Bologna –
The words of GM of Virtus Segafredo Bologna during the press conference:
“I will tell you the genesis of the latest acquisition. Justin Holiday, as Ivanovic said, comes by mutual agreement. 12 years in the NBA, it was thought that inviting him to evaluate him directly on the court was the best thing. And we thank the player who with such a career has put himself on the line, with a gesture of great professionalism. Together with the coach we agreed to bring him in, the qualities are unquestionable, we wanted to be sure from a physical point of view, and the coach wanted to see him on the court with the team. We have two needs, to cover Clyburn’s injury and add dangerousness on the three-point shot, and also to add dangerousness in game creation. Finding both at this time is not easy, and instead of making choices in the dark we had a chance to see a player directly on the court and we took it. At Virtus since there has been this ownership and management, players have never arrived without the coach’s permission. Never. I would like to make that clear now and forever. It’s not always possible to take the first choice, it’s the laws of the market, budget, but when a player was taken the coach of the day – Sasha, Sergio, Luca and now Dusko – first said “okay.” And sometimes we took the top of the list, for example, Teodosic and Shengelia. This is a concept that I would like to make clear once and forever. We want to work with responsibility and unity. In my role as head of the technical area, I can say that within Porelli there is a high work culture and a group of serious people. Holiday is with us for a trial period, and at the end the coach will say if he thinks it is okay. In that case we have an agreement for a three-month contract, with an option for two more in favor of the club. In the end the coach will decide. To question the player is disrespectful to the career he has had. And if you follow the Euroleague market you will have seen that top clubs have included players older than Holiday as well. I join what the president said earlier, let’s not always go looking for the negative aspect. If you love Virtus conveying unity and positivity is good for the players, and that’s what matters, because they play. We are here to help them do their job in the best way possible. Zizic? He had elbow surgery, cleanup absolutely necessary. He will be back in three to four weeks from the operation. He will not be replaced and we are waiting for him. The interventions – on the coach’s instructions – will concern only the external department. The trade has its own dynamics and right now it is not huge. Ettore Messina brought back a quote from Pat Riley saying it’s not like you open the door and find Kareem Abdul-Jabbar outside. We want to make wise choices, the roster has found an important chemistry with Coach Ivanovic. Then we operatives have perimeters that we don’t have to comment on but respect.
Holiday’s retention percentage? Dusko knows.
