Barça returned to their old ways in Bologna, where they were unable to continue their good game against Fenerbahçe and confirmed that they are not a reliable team at all. They did not know how to win against a rival, Virtus, bottom of the Euroleague and who had barely won one of the eight games they had played at home, and the road to the playoffs has more and more stones – almost as many as the one in the Copa del Rey. King…-.
After the brand new (and more than necessary) victory against Jasikevicius on Tuesday, Barça began threatening with another night of horrors in Bologna, in the middle of Emilia-Romagna, with a nightmare staging. As if they had run out of energy, Peñarroya’s men had too many lacks of attention in that initial stretch. When the duel reached half-time, the 35-34 score indicated by the Segafredo Arena light was the best news of the night. By then, the Barça team seemed to have made contact and had landed on the parquet.
Barça wasted the best game of Hernangómez’s season with another nightmare ending
It was a slow process and, at times, even painful, because Barça was not there. Ivanovic’s Virtus, the Duracell rabbit of European basketball, soon began to build its first advantages. He seemed to have no rival and grabbed offensive rebounds with an insultingly astonishing ease. Only Zizic went into halftime with 6 in his bag, quickly reaching the double double, converting one basket after another, punishing the Blaugrana a lot. If something saved the Peñarroya team in those minutes, it was the lack of Italian success in the triple, which did not debut until the fourteenth attempt, the work of Pajola.
A basket plus an additional shot by Morgan had made it 26-17 already in the second quarter, in Barça’s worst moment. But that mistake from the goal allowed the Barça team to hold on to the game. There were times when Parker inflated his statistics based on individual plays but there was no scoreboard. Pointed out so many times, it was the entry of Willy Hernangómez that seemed to activate his team. He helped close the rebound and found the way to the rival rim to begin cutting back to 35-34 at halftime. It had been difficult for Peñarroya to find a center that worked for him, with Vesely misguided and Fall too erratic. The rotation in the five did not stop.
All the verve that had been missing from the game in the first half suddenly emerged after the break, with both teams shamelessly exchanging blows, both reaching 30 points in the third quarter (30-31). Virtus found success from the triple and Barça was also inspired, with Willy maintaining a high level of concentration, his actions key in important moments. Parker and Punter’s points did the rest.
The last act came with the score tied and the tension was noticeable. Neither Virtus nor Barça chained baskets together and equality ruled the final stretch. An excellent Cordinier took charge of the Italian team and found no rival on the other side. The Blaugrana had a couple of attacks in their hands to get closer to victory but they were wasted in a bad way and their last minute was horrendous in handling the ball. Virtus prevailed against a team that is not reliable.
Technical sheet
86. Virtus Segafredo Bologna (23+12+30+21): Cordinier (24), Hackett (3), Clyburn (6), Grazulis (3), Zizic (12) -starting team-, Pajola (9), Morgan (10), Diouf (8), Polonara (5) and Belinelli (6).
81. Barça (15+19+31+16): Punter (17), Satoransky (0), Anderson (7), Parker (21), Vesely (8) -starting team- Hernangómez (14), Brizuela (5) , Núñez (0), Abrines (5), Parra (-) and Fall (4).
Referees: Borys Ryzhyk (UCR), Gytis Vilius (LIT) and Mario Majkic (ESL). They called out an unsportsmanlike foul against the visitor Punter (min.40). No eliminated.
Incidents: matchday 17 of the Euroleague played at the Virtus Segafredo Arena in Bologna (Italy).
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