Toulouse. Italy defeated Turkey 73-53 last night in Cagliari winning the Sardinia Tournament at Canestro. There are 14 players now available to Coach Ettore Messina for the upcoming matches in France and Greece. Now the players will enjoy two days off. The Italian team will then travel to Rome on Wednesday and on Thursday to Toulouse, where the Azzurri will play the first of the two rounds abroad before the 2017 EuroBasket. They will play Montenegro on August 18th (18:00), Belgium on August 19th (18:00), and France on August 20th (20:30). From August 23rd to 25th, Italy will be the protagonist of Athens with Greece, Serbia, and Georgia in the prestigious Acropolis Tournament. “The team did an incredible job against powerful opponents,” stated Messina after yesterday’s match. I saw great work in defense and good movement of the ball in offence. Now I hope these young players continue to find trust. I see that they have fun and help each other and I’m happy to have the opportunity to train this group. ” (9Colonne)
