offensively, or hit a game-winning shot - they have more often than not relied on Basile.

Only recently in Bilbao, Spain, the 36-year-old reminded everyone of his brilliance.

He hit a long three-pointer at the buzzer to stun Bilbao Basket, 67-64, in their Euroleague game on December 7.

"During the last seconds," Cantu coach Andrea Trinchieri said, "we gave the ball to our best shooter, the best for this kind of situation, and he made the play."

Many of Basile's great moments as a basketball player came with Italy's national team.

He represented his country at both the Sydney Games, after their EuroBasket 1999 gold-medal triumph, and at the Athens Games four years later.

It was in 2004, when the Azzurri were in midst of an unexpected dream run to the Final in Greece that Basile enjoyed his finest hour.

A 1.92m guard, Basile had scored 16 points in a 71-69 tournament-opening victory against New Zealand and 18 in the 83-70 Quarter-Final triumph over Puerto Rico.

When it came to taking on the defending champions of Europe and one of the hottest teams at the Olympics, Lithuania, in the Semi-Finals, Basile took his game to new heights.

He hit seven of his 11 shots from long range, sank all eight of his free-throws and finished with a game-high 31 points as the Azzurri sprung a 100-91 upset.

Not many people had expected the Italians to beat the Lithuanians, and few would have predicted that Italy could survive a shootout.

But they did.

"We are not interested in what happened before or what someone has said before," a jubilant Basile said after his points explosion.

"We are interested in the present and now we are in the Final."

Italy fell in the title game to Argentina, but the silver medal was like gold to Basile and all of his teammates.

FIBA