Bologna –
In a long interview with “Basket City,” broadcast on TRC, Virtus Segafredo Bologna CEO Luca Baraldi took a review of the current season, also touching on themes regarding the club’s future planning.
On the season in the Euroleague: “I think it is a more than satisfactory path, we have affirmed that as a club we can stay in the Euroleague because in any case we have built a sports and business organization that has manifested professionalism and has also achieved important victories on difficult courts. We won with almost all the teams that today are fighting to go to the Final 4, and this means that even from the technical point of view the values were there; then it is clear that, as our coach said several times, you pay for the inexperience of many players mainly due to the fact that you often play every two days, which requires an aspect of physical and mental recovery to which many players were not used to.”
On the current and future market: “We have always operated very wisely, some might tell us that we did not take a long, we did not take one for two reasons: First because at the beginning of the season we had a lot of confidence in our men; then it is clear that for a thousand reasons one can settle in better or not adapt to the category, but this is always discovered in the course of competition.
Secondly, when it was time to look for the “long man,” we looked for him but did not find the player who could fit the bill.
We are always looking around; I don’t deny that if we were to find a player who can be a good fit for our coach to improve the roster between now and the end of the season, there is certainly a willingness on the part of our shareholder to meet that need.
There are no names, this morning Dr. Zanetti was asking me about Mekowulu and I told him, “I don’t know him, president,” and if I don’t know him that means we are not dealing with him.
If we do something however we will do it with a player who can make us better, certainly not to satisfy the needs of the fans. We don’t work to follow the advice that comes from the keyboard lions, we try to have a line and pursue it, the line is to improve the team so that our fans can have more and more satisfaction.
At this time of the season it becomes difficult to find players with a certain type of level and characteristics, if we happen to find a good one for next year as well, it would definitely be a transaction done well.
The deadline we have is the penultimate day of the championship, so we don’t have much time in front of us, but the technical structures (from the coach on down) are all working as they always have in these months.”
On the club’s near future: “All of us have had experience in Euroleague, including the club, me first. Euroleague has taught us that to stay there you have to have quality but also dynamism and physical strength, so from this point of view we are going to pursue the idea of a roster that can consolidate over the years by investing in young people of technical value but also physical performance, with the right mix of foreign and Italian players.
On who goes and who stays we have clear ideas, the end of the season will not influence, we must not be fans or judge from the last game, we must think about the good of Virtus. One thing I anticipate: we must never fall too much in love with players; certainly we must have players who want to stay in Bologna, who are comfortable in our club and playing for Virtus, who feel some goosebumps when they put on our jersey Someone this year has felt little of it at certain times and perhaps rightly played less. Technical qualities are fine, but on the court there goes heart and motivation, and now we need players who have great internal motivation. I believe that a company like Virtus must also think about what will be the post-Teodosic, the post-Belinelli, and so we will have to have in certain roles players of the highest level.”
On the new Arena: “You cannot think of living or surviving with a shareholder who generously supports a club.
Unfortunately in basketball even at the European level there are no television rights that can allow you to invest in a project through the development of turnover, there is no ‘tag’ so you cannot capitalize on work done on young people, the only way to ensure solidity for clubs at this level is to increase turnover, and for us the arena is fundamental having us more than doubled our sponsors since we have the temporary arena. One of our missions would be to have a Virtus museum, either in the arena or in Porelli, because remembering where you come from is very important to understand the path you have to take.”
On the Championship and about the relationship with Milan and Petrucci: “Milan is a historical competitor on the court, they are also making an important path and they are obviously ahead of us having more experience and being in the Euroleague for more years. I would say that the ideal with Milan would be to fight on the court and maybe be a little bit of an ally in Italy, which I think will happen over time, because the Italian movement needs a movement that advances through the pull of different clubs. The Italian league now also includes Venice and Tortona, great entrepreneurs who have entered basketball and others will come up, we see the excellent project of Varese, Sassari that has been fighting at a high national level for years, but it is the whole system that needs to grow. I was pleased with the president’s words, he has been at the top of Italian basketball for many years and knows that Bologna is an important component of the sport. We respect the institutions, we always have. I am pleased that he has decided, when he has the pleasure, to return to Bologna and that he said he would enjoy seeing the national team play in Bologna, a very important thing.”
On Head Coach Sergio Scariolo: “Scariolo is not discovered by Virtus and Baraldi is not discovered by Baraldi. He is here because he is one of the best coaches ever in expressing basketball at the European level and I would say also at the world level. He has shown by working here that he is a very competent man, very balanced, a man of common sense, who has gone through without giving it away, sportingly very difficult times in managing the team (related to the many absences). At the end of the year we will have many deadlines, a new book to write, this is very challenging for him.
I think Scariolo can stay with us even beyond the length of his contract.”
On the possibility of getting a Wild Card next season: “I can only have personal feedback on the meeting, which is positive feedback. We met with a capable, experienced person who knows how to evaluate what are the sporting, organizational and business development potential aspects of individual clubs. We are fortunate to represent one of the most important companies in Europe historically, but also in terms of a recent path. We have answered all the questions posed to us, I think comprehensively. Italy today has only one team permanently in the Euroleague while other countries have many more, this can be another element.
Bologna has shown great participation in Euroleague, we have an average attendance that exceeds 8000 people per game, which is a very high figure. We have an average value of spending per seat that is among the best in Europe, so the company’s parameters are strong market-oriented parameters, including synergies with Fiera. We are thinking, without being presumptuous, as if we should be in the Euroleague next year as well…if we are then relegated, we will roll up our sleeves to rise again. We have the possibilities, I think Virtus has shown in recent years that we have a growing group. We are an ambitious club, if we were to be in the Euroleague we will try again to build a team to get at least to eighth place and stay competitive everywhere… Then to get to compete for the Final Four, I think Virtus will get there someday, however it takes time, especially then to confirm at that level and stay there.”
