Dragons face Rostock on Tuesday

Cedevita Olimpija will visit German side Rostock Seawolves at the Stadthalle Rostock on Tuesday at 20:00. In Round 7 of the BKT EuroCup regular season, the Dragons will be looking for a second straight European win and their first on the road this season. The game will be broadcast live on Šport TV 1.

The Ljubljana side head to northern Germany on a three-game winning streak across both competitions. After home wins over FMP and Baglietto Derthona Tortona, they beat Borac Mozzart in Čačak on Saturday. Now they want to extend that run in the EuroCup, where they hold a 1-5 record after six games, while Tuesday’s hosts are 2-4 so far.

Rostock also come into the game off a successful week. The German side first beat EuroLeague club Bayern at home, then won convincingly in Burgos in the EuroCup, and on Saturday defeated Ulm in front of their own fans. The Dragons will therefore face an opponent that has also won three in a row and will be looking to continue its strong form at home.

Cameron Houindo and Brandon Murray remain sidelined. Rok Radović, who missed Saturday’s game against Borac with a back problem, travelled with the team from Čačak to Rostock. Rihards Lomažs, who sat out the game in Čačak, has also joined the squad in Germany.

TV BROADCAST:

The game will be broadcast live on Šport TV 1 from 20:00, with studio coverage starting at 19:30.

PRE-GAME QUOTES:

“Rostock are in excellent rhythm at the moment. They have strung together three straight wins, including victories over Bayern and away at Burgos. They shoot a lot of threes and are very efficient doing it. Their style of play is extremely uncomfortable to face, as the Spanish side found out in their last game, when they lost by a big margin. Rostock play fast and rely heavily on the three-point shot, including from positions that might seem illogical at first glance, but that is part of their system. Our task will be to slow down their pace, limit their fast game and deny them as many open threes as possible. We are coming off a demanding trip, so it is important that we rest as well as possible and prepare for the opponent. Rok Radović and Rihards Lomažs are with us, and I expect both of them to return to the court. They certainly won’t be 100 percent ready yet, but their presence will mean a lot to us. We have put together some good performances in recent games, especially on defence, where we managed to limit the opponents’ top scorers. This time an even tougher task awaits us, so we will have to be very disciplined, focused and adapt well. On offence, we still have a lot of room for improvement. We are still quite far from the level of play I want to see on the court. For now, our wins are coming mainly from good defence, while on offence we need to improve our efficiency, especially in three-point shooting and at the free-throw line. I think this is largely connected to the players’ confidence. I believe our recent wins have given us extra self-belief and that the players will gradually become more relaxed and decisive on offence. If, alongside good defence, we manage to raise the level of our offence and improve our shooting percentages, we will have a much better chance of success,” said Cedevita Olimpija head coach Zvezdan Mitrović ahead of Tuesday’s game in Rostock.

“We have a demanding game ahead of us against a very good and versatile Rostock team. Our opponents play fast, like to run in transition and shoot a lot from distance. They are also very aggressive on defence and know how to take advantage of an opponent’s weaknesses. That is why we will have to be focused on both ends of the floor, stick to our game plan and, above all, limit their three-point shots. Our task is to show the fight and energy that have characterised us in recent games. We have three straight wins behind us and want to keep that rhythm going. We are focusing on one game at a time, while also wanting to improve day by day and put into practice on the court what we work on in training. Despite all the travelling, it isn’t hard for us to stay focused, because we have a great atmosphere in the team. We spend a lot of time together, on and off the court, which brings us even closer,” said Jordan Gainey ahead of the latest EuroCup test.

GAME PREVIEW:

Cedevita Olimpija opened the European season with five straight losses. After a narrow defeat in Burgos (81-85), the Ljubljana side lost to Hapoel Midtown Jerusalem (64-75), Riga Zelli (79-89), Le Mans (66-84) and Aris Thessaloniki (73-78). Their first European win of the season came in Wednesday’s game against Derthona at Stožice, which they won 73-71 after overtime. On their fourth European road trip of the season, they will be looking for a win that would draw them level with Rostock in the win column.

