Overview
- Italy opens the Women’s World Championship in Phuket today against Slovakia at 15:30 CEST in Group B, with Cuba on August 24 and Belgium on August 26.
- Arriving as Olympic and back‑to‑back Nations League champions, the team leans on Paola Egonu’s push for the only major title missing from her resume under Julio Velasco’s ‘here and now’ approach.
- TV plans in Italy include free coverage of the Azzurre on Rai with streaming on RaiPlay, while VBTV offers every match of the tournament.
- Italy’s men lost 83-68 to Latvia at the Acropolis Tournament on August 21, hitting 2-of-17 from three and exposing defensive inconsistencies after four straight warm-up wins.
- Coach Gianmarco Pozzecco continues integrating Danilo Gallinari and Darius Thompson, with Gallinari not featuring against Latvia; Italy faces Greece today before the EuroBasket opener on August 28.