Sergio Scariolo warns Nico Mannion: “I don’t give away minutes.”

Sergio Scariolo warns Nico Mannion.

Sergio Scariolo warns Nico Mannion, from whom he evidently expects a greater contribution than he made last season.

“I saw him healthy and more toned,” the Virtus Bologna coach told Gazzetta dello Sport. “I asked him to continue to be himself, improving the aspects where he knows he needs to improve. No one has any doubts about Mannion, but it all depends on when he will mature in this context that is definitely different from what he is used to. His challenge is to control the team and the ball. I don’t gift minutes, we have so many players in that role so it will be necessary for everyone to know that performance in training and in the game will count.”

Last season, Virtus Bologna saw the confirmation of the Scudetto it won in 2021 slip away only in the playoff final, lost 4-2 to Olimpia Milano. The highlight of the Felsinians’ year, however, came on May 11, with the conquest of the Eurocup, won in the final against Turkey’s Bursaspor. This success gave Scariolo’s men a pass for the 2022-23 Euroleague season, a competition in which the Bolognese have not participated for 14 years.