The 25-year-old guard led his team to a third consecutive home victory
Alessandro Pajola's all-around game ignites Virtus past Panathinaikos
Ανάλυση αγώνα
3 Χρόνος Ανάγνωσης
Regular Season
Round 6 of 38
Regular Season
Virtus BolognaVIR
9275
Panathinaikos AKTOR AthensPAO
Overview
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Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens made its first visit to the PalaDozza this century on Friday night, facing a Virtus Bologna team that has been dominant at home to start the 2025-26 season. The historic arena, which served as Virtus’s primary venue from 1957 to 1996, has been used intermittently since 2017. This season, however, Virtus Arena was unavailable until now. But at the PalaDozza, the Italian side has been in impressive form, recently defeating Real Madrid, AS Monaco and now Panathinaikos.
In Round 6, Virtus defeated Panathinaikos 92-75, winning all four quarters. Coach Dusko Ivanovic’s squad controlled the game, particularly in the first half, leading 48-35 at halftime. Virtus outworked the Greens, dominating the boards with a 23–14 advantage in rebounds and recording 7 steals.
“It’s an easy game to analyze. Virtus played better throughout. They were tougher than us. We didn’t defend well and allowed every player to score easily,” said Panathinaikos assistant Christos Serelis after the game, as head coach Ergin Ataman was ejected early in the second half. “Our pick-and-roll defense and transition defense were very poor. We didn’t match their energy at all.”
Panathinaikos star Kendrick Nunn was held to just 5 points on 2-of-8 shooting through the first 20 minutes. Meanwhile, Virtus scoring leaders Carsen Edwards and Matt Morgan combined for 19 first-half points, despite limited time on the floor together. Leading the charge for Virtus was team captain Alessandro Pajola, who delivered a superb all-around performance.
Pajola needed only one field goal attempt to post a PIR of 9 by the end of the first quarter, recording 3 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. By halftime, he had already matched his career high with 6 rebounds, alongside 6 points, 3 assists and a PIR of 17. After the game, Pajola credited the team’s fans for their unwavering support – not just at the PalaDozza, but everywhere.
“The magic comes from Bologna, from Virtus fans. They support us in every game; whether it’s PalaDozza or Fira, it doesn’t matter. They’re like a sixth man on the court, and that’s our advantage,” Pajola said. “We have to protect our home court because it’s tough for opponents to come here and win.”
Pajola also emphasized that success comes down to attitude, hustle and a team-first mentality. He finished the game with career highs of 10 points and 7 assists, along with 7 rebounds and a PIR of 23.
“It’s just team basketball. It’s what we practice all week. Sometimes you execute it well, sometimes you don’t,” Pajola said. “On Monday, we suffered a tough loss in the Italian League here at home, and we wanted to bounce back. That’s exactly what we did, especially as a team. We helped each other on defense and shared the ball on offense. If we play like this, we can win every game.”
Nunn scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half. Edwards led all scorers with 22 points, while Morgan added 15. Virtus ultimately outrebounded Panathinaikos 39-28, limiting the Greens to just 7 offensive boards, and posted 22 assists and 10 steals compared to Panathinaikos’s 13 assists and 4 steals. After the game, Coach Ivanovic praised his team for executing both on offense and defense.
“We played really good defense tonight. We had intensity from the first to the last moment, and a clear idea of what we needed to do. We were aggressive and grabbed offensive rebounds. Maybe this was our best game so far,” Ivanovic said. “Most importantly, everyone contributed to this victory. It was a team win.”
