Giovanni Pini (born 25 July 1992) is an Italian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for

Scafati Basket Scafati Basket, known for sponsorship reasons as Givova Scafati, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Scafati, Campania. The club competes in the top level Italian professional basketball league, the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). Hi ...

of the

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club (sport), club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball ...

(LBA). He plays the

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

and

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

positions.

Professional career

The

Carpi Carpi may refer to: Places * Carpi, Emilia-Romagna, a large town in the province of Modena, central Italy ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Carpi * Carpi (Africa), a city and former diocese of Roman Africa, now a Roman Catholic titular see People ...

native played for local side Nazareno Basket Carpi before joining

Pallacanestro Reggiana Pallacanestro Reggiana, also simply known as Reggiana or Reggio Emilia, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Unahotels Reggio Emilia, is an Italian professional basketball team based in Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna. It plays in the LBA as ...

for the 2005-06 season. He then spent two seasons with the Under-16s and U-18s, then another two with the U-17s and U-19s, staying with the latter from thereon apart from two games on loan at Stella Azzurra Roma for the 2009

International Junior Tournament International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

. Pini made his professional debut on 12 December 2010 against

Casale Monferrato Casale Monferrato () is a town in the Piedmont region of Northwest Italy, northwestern Italy, in the province of Alessandria. It is situated about east of Turin on the right bank of the Po River, Po, where the river runs at the foot of the Montfe ...

(for one rebound and missed shot apiece), making a handful more appearances in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

later that season (also playing with U-19s) for averages of 2.7 points and 2.5 rebounds in 7.5 minutes per game. He signed his first professional contract with Pallacanestro Reggiana in March 2011, linking him with the club until 2015. The 2011-12 season saw him behind an array of players in the rotation despite playing both

and

positions (the former with more success), finishing the season with 2 points and 1.1 rebounds in 7.6 minutes on average. Reggio Emilia were promoted to the first division

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

at the end of the season but Pini stayed in LegaDue, moving on loan to Biancoblù Bologna for 2012-13. Positioned as a center he enjoyed more game time with Bologna, playing 12.4 minutes on average for 4.5 points and 2.4 rebounds despite struggling with

plantar fasciitis Plantar fasciitis or plantar heel pain is a disorder of the plantar fascia, which is the connective tissue that supports the Arches of the foot, arch of the foot. It results in pain in the heel and Sole (foot), bottom of the foot that is usuall ...

. Returning to Reggio Emilia the next season, he grappled a few minutes (7.7 per game) in the Serie A for 2 points and 1.7 rebounds, having more impact in the

Italian Cup Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

and also having a smaller part in the club's run to the European third-tier

EuroChallenge FIBA EuroChallenge (called the FIBA Europe League in 2003–05, and FIBA EuroCup in 2005–08) was the 3rd-tier continental club basketball competition in Europe, from 2003 to 2015. It was organized and run by FIBA Europe. It is not to be confus ...

title. His contract extended until 2016, Pini missed the start of the season with a muscle injury, taking advantage on his return of

Darjuš Lavrinovič Darjuš Lavrinovič (, born 1 November 1979) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player. At in height, he played primarily at the center position. He was also a member of the Lithuanian national basketball team. Lavrinovič was an ...

's injury (and the departure of his brother Kšyštof) to earn accrued playing time, ending the regular season with 2.6 points and 1.4 rebounds in 9.3 minutes per game. He was mostly a spectator during Reggio Emilia's

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

run, though he decisively scored 8 points in 9 minutes during game 6 of the

finals series Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

against

Banco di Sardegna Sassari Polisportiva Dinamo, commonly known as Dinamo Sassari and currently known as Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari for sponsorship reasons, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Sassari, Sardinia. They are the 2018–19 FIBA Euro ...

to start a comeback that took the team to within a possession of a championship victory, through they ultimately lost the game and the series. His contract with Pallacanestro Reggiana was rescinded by the club in August 2015, he then joined his teammate Riccardo Cervi at

Sidigas Avellino S.S. Felice Scandone was an Italian professional basketball club based in Avellino, Campania. Founded in 1948, the team has been a regular in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), the first tier of basketball in Italy, for 19 years (2000/01 to 2018/19). ...

by signing with them the same month. On July 23, 2019, he has signed with

Virtus Roma Virtus Roma 1960, commonly known as Virtus Roma, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Rome, Lazio. The club, named Pallacanestro Virtus Roma competed in the first division of Italian basketball, the LBA, for decades until 2020, whe ...

of the Italian

(LBA).

International career

Pini played with the Italy national under-16 side at the

2008 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship The 2008 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship was the 22nd edition of the FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship. The city of Chieti, in Italy, hosted the tournament. Lithuania men's national basketball team, Lithuania won the trophy for the first time. H ...

, posting 10.5 points and 8.2 rebounds in around 20 minutes per game as the Italians finished thirteenth. With the under-18s, he played sparingly at the 2009 European Championship, before posting 6.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1 block per game in the 2010 edition as Italy finished twelfth. He played a few games for the under-20 side but was not selected for any tournaments. He was called up to an extended training camp of the senior Italy team in April 2014 but had to leave because of injury. That same year he took part in the summer tour of the Italy B team in China, though he was rarely used.

References

External links

Serie A profile
Retrieved 11 September 2015
RealGM profile
Retrieved 11 September 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Pini, Giovanni 1992 births Living people Centers (basketball) Italian men's basketball players Lega Basket Serie A players Pallacanestro Reggiana players Power forwards S.S. Felice Scandone players Scafati Basket players Sportspeople from Carpi, Emilia-Romagna Virtus Roma players 21st-century Italian sportsmen