After the feat in Istanbul against Efes, Virtus Bologna must finish the job by also winning in Vitoria against coach Dusko Ivanovic’s Baskonia. At stake are the playoffs against the reigning champions Real Madrid. The match is live at 8.30pm on Sky Sport Arena, streaming on NOW and on skysport.it with news and updates in real time
THE PLAYOFF AND PLAY-IN BOARD
The Baskonia it is the last obstacle between the Virtus Bologna and the Euroleague playoffs. At the Fernando Buesa Arena in Vitoria the last play-off takes place play-in after the two matches on Tuesday 16 April: Virtus has earned this chance winning as an underdog in Türkiye against Anadolu Efes and by eliminating the Turks, the Spanish are instead returning from the clear defeat against the Maccabi Tel Aviv, which gave the Israelis qualification for the playoffs.
The two previous seasons
Bologna and Baskonia faced each other a week ago at the Segafredo Arena for the last round of the regular season. In what was a play-off for eighth position in the standings, Baskonia’s victory 91-95 it allowed Ivanovic’s team to earn both the possibility of losing the first match of the play-in and of playing this decisive match at home. The Basques have built their season on an excellent home performance, as has Bologna, who before the success in Istanbul hadn’t won away since January on the parquet of last-place Alba Berlin. However, one of the few away victories for Belinelli and his teammates came at the Fernando Buesa Arena on December 14th with a score of 81-91.
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Banchi’s words
The coach from Bologna, Luca Banchispoke like this in the press conference: “Having earned the opportunity to play the second act of the play-in gives us the energy to replicate a performance of great intensity and continuity, to cope with Baskonia’s enormous scoring talent and their desire for redemption after the defeat in Belgrade. We will fight together to offer another strong performance, which can open the doors for us to participate in the play-offs. Pace management, defensive consistency, rebounding and discipline they will be the keys to interpreting a match of this importance for both teams well.”
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Moneke out for Baskonia
Dusko Ivanovic announced at the press conference the unavailability of Chima Moneke, a hyper-athletic big man who also made the difference in the match a week ago and was injured during Tuesday’s match. Obviously you will need to pay great attention to the pair of guards Codi Miller-McIntyre & Markus Howard. The latter, an extraordinarily talented scorer, failed in the match against Maccabi but scored 34 points in the victory in Bologna a week ago. Banchi, on the other hand, has no defections and will probably confirm the 12 from Istanbul excluding Lomasz from the rotations and hopes to recover the best version of Cordinier, who still appeared in difficulty after his return from injury.
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The possible opponent in the play-offs
If Bologna were to win, would qualify for the playoffs as the eighth seed and face Real Madrid, dominator of the regular season and reigning champion of the competition. Le Vu Nere have lost their previous two seasons: 100-74 in Madrid on November 9th in Spain and 74-89 in Bologna last March 15th. Virtus hasn’t been this far ahead in the competition for 22 years,when they lost in the final against Panathinaikos. It would be a great result for Luca Banchi, called up in September after Sergio Scariolo’s dismissal.
Where to see Baskonia-Virtus Bologna
- 7.30pm – Pre-match study live on Sky Sport 24 and NOW with Dalila Setti
- 8.30pm – Baskonia Vitoria-Virtus Segafredo Bologna live on Sky Sport Arena and NOW with commentary from Vitoria by Geri De Rosa and Andrea Meneghin
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