# 2020 Italy men's OQT basketball team

The 2020 Italy men's OQT basketball team represented Italy at the 2020 FIBA Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade, Serbia in June 2021. They qualified for the Qualification tournament by taking 10th place at the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. The team has been coached by Meo Sacchetti.

## Overview

The tournament was originally scheduled to take place from 23 to 28 June 2020, but it was shifted to 29 June to 4 July due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Italy won the competition after a historic victory in the finals against the favourite Serbian team. This way, the Italian team qualified to the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

## Timeline

* 23–28 June 2020: Original Olympic Qualifying Tournament schedule
* 13 June 2021: Coach Romeo Sacchetti calls 16 players for the tournament.
* 29 June–4 July 2021: Rescheduled Olympic Qualifying Tournament
* 28 June 2021: Coach Romeo Sacchetti calls the 12 players for the tournament.
* 30 June 2021: Italy wins by forfeit against Senegal due to COVID detected in the African team. Italy is, therefore, automatically qualified to the next stage.
* 1 July 2021: Italy wins over Puerto Rico 90–83 and ends the round at the first place.
* 3 July 2021: Italy wins over Dominican Republic 79–59 and goes to the Final against Serbia.
* 4 July 2021: Italy wins over Serbia 102–95 and qualifies to the 2020 Summer Olympics.

## Kit

Supplier: Spalding / Sponsor: Barilla
| Home | Away |

## Roster

The following 12 players were called by coach Romeo Sacchetti for the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.

### Depth chart

| Pos. | Starting 5 | Bench 1 | Bench 2 |
| C | Nicolò Melli | Amedeo Tessitori | |
| PF | Achille Polonara | Giampaolo Ricci | |
| SF | Simone Fontecchio | Riccardo Moraschini | Awudu Abass |
| SG | Stefano Tonut | Michele Vitali | |
| PG | Nico Mannion | Alessandro Pajola | Marco Spissu |

### Candidate players

The following were candidates to make the team:
Earlier candidates :
| Player | Team | Added | Removed | Reason |
| Leonardo Totè | Bilbao Basket | 24 May 2021 | 8 June 2021 | Injured |
| Abramo Canka | BC Nevėžis | 24 May 2021 | 13 June 2021 | Technical choice |
| Maximilian Ladurner | Aquila Trento | 24 May 2021 | 13 June 2021 | Technical choice |
| Andrea Pecchia | Pallacanestro Cantù | 24 May 2021 | 13 June 2021 | Technical choice |
| Gabriele Procida | Pallacanestro Cantù | 24 May 2021 | 13 June 2021 | Technical choice |
| Tomas Woldetensae | Virginia Cavaliers | 24 May 2021 | 13 June 2021 | Technical choice |
| Davide Alviti | Pallacanestro Trieste | 24 May 2021 | 16 June 2021 | Technical choice |
| Giordano Bortolani | Pallacanestro Brescia | 24 May 2021 | 20 June 2021 | Technical choice |
| Guglielmo Caruso | Santa Clara Broncos | 24 May 2021 | 20 June 2021 | Technical choice |
| Simone Zanotti | VL Pesaro | 24 May 2021 | 20 June 2021 | Technical choice |
| Raphael Gaspardo | New Basket Brindisi | 13 June 2021 | 20 June 2021 | Technical choice |
| Leonardo Candi | Reggio Emilia | 24 May 2021 | 24 June 2021 | 14-men roster cut |
| Matteo Spagnolo | Madrid Baloncesto | 24 May 2021 | 24 June 2021 | 14-men roster cut |
| Nicola Akele | Universo Treviso | 24 May 2021 | 24 June 2021 | 14-men roster cut |
| Michele Ruzzier | Pallacanestro Varese | 24 May 2021 | 28 June 2021 | 12-men roster cut |
| Mouhamet Diouf | Reggio Emilia | 24 May 2021 | 28 June 2021 | 12-men roster cut |

