One round earlier compared to the last four seasons, the big Italian classic Virtus Bologna against Olimpia Milano is next. During the current season, the two teams have faced each other in all competitions, six times in all, with Olimpia winning the Super Cup and the Italian Cup games. Considering that there have been 43 previous games over the last five seasons, it is clear that the level of familiarity between the two teams is off the charts, despite the changes that have modified the rosters during this same season. Olimpia has won the last three series played, Virtus will have home court advantage for the third time but in the two previous situations it was Milan to prevaile. Olimpia enters this semifinal after eliminating Trento in four games; Virtus had to suffer for five games against Venice but on their home court this year in Italy they are 17-1, playoffs included. However, in Bologna, Olimpia won the Super Cup. So it is impossible to find indications of what could happen next. Olimpia will unfortunately be without Josh Nebo who was a key part of Super Cup win in Bologna, back when the black and white team was still coached by Luca Banchi. Now, sitting on the bench is Dusko Ivanovic, one of the most experienced coaches in Europe who has competed against Coach Ettore Messina at an international level since the 2000/01 season when they fought for the European championship, one in Bologna and the other in Vitoria. Coming off the Trento series, Olimpia is featuring a locked-in Shavon Shields, who is averaging 15.1 points per game in the playoffs but scored 49 points over the last two games and is shooting over 60 percent on twos and over 40 percent from three-point range. Olimpia shot less well compared to the regular season, even from the free throw line, but defended at a promising level especially when needed and tenaciously overcame its struggles, for example the foul problems experieced in Game 4 in an alarming way. it did it thanks to the support of many different players starting with Diego Flaccadori (34 points, 7 on 11 from two against Trento). However, against Bologna, much more will be needed. The level of experience of this Virtus team is very high: Hackett, Shengelia and Clyburn are approaching 1,000 EuroLeague games combined in their careers; Marco Belinelli played 13 NBA seasons; Pajola and Polonara are core members of the Italian national team; Diouf is quicky becoming one too; Cordinier won the Olympic silver medal in Paris. It will certainly be a challenging series for both teams.

The Schedule

COACH ETTORE MESSINA – “We know it will be a very difficult series, between two extremely competitive teams that face each other often and know each other very well. Consequently, it will be the details, however small, that will affect this semifinal series one way or the other.”

ZACH LEDAY – “Virtus is a very good team posting up with Shengelia, Zizic, Clyburn and Hackett himself and they use this ability to move the ball and create good looks for their shooters, starting with Belinelli but not only Belinelli. They are a physical team against which we will have to play aggressively, try to get our hands on every ball, help each other as a team and approach the series moment by moment. Unfortunately, we will not have Nebo but the combination with me and Mirotic has always worked well because of how much we learned to trust each other.”

DIEGO FLACCADORI – “It is a series that comes up earlier than usual but it has the same charm. Virtus has shown its strength throughout the year, it won the regular season, perhaps it is correct to consider it the favorite and against Venice they looked in a good physical shape. I expect a hard-fought, physical series, in which the one who has the most desire to prevail will have a better chance of advancing”.

OUTLOOK VIRTUS BOLOGNA – Isiaia Cordinier, Daniel Hackett and Will Clyburn are the three players that Coach Dusko Ivanovic started in all the games of the series played agaist Venice, but Matt Morgan was the team’s leading scorer averaging 13.5 points per game on 45.5 percent three-point shooting including two key threes at the end of Game 5. In that Game 5, Daniel Hackett’s contribution was outstanding: he averaged 6.4 points per game in the series but had 11 in the first four games and 22 in the last one, shooting 7 for 9 from the field. Cordinier, a silver medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics played as a great protagonist, in the quarterfinals finished with 8.0 points and 2.6 assists on average, he shot 2 of 12 from three, but during the season he shot 41.8 percent on threes. Alessandro Pajola (8.8 points and 3.6 rebounds on average) who is known for his great aggressiveness and defense, in the playoffs he is shooting threes superbly, 11 out of 18. Marco Belinelli played only 35 minutes in the five games of the series, scoring one point every two minutes: however, for the season he averaged 10.8 points per game, shot over 60 percent from two and over 41 percent from three. Before the playoffs, Virtus added the point guard Brandon Taylor, who came from La Coruna. He didn’t play much in the first three games but then had a more relevant role in the fourth and fifth. In any case, Ivanovic often uses a small line-up to take advantage of the great depth that his roster has among the perimeter players. Will Clyburn played more than anyone in the quarterfinals, 130 minutes, averaged 12.2 points per game, grabbed 3.2 rebounds per game but above all had 13 steals for the series. He generally plays as a small forward but there are situations in which he can slide into the power forward spot. Toko Shengelia, due to physical problems, did not play much in the quarterfinals, but in Game 5, althoung on the court only in the last five minutes, he was a crucial factor with his low post game and ability to go to the free throw line. In 61 minutes of total use, he shot 21 free throws and made 18 of them. The rest of his numbers are irrelevant, affected by the minutes thet he played. This season he had 14.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game with 59.3 percent two-point shooting. His natural back-up is Achille Polonara (5.0 points and 3.5 rebounds on average) who shot 85.7 percent from two against Reyer. Considering that Shengelia can also move into the nominal center spot, Nicola Akele (50 minutes against Venice) is playing more and more at the 4. The centers are Momo Diouf, now a potential starter for the national team, 8.4 points on 75.0 percent shooting in the series, plus 4.0 rebounds per game, and the very experienced Croatian Ante Zizic, 6.2 points and 3.0 rebounds per game, 56.5 percent shooting from two, who is a great low post player.

THE VIRTUS CONNECTION – Giampaolo Ricci played for Virtus Bologna for two seasons, winning the 2021 championship as Captain. Nico Mannion played for Virtus for two seasons from 2021 to 2023 with 71 Italian league appearances and 475 points scored. Daniel Hackett played in Milan for two years, winning the 2014 championship. Ettore Messina coached Virtus from the 1989/90 season, remaining there until the 1992/93 season included, except to return in 1997 and remain there until 2002. In these two periods he won the Euroleague twice (1998 and 2001), the Cup Winners’ Cup once (1990), the Italian league championship three times (1993, 1998 and 2001), the Italian Cup three times.