Pivotal time in Italy

ROME - After showing the view from his office balcony overlooking the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill, Roman mayor Walter Veltroni raised his right hand to display a more recent historical marker.

"This is the hand that shook the hand of Dwyane Wade," said the basketball and NBA-mad mayor who met Wade at the 2007 All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas.

Then, further highlighting his fanaticism for the sport, Veltroni half-jokingly apologized in advance for how he would behave watching local team Lottomatica Roma play its Italian basketball league season opener.

"You will not see the mayor at the game," said Veltroni through a translator. "You will see someone else. Don't pay attention. I do things that I'm not supposed to do. Basketball is not really a sport. It's more like a disease. It's like a fever you cannot get rid of. The fun side of my life is a lot smaller than it used to be, but most of it is taken up by basketball."

Sunday night, as Roma fans filled PalaLottomatica with sing-song chants, Veltroni sat front and center beside team owner Claudio Toti and near Celtics executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge. Watching Roma fall behind by double digits then rally for an 84-79 overtime win against Cimberio Varese, Veltroni appeared a typical fan. He sat nervously on the edge of his seat when Roma trailed, then rose when the crowd chanted, "Stand up for this team," as the fourth-quarter comeback started.

While soccer always will be the top draw throughout Italy, the Celtics arrived in Rome at a time when the mayor and the city are eager to embrace the NBA and learn from the league. Today, Italian basketball stands at a crossroads. While the Italian national team failed to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics at the recent Eurobasket tournament in Madrid, players such as Toronto Raptors forward Andrea Bargnani, Golden State Warriors rookie guard Marco Belinelli, and 19-year-old Milan star Danilo Gallinari show the Italian system can produce high-quality players.

Politicians, owners, and coaches hope the return of the NBA to Rome for a second preseason visit will inspire better play and greater passion for the game in the younger generation. With Veltroni leading the way, Rome would like to host the Euroleague final in 2010 and the World Championships in 2016. Some in Roman basketball circles also hope the city can build upon visits by NBA teams, making the league a more permanent, or at least regular, presence, at the PalaLottomatica in the future.

"To have the NBA present here is another push for Italian passion for basketball, which is important for Rome and all Italy," said Toti through a translator. "Rome is a big city and likes exciting things. For a time, there was not a great standard of basketball here. Now, we are working hard to get people used to a top show. In the NBA, it's more entertainment. For us, it's just a sport. I believe we can learn a lot from the NBA. We need to organize a sport and a show around a show."

Loud and proud

While a squad of NBA-style hip-hop dancers took the court during timeouts and breaks between quarters at the Roma-Varese game, a boisterous section of fans near the home bench provided the biggest show aside from basketball. Fans in that section led cheers, waved flags, and risked injury by standing on top of the wall separating the court from the stands. As Roma edged closer to victory, the frenzied noise from fans singing and stamping their feet provided an atmosphere more outwardly passionate than that in many NBA arenas and surprisingly loud considering just 4,562 loyal Lottomatica followers attended the game.

By the end of the contest, even relative Roma newcomer and former Celtic Allan Ray was on his feet, caught up in the excitement. Wearing a Red Sox cap and Roma sweat shirt, he cheered his teammates. Much to the disappointment of Veltroni and Toti, insufficient paperwork kept Ray sidelined for the opener. Once his transfer clears, Ray should be one of the best players on the court.

The infectious passione with which Italians follow sports and which easily translated to Ray is a point of pride for fans of Roma and beyond. What Italian basketball fans lack in numbers they make up for with unwavering devotion to local teams driven largely by historic rivalries among cities. Fans of on either side of the Milan-Bologna or Sienna-Treviso divides easily could relate to the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry.

"What made [my time in Italy] special was the passion that the fans and the organizations displayed," said Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni, an Italian league legend who spent 13 seasons with Milan and finished his playing career as the team's all-time leading scorer, then stayed to coach Milan and later Treviso.

"It's do or die. They sing the whole game. It's a moving experience that I'll never forget.

"There was also the camaraderie. The best times are probably after even losses when you eat dinner together and stay four or five hours at a great restaurant. Everyone sits down at the table - parties of 30. You develop chemistry and you learn a lot. A lot of American players coming back from playing in Europe understand the game a lot better."