## Staff

After the EuroBasket 2022 qualification tournament the staff team was updated: Piero Bucchi, Paolo Galbiati and Riccardo Fois were hired as assistant coaches and replaced Massimo Maffezzoli and Paolo Conti. Only Emanuele Molin was confirmed amongst the assistant coaches.
| Position | Staff member | Age | Team |
| Head coach | Meo Sacchetti | 71 | Italian Basketball Federation |
| Assistant coaches | Emanuele Molin | 65 | Aquila Trento |
| Assistant coaches | Piero Bucchi | 67 | Pallacanestro Cantù |
| Assistant coaches | Paolo Galbiati | 41 | Vanoli Cremona |
| Assistant coaches | Riccardo Fois | 38 | Phoenix Suns |
| Physical trainer | Matteo Panichi | 52 | Italian Basketball Federation |
| Physician | Sandro Senzameno | 72 | Italian Basketball Federation |
| Orthopaedic | Raffaele Cortina | 64 | Italian Basketball Federation |
| Osteopath | Roberto Oggioni | 50 | Italian Basketball Federation |
| Osteopath | Francesco Ciallella | 44 | Italian Basketball Federation |
| Team manager | Massimo Valle | 58 | Italian Basketball Federation |
| Press officer | Francesco D'Aniello | 44 | Italian Basketball Federation |
| Manager | Roberto Brunamonti | 65 | Italian Basketball Federation |
| Video maker | Marco Cremonini | 36 | Italian Basketball Federation |
| Equipment manager | Curzio Garofoli | 54 | Italian Basketball Federation |
| Equipment manager | Andrea Annessa | 51 | Italian Basketball Federation |
Source:

## Exhibition games
### VTG Supercup

| Pos | Team | Pld | Pts |
| 1 | Germany | 3 | 3 |
| 2 | Italy | 3 | 2 |
| 3 | Czech Republic | 3 | 1 |
| 4 | Tunisia | 3 | 0 |

## Tournament
### Preliminary round
#### Senegal v Italy

The Senegal roster did not participate in the Qualifying Tournament. On June 28, they informed FIBA about COVID-19 related disruptions to their preparations in Germany. Afterwards, their scheduled games did not take place and Senegal lost by forfeit 0–20.

#### Italy v Puerto Rico

| Starters: | Starters: | Starters: | Pts | Reb | Ast |
| PG | 0 | Marco Spissu | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| SG | 7 | Stefano Tonut | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| SF | 13 | Simone Fontecchio | 21 | 6 | 2 |
| PF | 33 | Achille Polonara | 21 | 11 | 2 |
| C | 9 | Nicolò Melli | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Reserves: | Reserves: | Reserves: | | | |
| PG | 1 | Nico Mannion | 21 | 3 | 6 |
| C | 16 | Amedeo Tessitori | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| PF | 17 | Giampaolo Ricci | 6 | 3 | 1 |
| SF | 23 | Awudu Abass | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| SF | 24 | Riccardo Moraschini | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| SG | 31 | Michele Vitali | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| PG | 54 | Alessandro Pajola | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Head coach: ||||||
| Romeo Sacchetti ||||||
| Italy | Puerto Rico |
| ITA | Statistics | PUR |
| 15/26 (57.7%) | 2-pt field goals | 21/45 (46.7%) |
| 14/37 (37.8%) | 3-pt field goals | 11/27 (40.7%) |
| 18/25 (72%) | Free throws | 8/18 (44.4%) |
| 9 | Offensive rebounds | 14 |
| 29 | Defensive rebounds | 27 |
| 38 | Total rebounds | 41 |
| 17 | Assists | 19 |
| 13 | Turnovers | 17 |
| 1 | Steals | 7 |
| 4 | Blocks | 2 |
| 19 | Fouls | 26 |
| Starters: | Starters: | Starters: | Pts | Reb | Ast |
| PG | 9 | Gary Browne | 16 | 9 | 16 |
| SG | 24 | Gian Clavell | 24 | 4 | 0 |
| SF | 0 | Isaiah Piñeiro | 8 | 4 | 0 |
| PF | 15 | Timajh Parker-Rivera | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| C | 1 | George Conditt | 9 | 4 | 0 |
| Reserves: | Reserves: | Reserves: | | | |
| PG | 10 | Iván Gandía | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| C | 12 | Jorge Díaz | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| SG | 22 | Emmanuel Andujar | 11 | 4 | 0 |
| SG | 23 | Isaac Sosa | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| PF | 32 | Chris Ortiz | 7 | 6 | 0 |
| PF | 34 | Arnaldo Toro | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| SF | 41 | Gilberto Clavell | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Head coach: ||||||
| Eddie Casiano ||||||

