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'Mussidori' pushing Italy forward

Italy's attacking duo has stormed through the first round and put themselves forwards as the candidates for huge things on this tournament. Belgium cannot match them in any aspect

FIBA Europe / Gintaras Siuparys

"Mussidori" - that's how the Italians have dubbed the creative force of their national team. A blend of last names of two of their best players who are way ahead of everyone and are ready to take Italy very far, like in the recently played Albert Schweitzer tournament when they got the gold.

It all seemed very impressive against Latvia. Their PG Mussin got 24 rebounds, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals, while their shooting guard Flaccadori got 22 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. No other team has such a duo and they are definitely the force that's pushing Italy forward. Yesterday, the Italians did the biggest part of their job in defense as they destroyed the Latvians and forced them to make many turnovers that Mussini and Flaccadori turned into counters and easy points.

The two players dominated, but their centers were also surprisingly solid. Latvia have a great line of centers and the Italians managed to dominate the rebounds. This confirmed that their gold medal at the Albert Schweitzer was no accident and that they will have a thing or two to say in terms of final outcome.

FIBA Europe / Gintaras Siuparys

Belgium did not fulfill their expectations yesterday. They are new to Division A and they are certainly not used to this level of performance, which was seen yesterday. Poland destroyed them in terms of rebounds and Belgium will have the same problems with their opponents for today as they are simply physically inferior to everyone.

We have said that the Belgians are a very organized team who play a slow intelligent basketball with a strong emphasis on defense. They forced the Poles to get 22 turnovers and that gave them a chance to get back from -14 in the last period and possibly win the game, but they missed the crucial shots.

They can't expect their opponents to give them such a boost here in terms of turnovers as Italy are lead by their "Mussidori" duo, and their lucidity takes care of even much more aggressive defenses than the one Belgium has. As long as Belgium's defense keeps up, they might not fall back too much, but they will certainly not be able to do so throughout the entire 40 minutes.