Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna
| Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Leagues | Serie A | ||
| Founded | 1871 | ||
| History | 1871–present | ||
| Arena | Unipol Arena | ||
| Capacity | 11,000 | ||
| Location | Bologna, Italy | ||
| Team colors |
Black and White | ||
| President | Alberto Bucci | ||
| Head coach | Giorgio Valli | ||
| Championships |
15 Italian Championships 8 Italian Cups 2 Euroleagues 1 Saporta Cup 1 EuroChallenge 1 Italian Supercup | ||
| Retired numbers | 3 (4, 5, 10) | ||
| Website | virtus.it | ||
| Uniforms | |||
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Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Obiettivo Lavoro Bologna,[1] is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. It plays in the first division Serie A as of the 2015-16 season.
For past club sponsorship names, see the list below.
History
Virtus was founded in 1871 as a gymnastics club, forming its first professional basketball team in 1929. It won its first national Serie A title in 1945, adding the next three editions as well. They would add two back to back titles in 1955 and 1956. A 20-year national title drought ended with another championship in 1976, the first of four up to 1984, completing a domestic double the latter year by adding a Cup.[2]
In 1990 they achieved a different double with the domestic cup completemented by the European Cup Winner's Cup, their first European title, beating Real Madrid in the final thanks to an outstanding Micheal Ray Richardson. After nearly a decade, Virtus added the 1993 Serie A, also winning the next two. Led by players such as Predrag Danilović, Zoran Savić and Antoine Rigaudeau the Italians won the 1997–98 FIBA Euroleague, Europe's premier competition, with another domestic title as a bonus.[2]
In 2001 the side went one better, winning the 2000–01 Euroleague (played in competition with a new Euroleague), the Serie A and the Italian Cup to complete a Triple Crown. At the time Virtus had one of the best rosters ever in European basketball with Marko Jarić, Manu Ginóbili, Rigaudeau, Matjaž Smodiš and Rashard Griffith.[2]
Virtus Bologna (2011-12 season)
They would win the Italian cup again in 2002, but lost in the Euroleague final and the Serie A semifinals. Suffering from serious financial problems Virtus was excluded from the Serie A in Auguste 2003 after missing payments to players.[2][3][4] The club even had to merge with FuturVirtus Castelmaggiore in the second division to avoid disappearing.
Virtus returned to the top division in 2004. In 2006-07 they qualified for the playoffs after a five-year absence, reaching the championship finals but losing to Montepaschi Siena. They also reached the EuroCup semifinals.[2]
In 2009 they added another trophy to their cabinet, with the European third tier EuroChallenge, with 21 points from Finals MVP Keith Langford in the final against Cholet Basket.[5]
On 4 May 2016 Virtus was relegated to Serie A2 Basket for the first time in its history after finishing in the last position of the 2015–16 Lega Basket Serie A.[6]
Arena
Virtus' home arena is the Unipol Arena (previously known as the PalaMalaguti).
Honours
Total titles: 28
Domestic competitions
- Winners (15): 1945-46, 1946–47, 1947–48, 1948–49, 1954–55, 1955–56, 1975–76, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1983–84, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1997–98, 2000–01
- Winners (8): 1973-74, 1983–84, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1996–97, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2001-02
- Runners-up (6): 1992-93, 1999-00, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10
- Winners (1): 1995