### Final round
#### Italy v Dominican Republic

| Starters: | Starters: | Starters: | Pts | Reb | Ast |
| PG | 0 | Marco Spissu | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| SG | 7 | Stefano Tonut | 14 | 1 | 3 |
| SF | 13 | Simone Fontecchio | 17 | 5 | 3 |
| PF | 33 | Achille Polonara | 9 | 5 | 0 |
| C | 9 | Nicolò Melli | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| Reserves: | Reserves: | Reserves: | | | |
| PG | 1 | Nico Mannion | 8 | 2 | 2 |
| C | 16 | Amedeo Tessitori | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| PF | 17 | Giampaolo Ricci | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| SF | 23 | Awudu Abass | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| SF | 24 | Riccardo Moraschini | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| SG | 31 | Michele Vitali | 8 | 3 | 2 |
| PG | 54 | Alessandro Pajola | 6 | 2 | 1 |
| Head coach: ||||||
| Romeo Sacchetti ||||||
| Italy | Dominican Republic |
| ITA | Statistics | PUR |
| 13/33 (39.4%) | 2-pt field goals | 14/34 (41.2%) |
| 13/25 (52.0%) | 3-pt field goals | 5/30 (16.7%) |
| 14/19 (73.7%) | Free throws | 16/16 (100%) |
| 7 | Offensive rebounds | 12 |
| 31 | Defensive rebounds | 26 |
| 38 | Total rebounds | 38 |
| 21 | Assists | 14 |
| 15 | Turnovers | 14 |
| 6 | Steals | 10 |
| 5 | Blocks | 0 |
| 17 | Fouls | 23 |
| Starters: | Starters: | Starters: | Pts | Reb | Ast |
| PG | 4 | Gelvis Solano | 6 | 0 | 4 |
| SG | 5 | Víctor Liz | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| SF | 7 | Sadiel Rojas | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| PF | 13 | Angel Nunez | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| C | 30 | Jhonatan Araujo | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| Reserves: | Reserves: | Reserves: | | | |
| SG | 1 | Brandone Francis | 12 | 3 | 1 |
| SG | 2 | Rigoberto Mendoza | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| SG | 3 | Adonys Henriquez | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| PG | 10 | Andrés Feliz | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| PF | 15 | Brayan Martinez | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| PG | 33 | Mike Torres | 6 | 0 | 2 |
| C | 40 | Luis Santos | 4 | 7 | 0 |
| Head coach: ||||||
| Melvyn Lopez ||||||

