Napoli Basket will open its Serie A season on the road, facing the defending Italian champions, Virtus Olidata Bologna, tomorrow evening in the final game of Round 1. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 PM at the PalaDozza Arena.
Virtus Bologna, who were narrowly defeated by Armani Milano in overtime during the Supercoppa semifinals, began their EuroLeague campaign this week with two games — earning an impressive home win over Real Madrid before falling on the road to Valencia. Coach Alessandro Magro’s Napoli squad enters the new season with nine new players compared to last year. Alongside team captain Stefano Gentile — who previously played for Virtus Bologna during the 2017–18 season — the new faces include Mitrou-Long, Bolton, Faggian, El-Amin, Croswell, Flagg, Simms, and Caruso, while Treier and Saccoccia return from last season’s roster. Game officials: Baldini, Borgioni, and Nicolini.
Head Coach Alessandro Magro’s pregame statements:
“We’ve finally reached the start of the season, and we’re excited to see the team in action. We open against Virtus Bologna — the reigning Italian champions — a team that truly needs no introduction. They’ve already shown their quality with two high-level EuroLeague performances and a strong showing in the Supercoppa.
They’re coached by Dusko Ivanovic, a true master of basketball, and you can see his identity all over this team. They play with tremendous athleticism and discipline on defense. Virtus has built a new roster that plays a modern, dynamic style of basketball — they run the floor well, activate their three-point shooters, and with Smailagic now in the lineup, they add a whole new dimension compared to the opponents we’ve faced so far.
I’m happy to see Italian players like Niang — who’s already putting up big performances — and Paiola, who along with Hackett, are really leading the team. The new additions are fitting into the system game by game.
We’re ready to go into Bologna and play with confidence. We’ll bring intensity, look to impose our style, and play our brand of basketball. Of course, it will require great effort and defensive focus to limit their talented players — both technically and physically.
But we’re ready and truly curious to see how we’ll begin this long journey. We know it’s just the first step of a long season — but we can’t wait to get started, together.”
The game between Virtus Olidata Bologna and Napoli Basket will be broadcast live on Sky Sport Uno (channel 201), Sky Sport Basket (channel 205), and on the LBA TV streaming platform. Live updates will also be available on Napoli Basket’s official social media channels. Fans in the United States and Canada can follow all Napoli Basket Serie A games exclusively on the club’s official YouTube channel, Napoli Basketball TV.