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Virtus's veterans taught a lesson to ALBA's kids

Virtus's veterans taught a lesson to ALBA's kids

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Virtus's veterans taught a lesson to ALBA's kids

In a tale of youngsters vs. oldsters in the second game of a double-round week, the lesson came from the players who have been there and done that.

Regular Season

Round 19 of 34

game Virtus Segafredo Bologna vs ALBA Berlin

Regular Season

ALBA BerlinBER

6883

Virtus Segafredo BolognaVIR

Overview

A first-quarter connection between 37-year-olds told the story of Virtus Segafredo Bologna's no-doubt-about-it 68-83 victory at ALBA Berlin on Friday.

Marco Belinelli sneaked a pass through that sent Bryant Dunston for a rip-roaring dunk to make it 5-11 early in the game and let everyone present know that second-place Virtus was not about to have a letdown against the next-to-last team in the standings.

Belinelli, born on May 25, 1986, would quickly bury 3 shots from long range, giving him a remarkable 16 out of the last 17 games with multiple three-pointers made. And Dunston, born three days later on May 28, 1986, contributed 2 three-point makes for just the second time in his 313-game EuroLeague career.

They are the second- and third-oldest players in the EuroLeague this season, after 38-year-old Rudy Fernandez of Real Madrid. Two more 30-somethings, Daniel Hackett (36) and Toko Shengelia (32) were also in the Virtus starting lineup.

It didn't matter that ALBA had an extra day between games of the double-round week or that Virtus was by far the older roster of the two. Just the opposite, in fact. Virtus was there to take care of business and showed the youthful, less-experienced hosts from ALBA just how that is done.

Virtus stormed out of the gates

The first quarter ended 9-26 for Virtus and late in the second the visitors led by 22-48, prompting ALBA head coach Israel Gonzalez to say at halftime, "We are not in the game."

ALBA tried with a 4-for-4 start from downtown after the break to show that it had learned the lesson that Virtus taught during the first 20 minutes. But even after getting the difference down to single digits at 49-58 late in the third, there seemed to be no groundswell to complete a comeback.

Dunston, for one, was never worried.

"No, not really," he said after the game. "Last time we played against them in Bologna they scored like 50 points after halftime, so we knew they were capable of making a run. The most important thing was to maintain our poise."

Letting the big lead drop did not sit well with another of those Virtus veterans, Shengelia.

"We have to learn how to play seriously for 40 minutes," he said. "Sometimes when we are up by many points, we get away in our heads and we have to learn how to stay focused."

That may be, but the way Virtus manhandled the hosts in the first 20 minutes was impressive. On the way to a 27-48 halftime lead, Virtus forced 11 turnovers on ALBA while committing just 4 and led the rebounding battle 20-13. At one point, the difference in team performance index rating was 52-8. Virtus finished with 14 rebounds to just 7 for the hosts and made 8 steals to ALBA's 4.

In its second game in 48 hours, the lesson was clear that in the EuroLeague, you come to play or you get trouble, even on your home floor. And it was taught by the old guard of Virtus to an ALBA team that aspires to be like them someday.

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