Michele Vitali

Michele Vitali
No. 31 – Basket Brescia Leonessa
Position Shooting guard
League Serie A
Personal information
Born (1991-10-31) October 31, 1991
Bologna, Italy
Nationality Italian
Listed height 196 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Listed weight 88 kg (194 lb)
Career information
NBA draft 2013 / Undrafted
Playing career 2010–present
Career history
2010–2012 Virtus Bologna
2010–2011 →Sporting Club Gira
2012–2013 Biancoblù Basket Bologna
2014–2015 Juvecaserta Basket
2015–2016 Virtus Bologna
2016–present Basket Brescia Leonessa
Medals
Men’s Basketball
Representing  Italy
FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship
2011 Bilbao National Team

Michele Vitali (born October 31, 1991) is an Italian professional basketball player who currently plays for Basket Brescia Leonessa of the Lega Basket Serie A as a shooting guard.

Personal life

His brother is fellow pro basketball player Luca Vitali, Michele has played against him a few times in Serie A and together on a few occasions, including one season for Virtus Bologna and notably for the national team.

Their parents were also basketball players, their mother Anna Maria Mazzoli and their father Roberto both played in the Italian lower divisions, peculiarly they met in 1978 whilst they were attending an event with their respective youth national teams.[1]

Professional career

Vitali progressed through the youth ranks of home town club Virtus Bologna, he was called up to the first squad on occasion and made his first division debut in February 2009 playing a single minute with one missed shot.[2] That was his only appearance for the senior team for the season, he wouldn't be able to break into the side either in 2009-10 with two solitary minutes but he played a decisive role as the Under-19 squad won their national championship.[3]

To gain experience he was loaned to new Virtus satellite club Gira Ozzano (Italian) in the third division for 2010-11. It proved to be a fruitful loan as he played 27 games with 9,8 points on average for Gira.[4]

Following this positive experience he returned to Virtus but didn't manage to break into the first squad, playing only three games the whole season. This prompted him to rescind his contract with Virtus and join cross town side Biancoblù Basket Bologna (Italian) of the Legadue in October 2012.[5] His time with the white and blue proved successful, he established himself as a starter for the team, playing 27 games with 9.8 points on average[4] and even participated in the Legadue All Star Game where he was voted best player under 24.[6]

His performances garnered interest from Serie A clubs, after Biancoblù lost in the promotion playoffs, he joined Juvecaserta Basket in July 2014.[4]

In his first full top division season Vitali was an important player as Caserta finished just outside the playoff places, playing in all but one game, he was also selected for the All Star Game after other players proved unavailable.[7]

The 2014-15 season proved to be more complicated, Vitali missed the first part of the season with a knee injury[8] and - as a starter - could not stop Caserta's relegation, confirmed after a loss in the last game of the season.

Career statistics

Domestic league

Regular season

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  PPG  Points per game
 2P%  Two-point field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  BPG  Blocks per game
 SPG  Steals per game  TOPG  Turnovers per game  Bold  Career high
Year Team GP GS MPG PPG 2P% 3P% FT% RPG APG BPG SPG TOPG
2011-12[9] Canadian Solar Bologna 3 0 3.3 1.7 0 100.0 66.7 0.7 0.3 0 0.3 0.7
2013-14[9] Pasta Reggia Caserta 29 8 23.7 8.3 46.5 30.9 70 3.4 1 0 0.7 0.9
2014-15[9] Pasta Reggia Caserta 22 21 25.4 7.5 42.9 25.4 78.4 2.5 1.3 0 0.8 1.9
Career 54 29 14.9 5.8 44.5 28.9 73.4 2.2 1.1 0 0.7 1.2

Italian national team

He played in the under age categories of the Italian national basketball team, first for the U18's in the 2009 European Championship then for the U20's in the 2010 European Championship and the 2011 European Championship,[10] most notably winning the silver medal at the latter edition.[11]

After falling off the radar for a period, he joined the senior team in 2014, playing a bit part in FIBA EuroBasket 2015 qualification in which Italy qualified for FIBA EuroBasket 2015.[12][13]

References

  1. ↑ "Vitali brothers against each other, a basketball destiny.", La Gazzetta dello Sport, Bologna, 3 February 2009. Retrieved on 11 May 2015.(Italian)
  2. ↑ "Legabasket Serie A - 2° Gionarta Ritorno (La Fortezza Bologna – Armani Jeans Milano).", Legabasket. Retrieved on 11 May 2015.(Italian)
  3. ↑ "Virtus, the small championship and the satellite club Gira.", La Gazzetta dello Sport, 8 June 2010. Retrieved on 11 May 2015.(Italian)
  4. 1 2 3 "Juve makes official the signature of Michele Vitali."Corriere dello Sport, Caserta, 29 July 2013. Retrieved on 11 May 2015.(Italian)
  5. ↑ Carchia, Emiliano. "Michele Vitali leaves Virtus Bologna, set to join Biancoblù."Sportando, 11 October 2012. Retrieved on 11 May 2015.
  6. ↑ "Pozzecco All Star James is MVP."Corriere dello Sport, Vigevano, 3 February 2013. Retrieved on 11 May 2015.(Italian)
  7. ↑ Valenti, Stefano. "Basketball, the All Star Game is here: Pianigiani with a youthful Italy."la Repubblica, Roma, 12 April 2014. Retrieved on 11 May 2015.(Italian)
  8. ↑ Giannoni, Carlo. "Update on the injured ."Juvecaserta Basket, 15 October 2014. Retrieved on 11 May 2015.(Italian)
  9. 1 2 3 "Michele Vitali - Total statistics", Lega Basket. Retrieved on 29 April 2015.(Italian)
  10. ↑ "Michele Vitali", FIBA. Retrieved on 11 May 2015.
  11. ↑ "U20 European Championship 2011 : Italy - Spain (Game Report).", FIBA Europe, 24 July 2011. Retrieved on 11 May 2015.
  12. ↑ "Michele Vitali (Italy)", FIBA Europe. Retrieved on 11 May 2015.
  13. ↑ "Michele Vitali", Federazione Italiana Pallacanestro. Retrieved on 11 May 2015.(Italian)
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