The education of Ray started when the guard arrived in August, and he quickly discovered a slower pace of life where restaurants don't remain open all day and don't serve Americanized Italian dishes like his favorite, chicken penne pasta. But Ray has embraced the experience, seeing sights around Rome, focusing on the fundamentals drilled in twice-daily practices, and working his way toward what he hopes will be a return to the NBA.

"Here, it's more of a college atmosphere," said Ray. "From a crowd standpoint, I love the crowd out here compared to how it is in the NBA. The fans are really into it, but it's two different types of basketball. The NBA is more one-on-one. With European basketball, there are a lot of guys who are not as athletic and as talented as guys in the NBA.

"I really think I can play in the NBA. I had to make a tough decision to come here, but I'm definitely looking forward to coming back [to the NBA]."

A strong system

While European scouts recognize the Italian league has fallen behind Spain, Russia, and Greece when it comes to the financial backing necessary to draw top talent, they still find much to be admired in a system that has produced current NBA players Bargnani, Belinelli, Manu Ginobili, Rasho Nesterovic, and Marko Jaric. They cite the European emphasis on fundamentals in combination with fewer games and more practice time as a few key reasons why players can develop a better understanding of the game. Players who starred in the league agree.

"You play less and you practice more, so you can learn much more," said Hall of Famer Dino Meneghin, considered the greatest player in the history of Italian basketball and who currently manages the Italian national team. "For the young players, if they come from the States, it's a good experience because they can grow here and improve their talent because we work twice a day - two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. You can improve the technique and physical condition."

Raptors vice president and assistant general manager Maurizio Gherardini, who formerly served as Benetton Treviso's GM, cites the extra practice time as one of the major reasons Europe has closed the gap on American basketball in recent years. Hall of Famer Sandro Gamba, the winningest coach in Italian basketball history, as well as current coach of the national team, concurs with Meneghin. But Gamba also recognizes that a system that starts with promising players joining clubs in their early teens takes patience.

"We like to have a good quality of basketball and a good quality of players," said Gamba. "But we don't produce a lot of players - a small number, but very good. We like to teach a lot and coach. A big part of practice is dedicated to the fundamentals, teaching individual and team fundamentals."

Added D'Antoni: "While they do have junior tournaments, most of the emphasis is on developing basketball players and not winning when you're young. They don't have university programs where a coach wins or gets fired or high schools where you need to win. You'll have big guys able to shoot the basketball because they just don't park it near the basket. They try to develop their skills totally. To be honest with you, it's a better system to develop all-around good players."

In Europe, the Italian system is not alone in its club-oriented organization with an emphasis on fundamentals and teamwork. But to make as great an impression on the international basketball scene as they once did, the Italians literally need to build for the future.

Arenas need work

As a practical businessman, Toti recognizes the quality of arenas must improve in order for Italian basketball to improve. When the Celtics-Raptors contest packs the 11,000-seat PalaLottomatica Saturday night, it will be interesting to see how the venue handles the event. Considered an architecturally and historically significant building, the domed arena built for the 1960 Summer Olympics provides great acoustics and adequately accommodates Roma and its fans, but it is a long way from multipurpose NBA venues with jumbotrons and high-tech sound systems, among other amenities.

That said, the fact that the NBA returned for a second straight year, Toti said, "is a clear acknowledgment of Rome's capability of organizing a top-class, NBA-like standard event." But a place like PalaLottomatica may be a hard sell to host major European and international basketball competitions.

Rome, however, is not alone. Before the NBA can become a bigger presence in Europe, the facilities must improve. The process has begun with new arenas in London, Berlin, Cologne, and Istanbul (opening in two years), and perhaps Rome is next.

Ironically, the Italians' recent failure to qualify for the 2008 Olympics combined with the Celtics' and Raptors' visit may provide just the catalyst needed for the country to step up its game.

"The national team is the main point of the whole movement," said Meneghin. "People think that if the national team doesn't look so good, it means that the national movement is not good enough. Everybody is thinking and talking about what we have to do and how we have to improve our movement. It's a bad thing that we don't go to the Olympics. But on the positive side is that starting from now, everybody thinks we have to work much more and much better. I think in the next few years we can see something better.

"Everybody wants to play like the NBA players, but the problem is what you have to do, how much you have to work to get at that level. So, I think [the visit by the Celtics and Raptors] will also be a great motivation for everybody."

Shira Springer can be reached at springer@globe.com.