72 hours after the match Reykjavikl’Italia Of Gianmarco Pozzecco returns to the field again againstIceland this time on the parquet of PalaBigi Of Reggio Emilia. L’Italbasket is already qualified to Eurobasket of next year thanks to the success of the Türkiye against theHungary in the match played in the afternoon. For the match Reggio returns to the disposal of Pozzecco the captain too Nicolò Mellieager to show off in front of the home crowd. Great curiosity also for Lady Sarrmaking his debut with the senior national team after the excellent start to the season with the shirt of Barcelona.
Italy – Iceland: analysis of the match
Very complicated start to the match for the national team Pozzecco. The Azzurri suffer from the defensive physicality of the Icelanders and find many difficulties in their offensive play, falling to -13 at the siren of the first quarter. In the second period comes the reaction ofItalia which, driven by the energy of the duo Flaccadori-Aloneit comes back into contact. Azzurri they try to take control of the match during the second half but theIceland she is good at staying in contact thanks to her three-point shot and the many free throws she wins. At the start of the fourth period the Italian attack had a sensational blackout and so the Icelanders definitively extended the lead. At the end of the game the score is 81 to 74 for Iceland.
Very negative match for the Italian team which has many offensive difficulties as highlighted by the 40% two-point shooting. For the Azzurri, a bad performance on free throws was decisive with only 9 made out of 20 attempts for one 45% total. The Azzurri remain in contact until they manage to have control of the scoreboards, with 13 offensive rebounds conquered, but in the last period it is the team of Pedersen to be more responsive.
Per Italy the best scorer is Pippo Ricci con 18 points. The player ofOlimpia Milan he is the only one who believes in the ending. Dull performance for home favorite Melli with only 9 points and many shooting problems. In the’Iceland the better it is Palsson con 22 points made. Luckily for the Azzurri, the three successes achieved in the first round were enough to obtain qualification with two rounds to spare and so Pozzecco will be able to use the February window to continue testing players and rotations.
The statistical scoreboard of the match
Partial individual quarters: 9-22, 20-10, 27-26, 18-23
Overall partials: 9-22, 29-32, 56-58, 74-81
Italia: Spissu 5, Sarr, Melli 9, Flaccadori 10, Tessitori, Ricci 18, Basile 5, Bortolani 8, Caruso ne, Vitali 10, Rossato 3, Akele 6 Coach Pozzecco
Iceland: Steinarsson 2, Henningsson , Fridriksson 15, Jonsson ne, K. Palsson 22, H. Palsson 3, Gunnarsson , Gudmundsson 15, Hlinason 3, Thrastarson 9, Jonsson 5, Bjornsson 7 Coach Pedersen
