Gianmarco Pozzecco, the head coach of Italy, found time during the preparation period to speak to Basketball Sphere ahead of EuroBasket 2025.
Back in his playing days, he was nicknamed the “Atomic Ant”, and nothing has changed in his approach since he traded basketball shoes and jerseys for a suit, shoes, and a clipboard in his hands.
Even though it is not easy to get access to certain players these days—due to Federation rules, busy training schedules, and preparation games, Gianmarco Pozzecco responded to the request for an interview by saying: “Just let me finish my cevapcici and then you can call me…”
When he answered with a smile, he revealed that “cevapcici” was actually pasta, which remains his favorite everyday meal. From there, we shifted into a more serious tone, talking about basketball, what Italy represents, and how Darius Thompson reacted to the national team call-up after the injury to Donte DiVincenzo.
We also heard a story about how his love for basketball began in the Fifth League and grew into a professional career, and how much of an influence Bogdan Tanjevic has had on Gianmarco Pozzecco’s coaching journey.
The Italian coach didn’t hold back, so the warm advice from the author of these lines is to grab a coffee and enjoy the pure basketball emotion that Gianmarco Pozzecco lives every single day.
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🇮🇹 Gianmarco Pozzecco, the head coach of Italy, has decided on the 12 players who will compete at the upcoming EuroBasket.
— Basketball Sphere (@BSphere_) August 20, 2025
Can they finally jump over the hurdle that is the quarter final for them? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/IXptuFIoTT
Claim Now “Honestly, I don’t give a f*ck…”
Another major challenge for you as a coach, and a new one for the Italian national team! How different is this time, considering you had the opportunity to fully dedicate yourself to the national team after parting ways with ASVEL and being without a club? How much did that help in the preparation, and how would you describe that period?
“We are working in a good way, there is discipline, but at the same time the players bring great work ethic and enjoyment on the court, which for me is the most important thing. We will see at EuroBasket what it will be enough for, but I can say that I am happy. Above all, I don’t want to emphasize my role too much, I am just a coach. My job is to help the players achieve their goals.
Of course, I wasn’t happy about what happened in ASVEL, but that is normal. It happens to every player and coach if you are professionally involved in basketball or any other sport. Not so often, but even good players have bad seasons. If you are a coach, to be flawless, you need to be a genius.
I kept working as always, that is my philosophy and it is very important. Honestly, I’m not focused on my career, nor on what my level is, or why someone called me or not. Honestly, I don’t give a f*ck. I work and I am happy doing this job, especially because I am the coach of my country. Always will do this with 100% and I try to give my maximum.” – said Gianmarco Pozzecco, continuing in the same tone:
“I always fought with everyone on the court!”
“I don’t need to prove to anyone whether I am a good coach or not. I want to enjoy my time with the players. Most often, that enjoyment comes when you win games, but if not, you must accept that someone else is better and at the same time improve. I think nowadays everyone is too focused on wins and losses, as if the only thing that matters is the result. I have a different point of view and philosophy.
Everyone judges players and coaches only through victories. Recently when we played in Bologna against Argentina, the arena was sold out. Even during vacation time, the arena was full, showing how much people love this team. Everyone will say Serbia is the best team in Europe, but it won’t be easy for them either. There are still many strong teams at EuroBasket – Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, France, Greece, Spain… It is necessary to prepare your team to compete, and that is what I do.
I am not interested in my career, I could stop tomorrow. Of course, I give my maximum, I cannot approach basketball in any other way. I remember when I grew up in Yugoslavia, spending time playing basketball, and I always fought with everyone on the court. I still have that mentality.”
“Group of death”
Italy was unlucky with the EuroBasket 2025 draw, ending up in the toughest group of the tournament. Along with Italy, there are Spain, Georgia, Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and host Cyprus. From a coach’s perspective, how big of a challenge is this for all participants, especially since many teams are dealing with injuries—for example, Dzanan Musa will miss the tournament after abdominal surgery?
“First of all, I am a big friend of Dzanan Musa from the time I coached him at Cedevita. I know him very well and for me the most important thing is that he is healthy. These things are bigger than basketball. My first wish is for him to recover as soon as possible. Even at EuroBasket, I would rather see him healthy and playing, even if Bosnia and Herzegovina beats us, than to beat them without him. He is one of the best players in Europe.
As you said, it is not an easy group. Cyprus plays at home, they are a good team, but not like the others. All the others are very strong. The biggest change compared to when I played is that reaching the quarterfinals used to be easier. Today, all teams are quality— you can beat anyone, but you can also lose to anyone. As always, it is a very competitive tournament. There is not a big gap between teams.”
