Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna

Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna
Leagues Lega Serie A
Founded 1871
History 1871–present
Arena Unipol Arena
(11,000 seats)
Location Bologna, Italy
Team colors Black and White
         
President Italy Renato Villalta
Head coach Italy Giorgio Valli
Championships 15 Italian Championships
1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1955, 1956, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2001
8 Italian Cups
1974, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2001
2 Euroleagues
1998, 2001
1 Saporta Cup
1990
1 EuroChallenge
2009
1 Italian Supercup
1995
Website virtus.it
Uniforms
Home
Away

Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna is an Italian League professional basketball club, based in Bologna. Virtus is one of the most important and titled basketball teams in Europe.

History

Virtus was founded in 1871 as a gymnastics club, and fielded its first professional basketball team in the 1920s. The club has won 15 national league titles in Italy's top division and 8 Italian Cups. It has also been a frequent participant in the Euroleague, the basketball equivalent to football's Champions League. Virtus' best season, as measured by trophies won, was 2000-01, when it won the Italian League, Italian Cup, and Euroleague titles all in the same season, giving the club the coveted Triple Crown championship for the year (though the latter came against the field that did not include all of Europe's national champions as some of them competed in FIBA Suproleague that year). They also won the Euroleague in 1998, led by club hero and icon Predrag Danilović.

Several key members of Virtus' treble-winners left immediately after that accomplishment. After the 2001-02 season, Manu Ginóbili, the Final Four MVP of Euroleague 2000-01, left for the NBA, as did Marko Jarić. At the end of the 2002-03 season, Virtus suffered relegation from Italy's top division as a result of financial problems.

The local derby between Virtus and Fortitudo is one of the most intense in the entire world of sports. Sports Illustrated writer Alexander Wolff devoted a chapter of his 2002 basketball book, Big Game, Small World (ISBN 0-446-52601-0), to this rivalry.

Virtus' home stadium is Unipol Arena (previously known as Palamalaguti).

In 2009, Virtus Bologna returned to European and club success by winning the EuroChallenge, defeating Cholet Basket in the final. MVP of the final-four was Keith Langford.

Sponsorship names

Virtus Bologna

  • Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna (1929 to present)

Through the years, due to sponsorship deals, it has been also known as:[1]
  • Granarolo (1983–86)
  • Dietor (1986–88)
  • Knorr (1988–93)
  • Buckler (1993–96)
  • Kinder (1996-02)
  • Virtus (2002–03)
  • Carisbo (2003–04)
  • Caffè Maxim (2004–05)
  • VidiVici (2005–07)
  • La Fortezza (Serie A), VidiVici (Euroleague) (2007–08)

Titles

Total titles: 28

Domestic

Italian League

Italian Cup

Italian Supercup

European

Euroleague

FIBA Saporta Cup

FIBA EuroChallenge

Unofficial

Triple Crown

Worldwide

McDonald's Championship

International record

Season Achievement Notes
Euroleague
1979-80 Semi-final group stage 4th place in a group with Maccabi Elite, Real Madrid, Bosna, Nashua Den Bosch and Partizan
1980-81 Final lost to Maccabi Elite 79-80 in the final (Strasbourg)
1984-85 Semi-final group stage 6th place in a group with Cibona, Real Madrid, Maccabi Elite, CSKA Moscow and Banco di Roma Virtus
1991-92 Quarter-finals eliminated 2-1 by Partizan, 65-78 (L) in Belgrade, 61-60 (W) and 65-69 (L) in Bologna
1992-93 Quarter-finals eliminated 2-0 by Real Madrid, 56-76 (L) in Bologna and 58-79 (L) in Madrid
1993-94 Quarter-finals eliminated 2-1 by Olympiacos, 77-64 (W) in Bologna, 69-89 (L) and 62-65 (L) in Piraeus
1994-95 Quarter-finals eliminated 2-1 by Panathinaikos, 85-68 (W) in Bologna, 55-63 (L) and 56-99 (L) in Athens
1997-98 European Champions defeated Partizan 83-61 in the semi-final, defeated AEK 58-44 in the final of the Final Four in Barcelona
1998-99 Final defeated Teamsystem Bologna 62-57 in the semi-final, lost to Žalgiris 74-82 in the final (Munich)
2000-01 European Champions defeated 3-2 Tau Cerámica, 65-78 (L) and 94-73 (W) in Bologna, 80-60 (W) and 79-96 (L) in Vitoria-Gasteiz, finally 82-74 (W) in Bologna
2001-02 Final defeated Benetton Treviso 90-82 in the semi-final, lost to Panathinaikos 83-89 in the final (Bologna)
Saporta Cup
1974-75 Quarter-finals 3rd place in a group with Spartak Leningrad, Jugoplastika Split and Moderne
1977-78 Final lost to Gabetti Cantù 82-84 in the final (Milan)
1978-79 Semi-finals eliminated by Den Bosch, 85-73 (W) in Bologna and 92-105 (L) in Den Bosch after two overtimes
1981-82 Semi-finals eliminated by Real Madrid, 78-79 (L) in Bologna and 94-107 (L) in Madrid
1989-90 Cup Winner's Champions defeated Real Madrid 79-74 in the final of European Cup Winner's Cup in Florence
1990-91 Quarter-finals 3rd place in a group with Dynamo Moscow, Pitch Cholet and Ovarense
1999-00 Final lost to AEK 76-83 in the final (Lausanne)
Korać Cup
1975-76 Semi-finals eliminated by Jugoplastika Split, 83-74 (W) in Split and 79-92 (L) in Bologna
EuroChallenge
2006-07 Final Four 3rd place in Bologna, lost to Azovmash 73-74 in the semi-final, defeated MMT Estudiantes 80-62 in the 3rd place game
2008-09 EuroChallenge Champions defeated Proteas EKA AEL 83-69 in the semi-final, defeated Cholet 77-75 in the final of the Eurochallenge Final Four in Bologna
McDonald's Championship
1993 Final defeated Limoges 101-85 in the semi-final, lost to Phoenix Suns 90-112 in the final (Munich)
1995 Final defeated Real Madrid 102-96 in the semi-final, lost to Houston Rockets 112-126 in the final (London)