Against the Italian side at Stožice, the Dragons trailed 27-36 at halftime and 44-50 heading into the fourth quarter, but fought their way back and gave themselves a chance to win in regulation. The visitors forced overtime with a three-pointer, and in the extra five minutes the Ljubljana side kept their composure in the decisive moments. Noah Kirkwood tied the game at 71-71 ten seconds from the end, and Anthony Cowan Jr. sealed the win with two free throws with 3.8 seconds remaining. Rihards Lomažs contributed 16 points and eight rebounds, while Kirkwood and Jayce Johnson scored 12 points each, with Johnson also grabbing nine rebounds.

The Ljubljana side carried their good mood into Saturday’s game in Čačak, where they beat Borac Mozzart 85-71 to improve their regional record to 4-2. They built a 13-point lead early in the second half and then withstood every push from the hosts. The key difference came on the boards: they won the rebounding battle 38-24, grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and scored 21 second-chance points. Cowan, Matthew Hurt and David Škara scored 16 points each, Cowan added seven assists, and Urban Kroflič had nine points and seven rebounds.

Cowan is Cedevita Olimpija’s leading scorer in the BKT EuroCup so far, averaging 13.5 points and 2.8 assists per game. He is followed by Lomažs with 12.0 and Hurt with 11.5 points, while Kirkwood averages 9.3 points. Škara is the Dragons’ top rebounder, averaging 5.2 boards to go with 7.2 points per game.

Rostock Seawolves, coached by Poland’s Przemysław Frasunkiewicz, are making their BKT EuroCup debut this season. They opened their European campaign with a loss to Hapoel Midtown Jerusalem (73-94), before edging Riga Zelli at home (87-86). That was followed by defeats in Le Mans (70-82), at home against Aris (79-110) and in Tortona (83-86), before the German side snapped a three-game European losing streak in Burgos last Wednesday.

In Spain, Rostock won by a commanding 86-59. They took complete control in the first half with efficient offence and solid defence, heading into the break with a 51-27 lead. The margin grew to as many as 31 points in the second half, and the hosts never threatened the German side’s win. TJ Crockett Jr. scored 19 points, Zach Copeland 13, Bent Leuchten 11 and Johnathan Stove 10, with all eleven Rostock players getting on the scoresheet.

On Saturday, the Seawolves followed up their EuroCup success with a 97-87 home win over Ulm in the German league. They led 58-45 at halftime and extended the lead to 21 points in the third quarter. Ulm cut the deficit to a single point in the final quarter (77-76), but the hosts responded in time to close out the win. Artur Konontšuk led Rostock with 22 points, Copeland added 19, Crockett 16, Stove 13 and Leuchten 11. The German side have won all four of their home games in the domestic league, where they hold a 5-3 record.

Rostock’s main offensive weapons in the EuroCup are Copeland and Crockett, who both average 16.0 points per game, with Copeland also contributing 4.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists. Todd Withers averages 10.7 points and shoots 50 percent from three, while Leuchten adds 6.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

BKT EUROCUP – REGULAR SEASON, GROUP A, ROUND 7

Stadthalle Rostock (Rostock, Germany), Tuesday, November 10, 20:00:
ROSTOCK SEAWOLVES – CEDEVITA OLIMPIJA (live on Šport TV 1)

GROUP A STANDINGS

LOOKING AHEAD:

After the trip to Germany, the Dragons will visit Crvena zvezda Meridianbet in Belgrade on Sunday at 18:30 in Round 8 of the first half of the AdmiralBet ABA League season. They return to Stožice on Wednesday, November 18, when they host Recoletas Salud San Pablo Burgos at 18:30 in Round 8 of the BKT EuroCup regular season. Three days later, they face Slovan Bratislava at Tivoli at 17:30 in their final test before the November national-team window.