Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna

Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna
Leagues	Lega Serie A
Founded	1871
History	1871–present
Arena	Unipol Arena; (11,000 seats)
Location	Bologna, Italy
Team colors	Black and White;
President	Claudio Sabatini
Head coach	Alessandro Finelli
Championships	Italian Championships (15):; 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1955, 1956, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2001; Italian Cups (8):; 1974, 1984, 1989, 1990, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002; Italian Supercups (1):; 1995-96; Euroleague Championships (2):; 1998, 2001; Triple Crowns (1):; 2001; Saporta Cups (1):; 1990; EuroChallenge (1):; 2009
Website	virtus.it
	Uniforms
Home	Away

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Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna is an Italian League professional basketball club, based in Bologna. Virtus returned to Italy's top division for the Serie A 2005-06 season after two years in the second division. For past club sponsorship names, see the list below.

[edit] History

Virtus was founded in 1871 as a gymnastics club, and fielded its first professional basketball teams in the 1920s. The club has won 15 national league titles in Italy's top division and 8 Italian Cups. It has also been a frequent participant in the Euroleague, the basketball equivalent to football's Champions League. Virtus' best season, as measured by trophies won, was 2000-01, when it won the Italian League, Italian Cup, and Euroleague titles all in the same season, giving the club the coveted Triple Crown championship for the year (though the latter came against the field that did not include all of Europe's national champions as some of them competed in FIBA Suproleague that year). It also won the Euroleague in 1998 led by club hero and icon Predrag Danilović.

Several key members of Virtus' treble-winners left immediately after that accomplishment. After the 2001-02 season, Manu Ginóbili, the Final Four MVP of Euroleague 2000-01, left for the NBA, as did Marko Jarić. At the end of the 2002-03 season, Virtus suffered relegation from Italy's top division as a result of financial problems.

The local derby between Virtus and Fortitudo is one of the most intense in the entire world of sports. Sports Illustrated writer Alexander Wolff devoted a chapter of his 2002 basketball book, Big Game, Small World (ISBN 0-446-52601-0), to this rivalry.

Virtus' home stadium is Unipol Arena (previously known as Palamalaguti).

In 2009, Virtus Bologna returned to European and club success by winning the EuroChallenge, defeating Cholet Basket in the final. MVP of the final-four was Keith Langford. The team has shown interest in signing Kobe Bryant during the NBA lockout. If he signs with the club he would be getting 3 million for a 10 game contract.

[edit] Roster

Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Nat.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Age
1.0 !PG	5	USA !	McIntyre, Terrell	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)	82 kg (181 lb)	&1000000000000003400000034
1.5 !G	7	FIN !	Koponen, Petteri	1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)	88 kg (194 lb)	&1000000000000002300000023
1.0 !PG	8	ITA !	Poeta, Giuseppe	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	81 kg (179 lb)	&1000000000000002600000026
2.5 !G/F	9	ITA !	Moraschini, Riccardo	1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)	90 kg (198 lb)	&1000000000000002100000021
6.0 !C	11	USA !	Homan, Jared	2.08 m (6 ft 10 in)	110 kg (243 lb)	&1000000000000002900000029
6.0 !C	12	ITA !	Gigli, Angelo	2.09 m (6 ft 10 in)	104 kg (229 lb)	&1000000000000002800000028
4.0 !F	13	GEO !	Sanikidze, Viktor	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	88 kg (194 lb)	&1000000000000002500000025
5.5 !F/C	14	ITA !	Martinoni, Niccolò	2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)	97 kg (214 lb)	&1000000000000002200000022
2.5 !G/F	15	LIT !	Gailius, Deividas	2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)	94 kg (207 lb)	&1000000000000002300000023
2.0 !SG	40	USA !	Douglas-Roberts, Chris	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)	95 kg (209 lb)	&1000000000000002500000025