- Runners-up (7): 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2009, 2010
European competitions
FIBA European Champions Cup / Euroleague
- Winners (2): 1997-98, 2000-01
- Runners-up (3): 1980-81, 1998-99, 2001-02
- Final Four (3): 1998, 1999, 2002
FIBA European Cup Winner's Cup / FIBA Saporta Cup
- Winners (1): 2008-09
Worldwide competitions
Unofficial
- Winners (1): 2000-01
Top performances in European & Worldwide competitions
| Season | Achievement | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Euroleague | |||
| 1979-80 | Semi-final group stage | 4th place in a group with Maccabi Elite, Real Madrid, Bosna, Nashua Den Bosch and Partizan | |
| 1980-81 | Final | lost to Maccabi Elite 79-80 in the final (Strasbourg) | |
| 1984-85 | Semi-final group stage | 6th place in a group with Cibona, Real Madrid, Maccabi Elite, CSKA Moscow and Banco di Roma Virtus | |
| 1991-92 | Quarter-finals | eliminated 2-1 by Partizan, 65-78 (L) in Belgrade, 61-60 (W) and 65-69 (L) in Bologna | |
| 1992-93 | Quarter-finals | eliminated 2-0 by Real Madrid, 56-76 (L) in Bologna and 58-79 (L) in Madrid | |
| 1993-94 | Quarter-finals | eliminated 2-1 by Olympiacos, 77-64 (W) in Bologna, 69-89 (L) and 62-65 (L) in Piraeus | |
| 1994-95 | Quarter-finals | eliminated 2-1 by Panathinaikos, 85-68 (W) in Bologna, 55-63 (L) and 56-99 (L) in Athens | |
| 1997-98 | Champions | defeated Partizan 83-61 in the semi-final, defeated AEK 58-44 in the final of the Final Four in Barcelona | |
| 1998-99 | Final | defeated Teamsystem Bologna 62-57 in the semi-final, lost to Žalgiris 74-82 in the final (Munich) | |
| 2000-01 | Champions | defeated 3-2 Tau Cerámica, 65-78 (L) and 94-73 (W) in Bologna, 80-60 (W) and 79-96 (L) in Vitoria-Gasteiz, finally 82-74 (W) in Bologna | |
| 2001-02 | Final | defeated Benetton Treviso 90-82 in the semi-final, lost to Panathinaikos 83-89 in the final (Bologna) | |
| Saporta Cup | |||
| 1974-75 | Quarter-finals | 3rd place in a group with Spartak Leningrad, Jugoplastika Split and Moderne | |
| 1977-78 | Final | lost to Gabetti Cantù 82-84 in the final (Milan) | |
| 1978-79 | Semi-finals | eliminated by Den Bosch, 85-73 (W) in Bologna and 92-105 (L) in Den Bosch after two overtimes | |
| 1981-82 | Semi-finals | eliminated by Real Madrid, 78-79 (L) in Bologna and 94-107 (L) in Madrid | |
| 1989-90 | Champions | defeated Real Madrid 79-74 in the final of European Cup Winner's Cup in Florence | |
| 1990-91 | Quarter-finals | 3rd place in a group with Dynamo Moscow, Pitch Cholet and Ovarense | |
| 1999-00 | Final | lost to AEK 76-83 in the final (Lausanne) | |
| Korać Cup | |||
| 1975-76 | Semi-finals | eliminated by Jugoplastika Split, 83-74 (W) in Split and 79-92 (L) in Bologna | |
| EuroChallenge | |||
| 2006-07 | Final Four | 3rd place in Girona, lost to Azovmash 73-74 in the semi-final, defeated MMT Estudiantes 80-62 in the 3rd place game | |
| 2008-09 | Champions | defeated Proteas EKA AEL 83-69 in the semi-final, defeated Cholet 77-75 in the final of the Eurochallenge Final Four in Bologna | |
| McDonald's Championship | |||
| 1993 | Final | defeated Limoges 101-85 in the semi-final, lost to Phoenix Suns 90-112 in the final (Munich) | |
| 1995 | Final | defeated Real Madrid 102-96 in the semi-final, lost to Houston Rockets 112-126 in the final (London) | |
The road to the European Cup victories
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1989–90 FIBA European Cup Winner's Cup
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1997–98 FIBA Euroleague
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2000–01 Euroleague
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Players
Current roster
Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.
| Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notable players
Retired numbers
- 04
Roberto Brunamonti (PG, 1982–96) - 05
Predrag Danilović (G, 1992–95, 1997–2000) - 10 Renato Villalta (C, 1976–89)
Other notable players
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2010's
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2000's
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1990's
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1980's
1970's
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Coaches
- Renzo Poluzzi - 2 seasons: 1948-1950
- Dino Fontana - 1 season: '50-'51
- Venzo Vannini - 1 season: '51-'52
- Larry Strong - 1 season: '52-'53
- Giancarlo Marinelli - 1 season: '53-'54
- Larry Strong - 1 season: '54-'55
- Vittorio Tracuzzi - 5 seasons: '55-'60
Eduard Kucharski - 3 seasons: '60-'63- Mario Alesini - 3 seasons: '63-'66
Jaroslav Sip - 1 1/2 seasons: '66-'68- Renzo Ranuzzi - 1/2 season: '68-'69
- Nello Paratore - 1 season: '69-'70
- Vittorio Tracuzzi - 1 1/2 seasons: '70-'71
- Nico Messina - 1 1/2 seasons: '71-'73
Dan Peterson - 5 seasons: '73-'78- Terry Driscoll - 2 seasons: '78-'80
- Ettore Zuccheri - 1/2 season: '80-'81
- Renzo Ranuzzi - 1/2 season: '81
Aleksandar Nikolić - 1 season: '81-'82- George Bisacca - 1/2 season: '82
- Mauro Di Vincenzo - 1/2 season: '82-'83
- Alberto Bucci - 2 seasons: '83-'85
- Alessandro Gamba - 2 seasons: '85-'87
Krešimir Ćosić - 1 season: '87-'88- Bob Hill - 1 season: '88-'89
- Ettore Messina - 4 seasons: '89-'93
- Alberto Bucci - 3 1/2 seasons: '93-'97
- Lino Frattin - 1/2 season: '97
- Ettore Messina - 5 seasons: '97-'2002 Giordano Consolini - 2 games: '01-'02
Bogdan Tanjević - 1/2 season: '02- Valerio Bianchini - 1/2 season: '02-'03
- Giampiero Ticchi - 1/2 season: '03
- Alberto Bucci - 1 season: '03-'04
- Giordano Consolini - 1 season: '04-'05
Zare Markovski - 2 seasons: '05-'07- Stefano Pillastrini - 1/2 season: '07
- Renato Pasquali - 1/2 season: '08
- Matteo Boniciolli - 1 season: '08-'09
- Lino Lardo - 2 seasons: '09-'11
- Alessandro Finelli - 2 seasons: '11-'13
- Luca Bechi - 1 season: '13-'14
- Giorgio Valli - 1 season: '14-present
Sponsorship names
Throughout the years, due to sponsorship, the club has been known as :
- Minganti Bologna (1953–58)
- Oransoda Bologna (1958–60)
- Idrolitina Bologna (1960–61)
- Virtus Bologna (1961–62)
- Knorr Bologna (1962–65)
- Candy Bologna (1965–69)
- Virtus Bologna (1969–70)
- Norda Bologna (1970–74)
- Sinudyne Bologna (1974–83)
- Granarolo Bologna (1983–86)
- Dietor Bologna (1986–88)
- Knorr Bologna (1988–93)
- Buckler Bologna (1993–96)
- Kinder Bologna (1996-02)
- Virtus Bologna (2002–03)
- Carisbo Bologna (2003–04)
- Caffè Maxim Bologna (2004–05)
- VidiVici Bologna (2005–07)
- La Fortezza Bologna [Domestically] (2007–09)
- VidiVici Bologna [European competition] (2007–08)
- Virtus BolognaFiere [European competition]) (2008–09)
- Canadian Solar Bologna (2009–12)
- SAIE3 Bologna (2012-2013)
- Oknoplast Bologna (2013)
- Granarolo Bologna (2013-2015)
- Obiettivo Lavoro Bologna (2015–present)
References
- ↑ "Obiettivo Lavoro e Virtus: facciamo squadra insieme" [Obiettivo Lavora and Virtus: we form a team together]. Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna (in Italian). 18 June 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Virtus VidiVici - Club profile". Euroleague. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
- ↑ "Virtus Bologna is no more."La Gazzetta dello Sport, Roma, 4 August 2003. Retrieved on 3 June 2015.(Italian)
- ↑ "Virtus is out, Messina retaken.", Messaggero Veneto – Giornale del Friuli via Lega Basket, 1 September 2003. Retrieved on 3 June 2015.(Italian)
- ↑ "Virtus BolognaFiere beat brave Cholet". FIBA Europe. 26 April 2009. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
- ↑ "Virtus Bologna relegated for the first time". Eurohoops. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna. |
- Historical record and names at Lega Basket Serie A Retrieved 27 June 2015 (Italian)
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