Derrick Alston Jr operated on: details from Virtus Bologna

“Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna announces that yesterday the player Derrick Alston Jr underwent surgery for reduction and synthesis of a decomposed fracture of the III metacarpal of the left hand.” This was made known by the Emilia club in an official note released on Saturday. “The surgery, performed by Drs. Norman Della Rosa and Davide Gravina at the Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Policlinico di Modena, was technically successful. Derrick is wished a speedy recovery by the whole club,” the statement further reads.

The fracture had been diagnosed in the aftermath of Game 1 of the playoff quarterfinals against Trento, in which Alston Jr had played an extraordinary performance: 21 points in just 19 minutes, with 2 rebounds and 2 assists, finishing with a rating of 24 and being the best of his team. A mocking injury, then, that came at the very moment of the player’s greatest brilliance.

The American’s forfeit represents a huge loss for the ‘Black Vu’ at the most important moment of the season. In the regular season Alston Jr had been traveling at an average of 12.6 points, with absolutely respectable percentages: 57.4 percent from two-point range and 42.4 percent from beyond the arc. Numbers that had made him one of the most reliable players on the entire roster at coach Nenad Jakovljevic’s disposal.

Nineteen year old and son of art – his father Derrick Sr played in the NBA and in Europe, winning a Turkish championship with Efes and twice the Liga ACB with Manresa and Barcelona – Alston Jr arrived in Bologna on the eve of this season after his experience in Spain at Manresa. Previously he also wore the jerseys of the Rostock Seawolves in Germany and the Salt Lake City Stars in the G League.

His return in this post season becomes impossible at this point, and Virtus will have to do without him at an already delicate moment: the series against Trento is currently poised at 2-1 in favor of Aquila, with Game 4 scheduled for Sunday, May 24 at PalaTrento. To fill the void left by the American, coach Jakovljevic seems to be leaning toward targeting Matt Morgan, who will thus be available again in the twelve after being out due to the issue related to the maximum number of foreigners that can be used in the league.