The Italian was Virtus's star performer in an important win over ASVEL
The Achille Polonara-Dusko Ivanovic connection remains as strong as ever
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Regular Season
Round 18 of 34
Group Regular Season
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It’s fair to say that Achille Polonara knows better than most what it is like to play under Dusko Ivanovic. Friday night saw the Italian play his 50th Turkish Airlines EuroLeague game under the Montenegrin’s orders, and he was central to Virtus Segafredo Bologna's 83-69 win over LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne.
Polonara finished the night with a 28 PIR – his best PIR in the last four seasons – and 17 points, the most he has scored since Round 17 of the 2020-21 campaign, which came against… ASVEL. The 33-year-old also had 9 rebounds, his best mark since Round 22 last season against… ASVEL. He seems to have a knack of showing up against the French side, then.
Virtus has been without Toko Shengelia, another player who – like Polonara – played under Ivanovic at Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz in the past, for the last three games, yet the Italian team has managed to improve to 3-1 in Dusko’s brief time in charge.
Having got off to a great start in Round 18 against ASVEL, Virtus led by 19 points at halftime (46-29) and Polonara had 7 points and 6 boards. Virtus went up by as many as 25 points (56-31) in the third period, with Polonara adding 6 points and 3 rebounds before netting a further 4 points in the final frame. All in all, it was a solid day’s work for Virtus’s No 33.
“We would like to start the first game of the second round [on the right foot] and the new year also, so we played a great game and we are happy about that,” Polonara told EuroLeague TV after the triumph. “I’m happy about [playing well] because Coach Dusko gave me a lot of confidence and I could help my team to win the game. We want to start the new year better than this year. I hope that the second round will be the opposite [to the first half of the season] and we can win more games [in 2025].”
Polonara was a vital piece of a second straight win for Virtus, with the team having beaten FC Barcelona 86-81 in Round 17, and he was needed in the absence of Shengelia. It seems that the Polonara-Dusko connection is still as strong as ever, which can only spell good news for Virtus entering the new year.