Chasing third win in 7DAYS EuroCup in Venice

The Cedevita Olimpija team returned from Belgrade in the late hours of Sunday, and on Tuesday the players and members of the coaching staff will travel to Venice, where the Ljubljana team will face Umana Reyer in the seventh round of the 7DAYS EuroCup group stage on Wednesday at 20.00 .

Cedevita Olimpija is back on the winning track after Saturday’s big victory in the 11th round of the regional league over Partizan NIS in Belgrade. The Ljubljana team will also try to break the four-game losing streak in the 7DAYS EuroCup, and in the seventh round of the group stage, they will face Umana Reyer in Venice on Wednesday at 20.00.

Sunday’s trip from Belgrade to Ljubljana was longer for Cedevita Olimpija basketball players than initially expected. The snowstorm that engulfed Serbia and especially the Serbian capital was welcomed by the Dragons early in the morning, but it was also the main reason why the players and members of the professional staff spent as much as nine hours at Nikola Tesla Airport, almost six on the plane. they should be taken to Ljubljana. After several failed take-off attempts, the morning flight was finally canceled in the afternoon, and the team from Ljubljana took a bus home and arrived in the Slovenian capital in the late Sunday hours.

Nevertheless, the Dragons gathered for training on Monday afternoon and began preparations for a new challenging test. The teams, which will compete in Venice on Wednesday, found themselves in a similar situation, with two wins and four defeats after the opening six rounds of the new European Cup season. Reyer was defeated in the last two matches, including the last round, when Valencia won 81:67 in Venice. For the Italian national champions from the 2018/19 season, this was their second defeat in three home games.

The top scorer of the Italian team this European season is American center Mitchell Watt, who averages 12.0 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.

At the same time, it is worth mentioning the fact that Reyer is entering Wednesday’s match with a bad result from the match of the 11th round of the Italian national championship. On the home floor, Reyer had to concede victory to the Sassari, who was better with 78:70. In the Venetians jersey, Watt recorded a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Jeffrey Brooks was the only one with a double-digit number of points.

After two consecutive victories at the very beginning of the new European season, Cedevita Olimpija has failed in the last four trials. With 104: 101, Virtus Segafredo Bologna was better than the Dragons last Wednesday in the Stožice Arena. After the defeat, the team of head coach Jurica Golemac recovered excellently and defeated Partizan NIS with 96:89 on Saturday in Belgrade. The best scorers in the green-orange squad were Jaka Blažič and Jacob Pullen, both of whom scored 19 points each.

STATEMENTS AHEAD OF THE GAME:

Jurica Golemac, head coach of Cedevita Olimpija:
“Umana Reyer is definitely one of the best teams in our group in the 7DAYS EuroCup. The team is bulit of experienced players, led by an excellent coach, and they have been playing together for many years. Among other things, Reyer also won the title of Italian national champion a few years ago. Our task is to progress, at the same time we have to be better, and try to keep the intensity of the game as long as possible, both in offense and defense. At the same time, we need to play smart, as this is a way to be able to stand up to experienced teams.”

Alen Omić, player of Cedevita Olimpija:
“We have two good training sessions ahead of us as we prepare for the game in Venice, so we will do our best to prepare for the match and try to record a new victory and extend the winning streak. We played well in Belgrade in regional league, we managed to get a win against Partizan, and this victory helped us a lot in raising our self-confidence, which is important if we want to continue our season in the rhythm of victories.”

7DAYS EUROCUP, GROUP B, ROUND 7

Palasport Taliercio (Venezia, Italy), Wednesday, December 15, at 20.00:
UMANA REYER – CEDEVITA OLIMPIJA (live stream on Euroleague TV)

STANDINGS: