# Gianmarco Pozzecco and Massimo Bulleri



## Nikos (Jun 5, 2002)

I thought they were impressive at times in the Olympic games. I was suprised they got such little time in the final game vs Argentina. Despite their fouls and mistakes they could have got a little more time. 

I was wondering where will they be playing this upcoming season in terms of Euroleague and Italian League play?

How are they as players in Italy and overseas in general?


Bulleri seems like a tough/hard nosed player on both ends, not a great shooter and a little out of control sometimes but a big part of their offensive agressiveness to accompany the shooting of Galanda and Basile. 

Pozzecco to me seems like an awesome playmaker/disher. Reminds me of a Euro Steve Nash. Obviously is getting older now, but how has he been playing throughout his career? I never heard of him before now. Looks too undersized and overmatched on defense, but his offense/penetration/dishing was as good as it gets. 

Why didn't he ever play on the NT before? Was his temper really THAT BAD that a player of his talent can't be allowed on the team?

Any opinions or info on these players would be appreciated, thanks.


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## italianBBlover (Mar 5, 2003)

Hi Nikos

Well, Bulleri is more a PG-SG; not a "pure" PG with moderate passing/assist skills but a good scorer.
He plays for Benetton Treviso, one of the Italy's powerhouses. 

Pozzecco is instead a pure PG: few points from him but a train of assists ( this olympic game almost 5 assist in only 16 minutes per game !!) and great court vision.
Gianmarco now plays for Fortitudo Bologna along with Gianluca Basile (and last season with Carlos Delfino).
Till some years ago he wasn't a "bad guy", but simply a too much "crazy" player out and in the court.
Now, at 30y, he's a few more mature.

Grettings !


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## Nikos (Jun 5, 2002)

Thanks for the reply.

Is Bulleri still backing up Tyus Edney? How would you rank Bulleri in terms of PG's in the Euroleague and Italian? Is he Top 7-8? Or is he just the best backup PG in those leagues? How is his defense and penetration there?

Pozzecco seems very talented, how did he do statistically in the past in the Italian Leagues? I thought I saw a few years ago he was an awesome scorer? Is this true? Has he slowed down physically? 

Thanks


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## italianBBlover (Mar 5, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>Nikos</b>!
> Thanks for the reply.
> 
> Is Bulleri still backing up Tyus Edney? How would you rank Bulleri in terms of PG's in the Euroleague and Italian? Is he Top 7-8? Or is he just the best backup PG in those leagues? How is his defense and penetration there?
> ...


Now Tyus has moved to Virtus Rome and so Bulleri will be the starting PG of Treviso.
He's surely one of the 4/6 best PG in Italy (foreigns and italians).
He has good penetration but he has a good 3-pointer too.

Pozzecco was a noticable scorer when he was playing with Roosters Varese in the mid-end '90s, while in the last years he scores much less but he has became a true assist-machine, often 7 or 8 assist in only 15 minutes or so.










Gretz


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## Nikos (Jun 5, 2002)

I read somewhere that Pozzecco played on Toronto Raptors Summer League team? What happened there?

I saw in 2000-2001 he averaged 27.0ppg 5.2apg 3.1apg for Varese. That is crazy! He also did it efficiently!

Why all of a sudden the following years his scoring went down so much? Playing with Miles Simon? 

If you can score 27-5-3 in LEGA that is impressive. 

This is why I do not understand international basketball sometimes, one year someone does well, the next year they are being benched for someone who isn't even that talented? Or something strange like that. 

Carlos Delfino plays way more minutes than Pozzecco, but yet Vujanic is a SG and yet Pozzecoo never gets any time? Why not? Pozzecco, Vujanic, Basile is a great 1-2-3 punch. Why not Delfino off the bench considering he was not very efficient in his scoring last season?

I guess I will never understand the scoring/substitution patterns in the Euro/Italian leagues


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## alister (Oct 12, 2002)

Delfino is a SF I think but I get your point and I think you are right.ItalianBBLover I also think that Fortitudo really underated Pozzeko.In my opinion he is one of the best point guards in Europe and should play more...At least now after the Olympics I don't think that Fortitudo will make the mistake to let him go.


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## Marco Mitis (Dec 17, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>Nikos</b>!
> I read somewhere that Pozzecco played on Toronto Raptors Summer League team? What happened there?


Pozzecco always declared that he would like to play in the NBA, even for free.
Is just a big dream of him.
It's true, he played Toronto summer league team, and seems they were ready to give him a contract, only for dropping him at the last minute, officialy because they thought him too small to play in the league. He declared was the biggest upset of his career. After the Italian victory over tem US on a friendly game before olympics he was just declaring "I've shown them, I've shown them I can play"
Even on today newspaper in an interview he ketp saying he's ready to go for the minimum salary if somebody wants him.
The 1st time he meet an NBA team was at the defunct McDonalds tournment when playing for Varese Roosters meet on semis San Antonio Spurs freshly crowned NBA champs, with Duncan and Robinson. He was so excited thet he stained his hair of glow red! And what a great game from him. Varese lead till the last quarter (was NBA rules) when teir big players was fouled out adn Spurs take a close win.
I don't know, he's just so crazy, bigger than life charachter. I would like to see him being given a chance. 



> * Roosters scare the boots off Spurs
> *
> 
> Mark Woods in Milan
> ...


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## Nikos (Jun 5, 2002)

http://www.geocities.com/raptorsfamily/summerleague

I found this link to boxscores where Pozzecco played in summer league games for Toronto.

His turnovers look very high, and it looks like he struggled for the most part, except in his last game.

Maybe it took him a while to adjust to the NBA type of game, and the fact that he lacked the language and experience?

It seems that they might have seen he was too small and just let him go? I wonder how hard they were considering him? 



Do you think his size is that big of a problem?

To me he looks like he has a lot of playmaking abilities and can be a very nice backup PG on a reasonable team. But then again he is 5-11 160Ibs. I wonder which team would give him a chance?

How serious is he when he says


> Even on today newspaper in an interview he ketp saying he's ready to go for the minimum salary if somebody wants him.


 ?


I am just real suprised how little time he got for Skipper Bologna. He and Vujanic would be a deadly backcourt (and I keep hearing how Vu plays like an SG anyway).

What is the exact link to that SPURS vs VARESE game?

Thanks!


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## Nikos (Jun 5, 2002)

> September 16, 1999
> The Drazen Petrovic Trophy, for the Championship MVP, went at lasty to Tim Duncan, who simply dominated the final game vs. Vasco, scoring 16 points in first quarter, 32 at the and, and imposing his great presence during all the game. The All Star of McDonald's was made of course by Duncan, then Avery Johnson, Gianmarco Pozzecco, Charles Byrd and Jose Vargas and Francesco Vescovi (last two tie for forward posotion). *But the presence of Avery Johnson in this All Star is another sign of how much NBA is the "owner" of this tournment. Johnson has been dominated and almost humiliated by Pozzecco in Varese-Spurs game, and some other considerations about the same game*, mostly about the referees' behaviour in that occasion, were common in the media talks yesterday. No one wants to say that NBA teams are at the same level of the best European ones. There is again a great gap of difference, and maybe there will be a great difference even in future, but in Friday game the key decisions of refs during last quarter were all in one-way: San Antonio. And this put a bitter taste on the final result. We all hope that all the referees, mostly the FIBA ones, will consider this in future, avoiding a kind behavoir which makes to think about a their "psychological subjection". More, if really NBA and FIBA are planning a true World Championship for clubs, it should be better to schedule it after some months of work for NBA clubs too. In fact, it tis true that Varese Roosters could have been advantaged by their two months of preparation more, but, be careful NBA, even if the game of Varese has been fantastic, the present continental ranking of the Italian Champions is very lower than the one of, for example, Olympiakos, Panathinaikos, Paf, and Barcelona, the four teams which currently lead the Euroleague groups. What could have happened if one of those had been on the court instead of Varese ?
> 
> Day 2, Semifinals
> ...


http://www.eurobasket.com/events/wcclubs/wcc99.asp


They don't say how many assists he had, and I am not quite sure if they are saying Avery dominated Pozzecco or the other way around (maybe Pozzecco had several assists for Varese?)