Players

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age
F 1 United States White, Okaro 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 93 kg (205 lb) 22 – 13 August 1992
C 8 Italy Cuccarolo, Gino 2.21 m (7 ft 3 in) 94 kg (207 lb) 27 – 26 November 1987
C/G 9 United States Gaddy, Abdul 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 97 kg (214 lb) 23 – 26 January 1992
PG 12 Italy Imbrò, Matteo 1.02 m (3 ft 4 in) 82 kg (181 lb) 21 – 12 February 1994
SF 13 Italy Fontecchio, Simone 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 93 kg (205 lb) 19 – 9 December 1995
14 Italy Mazzola, Valerio 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 96 kg (212 lb) 27 – 7 March 1988
F 18 Italy Benetti, Gabriele 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 91 kg (201 lb) 19 – 30 June 1995
G 20 Serbia Nikolic, Stefan 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 93 kg (205 lb) 17 – 29 May 1997
G 21 United States Hazell, Jeremy 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 29 – 26 March 1986
G 25 United States Ray, Allan 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 30 – 17 June 1984
33 United States Reddic, Juvonte 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) 112 kg (247 lb) 22 – 23 May 1992
Head coach
  • Italy Giorgio Valli
Assistant coach(es)
  • Italy Daniele Cavicchi
  • Italy Christian Fedrigo
  • Italy Mattia Largo
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured

Roster
Updated: February 28, 2015

Past players

Retired numbers

Notable players

Coaches

  • Italy Renzo Poluzzi - 1948-50
  • Italy Dino Fontana - 1950-51
  • Italy Venzo Vannini - 1951-52
  • Italy Larry Strong - 1952-53
  • Italy Giancarlo Marinelli - 1953-54
  • Italy Larry Strong - 1954-55
  • Italy Vittorio Tracuzzi - 1955-60
  • Spain Eduard Kucharski - 1960-63
  • Italy Mario Alesini - 1963-66
  • Czechoslovakia Jaroslav Sip - 1966-68
    (incl. 4 games from the '68-'69 season)
  • Italy Renzo Ranuzzi - 1968-69
    (18 games)
  • Italy Nello Paratore - 1969-70
  • Italy Vittorio Tracuzzi - 1970-71
    (incl. 4 games from the '71-'72 season)
  • Italy Nico Messina - 1971-73
    (incl. 18 games from the '71-'72 season)
  • United States Dan Peterson - 1973-78
  • United States Terry Driscoll - 1978-80
  • Italy Ettore Zuccheri - 1980-81
    (23 games)
  • Italy Renzo Ranuzzi - 1981
    (18 games from the '80-'81 season)
  • Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Aleksandar Nikolić - 1981-82
  • United States George Bisacca - 1982
    (11 games from the '82-'83 season)
  • Italy Mauro Di Vincenzo - 1982-83
    (24 games)
  • Italy Alberto Bucci - 1983-85
  • Italy Alessandro Gamba - 1985-87
  • Croatia Krešimir Ćosić - 1987-88
  • United States Bob Hill - 1988-89
  • Italy Ettore Messina - 1989-93
  • Italy Alberto Bucci - 1993-97
    (incl. 23 games from the '96-'97 season)
  • Italy Lino Frattin - 1997
    (11 games from the '96-'97 season)
  • Italy Ettore Messina - 1997-02
    (replaced for two games in '01-'02
    by Italy Giordano Consolini)
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina Bogdan Tanjević - 2002
    (14 games from the '02-'03 season)
  • Italy Valerio Bianchini - 2002-03
    (20 games)
  • Italy Giampiero Ticchi - 2003
  • Italy Alberto Bucci - 2003-04
  • Italy Giordano Consolini - 2004-05
  • Republic of Macedonia Zare Markovski - 2005-07
  • Italy Stefano Pillastrini - 2007
  • Italy Renato Pasquali - 2008
  • Italy Matteo Boniciolli - 2008-09
  • Italy Lino Lardo - 2009–11
  • Italy Alessandro Finelli - 2011-2013
  • Italy Luca Bechi - 2013–present

References

  1. ↑ Lega A page on the history of Virtus Bologna. (Italian)
  2. ↑ http://www.basketlive.it/notizie_flash/16-08-2012-presentata-la-virtus-bologna-2012-2013-a-finale-emilia (Italian)
  3. ↑ http://www.oknoplast.it/it/press-room/press-release/oknoplast-crede-nello-sport-e-va-a-canestro-con-virtus-bologna/ (Italian)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna.