The 27-year-old enjoyed his return to France with a near-perfect performance.
Isaia Cordinier’s career night propelled Virtus past ASVEL
Articolo
3 Minuto di lettura
Regular Season
Round 5 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Virtus Segafredo Bologna stayed in the winning habit with a very hard-fought 84-87 road victory at LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne on Friday night, and Isaia Cordinier was the main reason why.
The Italian team was heading into the game on a three-game winning run, but knew it would have to survive an early burst of energy in the wake of ASVEL’s decision to name Gianmarco Pozzecco as its new head coach. And Cordinier was certainly ready for that challenge, scoring 7 of his team’s first 9 points – and assisting the other 2 – in the opening 3 minutes to show the hosts that Virtus was ready to give as good as it got.
A game-winning contribution
The 27-year-old continued to make consistent contributions at both ends of the floor, snatching steals, making shots and dishing dimes. But he saved his most important moment for the very end of the game: with his team leading by just 1 point inside the final 20 seconds, he penetrated with unstoppable determination and, despite being off balance, somehow converted a tough layup to make it 84-87, which proved to be the last points of the game.
That saw Cordinier finish the contest with 20 points on 5-of-6 two-point shooting, 2-of-2 from long range and 4-of-4 from the foul line, along with a couple of assists and a trio of steals for a PIR of 25. In doing so, he set new career bests in scoring and PIR, in addition to equaling his previous highs in two-pointers, three-pointers and steals.
Speaking to EuroLeague TV after the game, Cordinier preferred to downplay his own contribution and instead highlighted the efforts of his teammates, also underlining Virtus’s sense that nothing has been achieved yet.
“It’s a collective effort first,” he stated. “We fought hard, although it wasn’t perfect. We fought and, in the end, we got the dub on the road.
“We've just got to keep working. We have a lot to improve still, we’re just on our way. Thanks to the coaching staff and my teammates for giving me confidence, I play hard, I give my heart, and we’ve just got to keep going.”
Virtus’s other heroes on the night
Cordinier was right to talk about the efforts of his teammates, many of whom also made major contributions to the win: Toko Shengelia scored 18 points, Marco Belinelli had 16, Daniel Hackett dished 6 assists, and Jordan Mickey blocked 4 shots.
But nobody matched the efforts of Cordinier, whose combination of hustle and execution summed up exactly why Virtus is now sitting in a share of second place with a run of four straight wins.