Why Virtus Bologna played bad vs. Petrol Olimpija
Many gamblers were surprised by the result of the Basketball Champions League between the host Virtus Segafredo Bologna and Petrol Olimpija Ljubljana. They all expected a huge winning margin from the Italian side since they have beaten the Olimpija with 92-61 in Slovenia.
Instead of this expectancy, Virtus started very bad the clash, they lost the 1st quarter and, after this, step by step, they came back into the game. They eventually won the battle with 87-84. This was no surprise for me and here is why:
- Good teams don’t have any obligation to start well. They just need to finish good, winning the game.
- Virtus has a tough game in the weekend at Varese, in Legabasket. The result of that game is vital for them in order to enter the Italian Cup. So, they slowed down the engine against Olimpija, to keep all the energy for the next game.
- The Italian squad had a lot of injuries: Kelvin Martin, Pietro Aradori, Brian Qvale. Now they had the roster complete, but these players have to accommodate themselves once again with the official games and not to be back soon on the injury list.
- Virtus Bologna is on the 1st spot of the group in Basketball Champions League so they are not in danger if they lose a game.
Gratian Cormos, info@brainbasketball.net
