Facing Igokea in Laktaši

The players of Cedevita Olimpija’s senior team will take the court in the regular season of the regional league on Friday at 5:00 p.m., when they face Igokea m:tel in Laktaši for the fifth round.

Cedevita Olimpija is set for two consecutive away games again. First, they will have the honor of playing the opening match of the fifth round of the AdmiralBet ABA League against Igokea m:tel in the Laktaši Sports Hall, where they will aim for their third consecutive win in the regional league. Both teams currently have two wins and two losses from four games in the regular season.

Cedevita Olimpija will continue to play without head coach Zvezdan Mitrović, although he will return to Ljubljana on Thursday, but will not travel with the team to Laktaši as a precaution. Brynton Lemar is also recovering well from a foot injury and has entered the third week of rehabilitation.

PRE-GAME STATEMENTS:

“We are visiting Igokea, a team we highly respect, and they are very well put together. They have experienced players like Dragan Milosavljević and Marko Jeremić, and compared to last season, they also have a very dominant center, Terrell Carter, and a playmaker in Bryce Jones. Under head coach Nenad Stefanović, their game always features a lot of pick-and-roll plays, fast breaks, and open three-point shots, and what has troubled us this season—offensive rebounds. We need to take advantage of the positive energy from the last two games and look for the best possible solution in attack, depending on the situation on the court,” said coach Đorđe Adžić before the game in Laktaši.

“We expect a tough game in Laktaši; playing against Igokea is always challenging. We had little time to prepare after Tuesday’s game, but we had a good practice before departure. We are full of positive energy and motivated to get another win,” said Žiga Daneu, who didn’t play in the last regional match against Split but spent almost 16 minutes on the court against Lietkabelis, scoring one point and grabbing a rebound.

TV BROADCAST:

The game against Igokea m:tel will be broadcast live on Arena Sport Slovenia 1 and Kanal A, and it will also be available for streaming on VOYO.

MATCH PREVIEW:

Just like Ljubljana, Igokea is competing in two international competitions during the 2024/25 season. The team from Laktaši is participating in the Basketball Champions League, where they are in Group A. So far, Igokea has played twice in this competition, winning their first game against Nanterre (86:80) but losing the second to Würzburg (80:98). Four of Igokea’s players are averaging more than 10 points per game in the Champions League, with Bryce Jones, a familiar face in the regional leagues, being their top scorer, averaging 14.5 points per game.

In the regional league, Igokea started the season with wins over Split and Zadar, both away games in Dalmatia, but then suffered two consecutive losses against top favorites, Budućnost VOLI and Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet. In the match against Zvezda in Belgrade, Igokea kept pace in the first quarter, but their opponents pulled away in the second and third quarters, and although Igokea narrowed the gap in the final quarter, they lost 68:91.

In the regional league, Igokea’s top scorer is Bryce Jones, averaging 12.8 points per game, along with 6.5 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game. It’s also worth noting that Igokea leads the league in steals, averaging 8.75 per game, meaning Cedevita Olimpija will need to be very focused in their offensive play.

Cedevita Olimpija heads into this match with good momentum from their recent games against Split and Lietkabelis. They defeated Split thanks to a buzzer-beater by Devin Robinson, and on Tuesday in Stožice, they showcased two different halves against the Lithuanian team. After holding a solid lead at halftime, they saw a dip in their performance in the second half but managed to hold off their opponents for a 76:72 win. Robinson was again the top scorer with 17 points, followed by captain Jaka Blažič with 14 points, while DJ Stewart and DeVante Jones each contributed 10 points.

In their last five games in the ABA League and EuroCup, Cedevita Olimpija has only lost once, to Turk Telekom in Ankara. With a 3-1 record in the EuroCup, they are off to their best start in the competition since 2019. Adding in two wins and two losses in the regional league, they currently sit at 5-3, an excellent foundation as they move forward in the season.

ADMIRALBET ABA LEAGUE, 5TH ROUND OF THE REGULAR SEASON

J.U. Laktaši Sports Hall (Laktaši, Bosnia and Herzegovina), Friday, October 18, at 17.00:
IGOKEA M:TEL – CEDEVITA OLIMPIJA (TV broadcast on TV Arena Sport 1, Kanal A, and streaming on VOYO)

LOOKING AHEAD:

After the game in Laktaši, the Ljubljana team will return to the Slovenian capital and travel to Thessaloniki on Tuesday to face Aris in the EuroCup on Wednesday. Afterward, they will return to Ljubljana, where they will host Budućnost VOLI on Sunday, October 27, at 6:00 p.m. in Stožice, followed by a game against Hapoel Jerusalem on Wednesday, October 30, at 6:30 p.m. Tickets for both games are already available at vstopnice.olimpija.com.