In Samokov to face Hapoel Jerusalem

The senior team of Cedevita Olimpija will continue their fight for a spot in the EuroCup playoffs with the 15th round regular-season clash against Hapoel Jerusalem. The game will take place in the Bulgarian city of Samokov and is scheduled to start at 19:00 Slovenian time.

The next ten days will likely be the most demanding of the 2024/25 competitive season for Cedevita Olimpija’s senior team. Between Monday and next Thursday, the team will travel nearly 20,000 kilometers, visit four different countries, and play four crucial games, three of which are in the EuroCup. The first challenge for head coach Zvezdan Mitrović’s squad is on Tuesday at 19:00 Slovenian time, facing Hapoel Jerusalem in Samokov in the 15th round of the competition.

A look at the Group B standings shows that Hapoel currently has one more game played than Cedevita Olimpija and holds one win more, putting them in second place. The Ljubljana team has the same number of wins (8) as Umana Reyer and Turk Telekom but with one fewer loss. Just behind this trio are JL Bourg and Cluj, both with a record of seven wins and seven losses after 14 games.

PRE-GAME QUOTES:

“Hapoel Jerusalem is undoubtedly one of the best teams in our group. With the return of big man Justin Smith, they’ve become even stronger. During the season, they had some issues with their game, but now they are playing very well again, as demonstrated in their recent victory over Hapoel Tel Aviv, one of the strongest teams in the EuroCup. They are an experienced team that has been playing together for years, as we saw and felt in our first encounter when they convincingly beat us on our home court. After a challenging trip to Bulgaria, we will step onto the court on Tuesday and try to give it our all,” said Zvezdan Mitrović, head coach of Cedevita Olimpija.

“We are expecting a real battle in a match we must win. We have to give it our all, as our opponents defeated us on our home court, so we need to do everything we can to even the score,” said Devin Robinson before the game against Hapoel.

GAME PREVIEW:

Hapoel Jerusalem started their EuroCup season strongly, despite losing to Valencia in the opening game. Between October 1 and November 28, the Israeli team achieved eight consecutive wins, including a victory over Cedevita Olimpija, but then suffered three straight losses to Valencia, Lietkabelis, and Hamburg. Recently, they’ve bounced back with five wins in their last six games, most recently defeating Hapoel Tel Aviv (92:77) in the Israeli league—another EuroCup team considered a favorite for the title.

Hapoel features the EuroCup’s top player of the 2024/25 season, Jared Harper, who averages 23.2 points per game with an efficiency index of 28.5. He has a nearly five-point lead over the next top scorer and demonstrated his scoring prowess against Cedevita Olimpija earlier this season, tallying 30 points. Remarkably, this was not his highest scoring game of the season, as he scored 35 points against Turk Telekom.

In their first meeting at Stožice Arena in late October, Cedevita Olimpija managed to stay competitive in the first quarter, but Hapoel pulled away as the game progressed, securing a convincing 94:83 victory. For the Ljubljana team, captain Jaka Blažič scored 15 points, Gregor Glas added 13, Devin Robinson and DeVante Jones scored 12 each, and Joan Beringer contributed 10.

On Sunday, Cedevita Olimpija claimed their third consecutive win on their home court in Stožice, decisively defeating FMP Soccerbet. The scoreboard showed 91:58 after 40 minutes of play. With their ninth win of the season, they moved into the top eight of the standings. Although it took them some time to warm up, they completely outplayed their opponents in the second half. Except for Danilo Tasić, every player contributed to the scoring, with Jaka Blažič and Rok Radović leading with 13 points each, followed by Devin Robinson with 12 and Aleksej Nikolić with 10.

BKT EUROCUP, ROUND 15

Samokov Arena (Samokov, Bulgaria), Tuesday, January 14, at 20:00 (19:00 SLO):
HAPOEL BANK YAHAV – CEDEVITA OLIMPIJA (TV broadcast on Šport TV 1)

LOOKING AHEAD:

On Wednesday, the Dragons will hit the road again, this time to Panevėžys. With no direct flight from Samokov, they will take an early morning flight to Vienna, followed by a flight to Vilnius, and then a bus to Panevėžys. There, they will face Lietkabelis on Thursday at 18:30 Slovenian time in the second of four consecutive away games in ten days.