Pallacanestro Virtus Roma

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Pallacanestro Virtus Roma
Pallacanestro Virtus Roma logo
Leagues Serie A2
Founded 1960
History Virtus Aurelia
(1960–1972)
Pallacanestro Virtus Roma
(1972–present)
Arena Palazzetto dello Sport
Arena Capacity 3,500
Location Rome, Lazio, Italy
Team colors Red, Yellow, Blue
              
President Claudio Toti
Head coach Marco Calvani
Championships 1 Italian League
1 Italian Supercup
1 FIBA European Champions Cup
2 FIBA Korać Cup
1 FIBA Intercontinental Cup
Website virtusroma.it
Uniforms
Kit body redstripesorangeshoulders.png
Home jersey
Kit shorts crch06.png
Team colours
Home
Kit body yellowstripesorangeshoulders.png
Away jersey
Kit shorts yellowsides.png
Team colours
Away

Pallacanestro Virtus Roma, known for sponsorship reasons as Acea Virtus Roma, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Rome, Lazio. It will play in the Italian second division from the 2015-16 season.

It was formerly a major side in Europe, winning the 1984 European Champions Cup and being one of only 13 clubs to hold a Euroleague A license. However its standing later waned and Virtus became less competitive in both Europe and the domestic Serie A - which it had won in 1983 - before voluntaraily relegating to the second division in July 2015.

For past club sponsorship names, see sponsorship names.

History

The club was formed by the merger of two Roman sides, San Saba and Gruppo Borgo Cavalleggeri, under the name Virtus Aurelia in the late 1960s, the founding date of San Saba, 1960, was kept as Virtus'.

In 1972, Virtus Aurelia merged with GS Banco di Roma, the sporting wing of the similarly named bank, forming Pallacanestro Virtus Banco di Roma. The side reached the second division in 1978, staying two years before moving up to the Serie A in 1980.

This was the start of an extended stay in the first division, and success followed soon after, with the side winning the 1983 championship. Earning a place in the 1983–84 FIBA European Champions Cup, Virtus went on to win the competition at its first try, with a Larry Wright led squad, that also had Clarence Kea, Renzo Tombolato and Fulvio Polesello. Wright was decisive in the final against Barcelona, scoring 27 points as Roma overturned a halftime 10-point deficit to win the decider.[1] The next season, the Italians added the 1984 FIBA Intercontinental Cup after topping a group of international clubs in Brazil.[2] Roma also won the 1985–86 FIBA Korać Cup.

The club's next title was the 1991–92 FIBA Korać Cup, by which time Banco di Roma had been replaced as a sponsor by Il Messaggero. A squad comprising Dino Rađa, Rick Mahorn, Roberto Premier and Andrea Niccolai downed Scavolini Pesaro in the two-legged final.[1]

Fans of Roma in PalaLottomatica

During the 2002-03 season, Carlton Myers led the team to a 25-9 record in Serie A as Roma reached the playoff semifinals.[1] After adding Dejan Bodiroga and head coach Svetislav Pešić in the 2005 off-season, Virtus reached the ULEB Cup quarterfinals, the Serie A semifinals and the Italian Cup final, that it lost in overtime.[1]

In the summer of 2011, the Italian club's Euroleague A-license was suspended after it finished in the bottom half of the Serie A.[3] The next year it lost the license completely after having the worst record among A license clubs, it was replaced by EA7 Emporio Armani Milano.[4]

In a strange twist, Virtus Roma then went on to have an excellent season, unexpectedly, by their own admission, reaching the Serie A finals, which would earn it the right to return to the Euroleague. However the club relinquished their rights as they did not answer some of the competition's requirements (in particular minimum arena capacity), earning a place in the second tier Eurocup instead.[5]

In July 2015, despite having satisfied the economic conditions to participate in Serie A, the management asked to participate in the second division Serie A2 instead, the permission was granted by the Federation. The cited motives for the move was an insufficient budget to be competitive at the higher level and the desire to structure the club on a youth policy.[6][7][8]

Arena

Virtus plays at the Palazzetto dello Sport (capacity:3,500) since the 2011-12 season. It had previously played there until 1983, moving into the PalaLottomatica (capacity:11,200), where it stayed until 2011, except between 2000 and 2003 for renovation work.[9] Since downscaling operations due to reduced funds, Virtus has found the operating costs of the PalaLottomatica prohibitive and has avoided playing in the larger arena, even during the 2013 finals.[10]

Roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Pallacanestro Virtus Roma roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age
G 1 United States Freeman, Austin 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 103 kg (227 lb) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1989-05-06)6 May 1989
SF 3 Canada Ejim, Melvin 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 99 kg (218 lb) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1991-03-04)4 March 1991
G 5 United States Triche, Brandon 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 95 kg (209 lb) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1991-02-21)21 February 1991
G/F 6 United States Jones, Bobby 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 98 kg (216 lb) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1984-01-09)9 January 1984
G 10 Italy D'Ercole, Lorenzo 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 88 kg (194 lb) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1988-02-11)11 February 1988
SF 12 Italy Sandri, Daniele 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 90 kg (198 lb) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1990-11-19)19 November 1990
PF 14 Belgium De Zeeuw, Maxime 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 108 kg (238 lb) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1987-04-27)27 April 1987
F 15 Ukraine Kushchev, Oleksandr 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 100 kg (220 lb) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1990-03-14)14 March 1990
G 22 United States Gibson, Kyle 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 93 kg (205 lb) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1987-05-22)22 May 1987
PG 24 Croatia Stipčević, Rok 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) 86 kg (190 lb) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1986-05-20)20 May 1986
C 25 United States Morgan, Jordan 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 113 kg (249 lb) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1991-09-15)15 September 1991
F 53 Nigeria Ebi, Ndudi 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) 100 kg (220 lb) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1984-06-18)18 June 1984
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured Injured

