Alessandro Pajola (born 9 November 1999) is an Italian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for

Virtus Bologna Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...

of the Italian

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier le ...

(LBA) and the EuroLeague. He is also a member of the senior

Italian national team The Italy national football team ( it, Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) has represented Italy in international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing bo ...

. Standing at , he plays at the

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

position. Pajola is widely known for his defensive ability.

Professional career

Virtus Bologna (2015–present)

Pajola joined

in 2015, becoming an important supporting cast player in 2016–17, when the club was in Serie A2. On 19 June 2017, the Black V won the playoffs, beating

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

by 3–0, thus returning to the top series after only one year. Pajola's importance in the team grown up season after season, becoming one of Virtus' most prominent player in 2020–21 season. In June 2021, after having knocked out 3–0 both

Basket Treviso Pallacanestro Treviso, named Benetton Basket due to a long running sponsorship by the Benetton Group and widely referred to as Benetton Treviso, is an Italian youth basketball club based in Treviso, Veneto. The club was previously a successful pr ...

in the quarterfinals and

New Basket Brindisi New Basket Brindisi, for sponsorship reasons named Happy Casa Brindisi or shortly Brindisi, is a professional Italian basketball based in Brindisi, Apulia. It plays in the first division LBA in the 2022–23 season. Founded in 2004, the well-s ...

in the semifinals, on Virtus defeated 4–0 its historic rival

Olimpia Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

in the national finals, winning its 16th national title and the first one after twenty years. On 21 September 2021, the team won its second

Supercup A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the prev ...

, defeating once again Olimpia Milano 90–84. After an outstanding game in the final, Pajola was named MVP of the tournament. Moreover, after having ousted Lietkabelis,

Ulm Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...

and

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

in the first three rounds of the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, on 11 May 2022, Virtus defeated Frutti Extra Bursaspor by 80–67 at the Segafredo Arena, winning its first EuroCup and qualifying for the EuroLeague after 14 years. However, despite having ended the regular season at the first place and having ousted 3–0 both

Pesaro Pesaro () is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Marche, capital of the Province of Pesaro e Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the Marche, ...

and

Tortona Tortona (; pms, Torton-a , ; lat, Dhertona) is a ''comune'' of Piemonte, in the Province of Alessandria, Italy. Tortona is sited on the right bank of the Scrivia between the plain of Marengo and the foothills of the Ligurian Apennines. History ...

in the first two rounds of playoffs, Virtus was defeated 4–2 in the national finals by Olimpia Milan. On 29 September 2022, after having ousted Milano in the semifinals, Virtus won its third Supercup, defeating 72–69

Banco di Sardegna Sassari Polisportiva Dinamo, commonly known as Dinamo Sassari and currently known as Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari for sponsorship reasons, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Sassari, Sardinia. They are the current European Cu ...

and achieving a back-to-back, following the 2021 trophy.

Career statistics

Italian Championship

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;",

, 2 , , 0 , , 1.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

, 24 , , 0 , , 9.9 , , .413 , , .364 , , .500 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , .5 , , .0 , , 2.3 , , 1.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 17 , , 2 , , 11.9 , , .450 , , .250 , , .600 , , 1.1 , , .8 , , .6 , , .0 , , 1.6 , , 1.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 27 , , 0 , , 11.7 , , .282 , , .286 , , .571 , , 1.1 , , 1.0 , , .7 , , .1 , , 1.3 , , .7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 20 , , 1 , , 12.2 , , .465 , , .313 , , .722 , , 1.6 , , 1.5 , , .8 , , .1 , , 3.1 , , 4.6

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pajola, Alessandro 1999 births Living people Basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Italian men's basketball players Lega Basket Serie A players Olympic basketball players of Italy Point guards Virtus Bologna players