Bologna, 19 July 2022 – Marco Belinelli first and Simone Fontecchio later. Two players came out of the Virtus nursery who then in different times and in different ways than their careers, landed in the world of American professionals. To make a portrait of it is the coach Marco Sanguettoli, today technical manager of the youth sector of Bsl San Lazzaro and then firmly in the saddle in the various benches of the Virtus under teams. “I think it is appropriate to make a clarification – this is Sanguettoli’s words -, in the case of Fontecchio I must say that at the time he trained with me only twice a week and his technical growth was mostly taken care of by Giordano Consolini. He, together with Adam Pechacek, he came with us from under19, even though he was part of the under17 group, because he was already very strong and made a difference even though he was two years younger “. After the relegation with the black V, Fontecchio encountered some difficulties. Sanguettoli, did you expect him to go to the Utah Jazz? “I knew that he would have overcome the difficulties in a brilliant way and that he would have found a way to express his talent. From here to say that he would have gone to the NBA, we pass, but he had all the numbers to get there and I said it publicly even in times not suspicious. Since he was a boy he showed remarkable remarkable “. Are there any affinities of character between him and Belinelli? “They were two slightly different guys. Marco never hid that his goal was to go to the NBA and for this he worked every day, trying every day to improve to realize his dream which then lasted 13 years before return to Bologna. Simone never stated it openly, even though he was probably aiming for the same goal.
