Luca Banchi explained why he thinks Virtus Bologna belong to the EuroLeague / News - Basketnews.com

Luca Banchi took stock of Virtus Bologna's EuroLeague season, emphasizing the team's progress over the past two years.

Credit: Tolga Adanali via Getty Images Credit Tolga Adanali via Getty Images

Virtus Segafredo Bologna missed the final step towards the playoffs by losing to Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz (89-77), but coach Luca Banchi gave a positive assessment of his team's season.

Points this season

47%79,8Points made:79,8Accuracy:46,6%Place in standings:11Record max:100Record min:57Best scorer:Tornike ShengeliaTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

The Italian powerhouse spent most of the regular season in second place of the standings, before suffering seven straight losses and dropping to 10th place. Despite winning their first Play-In game against Anadolu Efes in Istanbul, they couldn't complete the comeback and lost the playoff ticket to Baskonia on Friday night.

"In my experience, I have a rare memory of a program that was able to rise to the top of national and continental basketball in such a short time," Banchi said.

"Just look at our program, which was born just six years ago. To think that this is only the club's second year in the EuroLeague and that we regret not having reached the top 8 after 34 regular season matches! We can look at which teams we were able to leave behind and also at the ones who were below us in the standings for the better part of the season," the Italian tactician added.

Virtus don't possess an A license, which means that it's up to the EuroLeague shareholders to decide whether the Italian club will be on the starting line at the start of the next season. However, Banchi is optimistic about his team's future in the top competition.

"I think it is fair to point out that this is a growing program and that it must have the strength to draw energy and momentum from a journey like the one made over the last two years, which is measured in terms of wins, rankings, credibility and recognition," Banchi stressed.

"To this day, Virtus is considered one of the best teams in Europe, just two years after returning to the EuroLeague. We tested it firsthand with the way our opponents faced us game after game. I think this is a fact that should be a driving force for a club that makes huge sacrifices to keep the team at these levels, when you consider the size of the budgets and the structure that the teams have.

Staying in the elite will be crucial, and I hope Virtus can achieve that thanks to the results on the court, as well as the obvious success measured in terms of fan attendance, club organization and Financial Fair Play. The club has also shown itself to be virtuous in this regard, these are all details which seem to project this club to the top of continental basketball," Banchi concluded.

Like what we are doing? Support us by becoming BN+ member.