Virtus Bologna, double important returns for games against Sassari and Varese
After the return of Alessandro Pajola, Virtus glimpses the exit from the emergency tunnel. In the HCL house, the focus now shifts to Luca Vildoza and Matt Morgan, both close to recovery ahead of the playoffs, with the goal of giving coach Jakovljevic back more rotation and more balance at the decisive moment of the season.
For Vildoza, the timetable is more defined. The stop for the second-degree hamstring injury in his left thigh was set at 5-6 weeks starting April 5, so the realistic window leads to early May. Translated: Virtus aims to have him available again right around the time of the playoffs, with the possibility of seeing him as early as the latter part of the regular season and particularly as early as at home to Dinamo Sassari next Sunday.
For Morgan the talk is more cautious. The calf problem is less severe than Vildoza’s, but the staff does not want to force it. He has still been out of work with the group, and the feeling is that Virtus is managing his recovery without taking any risks, just to have him fresh when it really counts. In practice, his return may come sooner than Vildoza’s, but the club prefers to dose him and not get ahead of schedule unnecessarily. There is a chance to see him at the last regular season game against Varese.
The context in which the two players are about to return is that of a Virtus that has already regained momentum with the success against Trieste, commented with satisfaction by coach Jakovljevic: “We managed it from start to finish, even if we did it worse at certain moments than others. I am very happy with the aggressiveness and energy we managed to put on the court.” An important signal, according to the Serbian coach, who called the victory “a very good sign because it is a team victory,” reiterating how the group is still “a work in progress.”
