Boosted by an impressive second-half comeback against Barcelona on Wednesday, third-placed Virtus (8-4) will look to keep on rolling against direct rival Maccabi (7-5).
Isaia Cordinier, Virtus: 'We need to look ahead'
Seasons
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 13 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Iffe Lundberg scored 6 points in the last 90 seconds to seal victory earlier this week, and now he faces the significant challenge of overcoming Maccabi's potent backcourt. Lorenzo Brown (16 points, 4 assists) and Wade Baldwin (21 points, 8 assists) were both on song to secure a thrilling victory at ASVEL in Round 12, while Bonzie Colson also continued his hot streak with 15 points. Maccabi has the third-best offense in the league (85.5 ppg.), but Virtus – which has won six straight at home - is close behind (82.8), so this should be a high-scoring thriller.
Luca Banchi, Virtus head coach
"Maccabi comes to Bologna on the heels of two convincing successes. The victory in Lyon, just a few hours ago, once again presented them as a decidedly complex team to face, thanks to their speed, athleticism and technical talent. Lorenzo Brown, Wade Baldwin, Colson, along with Blatt, Cleveland and Webb, represent one of the most prolific frontcourts in the EuroLeague, capable of imposing frenetic rhythms to the game and enhancing the incisiveness of Nebo and Rivero, centers who are guaranteeing a high performance made of aggressiveness and defensive intimidation, as well as a high incisiveness in two-way games and offensive rebounding. We will try to control the pace of the contest as best we can by resting on offensive execution and defensive consistency, which will allow us to limit their main sources of games, with the desire to give another memorable night to our indomitable fans."
Oded Kattash, Maccabi head coach
“We arrive to the game against Bologna after an important win. It’s going to be a lot tougher against a very talented team offensively. They have a lot of weapons, both at guard and at the big positions. We will have to be concentrated for 40 minute, especially on defense, to win this game."
Isaia Cordinier, Virtus player
"We have a big game ahead of us, we need to look ahead. We come from another great match yesterday against Barcelona. We need to keep building on what we have learned and improve every day. Maccabi is a very athletic team, they play very well defensively, we will have to play the ball well and use our physicality."
Bonzie Colson, Maccabi player
"Bologna are having a really good season thus far. A lot of talented guys in the roster, some veteran guys as well. It's gonna be another battle. They just beat Barcelona, we just beat ASVEL, so we're both looking to have a little bit of a winning streak. It should be a good game."