Do you know more about this game?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/news/1999/10/15/spurs_mcdonalds_ap/


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## Nikos (Jun 5, 2002)

http://www.britball.com/2000/mcdos99sasvar.htm



> Roosters scare the boots off Spurs
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Another article I found that says Pozzecco played very well, but does not say the stats. Also it seems Avery Johnson played well with 18pts 12asts, I wonder how many assists Pozzecco had.......


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## Marco Mitis (Dec 17, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>Nikos</b>!
> http://www.geocities.com/raptorsfamily/summerleague
> 
> I found this link to boxscores where Pozzecco played in summer league games for Toronto.
> ...


You know, he's small, he's a foreigneir. Plus he has never been a great defender.
From what I read at the time he played very well, was complimented by Stockton, and the last games was sort of hidden from other teams. So he was confident to have made the roster .



> Originally posted by <b>Nikos</b>!
> 
> How serious is he when he says ?


Knowing him, he's serious.



> Originally posted by <b>Nikos</b>!
> 
> I am just real suprised how little time he got for Skipper Bologna. He and Vujanic would be a deadly backcourt (and I keep hearing how Vu plays like an SG anyway).


True he didn't played much, certainly less that in the past, but he played better than ever. Very good season. 




> Originally posted by <b>Nikos</b>!
> What is the exact link to that SPURS vs VARESE game?
> 
> Thanks!


http://www.britball.com/2000/mcdos99sasvar.htm


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## Nikos (Jun 5, 2002)

> You know, he's small, he's a foreigneir. Plus he has never been a great defender.
> From what I read at the time he played very well, was complimented by Stockton, and the last games was sort of hidden from other teams. So he was confident to have made the roster .


When did he get to play Stockton? Did he play in other summer league games aside from the ones listed on the Toronto Raptors link I showed above?


Also it seems as though we found the same link
 , unfortunely no box score:no:


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## Marco Mitis (Dec 17, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>Nikos</b>!
> 
> 
> When did he get to play Stockton? Did he play in other summer league games aside from the ones listed on the Toronto Raptors link I showed above?
> ...


No no, I mean Stockton go to see the game and had nice words for him after.  
I remeber that game, was very close and Pozzecco was great. True that refering was a bit unfair, Daniel Santiago (Portorican that have got a shot in the NBA right after) was fouled out very early while he was really on fire with some dubtful calls.
NBA.com had a pic of Pozzecco on the opening page the day after.
Honestly I don't know where to get a box score.


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## Marco Mitis (Dec 17, 2002)

Just one more funny thing about this game:
In the Varese roster you can find a player named Bagatta.
Well, he's not a player. He's a popoular sports commentator for an Italian major Tv channel, mostly NBA and American sports in general. 
He got to play the final seconds of the game achieving his dream to play one day against his NBA heroes.  
Strange but true.


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## italianBBlover (Mar 5, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>Marco Mitis</b>!
> Just one more funny thing about this game:
> In the Varese roster you can find a player named Bagatta.
> Well, he's not a player. He's a popoular sports commentator for an Italian major Tv channel, mostly NBA and American sports in general.
> ...


:laugh:

Now I remind this thing :yes: :grinning: 

Great Guido :rofl:

Look this streamvideo: Bagatta interviews Pozzecco 4 years ago :laugh: 

Mediaplayer
http://www.menestrello.com/mediavideo/asx/040/040513_001.ASX

Realvideo
http://www.menestrello.com/mediavideo/ram/040/040513_002.RAM


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## Nikos (Jun 5, 2002)

> No no, I mean Stockton go to see the game and had nice words for him after.


