The Early Years (1926–39) . The first match of the Italian national basketball team was played on 4 April 1926 in
Milan, and it ended with a victory over France 23–17. Italy's first participation in the Olympic Games was at the
1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, placing seventh out of twenty-one teams. At the
EuroBasket 1937 Italy placed second behind Lithuania, after being beaten by just one point in the final game. The silver medal was repeated at
EuroBasket 1946.
The Difficult Postwar Period (1946–69) Following the end of World War II, the Azzurri went through difficult times and not only failed to qualify for two Summer Olympics and three consecutive world championships but struggled in Europe as well. This was also reflected at the technical level with the alternation of several head coaches within only a few years. Of special importance was Italy's decision not to compete at the
EuroBasket 1949, in order to mourn for the victims of the
Superga air disaster. It was the first time that the squad missed a
EuroBasket. In 1957, as Nello Paratore took the head coach position (which he held for 11 years) Italy made only slight improvements from the previous decade. At the
1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy showed its most impressive performance to this point where it placed fourth, only behind USA, USSR and Brazil. Curiously, the organizational expenses of the Olympics in Rome resulted in the decision not to participate in the
EuroBasket 1961.
The Decade of Giancarlo Primo (1969–79) In 1969,
Giancarlo Primo became Italy's coach, focusing the game strategies on defense. Under his leadership the Italian national team grew stronger, claiming a place among the world's elite. Under Primo, the Azzuri won two European bronze medals and earned two fourth-place finishes at the
FIBA World Cup. Further, Italy finished fourth at the
1972 Summer Olympics where it lost the match for third place to
Cuba by only one point. Among the leading players of the national team were the young Meneghin, Marzorati, Villalta and Bariviera.
The Successful Years of Gamba (1979–85) (
1980). In 1979
Sandro Gamba replaced Primo, leading Italy to its biggest triumphs till then: a silver at the
1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, a gold at
EuroBasket 1983 in Nantes, and a bronze at the
EuroBasket 1985 in Stuttgart. As in the years before, Meneghin, Marzorati and Villalta were the cornerstones of the team, complemented by players such as Riva and Brunamonti. This episode in time stands out to this day as the most successful in the history of the Italian national team.
The National Crisis of 1983: Bianchini and leg-a (1985–92) Following these outstanding accomplishments was another period of crisis, first under Coach Valerio Bianchini (replaced in 1985), and then another six years of modest success where the biggest accomplishment was silver at the
EuroBasket 1991 in
Rome, which was called to end Ettore Messina, who took over in 1992. In the same year Enrico Vinci stepped down as President of the Italian Basketball Federation after 16 years. The place was taken over by Giovanni Petrucci.
The Messina-Tanjevic Era (1992–2001) Ettore Messina became Italy's coach in 1992, winning a silver medal at
EuroBasket 1997 in Barcelona. This medal was the main accomplishment of coach Messina, who served the team for five years. Yet, he failed to qualify for the
Olympic Games and the
World Cup. A great disappointment was suffered at the
1998 World Cup in Athens, when a team with Fučka, Myers and Meneghin was believed to aspire to the podium but only finished sixth.
Bogdan Tanjević replaced Messina and led Italy to the triumph at the
EuroBasket 1999, the first gold medal in 16 years. The second gold medal at a European Basketball Championship arrived after beating Spain in the final game. After a ninth place at
EuroBasket 2001, held in Turkey,
Carlo Recalcati was called to replace Tanjević. Recalcati could count on Italy's top talents
Gregor Fučka and
Carlton Myers, as well as valuable contributors such as Basile, Abbio and Chiacig.
The Recalcati Era (2001–09) during a game At the
EuroBasket 2003, Italy showed a strong performances and defeated
Germany and
Greece but was later kicked out by
Spain in the semifinals. The victory against France in the bronze medal game guaranteed the team's qualification at the
2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Italy won a silver medal in that event and was stopped only in the final game by
Argentina. Most important, this silver seemed to be worth much more than that of the
1980 Olympics in Moscow where several top teams, including the
United States and
Canada were absent for a boycott. Since then, the Azzurri experienced years of only skimpy satisfaction: after the Summer Olympics in Greece, the team collected three ninth-place finishes, two at the EuroBasket and one at the
2006 World Cup. Subsequently, the team failed to qualify for the 2008
Beijing Olympics, the
EuroBasket 2009 and the
2010 World Cup. Despite the increasing internationalization of the
NBA (especially towards European players) and a steady presence of Italian players, (including the historic first overall pick
Andrea Bargnani of the
2006 NBA draft) the national team performed poorly in these years. The reasons for this phenomenon are simple: low contribution of NBA athletes, ageing guards (
Massimo Bulleri and
Gianluca Basile, who were the highlights of Athens already in their thirties) and the lack of young talent. The reason for the seeming lack of talent were caused by the difficulty that Italian talents had in the national championships
Serie A. There, they faced strong competition especially from American and European players. It comes as no coincidence that the team that absolutely dominated in the last years,
Montepaschi Siena rarely had Italians in the starting lineup. During these years, the
Serie A went through some changes at the top executives level. Fausto Maifredi (in office since 1999) left and the Federation's first commissioner
Dino Meneghin changed the rules by mandating for the commissioner to be the league's president as well. Meanwhile, Italy failed to qualify for the
European Championship in 2009, for the first time since
1961. Curiously, 2009 is the first year where the Azzurri failed to qualify for sports-related reasons. Both absences (
1949 and 1961) were due to non-sporting reasons. Following the disappointment
CT Recalcati left and was replaced by
Simone Pianigiani. Pianigiani coached both the national team and
Mens Sana Basket, which for years dominated the
Serie A.
Coach Pianigiani (2009–2015) The team with Coach Pianigiani was able to qualify for the
EuroBasket 2011 due to an
FIBA decision to expand the tournament. Later, Coach Pianigiani was able to secure Italy a spot at the
EuroBasket 2015.
Ettore Messina, the return (2015–2017) From 5 November 2015,
Ettore Messina returned to be head coach of the Italian national team simultaneously with his appointment as assistant-coach of the
NBA club
San Antonio Spurs. On 9 July 2016, Italy was defeated by
Croatia in the Finals of the
FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament in
Turin, failing the qualification for the Olympics in
Rio de Janeiro. Prior to
EuroBasket 2017, Ettore Messina announced he would leave the bench of Italy's national team after the tournament. At the EuroBasket 2017, Coach Messina and his players were able to lock up third place in Group B of the preliminary phase and set up a Round of 16 date with
Finland. There they reached the
Quarter-finals, after a supreme performance from
Marco Belinelli to lead the Azzurri. However, Italy would fall against
Serbia 83–67, failing to set up an semi-finals clash against
Russia.
Romeo Sacchetti Era (2017–2022) Italy named
Romeo Sacchetti new head coach of the national team after the
Eurobasket 2017. Sacchetti, who was also coach of
Vanoli Cremona, began his new job during the
2019 FIBA World Cup qualifiers.
Gianmarco Pozzecco Era (2022–present) Gianmarco Pozzecco took over in 2022, coaching the team to the
EuroBasket 2022, co-hosted by Italy. After a 3–2 record in Group C of the preliminary round, Italy upset favoured
Serbia in the round of 16. Despite 29 points from reigning
NBA MVP Nikola Jokić and coach Pozzecco being ejected, Italy managed to win the game after overtime. The game was deemed as one of the greatest upsets in EuroBasket history, and coach Pozzecco proclaimed the game to be "probably the best match in the history of Italian basketball". In the quarter-finals, Italy lost after overtime to
France. ==Competitive record==