Clinging by a thread in the EuroBasket 2009 Additional Qualifying Round, Team Italy barely survived Finland on Monday to eke out the 77-75 win; the news worsened for Italia as coach Massimo Iacopini announced that Daniel Hackett would be out due to ankle injury for the remainder of the tournament.
In its article “Hackett KO resta fermo due settimane,” BasketNet.it reported that, well, the kayoed Hackett would be out for two weeks. Hackett has stated that he would be on the court for Benetton Treviso when that squad tips off on August 17 in Euroleague qualifiers.
Such a promise won’t do Italy any good at all in the short-term, as tomorrow night sees undefeated and impressive Team France come to play. While Les Blues are the highest-scoring team in the tournament, sport Tony Parker and a generally nifty passing game in general, and have Nicolas Batum playing the best basketball of his life, the star-studded Italians haven’t yet gelled in this tournament and remain simply out of sync.
While Batum’s time in the Italy game will probably be limited and perhaps even reduced to a minimum, France still looks very good in this one. If the best *team* wins, France wins.
And keep your fingers crossed, Treviso devotees…
