Euroleague Day 14
Basconia
Virtus Bologna
Dani Díez defends the advance of Frenchman Isaïa Cordinier from Virtus de Bologna.L. Rico (EFE)
Ivanovic's Baskonia likes to play to the limit and they usually don't do a bad job of that, but this time they failed in the final minutes of the game when they lacked strength. He received the Virtus, on which two old acquaintances are sailing, the great captain Tornike Shengelia and Achille Polonara, the player born on the Adriatic coast, who was crooked for a few months due to cancer, like the towers of Garisenda and Asinelli in Bologna testicular cancer, whose His head, which was still bald from chemotherapy, received recognition for his former hobby. This ended the sentimental moment of the game because after that everything went to hell. From the start, although the score was almost always close, except at the beginning. It broke a few times.
It was the success of Belinelli, who had 22 years as a professional behind him, who managed to unsettle the Vitorians in the first quarter, contributing 10 of his team's first 17 points and a partial score of 15-24 at the end of the first quarter achieved. after the Vitorians managed to somewhat make up for their terrible start. With 1.55 minutes remaining in the first ten minutes, the Bolognese team won by 14 (10-24).
It was difficult for Ivanovic's team to recover, but they gradually managed it by applying pressure in defense, without much success in attack and with low shooting rates. As a director, Miller-Mcintyre's intention was to move his teammates, who worked hard to turn the score around (43-42) before the break, especially thanks to Vitoria's dominance in offensive rebounds.
The Italians remained an uncomfortable team in the second half. The veteran Belinelli's streak seemed to be coming to an end, with fewer minutes and less production, but Shengelia didn't run out. Author of incredible baskets, one of them from the ground, he never let Baskonia take off. Even in the last ten minutes there was still maximum balance, as if the two teams lacked the necessary energy to finally separate. With the score at 5.35 to go, Baskonia made a special farewell and took the lead for the last time. A steal from Kotsar made the score 70-68, but in the following minutes the Vitorians' lights went out on offense. Just a minute and a half later, the game turned around due to Ivanovic's team's lack of clarity when it came to scoring goals. With a triple from Hackett, now at 3.07, Virtus was eight points ahead. Baskonia couldn't even score free kicks, which could be crucial no matter how much Moneke pushed.
The home team tried fits in the final moments. A glimmer of hope emerged when Miller-Mcintyre made a brilliant pass after a basket with the score at 81:85, forcing a foul that could have put him close to a three-pointer with 40 seconds left, but the American missed. The shooting line was clear and in In the next action, Belinelli, who caught his breath in the last minutes, put things in order with a three-pointer to achieve his highest score in the Euroleague (27 points), breaking the great series of Baskonia, which did not have so much energy as in previous attempts to decide the game in the final minutes.
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