The coach, who made 132 appearances for the Azzurri as a player, calls it quits at the age of 72: his treble at the helm of Sassari in the 2014-15 season was unforgettable
“I’m Meo Sacchetti, coach of Herons Montecatini. And I tell you that from tonight I am the former coach of Herons. I had a wonderful time, I give big compliments to the club because I found something different and I didn’t expect all this enthusiasm that is there. I’m done with basketball, my last match as a coach was in Caserta and unfortunately it ended in a defeat. Basketball has given me a lot of satisfaction in terms of results, knowledge of people and places, but now I’m going back to my Alghero”: so in a video on the Tuscan club’s Instagram page one of the men who made the history of our basketball. A good big man, who everyone loved, who hit important pages in Italian basketball. As a coach, his “treble” at the helm of Dinamo Sassari was unforgettable, in the season in which he was able to give the Sardinians, in order, the 2014 Super Cup, the 2015 Italian Cup and then closed with the scudetto at the end of the spectacular final which ended 4-3 against Pallacanestro Reggiana, in a great match-7 played on Reggio Emilia soil.
career
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Born in Altamura on 20 August 1953, after his first steps in Novara, “Meo” began playing in Asti, which was followed by Auxilium Torino, Gira Bologna (winning the A2 in 76/77) and Pallacanestro Varese, for eight seasons, his longest militancy in his career. As a coach he began his career with Auxilium Torino, then going on to Asti, Bergamo, Castelletto Ticino (brought from D to A2), Fabriano, Capo d’Orlando (to a surprising sixth place in A), Udine, Sassari, Brindisi, Vanoli Cremona, Fortitudo Bologna, Cantù, Pesaro and closing his career with the Herons Montecatini in Serie B. His successes: championship with Sassari in 2015, Italian Cup with Sassari in 2014 and 2015, with Vanoli Cremona in 2019. A Super Cup with Sassari in 2014. A promotion to Serie A with Sassari in 2010, and to Serie A2 with Castelletto Ticino in 2004. He was twice named coach of the year in Serie A with Sassari (2012) and Cremona (2019)
in blue
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With the blue shirt he made a total of 132 appearances, for 945 points, winning silver at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, gold at the 1983 European Championships in Nantes and bronze at the 1985 Stuttgart Championships. And, as technical commissioner, in 2021 by winning the Pre-Olympic in Belgrade by beating Serbia in one of the most beautiful and historic matches in history, he brought Italy back to the Olympics in the edition of Tokyo, seventeen years after that of Athens. Without forgetting that in 2019 the same feat was achieved with Italy’s presence at the World Cup. Which he had been missing since 2006 (on a wildcard) and 1998 (conquered on the field, Greece). Since 2016 he has been part of the Italia Hall Of Fame.
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