Serie A basketball: Virtus Bologna overwhelms Naples

There is no story in Naples: the black Vs overwhelm their opponents 75-88 and confirm their moment of absolute confidence, maintaining their unbeaten record in the championship. After a promising start, Gevi collapsed mentally in the second quarter and never returned to the game, also thanks to the excellent performance of Virtus in the defensive midfield, which left few openings for the home team’s initiatives.

FIRST HALF

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Start of the race at a high pace at Palabarbuto. Gevi is well positioned in defense and anticipates several balls, while in attack it exploits the spaces left by Virtus and regularly finds uncontested solutions both inside and outside the area. Bologna starts off less focused, but can count on the talent of Belinelli, lethal when he sets out on his own. In the second quarter the guests close the defensive gaps and put Napoli in serious difficulty, who remain without a goal for even five minutes. The black Vs run away, making the most of Gevi’s prolonged breakdown and grinding out points from opposing turnovers. At halftime the scoreboard shows Virtus clearly ahead 28-46.

SECOND HALF

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Upon returning from the locker room, Napoli shakes itself off, rediscovering the defensive compactness it had shown at the beginning of the match and allowing itself to be dragged into the attack by Ennis’s outbursts. Bologna responds with Belinelli and Pajola, who punish their opponents when coming out of the blocks and find important points from beyond the arc. In the last quarter, Gevi tries a desperate solution by relying on the offensive initiatives of the individuals and putting together an unconvincing zone defense, not enough to contain the Mickey-Shengelia duo, decisive in extinguishing the last hopes of the home team: it ends 75-88 for Virtus.

Naples: Zubcic 20, Ennis 16, Jaworski and Owens 12;

Virtus: Mickey 17, Belinelli 14, Shengelia 12.