The Danish point guard has become a key player for Luca Banchi after a tumultuous summer.
Iffe Lundberg's MVP-level display helped Virtus down Barcelona
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Regular Season
Round 12 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Go back just a few months and Iffe Lundberg’s future at Virtus Segafredo Bologna was in doubt. The head coach at the time, Sergio Scariolo, publicly declared that the Danish point guard was not going to be in his plans, leading to lots of speculation. But, ultimately, it was Scariolo whose future at Virtus was cut short, while Lundberg remained.
And boy, Virtus fans must be happy about that. Not only does new head coach Luca Banchi have Virtus playing a far more attractive, team-oriented style of basketball, but Lundberg has become a key piece in the puzzle. Against FC Barcelona in Round 12 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season, the 29-year-old scored 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter as Virtus secured a crucial 80-75 win.
Toko Shengelia has already demonstrated this season that he is back to his best, earning EuroLeague MVP of the Month honors in October for his performances in the early weeks of the season, and he was again key in moments against Barca. But, with Shengelia netting just 3 of his 14 points in the final period, Virtus needed a hero. Up stepped Lundberg.
Lundberg played at an MVP level
The Virtus guard got the fourth quarter rolling with a mid-range jumper to cut it to a 3-point ballgame, 58-61, and cause the noise level inside Virtus Segafredo Arena to go up a couple of notches. Then, Lundberg dished an assist as Shengelia struck from deep to tie things up at 61-61.
Willy Hernangomez nudged Barca back ahead with a couple of free throws, 61-63, but Lundberg drained another mid-range jumper to pull Virtus level again, 63-63. From there, he grabbed an offensive rebound off a Shengelia missed three and dished the ball under the basket to Bruno Mascolo, who gave Virtus its first lead since the first quarter, 65-63. Oh, but he didn’t stop there.
Lundberg hit a three-pointer over the outstretched arm of Nico Laprovittola to extend Virtus’s advantage to 5 points, 68-63. After Barca had managed to get itself back on track, 72-72, he made Jan Vesely look like he was skating on ice before scoring a layup, 74-72. And with what proved to be his most memorable play of the night, Lundberg sized up Vesely once again, but this time hit a stepback triple to put the dagger into Barca, 79-75, with 17.2 seconds remaining. He also went 1-of-2 from the line with 7.2 seconds to go to take his tally to 21 points and put the cherry on top of a very impressive performance.
Lundberg is a hero for Virtus fans
After the game, Lundberg was delayed getting to where he needed to be for the post-game flash interview as he was being mobbed by the Virtus supporters, who chanted “MVP” everywhere he went. Everybody wanted a piece of Iffe, and who can blame them?
“I just try to help my team win,” Lundberg humbly commented afterward. “We needed this one really bad coming off the week we had prior to this one. Especially trying to protect home court, so that’s what it was all about tonight.”
After all, this isn’t the first time this season that the Dane has become Virtus’s hero. Back in Round 8, Lundberg scored 17 fourth-quarter points – taking his game tally to 19 – as Virtus defeated Italian rival EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 86-79. In Round 12, though, he had to perform his magic as part of a comeback effort.
Coach Banchi clearly knows the talent that Lundberg has, and he was keen to heap praise on his point guard during the post-game press conference:
“We had some positive energy from everybody, especially a player like Lundberg, who took the big responsibility of completing the job that the first unit had already started at the beginning of the third quarter. It is important to win a game like that, because it is something that we really need [in order] to show that this is the way we want to play and compete in such a tough league, like the EuroLeague.”
So, a few months on from Scariolo saying that he wanted Lundberg to leave Virtus, it seems that Iffe and Coach Banchi have ended up having the last laugh.