Over the course of this week, Euroleague.net will be posting interviews with the Hoop District team captains
Getting to know: Marco D’Uva, Team Bologna captain
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We are just four days away from the launch of the Hoop District tournament in Paris, France. Ahead of the action getting underway at the brand-new Adidas Arena, we spoke to Marco D’Uva of International Young Ballers, the Team Bologna captain.
This is the second of six ‘getting to know’ interviews with the Hoop District captains that will be dropping this week. Here’s what we found out.
How did you fall in love with the game of basketball?
“I started playing basketball at five years old, just because my big brother also started and I wanted to do the same thing. Then I fell in love with this sport, with this game, because it’s beautiful. I’ve met very kind people, starting when I was on a basketball team as a kid. I grew up with them and I still play with some of them – it’s crazy. I love this game.”
What made you create the International Young Ballers (IYB) account?
“I started the International Young Ballers account because in 2017, I wanted to create a space where every young basketball player could share their best plays and games with the Instagram community. After one month, I received a lot of clips, a lot of videos, so I had to change the format of the page a bit. I then started to share content on basketball shoes, the EuroLeague, every league around the world, and guys can still share their plays on our stories. They tag us and we repost them. So International Young Ballers started in this way and it’s still growing, it’s still changing, but we’re ready for new challenges, like Hoop District, for example.”
Is there a particular post from IYB that you remember fondly?
“The best post in terms of views was when I went to the NBA store in Milan. There are some balls with NBA players’ hands – I just compared my hand with them and this post got 22 million views, so it’s crazy. I don’t know if we will have views like that again, but it was crazy. This is one of the best posts we’ve done.”
Have any EuroLeague players inspired you?
“Gigi Datome, for sure. I met him when he played here in Rome when I was 13 years old. Then I saw him again 10 years later during a Milan game against Olympiacos, and he signed my jersey. He’s a very kind person and, for me, he’s a big influence. My idol in Italy is Gigi Datome.”
Which EuroLeague player – past or present – shares your playing style?
“Well, a little like Gigi Datome because he was a very good three-point shooter – and I love to shoot threes. I hope I’m going to make a lot of threes during the Hoop District tournament. I really like Datome’s game. I also like Nicolo Melli and Kyle Hines, but they’re big men and I’m thinner than them, so I’ll say Gigi Datome.”
What criteria did you look for when picking your Hoop District team?
“First of all, I thought about my best friend. He grew up with me and I played with him since I was a kid, so I wanted to give him an important opportunity. For the girls, I chose people from the Rome 3x3 community, which is growing, and I wanted to give them this opportunity."
Which Hoop District team could be the trickiest to face?
“I think Team Barcelona and Team Paris will be very tough to face, but we are ready.”
What does it mean for you to be a Team Captain?
“For me, it is a crazy opportunity. I am really proud about this, and I am really proud to represent Italy and Bologna, which is ‘Basket City’. It is an opportunity, but there is also some pressure because, although ‘Basket City’ knows that we ready, they want us to win and do good plays. There’s pressure, but I’m very happy to be the captain of Team Bologna, so I’m very proud about this.”