Roster
Updated: March 9, 2015


Honours & achievements

Banners of Virtus Roma

Total titles: 6

Domestic competitions

Italian League

  • Winners (1): 1982-83
  • Runners-up (2): 2007-08, 2012-13

Italian Cup

  • Runners-up (2): 1989-90, 2005-06

Italian Supercup

  • Winners (1): 2000

European competitions

FIBA European Champions Cup / Euroleague

FIBA Korać Cup

Worldwide competitions

FIBA Intercontinental Cup

The road to the European victories

Season by season record

The following table shows the records from the season 1977–78 in all competitions:

Season Tier League Pos. Postseason Italian Cup Supercup Europe Worldwide
1977–78 3 Serie B 4 Green Arrow Up.svg Promoted
1978–79 2 Serie A2 5
1979–80 2 Serie A2 3 Green Arrow Up.svg Promoted
1980–81 1 Serie A 10
1981–82 1 Serie A 10
1982–83 1 Serie A 1 Champions Korać Cup Top 16
1983–84 1 Serie A 9 Quarterfinalist Euroleague Champions
1984–85 1 Serie A 1 Quarterfinalist Quarterfinalist Euroleague Top 6 Intercontinental Cup Champions
1985–86 1 Serie A 10 Quarterfinalist Quarterfinalist Korać Cup Champions Intercontinental Cup 8
1986–87 1 Serie A 8 Top 12 Top 32
1987–88 1 Serie A 10 Quarterfinalist Quarterfinalist
1988–89 1 Serie A 12 Top 32
1989–90 1 Serie A 8 Quarterfinalist Finalist
1990–91 1 Serie A 4 Semifinalist Top 16
1991–92 1 Serie A 6 Semifinalist Quarterfinalist Korać Cup Champions
1992–93 1 Serie A 12 Top 16 Korać Cup Finalist
1993–94 1 Serie A 15 Top 32
1994–95 1 Serie A 8 Quarterfinalist Quarterfinalist
1995–96 1 Serie A 6 Quarterfinalist Quarterfinalist
1996–97 1 Serie A 6 Quarterfinalist Quarterfinalist Korać Cup Quarterfinalist
1997–98 1 Serie A 8 Quarterfinalist Quarterfinalist Korać Cup Semifinalist
1998–99 1 Serie A 6 Quarterfinalist Quarterfinalist Korać Cup Top 16
1999–00 1 Serie A 6 Top 14 Quarterfinalist Korać Cup Quarterfinalist
2000–01 1 Serie A 5 Quarterfinalist Semifinalist Champions
2001–02 1 Serie A 8 Quarterfinalist
2002–03 1 Serie A 2 Semifinalist Quarterfinalist
2003–04 1 Serie A 7 Quarterfinalist Quarterfinalist Euroleague Regular season
2004–05 1 Serie A 6 Semifinalist Semifinalist
2005–06 1 Serie A 6 Semifinalist Quarterfinalist Eurocup Quarterfinalist
2006–07 1 Serie A 4 Semifinalist Quarterfinalist Euroleague Top 16
2007–08 1 Serie A 2 Finalist Quarterfinalist Euroleague Top 16
2008–09 1 Serie A 2 Quarterfinalist Quarterfinalist Euroleague Top 16
2009–10 1 Serie A 7 Semifinalist Euroleague Regular season
2010–11 1 Serie A 9 Euroleague Top 16
2011–12 1 Serie A 13
2012–13 1 Serie A 3 Finalist Semifinalist
2013–14 1 Serie A 6 Semifinalist Quarterfinalist Eurocup Regular season
2014–15 1 Serie A 10 Red Arrow Down.svg Demoted Eurocup Top 16
2015–16 2 Serie A2

Notable players

Coaches

Coach Jasmin Repeša and his players during a timeout during the 2005-06 season.
  • Maurizio Polidori – 1972–73
  • Francesco Della Penna – 1973–74
  • Alessandro Lisotti – 1974–76
  • Nello Paratore – 1976–81
  • Giancarlo Asteo – 1981–82
  • Paolo Di Fonzo – 1982
  • Valerio Bianchini – 1982–85
  • Mario De Sisti – 1985–86
  • Giuseppe Guerrieri – 1986–88
  • Giancarlo Primo – 1988–89
  • Petar Skansi – 1989
  • Valerio Bianchini – 1989–91
  • Paolo Di Fonzo – 1991–92
  • Franco Casalini – 1992–94
  • Nevio Ciaralli – 1994

Sponsorship names

Throughout the years, due to sponsorship, the club has been known as:

  • Virtus Aurelia (no sponsorship, 1960–61 until 1971–72)
  • Banco di Roma (1972–73 until 1987–88)
  • Phonola Roma (1988–89)
  • Il Messaggero Roma (1989–90 until 1991–92)
  • Virtus Roma (no sponsorship, 1992–93)
  • Burghy Roma (1993–94)
  • Teorematour Roma (1994–95)
  • Nuova Tirrena Roma (1995–96)
  • Telemarket Roma (1996–97)
  • Calze Pompea Roma (1997–98 until 1998–99)
  • Adr Roma (1999–00 until 2000–01)
  • Würth Roma (2001–02)
  • Lottomatica Roma (2002–03 until 2010–11)
  • Acea Roma (2011–present)

References

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External links