By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Isaia Cordinier and Vincent Poirier have been medically cleared to return to action for Anadolu Efes. Recovering from back and knee injuries, respectively, the French imports are set to face Virtus Bologna at the Turkcell Basketball Development Center on Thursday evening.
So far in the 2025–26 EuroLeague regular season, Cordinier, the 29-year-old wing, has produced 10.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 0.8 steals per contest over 23 appearances. Meanwhile, the 32-year-old center Poirier has averaged 7.9 points and 4.0 rebounds per game across eight appearances.
Despite these returns, Rolands Smits (hamstring), Shane Larkin (groin), and Giorgos Papagiannis (knee) remain on the injury report for head coach Pablo Laso.
Üç oyuncumuz, sakatlıkları sebebiyle bugün sahada olmayacak:
*Rolands Smits (uyluk)
*Shane Larkin (kasık)
*Georgios Papagiannis (diz)Tedavisi süren Vincent Poirier (diz) ise sakatlığına rağmen kadroda yer alacak. pic.twitter.com/8ToLfbqnOT
— Anadolu Efes SK (@AnadoluEfesSK) February 12, 2026
In response to a challenging stretch, the Istanbul outfit has prevailed in its last three games across all competitions, including two EuroLeague victories last week. Staying at home to host Vu Nere presents an opportunity to improve to an 8–19 record. Entering Round 28, the distance from the postseason picture is seven games, with 11 fixtures remaining in the regular season.
On the opposite side, the team coached by Dusko Ivanovic carries a 12–15 win-loss tally, placing them three games away from the Play-In Showdown zone. Outside of Alessandro Pajola, who is sidelined indefinitely following surgery to repair a meniscus lesion in his left knee, the rest of the Virtus roster is available for the clash in Istanbul.
In their respective domestic leagues, Efes ranks sixth on the Turkiye Sigorta Basketbol Super Ligi table behind an 11-8 record, and Virtus Olidata Bologna is tied with Germani Brescia at 15-3 to lead Italy’s LBA UnipolSai.