“Don’t Give a F—”: Italian HC Sends Strong Farewell Message After Luka Doncic’s 42-Point Domination

Luka Doncic once again reminded the world why he’s box-office basketball in Slovenia’s clash with Italy. And NBA reporter Andy Bailey captured it best: “A player like Luka Doncic in a one-and-done format is must-watch basketball.” Doncic lived up to that by pouring in 42 points—half of Slovenia’s total—marking both his second 40-point performance in EuroBasket and his highest of the tournament so far. But while Doncic stole the spotlight on the floor, the real shock for Italy came after the final buzzer, delivered by their own head coach.

In the aftermath of Team Italy’s loss, Gianmarco Pozzecco announced his decision to resign as the team’s head coach. During the press conference, he declared, “It’s my last game with Italy”, and then went on to give his thanks to several people, ranging from the former president of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), Giovanni Petrucci, Team Italy’s general manager, Salvatore Strainotti, and his players. As ‘BasketNews’ reporter Edvinas Jablonskis highlighted, Pozzecco’s emotions came out strongest when speaking about his players.

“I don’t give a f–k about which type of coach I am. I’m not focused on that. I’m not focused on my career. I don’t give a f–k about what you think about me,” said the 52-year-old head coach. “In my life, in my coach life, I’m just focused on them”. Those words carry weight when you look at Gianmarco Pozzecco’s long history with Italian basketball.

Gianmarco first joined the national team setup in 1997 and went on to represent Italy in several major tournaments until 2006, including the 2004 Athens Olympics, where he averaged 8.8 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 4.3 assists over eight games. After hanging up his sneakers, Pozzecco didn’t step away from the sport but shifted into broadcasting with Sky Sport and Sportitalia and later transitioned into coaching roles across various basketball clubs.

That path eventually led him back to the national stage in 2022, when he was appointed head coach of the senior men’s Italy team. Since then, he has guided the squad to the EuroBasket 2022 quarterfinals, the 2023 FIBA World Cup quarterfinals, and, most recently, the Round of 16 at EuroBasket 2025. But now, Pozzecco did not blame Luka Doncic’s dominance as the reason for his resignation. However, he did give his flowers to the Slovenian before the game, highlighting knowing what he and his team were getting into.

Gianmarco Pozzecco Praised Luka Doncic Before Slovenia-Italy Game: “You can’t stop him”

After Team Italy’s practice session in Riga, Gianmarco Pozzecco spoke to the media. During the same time, he admitted to having a certain amount of respect for Slovenian basketball. He credits this attribute to being from Trieste and having once played against Luka Doncic’s father! In Pozzecco’s words, “Even if you have 2 million people in Slovenia, you have a basketball culture. It’s amazing”. While Pozzecco was aware of the fact that Team Italy hadn’t won against Slovenia since 2006, he also felt Luka Doncic was going to ensure that streak continues on.

Gianmarco Pozzecco, head coach of Italy’s national basketball team, recently expressed profound respect for Luka Doncic and in an interview, Pozzecco acknowledged the talents of Slovenian teammates like Aleksej Nikolić, Edo Murić, and Alen Omić, but emphasized that Doncic stands out as “something different.”

He also said. “The Los Angeles Lakers are probably the most iconic team ever, and now the main player there is Luka Doncic. That’s something huge. We respect Slovenia a lot, and it will be tough. It’s a basketball game, so we have to enjoy and try to do our best. Of course, we are not afraid, but we respect you a lot”.

Pozzecco did not hand out any additional praise after the game. Instead, Italy’s Saliou Niang gave his flowers, stating that “It’s an honor to play against Luka. I just tried to do my best.” The Senegalese-Italian basketball player was especially in awe of Luka Doncic’s offensive skills, as he added, “We put more energy, played a good defense, but Doncic was Luka Doncic. It was tough; we tried to stop him in the second half. We did our best. The way we started put us in trouble. It wasn’t easy to come back, but we did it. In the end, we were a bit tired. We gave our all”.

Team Slovenia now heads to the Quarter-Finals of EuroBasket 2025 and will face Germany on September 10th. Whether the LA Lakers star puts out the same level of prowess in the Quarter-Finals, too, is something that remains to be seen.