This is the 200th league game between Olimpia and Virtus Bologna, the two clubs with the most consistent histories in Italy. They’ve won a combined 48 championships (31 for Olimpia, 17 for Virtus) and their first meeting dates back to the 1935/36 season, when Olimpia won its first title, beating Bologna. The number of duels between these two teams with the championship at stake is huge; Olimpia won its tenth championship, finishing ahead of Virtus, and the thirtieth, beating Virtus in the finals. Since the 2020/21 season, when they met in the championship series for the first time since 1984, the two teams have met 47 times in four different competitions, including four championship series and five playoff series. The main charcaters have changed: on one side, Sergio Rodriguez, Kyle Hines, and Nicolò Melli are no longer here, while on the other side, Milos Teodosic, Marco Belinelli, and Toko Shengelia, to name just a few of the players who have written the recent history of this tradition, have left. Shavon Shields and Pippo Ricci remain on one side, and Daniel Hackett and Alessandro Pajola on the other. But the emotions are the same. This game comes at a difficult time, with both teams scheduled to play back-to-back EuroLeague games (Olimpia will play four games in seven days across both competitions) and coming off two EuroLeague battles: Olimpia, with a reduced roster, against Panathinaikos, while Virtus lost at home to league leader Hapoel Tel Aviv. Bologna has more margin for error, having won nine of its first ten Italian league games; Olimpia is more in need of a win to improve its position in the standings. Unfortunately, the injury situation hasn’t improved, but has actually worsened. After the injury he suffered late in the game against Panathinaikos, Leandro Bolmaro will not be available, so the rotation of the guards (Diego Flaccadori, Nico Mannion, Stefano Tonut, and Lorenzo Brown are all out) is at a minimum. There is more choice among the big men, despite the continued unavailability of Ousmane Diop. As a fact, the same players who beat Panathinaikos will play against Virtus, minus Bolmaro, and they will then be called upon to return to the court 48 hours later against Real Madrid. The games against Virtus also “closes” Olimpia’s 2025 year at the Unipol Forum: starting Tuesday, the venue will be taken for three months by the Winter Olympics, and the team will move to the Allianz Cloud, the arena formerly known as Palalido.
Tip-off time in Milan will be 20:00PM local time.
COACH PEPPE POETA – “We’ve been in a tight spot for a few games due to the large number of absentees, especially among the Italians, but so far we’ve almost always managed to put our heart and soul into the game, especially at home, where we’ve been greatly supported by our fans. That’s what we’ll try to do against Virtus, too. They have a strong team identity, a well-defined defensive organization, they are a strong offensive rebounding team, and they have scorers who can go off at any moment, and we’ll have to pay close attention to them.”
BOLOGNA OUTLOOK – Compared to the team that won the last Italian league championship, Bologna has lost some key players such as Tornike Shengelia, Will Clyburn, Marco Belinelli (who retired), and Isaia Cordinier. However, Luca Vildoza, Carsen Edwards, Saliou Niang, Abramo Canka, Derrick Alston, Karim Jallow, Alen Smailagic, and Aliou Diarra are a very good group of newcomers. Point guard Vildoza is having his Italian league debut but is a highly experienced player who has played in the EuroLeague for Baskonia, Red Star Belgrade, Panathinaikos, and Olympiacos. He is currently averaging 8.3 points and 4.3 assists per game. Guard Carsen Edwards, last year, while at Bayern Munich, was the EuroLeague’s leading scorer. He also previously played at Fenerbahce. This season, he is averaging 14.4 points per game (plus 3.3 assists per night) and shooting 37.9 percent from three. Matt Morgan and Brandon Taylor have been retained at guard, along with Daniel Hackett and Alessandro Pajola. Morgan is averaging 12.6 points per game, is virtually error-free from the line (94.9 percent), and is shooting 60.7 percent from two. Taylor has played only four games so far, averaging 4.8 points per game. Pajola, one of Europe’s most respected defenders, is averaging 5.9 points and 4.8 assists per game and is shooting 38.2 percent from three. Finally, Hackett brings his usual energy, defense, and experience. Among the forwards, Italian international Saliou Niang has arrived from Trento; Abramo Canka used to play in Russia, Lithuania, and the United States at UCLA and Wake Forest; Karim Jallow is a German who was at Ulm last year; and Derrick Alston came from Manresa. Joining them is Nicola Akele, who played for Bologna last season and was part of the national team at the European Championships. Niang is averaging 9.8 points per game on 67.4 percent shooting on twos. He’s also grabbing 4.7 rebounds per game. Jallow is averaging 8.0 points on 75.9 percent shooting on twos and 41.7 percent on threes, albeit on just over one attempt per game. Alston Jr. averages 12.9 points per game and 47.5 percent from three, his specialty. Akele averages 2.0 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. The centers are Momo Diouf, an Italian international, Aliou Diarra, a Malian international, and Alen Smailagic, a Serbian with extensive EuroLeague experience. Diouf averages 9.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, while shooting 62.9 percent from two. Smailagic contributes 8.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per game but is also a dangerous outside shooter (42.1 percent from three). Diarra averages 4.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.
THE BOLOGNA CONNECTION – Giampaolo Ricci played for Virtus Bologna for two seasons, winning the 2021 Italian league championship as Captain. Nico Mannion has played 71 games for Virtus over two seasons. Bryant Dunston sent in Bologna the 2023/24 season and won the Supercup there. Daniel Hackett played for Milan for two years, winning the 2014 Italian league championship. Coach Peppe Poeta played for Virtus Bologna for three seasons.
