Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna

Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna
Leagues	LBA
Founded	1929 (1929)
History	Virtus Bologna 1929–present
Arena	Unipol Arena
Arena Capacity	11,000
Location	Bologna, Italy
Team colors	White, black
President	Alberto Bucci
Head coach	Alessandro Ramagli
Ownership	Massimo Zanetti
Championships	15 Italian Championships 8 Italian Cups 2 Euroleagues 1 Saporta Cup 1 EuroChallenge 1 Italian Supercup 1 Italian LNP Cup 1 Serie A2 Basket
Retired numbers	3 (4, 5, 10)
Website	www.virtus.it
Uniforms
Home Away

Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Segafredo Virtus Bologna,^[1] is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. It currently plays in the Italian first division LBA.

For past club sponsorship names, see the list below.

History

Virtus was founded in 1871 as a gymnastics club, forming its first professional basketball team in 1929. It won its first national Serie A title in 1945, adding the next three editions as well. They would add two back to back titles in 1955 and 1956. A 20-year national title drought ended with another championship in 1976, the first of four up to 1984, completing a domestic double the latter year by adding a Cup.^[2]

In 1990 they achieved a different double with the domestic cup completemented by the European Cup Winner's Cup, their first European title, beating Real Madrid in the final thanks to an outstanding Micheal Ray Richardson. After nearly a decade, Virtus added the 1993 Serie A, also winning the next two. Led by players such as Predrag Danilović, Zoran Savić and Antoine Rigaudeau the Italians won the 1997–98 FIBA Euroleague, Europe's premier competition, with another domestic title as a bonus.^[2]

In 2001 the side went one better, winning the 2000–01 Euroleague (played in competition with a new Euroleague), the Serie A and the Italian Cup to complete a Triple Crown. At the time Virtus had one of the best rosters ever in European basketball with Marko Jarić, Manu Ginóbili, Rigaudeau, Matjaž Smodiš and Rashard Griffith.^[2]

Virtus Bologna (2011-12 season)

They would win the Italian cup again in 2002, but lost in the Euroleague final and the Serie A semifinals. Suffering from serious financial problems Virtus was excluded from the Serie A in Auguste 2003 after missing payments to players.^[2][3][4] The club even had to merge with FuturVirtus Castelmaggiore in the second division to avoid disappearing.

Virtus returned to the top division in 2004. In 2006-07 they qualified for the playoffs after a five-year absence, reaching the championship finals but losing to Montepaschi Siena. They also reached the EuroCup semifinals.^[2]

In 2009 they added another trophy to their cabinet, with the European third tier EuroChallenge, with 21 points from Finals MVP Keith Langford in the final against Cholet Basket.^[5]

On 4 May 2016 Virtus was relegated to Serie A2 Basket for the first time in its history after finishing in the last position of the 2015–16 Lega Basket Serie A.^[6]

Arena

Unipol Arena

Virtus' home arena is the Unipol Arena (previously known as the PalaMalaguti). The seating capacity of the arena for Virtus Bologna games is 11,000 people.

Honours

Total titles: 28

Domestic competitions

Italian League

• Winners (15): 1945-46, 1946–47, 1947–48, 1948–49, 1954–55, 1955–56, 1975–76, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1983–84, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1997–98, 2000–01

Italian Cup

• Winners (8): 1973-74, 1983–84, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1996–97, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2001-02
• Runners-up (6): 1992-93, 1999-00, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10

Italian Supercup

• Winners (1): 1995
• Runners-up (7): 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2009, 2010

Italian LNP Cup

• Winners (1): 2017

Serie A2 Basket

• Winners (1): 2016–17

European competitions

Euroleague

• Winners (2): 1997-98, 2000-01
• Runners-up (3): 1980-81, 1998-99, 2001-02
• Final Four (3): 1998, 1999, 2002

FIBA Saporta Cup

• Winners (1): 1989-90
• Runners-up (2): 1977-78, 1999-00

FIBA EuroChallenge

• Winners (1): 2008-09

Worldwide competitions

McDonald's Championship

• Runners-up (2): 1993, 1995

Unofficial

Triple Crown

• Winners (1): 2000-01

Top performances in European & Worldwide competitions

The road to the European Cup victories

1989–90 FIBA European Cup Winner's Cup Round Team Home   Away   2nd round Çukurova Üniversitesi 108–64 71–72 Quarter-finals Žalgiris 102–79 86–83 Sunair Oostende 93–85 78–69 Maccabi Ramat Gan 86–73 95–96 Semi-finals PAOK 77–57 94–100 Final Real Madrid 79–74

