They have been like that since they won the silver at the 2004 Olympics. Since then they have been really bad. In 2009 they even missed the Eurobasket, the first since 1961. I had high(er) hopes for them this year (especially with the way Belinelli and Galinari have been playing the laste few years), but after watching that last possession against Turkey, I don't think they can achieve anything. Unfortunately, I had to miss todays game against Spain. (Greek here btw)
I have been following Italy only since the Eurobasket of 2011 where they faced Israel, they have some great individual talent, but their problem is that they can't find a way for the team to connect and really translate all their talents to high scores and wins, today they really showed how the Italian national team can and should play, all of their big three (Bargnani, Belinelli and Gallinari) were scoring really well, and by playing together and distributing the ball and convert open shots, they were able to beat the "mighty" Spanish national team.
Too be quite honest, I could care less about the Italian national basketball team since I am rooting for the Israeli national basketball team, and I was really disappointed by the utter abhorrent conduct of the players on the court, fouling too early on the last seconds, and then not smart enough to defend a game deciding three-point shot, unfortunately, loses like this can happen, I just hope our national team will look better tomorrow against Poland and I hope Casspi will be shining like he currently is in this tournament thus far.