CHARLOTTE (FIBA EuroBasket 2017) - Marco Belinelli has given a resounding endorsement to Italy's Basketball Federation (FIP) for keeping Ettore Messina at the helm of the national team.

After nearly three months of uncertainty over who would lead the Azzurri at FIBA EuroBasket 2017 following Italy's FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) Final defeat to Croatia, the FIP and San Antonio Spurs assistant Messina announced earlier this month they had agreed to keep the reins in his hands.

"I'm really happy," Belinelli said to FIBA.com in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he now plays for the NBA's Hornets. "I wasn't really 100 percent sure that he would re-sign with the national team to be the coach after this summer in Turin but I'm really happy about that. I talked with him, we texted each other."

Messina, who reached the podium with Italy before at the EuroBasket in 1997, was one of Europe's top coaches before leaving for the NBA. He had success at Virtus Bologna, Benetton Treviso and CSKA Moscow.

"He's a winner," Belinelli said. "He's knows how to win games, big competitions, he's a great guy and one of the best coaches in the world. I'm really happy he's with us."

Belinelli played for Messina at the OQT in Turin

Since moving to the NBA, Messina has worked alongside Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich. Belinelli played for San Antonio when they captured the NBA crown in 2014 and he was also with the team the following year, Messina's first as an assistant.

He can't say if Messina has changed as a coach from the experience but does believe working in the league is surely a positive for him.

"I've known Messina for a long time because when I was really young, I was practicing with (Manu) Ginobili and all of these guys and Ettore Messina was the coach of Virtus Bologna and then I was lucky to have him as assistant coach in San Antonio my second year," he said.

"The next step is going to be the European Championship and we're going to try and be ready for that." - Belinelli

"I think this experience for him and me and Gallo (Danilo Gallinari) and Bargnani (Andrea Bargnani), the guys that have played in the NBA - you just can't experience that (unless you are a part of it). The NBA is totally different to the European style.

"I think it gives him a different view. I think especially right now under Popovich, for sure the best coach in the world, for sure he'll take something from him."

When asked if he was eager for the season to start to get rid of any lingering disappointment from not reaching the Olympics, Belinelli paused and remembered what had transpired in Turin. He had broken his cheekbone in the build-up to the OQT and had to wear a face mask.

Belinelli shot the ball well in the first three games but was 4 of 15 against Croatia in the Final, although he did score 18 points and get the ball to fall through the hoop after a dramatic drive to force overtime.

"That was really mad, a bad day for me, for my team, for Italy because everybody was almost sure to be a part of the Brazil Olympics but we didn't qualify and lost the game to Croatia and they played better than us that game," Belinelli said.

"At that time, you don't have time to cry, you need to go through and think about the next step and the next step is going to be the European Championship and we're going to try and be ready for that."

FIBA