1997–98 FIBA Euroleague Round Team Home   Away   1st round Hapoel Jerusalem 73–51 81–68 Pau-Orthez 72–79 67–65 FC Barcelona 83–70 84–71 Partizan 77–72 74–49 Ülker 94–64 68–66 2nd round PSG Racing 69–52 72–62 Union Olimpija 72–62 60–76 Alba Berlin 81–66 69–85 Top 16 Estudiantes 86–62 67–62 Quarter-finals Teamsystem Bologna 64–52 58–56 Semi-final Partizan 83–61 Final AEK 58–44

2000–01 Euroleague Round Team Home   Away   Regular season AEK 81–66 77–78 Cibona 106–88 78–69 Tau Cerámica 76–73 65–59 Spirou Charleroi 106–87 80–58 Saint Petersburg Lions 84–78 82–78 Top 16 Adecco Estudiantes 113–70 85–80 Quarter-finals Union Olimpija 80–79 81–79 Semi-finals Paf Bologna 103–76 92–84 74–70 Finals Tau Cerámica 65–78 94–73 80–60 79–96 82–74

Players

Current roster

Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age 2.5 !G/F 0 ITA ! Alessandro Gentile 7000200999999999999♠2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 7002104400000000000♠104.4 kg (230 lb) 7001240000000000000♠24 – (1992-11-12)12 November 1992 2.0 !SG 3 NGR ! Umeh, Michael 7000188000000000000♠1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 7001890000000000000♠89 kg (196 lb) 7001320000000000000♠32 – (1984-09-18)18 September 1984 1.0 !PG 6 ITA ! Alessandro Pajola 7000194000000000000♠1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 7001830000000000000♠83 kg (183 lb) 7001170000000000000♠17 – (1999-11-09)9 November 1999 4.0 !PF 11 SRB ! Danilo Petrović 7000202999999999999♠2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 7001980000000000000♠98 kg (216 lb) 7001180000000000000♠18 – (1999-05-10)10 May 1999 3.5 !F 13 ALB ! Klaudio Ndoja 7000200999999999999♠2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 7002102000000000000♠102 kg (225 lb) 7001320000000000000♠32 – (1985-05-18)18 May 1985 2.5 !G/F 14 ITA ! Guido Rosselli 7000198000000000000♠1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 7002107000000000000♠107 kg (236 lb) 7001340000000000000♠34 – (1983-05-25)25 May 1983 2.5 !G/F 21 ITA ! Pietro Aradori 7000198000000000000♠1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 7002102000000000000♠102 kg (225 lb) 7001280000000000000♠28 – (1988-12-09)9 December 1988 1.0 !PG 22 ITA ! Stefano Gentile 7000191000000000000♠1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 7001900000000000000♠90 kg (198 lb) 7001270000000000000♠27 – (1989-09-20)20 September 1989 5.0 !C 25 USA ! Kenny Lawson 7000208000000000000♠2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 7002113000000000000♠113 kg (249 lb) 7001280000000000000♠28 – (1988-09-18)18 September 1988 5.0 !C NGR ! Lawal, Shane 7000208000000000000♠2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 7002105000000000000♠105 kg (231 lb) 7001300000000000000♠30 – (1986-10-08)8 October 1986	Head coach Alessandro Ramagli Assistant coach(es) Daniele Cavicchi Christian Fedrigo Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: July 25, 2017

Notable players

Retired numbers

• 04 – Roberto Brunamonti (PG, 1982–96)
• 05 – Predrag Danilović (G, 1992–95, 1997–2000)
• 10 – Renato Villalta (C, 1976–89)

Other notable players

Coaches

Sponsorship names

Throughout the years, due to sponsorship, the club has been known as :

Kit manufacturer

2016: Macron ^[7]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna.

• Official website (in Italian)
• Historical record and names at Lega Basket Serie A Retrieved 27 June 2015 (in Italian)