The Montenegrin play-caller takes on Baskonia in his first game on the Virtus bench
A special night awaits for Dusko Ivanovic at Buesa Arena
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Some things go together perfectly in life. There’s fish and chips, bread and butter, and also Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz and Dusko Ivanovic.
All Turkish Airlines EuroLeague fans know the history that Dusko has with the Spanish side, but Thursday night (20:00 CET) will see the legendary head coach take on his former team at Buesa Arena for the first time as Virtus Segafredo Bologna comes to town.
Ivanovic was appointed as Virtus’s replacement for Luca Banchi last Thursday, but he had to watch on from a courtside seat as interim head coach Nenad Jakovljevic took charge for the team’s home loss to Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade, which saw the Bologna-based outfit drop to a 2-12 record. With this mark, Virtus matched its worst-ever start to a EuroLeague campaign, having gone 2-14 in 2008-09… when it played just 14 games that season.
There are some familiar faces on the Virtus roster for Dusko, who had Toko Shengelia and Achille Polonara with him at Baskonia as they won the Spanish League title in 2019-20. Just last season, the Montenegrin was on the Baskonia sideline when it eliminated Shengelia and Polonara’s Virtus from the postseason in the Play-In Showdown. Conversely, going all the way back to 2001, Ivanovic was the Baskonia head coach as it lost 3-2 to the Manu Ginobili-led Virtus 3-2 in the EuroLeague Finals.
Curiously enough, Ivanovic has been Baskonia coach in 273 EuroLeague games across four spells, achieving a 151-122 record with the team, but in his other 127 games in the competition, he has never faced them at Buesa Arena. In Europe’s premier club competition, Dusko spent three years with FC Barcelona, one season with Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens, four games with Khimki Moscow Region, just over a season with Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade, yet he has never had to come up against his people in Vitoria-Gasteiz.
The only two times that he has faced Baskonia as a head coach in the EuroLeague came in the 2006 third-place game in Prague, Czech Republic, when his Barcelona side lost to their domestic rival, and in Round 30 of the 2022-23 season with Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade, a game his squad won.
"I am very happy to be in Bologna, it is a great team with great players,” said Ivanovic in his first comments as Virtus boss. “I believe in this team and I believe in these players, I think they have the right character and we are ready to fight. As fate would have it, my first game is against Baskonia and my last game last year was against Virtus – it is a special game for me.
“I believe in the guys and I think we can improve. The focus of the early days? We have to be a team and play together, believe in it. Virtus has always played well, but lost so many games by a few points. A little bit of bad luck, but this is basketball and that can change and help the players also mentally to win these games. Toko [Shengelia] and Achille [Polonara]? We won a Spanish championship together; they are good players and good people. They haven't changed, they have good character and they want to win.”
The Baskonia fans will welcome Dusko back with welcome arms, but there is no time for sentiment. Virtus urgently needs a win to kickstart its EuroLeague season, and with 400 EuroLeague games under his belt, Ivanovic is well prepared to guide the Italian side through tricky waters, starting at a place he knows very well.