Both teams have been up and down of late.
Sliding Virtus hosts an inconsistent Partizan with playoffs at stake
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When Virtus Segafredo Bologna (15-9) and Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade (12-12) go head-to-head at Virtus Segafredo Arena in Round 25 on Friday night, there is more at stake than meets the eye. In particular, with the race for the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs starting to reach boiling point, now is the time for one of these teams to really make a statement.
Virtus was the fairy tale story of the EuroLeague through the first half of the 2023-24 campaign, finding itself among the top three in the standings until an 84-57 loss at FC Barcelona earlier this week. Luca Banchi’s side has sorely missed Toko Shengelia, who has missed the last three games due to injury, but the truth is that the team’s slide started before then.
Addressing a slide
In fact, Virtus has won just one of its last five games, which was an unconvincing 73-63 triumph over LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne in Round 22. The alarm bells starting to ring during the previous double-round week as Banchi’s squad suffered back-to-back heavy defeats at Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (95-78) and Anadolu Efes Istanbul (99-75), with the team’s last road win coming at ALBA Berlin in Round 19.
By losing at Barca, Virtus slipped down to fifth in the standings and a defeat to Partizan would open the door for AS Monaco (14-10) and Olympiacos Piraeus (14-11) to jump above the 2021-22 BKT EuroCup champion in Round 26. There is therefore plenty of importance on Friday night’s fixture against Partizan.
Some good news for Virtus is that Shengelia is expected to return. Shengelia makes all the difference for Virtus as he is not only the team’s best player but is also one of the main leaders. Typically, when he plays well, Virtus tends to follow. That said, when Virtus and Partizan faced off in Belgrade in Round 17, it wasn’t one of Shengelia’s best performances.
Virtus managed to come away with a 75-77 win at Stark Arena on a night that saw Shengelia net 10 points. Instead, it was the likes of Iffe Lundberg, Daniel Hackett and Marco Belinelli who got the job done in the closing stages of the fourth quarter.
One of the positive aspects for Coach Banchi’s side is that it is a very impressive 10-1 on its home floor, with its only defeat coming to Zalgiris Kaunas in the opening round of the season. In short, it won’t be an easy task for Partizan on Friday night.
An inconsistent Partizan
Like Virtus, Partizan is one team at home and an entirely different prospect on the road. While Virtus is 10-1 on its home floor and 5-8 on its travels, Partizan is 9-2 in Belgrade and 3-10 away from the Serbian capital.
That inconsistency has been laid bare in the results, as the home team has won in every one of Partizan’s games so far in 2024, giving Zeljko Obradovic’s squad a 3-4 record since the turn of the year. Notably, that Virtus victory at Stark Arena was the team’s final fixture of 2023.
Even more interesting is the fact that Partizan had a five-game winning streak between Rounds 11 and 15, covering November 30 to December 19 last year, which saw it rapidly rise up the standings and put itself in playoff contention after a slow start to the season.
Yet, that Round 15 win at Valencia Basket was the last time Partizan won on the road, with the team losing its next five away from home. The sign of a solid playoff team is one that can do the business both at home and on the road, so Partizan will be eager to end its barren run when it visits Bologna and put itself on the right track as we enter the business end of the season.
Just like Virtus, Partizan comes into this Round 25 matchup on the back of a loss after falling 85-70 at AS Monaco. Kevin Punter had a stellar night on the offensive end, scoring a career-high 28 points, but only Frank Kaminsky joined him in double figures after netting 17. Usual contributor James Nunnally had just 6, while P.J. Dozier had a goose egg (zero).
Sitting in 11th spot in the standings, just outside the Play-In zone, is hardly ideal for Partizan, but a win in Bologna would see the team go level record-wise with Valencia Basket, Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz and Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv. It is tough to say that a Round 25 game is a must-win, but it certainly feels like that.
Partizan certainly has the firepower to cause plenty of problems for Virtus, so there’s no reason to think that the Serbian outfit cannot heap more misery on a sliding Virtus. Just like last year, there are expected to be plenty of Partizan fans in attendance, so they will be cheering on their team and hoping they can make it feel like a home game, where Obradovic’s side tends to have more success.
It should be a really fun game to watch, regardless of the outcome, so make sure to tune in from 20:30 CET. You won’t regret it.