When the Italian national team takes the court Friday against France in Bologna, Gabriele Procida and Matteo Procida will not be amongst players present, for their journey with the senior national team has come to an end, as they were cut by coach Gianmarco Pozzecco.
Coach Pozzeco had this to say about having to cut the two players:
“Gabriele and Matteo (photo) have the future ahead of them judging by their great talent, also confirmed by their pick in the NBA Draft. I thank them, and these are not words of convenience, for their efforts in recent days and for confirming, after what their teammates and staff had told me, that they are also two good guys. This made it painful to make these decisions in a context where things are progressing in harmony, but it was inevitable. I don’t want to call them ‘cuts’ because the national team adventure is long and unfolds over several competitions even during the year. All those who are not here today will be able to be protagonists at the next opportunity from the perspective of an enlarged group of players”.
Here is the remaining Italian roster:
following:
# 00 Amedeo Della Valle (1993, 194, G, Germani Brescia)
# 0 Marco Spissu (1995, 184, G, Umana Reyer Venice)
# 1 Niccolò Mannion (2001, 190, G, Segafredo Virtus Bologna)
# 6 Paul Biligha (1990, 200, C, Armani Exchange Milan)
# 7 Stefano Tonut (1993, 194, G, Armani Exchange Milan)
# 8 Danilo Gallinari (1988, 208, F, Boston Celtics – NBA)
# 9 Nicolò Melli (1991, 206, F, Armani Exchange Milan)
# 13 Simone Fontecchio (1995, 203, F, Utah Jazz – NBA)
# 16 Amedeo Tessitori (1994, 208, C, Umana Reyer Venice)
# 17 Giampaolo Ricci (1991, 202, F, Armani Exchange Milan)
# 25 Tommaso Baldasso (1998, 192, G, Armani Exchange Milan)
# 33 Achille Polonara (1991, 205, F, Anadolu Efes Istanbul – Turkey)
# 54 Alessandro Pajola (1999, 194, G, Segafredo Virtus Bologna)
# 70 Luigi Datome (1987, 203, F, Armani Exchange Milan)
# 77 John Petrucelli (1992, 193, G, Germani Brescia)
The 2022 NBA Draft picks, Procida, who was taken no. 36 overall (Portland) and Spagnolo, selected no. 50 ( Minnesota) will not be the only cuts, coach Pozzecco will have to trim three more players from the above roster.
