Those who expected basketball superpowers Russia to stomp minnows Italy in the first game of the EuroBasket Women in Chieti on Monday would have been sadly mistaken.

They would not have considered the Gianni Lambruschi factor.

Lambruschi, the man with spectacles and a silver soul patch that is so long it blows in the wind on gusty afternoons by the Adriatic, is the 54-year-old coach of the Azzurre who had

		Kathrin Ress helped earn Italy their first win of the tournament, beating Greece Tuesday night.

his players chasing Russians all over the floor and fighting them for rebounds and loose balls.

Russia won the game 60-55, but it was an exercise in survival.

The finest moment of the tournament on that opening day? Midway through the second half, with Russia showing signs of cracking, Lambruschi ordered his team to pick up the opponents full-court and to press.

That led to a few Russian turnovers.

In all, Russia turned the ball over 23 times.

“My philosophy in coaching is that if you want to win the game, you must be the hunter and not the rabbit,” said Lambruschi, who says Italy coach Carlo Recalcati is one of the coaches who has had a big influence on his career.

“You must be aggressive.”

When the Italians tied the contest at 44-44 on Raffaella Masciadri’s three-pointer early in the fourth period, the near-capacity crowd made so much noise that they almost blew the roof off the Palasport S. Filomena.

They appreciated the effort of the Italians, though the Russians’ quality eventually won the day.

With the score knotted after Masciadri’s three-ball, Russia reeled off 11 consecutive points to put the result beyond doubt.

“Italy was a good team on defense, but not on offense,” Lambruschi said after the game.

His players had coped well under pressure, though inexperience did cost them dearly in terms of shot selection late in the game.

Lambruschi doesn't mind the losses if it makes his team stronger and it clearly did as they beat Greece on Tuesday and put themselves in position to make it past the preliminary round.

“We put pressure on the Russian team, and we must grow from this,” Lambruschi said.

It seems that they have.