A Virtus legend speaks about how great it is to have the club back in the elite and the ongoing legacy of Argentinian players in the EuroLeague.
Manu Ginobili: 'Virtus fans really deserve this'
Before becoming a Basketball Hall of Famer, Manu Ginobili played in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague with Virtus Segafredo Bologna for two years, winning the title in 2001 and reaching the championship game in 2002.
Ginobili was arguably the EuroLeague's first new superstar of the 21st century. He averaged 15.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.9 steals and a PIR of 15.9 in 22 Euroleague games in the competition's original 2000-01 season and was chosen as the 2001 Finals MVP. A year later, Ginobili posted solid numbers again, averaging 15.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 steals and a PIR of 17.1 in 22 games and was named to the 2001-02 All-EuroLeague First Team. Despite his 27 points in the championship game, Virtus lost 83-89 loss against Panathinaikos Athens in what is still the only title ever won on the other finalist's home floor.
Ginobili on Virtus
Ginobili went on to play in the NBA and become a Basketball Hall of Famer. He spent 16 season with the San Antonio Spurs, which he helped to win four NBA titles – in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014 – getting his #20 jersey retired at the end of his career. He led Argentina to the Olympic gold medal in Athens in 2004 and to the bronze Beijing in 2008. Ginobili also helped Argentina get a silver medal at the 2002 World Cup. His signature move, the Euro-step, is widely used all over the basketball world. Now that Virtus is back in the EuroLeague, he has started to follow the EuroLeague closely again.
"Virtus fans really deserve this, and the city deserves to have a team at the highest level because of the way they feel the game, because of the way they experience it. So after we left for a few years, it was... nothing was going on. The team was struggling. And then slowly, when you see it, that is is happening again, right? Like, it was the EuroCup first, and then being competitive in the EuroLeague, and having those fun games and the arena packed with fans, it's great to see," Ginobili said. "It's one of those things that should have never stopped happening. But now that it is back, I'm of course very glad. It connects me also a little bit more with EuroLeague, because those years also I lost that, right? I lost my team in the competition."
A friend in the team
Ginobili played with Virtus captain Marco Belinelli in the NBA. Belinelli was with San Antonio for two seasons, and won the NBA title in 2014. Belinelli played in the NBA for 14 seasons and went full circle by returning to Virtus, where he started his playing career. Ginobili was already a Virtus star with Belinelli was barely a teenager, and is happy to see him still going strong in the EuroLeague.
"It's great to see Marco still making things happen, also playing in Bologna where he started," Ginobili said. "I don't remember when was his first game, but he was 16, practicing with us. And seeing him still performing, still hitting those crazy shots out of balance that he shoots like nobody else, it's great to see. And also, we had a great time here playing together. He plays without the ball like nobody else, and we liked looking for each other. And we had a good run."
Argentina and the EuroLeague
Ginobili belonged to a first generations of Argentinian players that came to the EuroLeague looking for a bigger level of competition. Luis Scola, Pepe Sanchez, Pablo Prigioni, Andres Nocioni and Fabricio Oberto, among others, were EuroLeague stars in the early 2000s. Now, players like Luca Vildoza, Facu Campazzo, Nico Laprovittola and Gabriel Deck are following their footsteps which, of course, makes Ginobili keep an eye on what's going on in the EuroLeague.
"They have done remarkable things, too. I mean, what Facu [Campazzo] is doing in the Euroleague, or has done before coming to the NBA, at the level in which 'Lapro' [Nico Laprovittola] is playing, the consistency of Gabi Deck and Luca Vildoza is great to see," Ginobili said. "All four had – are having, not had – amazing careers, and they are consistently playing at the top level. It's not something that's a guarantee. They bring it every night. They are great competitors, so it's great to see them there."