Cedevita Olimpija starts mission 2022/23

Cedevita Olimpija squad has gathered for the first time this summer and began its training camp ahead of the 2022/23 season.

The senior team of Cedevita Olimpija has started its preparations for the new season at home in Stožice Arena on Monday. In the new season, the Ljubljana fans will be able to watch plenty of familiar faces within their team. From the previous season, several key players have remained in Stožice – Edo Murić, Zoran Dragić, Alen Omić, Yogi Ferrell and Marko Radovanović. Rok Radović, that used to play for Cedevita Junior, is coming back to the squad and both Žiga Daneu and Saša Ciani will start the training camp with the rest of the team. The newcomers are Marko Jeremić, Amar Alibegović, Josh Adams, Jan Kosi, Karlo Matković and Lovro Gnjidić. Blaž Habot has undergone the rehabilitation following the surgery.

The Dragons’ squad has not gathered in full strength immediately, since Edo Murić, Zoran Dragić, Karlo Matković and Lovro Gnjidić will join the squad later due to the national team obligations, while Yogi Ferell and Josh Adams will join their teammates a few days afterwards. Nil Jovanović and Lon Ličan, Vito Kučić and Josip Batinić will therefore practice with the squad from the start of the training camp.

“We are satistied with our team composition for the new season. We have managed to keep the core of the team from the previous season, only Jaka Blažič left. We have added some domestic players from the region to the core. They are young and talented players, eager of proving their quality and they used to play at the highest level before, so I believe that they will add some value to our team. A tough summer is behind us, but in the end, we are satisfied with the roster that we have on our disposal,” Sports Director Sani Bečirović told. Head coach Jurica Golemac added: “We got some rest and we cannot wait to start working again. We have composed a new team and we are slowly gathering. We are waiting for the national team players, for which we hope that they join as at latest possible, even though this is a problem for us, since we will be cheering for the national team altogether. Probably we will not play a single preseason game in full strength, so we will need to be patient, because we will need time to get into perfect shape.”

“I cannot wait for everything to begin. It was enough of rest. It’s time for us to get to work. I came home, to the most beautiful city and the most beautiful arena. We hope that we will achieve even better results than last season.  To do that we need to work and be focused. We need to create a good atmosphere on the team and listen to our head coach and follow his instructions,” Alen Omić told.

The Dragons have five preseason games scheduled so far. On 31 August they will meet German side Bonn, in the beginning of September, they will take part of the tournament in Sardinia, alongside Dinamo Sassari, AS Monaco and Hapoel Tewl Aviv. The Tournament will be opened on 3 September, when the Dragons will face the tournament hosts of Dinamo Sassari. On Saturday, 10 September, they will play against Igokea m:tel and on 19 September there will be a clash against Italian side Treviso.

The Dragons will enter the new season on Friday, 23 September, when they will meet Helios Suns in the Slovenian Super cup. In the regional competition, tey will face Borac of Čačak on the first weekend of October.