Virtus Bologna still defeated in the final: how to close the gap with Milan? Team needs to be rejuvenated and talent is needed

Once again, for the third consecutive year, the Virtus Bologna must bow toOlimpia Milan and running into the tunnel that leads to the changing rooms under whistles to leave the Forum parquet for the red and white Scudetto party. After the 4-0 in 2021, Segafredo always had to surrender to Ettore Messina’s team, even if this year too, as in 2022, they had finished in first place in the regular season and consequently the field factor was guaranteed. Nothing, the club’s dominance in Serie A doesn’t seem to be able to be undermined Giorgio Armani.

Once the championship is over, you can draw a balance. The season had not started in the best climate, with complaints about an unconvincing roster, Iffe Lundberg out of the team, the dismissal of Sergio Scariolo a few days before the start and the hasty arrival of Luca Banchi. The coach from Grosseto, coach of the Latvia with 5th place at the World Championships, he brought fresh air and enthusiasm, he immediately conquered the Super Cup in Brescia and led the Virtus to a first part of the season well beyond expectations, traveling among the top three positions of Euroleague. This raised morale enormously throughout the environment and among the fans, and compensated for the blow caused by the tumor discovered by Polonara and the consequent intervention.

The 2024 it was definitely more complicated. February and March were an ordeal between injuries, defeats and disappointments: the early elimination in the quarter-finals of Italian Cup in Turin with Reggio Emilia it was a hard blow (the Final Eight remains taboo for Virtus) and this influenced the total collapse in Euroleague which forced the Segafredo to play a Play-In from tenth, with the last available ticket. The Istanbul feat with theEph it didn’t help, given that the defeat in Vitoria against Baskonia excluded Bologna from a playoff that seemed almost a given in January. There Virtus managed to grit its teeth in the championship, finishing the regular season in first place, but then in the playoffs he didn’t convince: 3-2 against Tortona And 3-1 against Venice to show up for the final, one Segafredo who had never lost against teams not called Milan in the previous 3 years. What’s left? A Super Cup on the bulletin board and a good walk in Euroleague for three-quarters of a season that generated excitement and probably an invitation for 2024-25.

His arrival brought serenity, joy and the desire to sacrifice, it restored enthusiasm to a somewhat demotivated and mentally exhausted group, it reinstated Iffe Lundberg and has regenerated veterans like Belinelli And Shengelia, the first MVP of Serie A, the second among the best in the Euroleague for at least half the season. The words of the former Siena and Milan coach after game 4 of the final are certainly a basis from which to start again: “The group was capable of a special season, in 82 official matches. Every night we wanted to play to win, and demonstrate that the group had all the qualities to be successful. Closing the season like this leaves bitterness, but the feeling with the fans has strengthened thanks to the commitment made and recognized“.

It’s still: “The team, beyond what happened in the summer, wanted to compete. I’m very proud of them. It’s not just the trophies we raise that determine the characteristics of a champion“. Finally the key: “It was a long season, as if it had been multiple seasons. It was impossible to remain immune to ups and downs in your condition, those who know this format know that it is normal to experience setbacks, injuries, moments in which everything succeeds and others in which everything turns against you. We archive this final with great bitterness, because between us and them there is not that much distance. We should have been in top psychophysical condition, we made a crazy effort, but in some details we weren’t good“.

The final Scudetto was very balanced for the first three games, while in race 4 Milan has always been ahead by virtue of a Nikola Mirotic unmarkable. Like you said Luca Banchibetween Virtus and Milan there is not a huge distance, but the gap is evident in terms of physicality, quantity of solutions and above all talent in individuals. Not to mention that, as he also said Ettore MessinaOlimpia showed up in top physical and mental shape in the playoffs after a certainly not easy year, playing as a team with a cohesion and sacrifice that allowed individuals such as Mirotic And Shields to shine even more.

Instead Bologna she has arrived exhausted From one 82-game seasonthere have been injuries, the grafts of Lomazs And Zizic they did not bring great benefits, and in general, being a roster that is very old, we arrived in the spring with very little fuel in the tank. In the playoffs it was the performances of the individuals that made the difference, from Lanyard to Shengelia passing through Belinelliwhile it should be underlined that the injury to Lundberg and the precarious conditions of Hackett didn’t help, considering that Dobrich never made an impact all year and Mickey it often seemed like a foreign body. The rest of the Italian troops did not behave badly, Pajola, Ababs And Polonara they had their peaks, but it was especially noticeable in the playoffs and in the final that this team remained afloat more due to inertia, desire and pride, than anything else.

The future what does it predict? Fresh news is that Segafredo Zanetti has renewed its sponsorship for another year and, according to the Corriere di Bologna, it will start again from budget around 20 million euros, of which 13-14 for roster construction. The now certainty of participating in theEuroleague it is an important basis for dealing on the market and for convincing Luca Banchiwho still has one year left on his contract and who will want to participate in the choices on the transfer market, he who arrived last September to find a team made for another coach.

According to the first rumors, Jordan Mickey And Iffe Lundberg will not be renewed, any proposals will be listened to Zizic and for Dobrich who have not convinced, and the position of will be evaluated Toko Shengelia who still has one year left on his contract but there are options to part ways. A farewell to the Georgian (he earns 2 million net) would allow the Virtus to reinvest some resources in younger elements, also because they have been removed Pajola (1999), Zizic (1997) e Lanyard (1996), the others are practically all Over 30. One of the priorities is to renew Awudu Abass which is expiring and which seems to have a lot of transfer market, but the player has reiterated his desire to stay and play theEuroleague.

Taking a look at the market, the only name seriously approached in Bologna is that of Andrejs Grazulislong Latvian in the last 2 seasons a Trent, and let’s see if the agreement rumored for weeks will become reality. For the rest we talked about the center Tyrique Jonesof the play Luca Vildoza and the guard Rayjon Tucker ex Venice, whispers of market radio but nothing more. What is certain is that the Virtusin addition to young profiles, has shown important gaps in terms of athleticism and production of points in broken games, so we will need elements capable of being incisive by starting up on their own, a bit like what happened this year with Lundbergperhaps the only one together with Shengelia to be a real threat when the group game wasn’t flowing. A bit like what happens in Milan, where the talent of Mirotic, Shields, Napier and Hall has once again made the difference.