A moment written in history books ✍🏻
— Basketball Sphere (@BSphere_) August 17, 2025
The legendary dunk by Predrag Danilovic, posterizing Arvydas Sabonis in the EuroBasket 1995 final 😤 pic.twitter.com/Ym2fr46sqZ
“We’ll travel to Alaska if we have to…”
Considering that you will play in Cyprus, and then if all goes well move to Riga, there is a huge difference in climate and adaptation. How do you view this organizational aspect, where multiple countries are hosting, adding extra effort for teams and staff?
“Believe me, it would be much harder if we traveled from Cyprus directly back to Italy, because that would mean we didn’t qualify further. We will travel to Alaska if necessary, and we will be happy. That is what separates winners from others, whatever we have to do, if we are traveling to Riga, it’s a positive thing.” – said Gianmarco Pozzecco.
“They paid me a lot, which I thought was crazy…”
During one of the preparation games against Argentina, your hug with Darius Thompson after he scored his first points in an Italian jersey stood out. Is atmosphere perhaps more important than quality in a national team, since without good chemistry it’s hard to achieve results? Gianmarco Pozzecco answered again with an very nice introduction for full context:
“I grew up playing basketball for pure enjoyment, nobody was paying me. I played for fun, but I had a strange career. I only started playing at 17, before that I played both football and basketball since I was 10. Then my father told me I had to choose. I chose football, but because of my brother, I returned to basketball just three months later. By the age of 20, I was still in the fifth league, just playing for fun. Then, by a lucky chance, I became a professional and ended up having a good career (laughs).
I kept enjoying it. In my mind, I was still an amateur, because it was too late to change that mindset. They paid me a lot, which I thought was crazy, because I would have played basketball anyway if given the chance.
I spent eight years in Varese, and it was like family. We spent so much time together, visiting each other, having dinners together. It was like being brothers. After that, throughout my whole career I tried to find the same environment, but I never found it again.”
Thompson poeni < Pozzecco reakcija 😅
— Flouter (@FlouterNET) August 15, 2025
📹 @EuroBasket x @Italbasket 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/dX9mllsl79
“My job is to make every player feel good…”
“Meanwhile, basketball changed, a lot of money came in. When I became a coach, I told myself that above all, I want to give my players the chance to experience a beautiful atmosphere. Of course, tactics, defense, switching, offense, all of that matters—but my primary goal is to build something special among us.
Everyone was talking about DiVincenzo, then he got injured and we called Darius Thompson. He immediately said he was ready to play, but he is American, born there, so I wanted him to feel welcome right from the start. When he scored that basket, I hugged him and told him I was really happy he was with us, and then said ‘now go shoot your free throw.’ My job is to make every player feel good.”
Achille Polonara – a lesson for everyone
Achille Polonara was recently hospitalized after being diagnosed with leukemia. His teammate Marco Spissu decided to wear the number 33 jersey in his honor, and coach Gianmarco Pozzecco shared a powerful message for everyone:
“Many people say Italy is not even among the top 10 favorites at EuroBasket, and that is fine, that is their opinion. My job is to give confidence and energy to my players, so they can give their maximum, and only that way we can achieve something special.
Everyone knows Achille Polonara is in the hospital with leukemia. That is more important than anything else; it’s almost stupid to talk about basketball in comparison. The most important thing is for everyone to be healthy.
When he was hospitalized, I told my players they must be happy, to be professionals on the court but to enjoy playing, because we often don’t realize how lucky we are. People say we should be happy just to wake up every morning, but they don’t actually live like that.”
Bogdan Tanjevic – friendship and life lessons
“Bogdan Tanjevic is from Trieste, he lives there, and we met last week. During your career, there are very few people who become legends, and I had the chance to meet him. Bosa is one of the best people I have ever met in my life. When we won the title with Varese in 1999, he called me to talk… At that time, I was probably one of the best, actually no—I was the best point guard on the team (laughs). But Tanjevic decided that Meneghin and Basile would play before me. Still, he told me everything directly, he didn’t like me.
Of course, at that time we weren’t great friends, but I always respected him because he always told me the truth. That won me over. Sometimes he comes to watch practices, he helps me, gives me advice I often use. I know he truly cares about me, and I care about him. The most important thing in this job is communication. When you meet Bosa, you can consider yourself lucky. I’m not only talking about basketball, but about life.
“I never lie to my players, because if I deceive them, that’s the end of my career…”
It’s not easy to accept such things, to know what to do and what not to do. Most often I discuss the team with my assistants, they are like family, we spend a lot of time together. Because I always tell my players: if I ever lie to you, I can go home immediately. I know that if I lie once and don’t tell the truth, everything else falls apart. I never lie to my players, because if I deceive them, that’s the end of my career.” – concluded Gianmarco Pozzecco in his interview with Basketball Sphere.
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