Virtus Bologna, Sergio Scariolo’s many reasons for pride

A great victory, and the pride at the end of the game shows it.

Virtus Bologna beat Euroleague’s leading Fenerbahce with a throbbing 92-88 win and a Marco Belinelli on the shields with 18 points on the scoreboard. And among Sergio Scariolo’s many thanks at the end of the game, those to the home crowd stand out.

“I want to congratulate all my players and say thanks again to the fans,” Scariolo said at the end of the game, “because our physical condition is not good, so we all had to pull out an extra effort. But we feel so much the push of our public, which the team feels and allows everyone to give their best.”

Scariolo then focused on the team’s sacrifices, “We have always lacked someone, and asking those who are there for extra effort often pays off. They were fearsome from a physical, athletic and organizational point of view, so we are proud of what we collected. In the Euroleague nobody gives anything away, and we are two points away from eighth place. No one was forcing us to qualify for the playoffs, but we are in contention to play them and that alone is a privilege.”