Gianmarco Pozzecco
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| Pallacanestro Varese | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Head coach | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born |
September 15, 1972 Gorizia, Italy | ||||||||||||
| Nationality | Italian | ||||||||||||
| Listed height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| Pro career | 1991–2010 | ||||||||||||
| Position | Point guard | ||||||||||||
| Coaching career | 2012–present | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| As player: | |||||||||||||
| 1991–1993 | A.P.U. Udine | ||||||||||||
| 1993–1994 | Libertas Livorno | ||||||||||||
| 1994–2002 | Pallacanestro Varese | ||||||||||||
| 2002–2005 | Fortitudo Bologna | ||||||||||||
| 2005 | CAI Zaragoza | ||||||||||||
| 2005–2007 | BC Khimki | ||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Orlandina Basket | ||||||||||||
| 2009 | Servolana Trieste | ||||||||||||
| 2010 | Orlandina Basket | ||||||||||||
| As coach: | |||||||||||||
| 2012–2014 | Orlandina Basket | ||||||||||||
| 2014–present | Pallacanestro Varese | ||||||||||||
Medals
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Gianmarco Pozzecco (born September 15, 1972) is an Italian basketball coach and a former player, an all-around offensive talent. He won, for seven years, the ranking for the top assistmen in Italian League.
Career
In 1999 he won the Italian League and the Italian Supercup with Varese. In 2004 he lost the Euroleague Final Four against Maccabi Tel Aviv. He played from 1999 to 2001 in the Italian All Star Game and in the 1999 McDonald’s Open Championship.
In 2001 he tried to join an NBA franchise and attended a Summer League with Toronto Raptors, but his physical weakness prevented it.
Coaching career
After his retirement as a player, he spent few years as a broadcaster for Sky Sport and Sportitalia. On November 13, 2012 he is hired as the head coach of Orlandina Basket, the team which he ended his playing career with. In 2014 he goes back to Varese as head coach.
National team career
He joined the Azzurri in 1997 and the following year participated in the World Championship; however, he had some arguments with coach Bogdan Tanjevic who left him out of the winning roster at Eurobasket 1999.
New Italian coach Carlo Recalcati let him return to the team, and although he lost the calling for Eurobasket 2003, Pozzecco was part of the roster that won the silver medal at the Olympic Games in 2004. The following year he was part of the unlucky Italian squad at Eurobasket 2005.
The player, the man
Pozzecco is 181 centimeters tall, and played the position of point guard. He had great technical skills, court-vision, and shooting ability. He was a player full of fantasy, but weak on defense.
He is famous for his eccentric character, and, although it has caused problems for him with coaches through the years, it made him one of the most valued players in Italy. His nicknames are “Poz”, and “La Mosca Atomica” (The Atomic Fly). Although he was born in Gorizia and he grew up as a basketball player in Udine, he is from Trieste.
NBA star Tim Duncan said he was impressed by the Italian player.