First regional game of the season for the Dragons

On Saturday at 21.00, the players of Cedevita Olimpija will officially enter the new competitive season of the ABA League in the home Arena Stožice. The selected players of the head coach Jurica Golemac will face Krka from Novo mesto in front of the home fans.

The national and cup Slovenian champions, the basketball players of Cedevita Olimpija and Krka, will compete in the beauty of Stožen for the second time in the 2021/22 competition season on Saturday. A week ago, the two teams met in the match of the Slovenian Super Cup, the victory, and the Dragons celebrated with 78:71. In the first round of the ABA League, the players of Ljubljana and Novo mesto will face each other again, and both will try to record their first regional victory of the season.

Zach Auguste shone in the jersey of the Ljubljana team, adding 23 points, 14 rebounds and four steals. On the other hand, Rok Stipčević scored 21 goals, scoring as many as six of eight throws for three points on the way to this point.

The television broadcast of the match will be available on TV Slovenia 2 and Arena Sport 1.

Upon entering the hall, each visitor will have to meet the t.i. PCT conditions. KK Cedevita Olimpija will once again, in cooperation with the Health Institute Zdravje, organize testing for COVID-19 on the platform in front of the Arena Stožice. Testing will take place between 19.00 and 21.00.

STATEMENTS AHEAD OF THE GAME:

Jurica Golemac, head coach of Cedevita Olimpija:
“After the Slovenian Super Cup, we had time, we have a week of space between the matches at this introduction to the season. During this period, we analyzed ourselves mostly because we don’t know each other well enough yet, and we haven’t become a team yet. We trained a lot and watched videos. Krka has new players that we got to know better last Friday in Tivoli. We will do everything to show a much better game in the defense than we did in the Super Cup.”

Jaka Blažič, captain of Cedevita Olimpija:
“The first match in the ABA League immediately brings the Slovenian basketball derby. I hope Saturday’s match will be a feast for the eyes for all fans and spectators. After a long time, the latter will be able to watch the matches of the regional league on TV Slovenia, where we will be in the eyes of practically the entire country, and of course we all want that. We have been preparing for Krka for the last few days. We analyze the people of Novo mesto, we think about them, we watch their game. At the same time, we are also analyzing our mistakes at Friday’s Super Cup in Tivoli and we are trying to eliminate them and prepare as best we can so that we do not repeat these mistakes in Saturday’s match.”

Edo Murić, player of Cedevita Olimpija:
“For several seasons in a row, we have been competing with Krka from Novo mesto at the beginning of the season. We know that the Slovenian derby Admiral Bet League ABA is ahead of us, and that it has its charm. Players enter such matches with maximum motivation. Last but not least, the two best teams in Slovenia will compete against each other. The fight between Cedevita Olimpija and Krka is always fierce, matches rarely end with a high margin. We are ready to fight, but it is certainly not an easy test ahead of us. We already saw at the Slovenian Super Cup that the match was extremely difficult. At the end, I could have turned in favor of both teams, but in the end we celebrated the victory. We expect the players of Novo mesto to be ready, highly motivated, and we will do everything to record a victory at our introduction to the new season of the ABA League.”

ABA LEAGUE, ROUND 1

Arena Stožice (Ljubljana, Slovenia), Saturday, September 25, at 9 pm:
CEDEVITA OLIMPIJA – KRKA (purchase of tickets; TV broadcast on TV Slovenia 2 and Arena Sport 1)