Are you speaking of the Spurs game or that Stockton saw him in Summer League play for another team (not the Toronto Raptors)?


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## Marco Mitis (Dec 17, 2002)

I ment the summer league with Toronto.


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## Ryoga (Aug 31, 2002)

Pozzecco had 12-13 assists in that game, if remeber correctly.
BTW that article was why to biased, Pozzecco did what he wanted against Aj, but at the same time he struggled a lot defending the pick n' roll.
Vescovi was the guy that really humiliated the Spurs, because Popovich had the brilliant idea of making Mailk play SF.


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## Nikos (Jun 5, 2002)

So is it Pozzecco's lack of shot and size on defense that kept him out of the NBA?

He averaged 27-5-3 in LEGA one year! That is crazy considering he also has demonstrated a lot of passing skills the past couple of years.

That means he has both scoring and passing capability.

Now its a shame, he never seems to play anymore.

Has his stamina gone down a lot?

What has happened to him the past few seasons?


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## Zalgirinis (Feb 18, 2003)

I could try giving answers to most of your questions of this night, but I dont want to dublicate as italian guys know it better. But for this I can give you my opinion.



> So is it Pozzecco's lack of shot and size on defense that kept him out of the NBA?


I think its prejudice of NBA scouts about white European guards kept him out of NBA. This fits most European guards as Jasikevicius said "Im only simple fat white guy" and scouts rarely watch at "fat white" guards while being in Europe. I dont say with this that Pozzecco was a definate NBA player, but I think he hadnt a real chance because of this prejudice and not because of some lacks of his game.



> He averaged 27-5-3 in LEGA one year! That is crazy considering he also has demonstrated a lot of passing skills the past couple of years.


Yea and he was crazy literaly! Nickname "Attomic Fly" tells it. He was the storm on basketball's court. His energy flooded all the team. Quick, fast, running, but that wasnt always good as he was hard to control and tempo play isnt always the solution in Europe.



> Now its a shame, he never seems to play anymore.
> Has his stamina gone down a lot?
> What has happened to him the past few seasons?


I think stamina is the last thing he lacks. Thats really not a question. He simply is on very very crowded guard rotation for the last two years in Fortitudo Bologna. Vujanic, Basile, Guyton, Delfino, Belinelli last season. With Delfino playing more of SF and Belinelli not playing that much yet, but still there wasnt that much time you could find for everyone. And this year Guyton and Delfino is replaced by Ruben Douglas, who is playing great, and Belinelli's playing time increased, so Pozzecco isnt having more time either.


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## Nikos (Jun 5, 2002)

By stamina I meant more along the lines of strength for the NBA. And because he is getting older, I figured the reason he is not scoring or getting the chance to play like before is because he might be losing some stamina with his AGE.

I know those guards are solid, but with the exception of Vujanic (who not a pure PG as everyone seems to say) -- I think he is more talented than AJ Guyton. Guyton was a solid college player, but nothing special over here in the USA. I saw more from Pozzecco in the Olympics than I have seen from Guyton as an overall PG. Poz showed an ability to SCORE and PASS. I do not see that even from some solid NBA PG's today!

This is what I do not understand about International basketball sometimes. One year a guy can get 27ppg, and a few years later he is backing up guys who are not even half as good as he was (except Vujanic and Basile). And its not even a question of just being a backup, I look at this playing time, and he barely gets 10mpg (that to me says he is not worth playing major minutes). And because of that I wonder why?

It makes no sense to get 27ppg one year, and backup players who are not even scoring near as much as the average US player coming overseas (aka Charles Smith, Thorton etc.....). How can these guys score 23-24ppg, while Pozzecco has done the same, and is backing up players with less scoring ability??


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