#### Serbia v Italy

| Starters: | Starters: | Starters: | Pts | Reb | Ast |
| PG | 30 | Aleksa Avramović | 2 | 5 | 3 |
| SG | 31 | Ognjen Dobrić | 17 | 3 | 4 |
| SF | 33 | Danilo Anđušić | 27 | 2 | 3 |
| PF | 8 | Nemanja Bjelica | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| C | 51 | Boban Marjanović | 7 | 3 | 0 |
| Reserves: | Reserves: | Reserves: | | | |
| C | 3 | Filip Petrušev | 22 | 5 | 1 |
| PG | 4 | Miloš Teodosić | 5 | 3 | 5 |
| SF | 10 | Nikola Kalinić | 2 | 6 | 5 |
| SG | 12 | Dragan Milosavljević | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PG | 22 | Vasilije Micić | 8 | 0 | 2 |
| PG | 24 | Stefan Jović | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PF | 27 | Dejan Davidovac | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| Head coach: ||||||
| Igor Kokoškov ||||||
| Serbia | Italy |
| SRB | Statistics | ITA |
| 18/27 (66.7%) | 2-pt field goals | 20/42 (47.6%) |
| 11/32 (34.4%) | 3-pt field goals | 14/34 (41.2%) |
| 26/32 (81.2%) | Free throws | 20/23 (87.0%) |
| 9 | Offensive rebounds | 15 |
| 27 | Defensive rebounds | 24 |
| 36 | Total rebounds | 38 |
| 23 | Assists | 17 |
| 11 | Turnovers | 8 |
| 5 | Steals | 7 |
| 5 | Blocks | 2 |
| 24 | Fouls | 24 |
| Starters: | Starters: | Starters: | Pts | Reb | Ast |
| PG | 1 | Nico Mannion | 24 | 0 | 4 |
| SG | 7 | Stefano Tonut | 15 | 4 | 4 |
| SF | 13 | Simone Fontecchio | 21 | 8 | 0 |
| PF | 33 | Achille Polonara | 22 | 12 | 2 |
| C | 9 | Nicolò Melli | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| Reserves: | Reserves: | Reserves: | | | |
| PG | 0 | Marco Spissu | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| C | 16 | Amedeo Tessitori | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| PF | 17 | Giampaolo Ricci | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| SF | 23 | Awudu Abass | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| SF | 24 | Riccardo Moraschini | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SG | 31 | Michele Vitali | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| PG | 54 | Alessandro Pajola | 10 | 4 | 6 |
| Head coach: ||||||
| Romeo Sacchetti ||||||

## Statistics
### Individual statistics

| No. | Player | GC | GP | GS | MPG | 2FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | EF | PPG |
| 0 | Marco Spissu | 3 | 2 | 2 | 17.5 | 50.0% (0.5/1.0) | 16.7% (0.5/3.0) | 33.3% (0.5/1.5) | 3.0 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 3.5 | 3.0 |
| 1 | Nico Mannion | 3 | 3 | 1 | 21.7 | 50.0% (3.3/6.7) | 45.5% (1.7/3.7) | 78.3% (6.0/7.7) | 1.7 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 14.7 | 17.7 |
| 7 | Stefano Tonut | 3 | 3 | 3 | 26.3 | 43.8% (2.3/5.3) | 46.2% (2.0/4.3) | 75.0% (2.0/2.7) | 2.0 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 10.0 | 12.7 |
| 9 | Nicolò Melli | 3 | 3 | 3 | 21.3 | 18.2% (0.7/3.7) | 20.0% (0.7/3.3) | 0.0% (0.0/0.7) | 4.0 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 3.7 | 3.3 |
| 13 | Simone Fontecchio | 3 | 3 | 3 | 29.7 | 57.7% (5.0/8.7) | 53.8% (2.3/4.3) | 100.0% (2.7/2.7) | 6.3 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 22.0 | 19.7 |
| 16 | Amedeo Tessitori | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8.7 | 40.0% (0.7/1.7) | 0.0% (0.0/0.3) | 100.0% (1.3/1.3) | 2.3 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 4.3 | 2.7 |
| 17 | Giampaolo Ricci | 3 | 3 | 0 | 14.0 | 25.0% (0.3/1.3) | 27.3% (1.0/3.7) | - | 1.7 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 2.7 | 3.7 |
| 23 | Awudu Abass | 3 | 2 | 0 | 7.5 | 50.0% (0.5/1.0) | 0.0% (0.0/1.0) | 75.0% (1.5/2.0) | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 2.5 |
| 24 | Riccardo Moraschini | 3 | 2 | 0 | 11.0 | 0.0% (0.0/0.5) | - | 100.0% (1.0/1.0) | 1.5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 |
| 31 | Michele Vitali | 3 | 3 | 0 | 13.3 | 33.3% (0.3/1.0) | 33.3% (0.7/2.0) | 75.0% (1.0/1.3) | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 2.7 | 3.7 |
| 33 | Achille Polonara | 3 | 3 | 3 | 29.0 | 87.5% (2.3/2.7) | 61.1% (3.7/6.0) | 71.4% (1.7/2.3) | 9.3 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 25.3 | 17.3 |
| 54 | Alessandro Pajola | 3 | 3 | 0 | 11.7 | 33.3% (0.3/1.0) | 80.0% (1.3/1.7) | 100.0% (0.7/0.7) | 2.3 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 9.0 | 5.3 |
| Total | Total | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 47.5% | 42.7% | 77.6% | 38.3 | 18.3 | 4.7 | 3.7 | 99.7 | 90.3 |

