Reyer Venezia scrambled in Bologna, but Neven Spahija doesn’t tremble
Reyer Venezia falls disastrously against Virtus Bologna with the heavy score of 98-79, after managing to win Game 1 with a capital performance on the road. A change of result that coach Neven Spahija explained very lucidly after the game, “We missed a lot of shots and they defended well. A lot of conclusions, however, we missed them. They, on the other hand, should be congratulated, because they played a splendid game despite the fact that we knew they would fight back and present some adjustments on the court.”
Coach Spahija, in any case, does not tremble about Venice’s prospects of continuing to do well in the playoff continuation. “Losing by one point or by 10 is the same thing,” stressed the coach of the Orogranata team.
Now the series continues and we will play in front of our audience. Aspect that will affect, although they were many already tonight here in Bologna.”
On the other hand, coach Nenad Jakovljevic clearly explained the reasons for the sharp rebound of his ‘Black Vu’: “Compared to Game 1 we played with more determination, as well as with discipline for almost all 40 minutes. At the team level we managed to be more cohesive and decisive on defense, while on offense we always tried to make one more pass instead of one more dribble.” Words that precisely photograph the difference from the opaque performance of Game 1, when Venice had managed to expugn the PalaDozza thanks to a game plan meticulously studied by Spahija himself.
Bolognese reaction takes on an even more significant flavor if one considers the context in which it matured. In fact, the ‘Black Vu’ have to do without Derrick Alston Jr., one of the brightest men in the early stages of the post season: the American underwent surgery for a compound fracture of the third metacarpal of his left hand, making it impossible for him to return in these playoffs. It was a huge loss for Bologna, considering that in the regular season he had traveled at an average of 12.6 points with 57.4 percent from two-point range and 42.4 percent from beyond the arc, in addition to the extraordinary performance of 21 points in just 19 minutes put up in Game 1 against Trento before the injury.
It is worth mentioning, moreover, that Virtus’ path to this semifinal was anything but linear. The ‘Black Vu’ had risked elimination in the quarterfinals against Trento, finding themselves down 1-2 in the series before reacting with a victory in Game 4 at the BTS Arena, dragged by Edwards’ 26 points, and then in Game 5 in Bologna. A bumpy road that had tested the physical and mental energies of Jakovljevic’s team, and that had probably weighed on the opaque performance in Game 1 against Venezia.
In the background, the question related to the future of Alessandro Pajola is also holding court. The captain of the ‘Black Vu’, absent in this series against Reyer due to an injury, has let it be known through GM Paolo Ronci that he wants to seek a new sporting adventure after 11 years spent in Bologna. The 26-year-old Italian feels the need to measure himself elsewhere, and his name has been insistently mentioned to Olimpia Milano. The Bologna club, however, would prefer to see him land in a foreign club, so as not to find him in front of them either in the league or possibly in the Euroleague.