### Individual game highs

| | Total | Player | Opponent |
| Points | 24 | Nico Mannion | vs Serbia |
| Total Rebounds | 9 | Achille Polonara | vs Serbia |
| Assists | 6 | Nico Mannion | vs Puerto Rico |
| Assists | 6 | Alessandro Pajola | vs Serbia |
| Steals | 3 | Nicolò Melli | vs Dominican Republic |
| Efficiency | 32 | Achille Polonara | vs Serbia |
| 2-point field goal percentage | 71.4% (5/7) | Simone Fontecchio | vs Puerto Rico |
| 3-point field goal percentage | 100% (3/3) | Simone Fontecchio | vs Puerto Rico |
| Free throw percentage | 100% (9/9) | Nico Mannion | vs Serbia |
| Minutes | 35:28 | Achille Polonara | vs Puerto Rico |
| | Total | Player | Opponent |
| 2-point field goals made | 7 | Simone Fontecchio | vs Serbia |
| 2-point field goals attempted | 12 | Nico Mannion | vs Serbia |
| 2-point field goals attempted | 12 | Simone Fontecchio | vs Serbia |
| 3-point field goals made | 6 | Achille Polonara | vs Serbia |
| 3-point field goals attempted | 9 | Achille Polonara | vs Puerto Rico |
| Free throws made | 9 | Nico Mannion | vs Serbia |
| Free throws attempted | 9 | Nico Mannion | vs Serbia |
| Offensive Rebounds | 3 | Simone Fontecchio | vs Serbia |
| Offensive Rebounds | 3 | Achille Polonara | vs Serbia |
| Defensive Rebounds | 9 | Achille Polonara | vs Puerto Rico |
| Defensive Rebounds | 9 | Achille Polonara | vs Serbia |

### Team game highs

| Statistic | Total | Opponent |
| Points | 102 | vs Serbia |
| Total Rebounds | 39 | vs Serbia |
| Assists | 21 | vs Dominican Republic |
| Blocks | 5 | vs Dominican Republic |
| Steals | 7 | vs Serbia |
| Efficiency | 110 | vs Serbia |
| 2-point field goal percentage | 57.7% | vs Puerto Rico |
| 3-point field goal percentage | 52.0% | vs Dominican Republic |
| Free throw percentage | 87.0% | vs Serbia |
| Turnovers | 8 | vs Serbia |
| Statistic | Total | Opponent |
| 2-point field goals made | 20 | vs Serbia |
| 2-point field goals attempted | 42 | vs Serbia |
| 3-point field goals made | 14 | vs Serbia |
| 3-point field goals attempted | 37 | vs Dominican Republic |
| Free throws made | 20 | vs Serbia |
| Free throws attempted | 25 | vs Dominican Republic |
| Offensive Rebounds | 15 | vs Serbia |
| Defensive Rebounds | 31 | vs Dominican Republic |