It’s showdown in Tivoli as Zadar comes to Ljubljana

The Cedevita Olimpija senior team will face Zadar on Sunday at 6:00 PM in Hala Tivoli in the 23rd round of the regular season of the AdmiralBet ABA League, aiming to settle the score from their first mutual encounter of the season at the Jazine arena. Tickets for the game are available at vstopnice.olimpija.com.

After the Cedevita Olimpija senior team concluded their BKT EuroCup campaign this season with a loss to Bahçeşehir in Istanbul on Tuesday, the squad, led from the bench by head coach Zvezdan Mitrović, will focus all their efforts on regional competition until the start of the national championship playoffs. The Ljubljana Dragons will thus host Zadar in Hala Tivoli on Sunday at 6:00 PM in the 23rd round of the AdmiralBet ABA League regular season, with whom they have unfinished business from their first encounter, which took place in November at the Jazine arena in Zadar.

On Tuesday in Istanbul, Cedevita Olimpija competed in the EuroCup quarterfinals for the first time since 2022, but unfortunately, Bahçeşehir outperformed the Dragons after a second-half turnaround, winning 85:81. Nevertheless, the Ljubljana club has had an excellent season in Europe’s second-tier basketball competition, finishing the group stage with ten wins in 18 games, securing home-court advantage in the round of 16. There, in front of nearly 7,000 fans in Stožice, they eliminated Beşiktaş from contention for the top spots, only to suffer a defeat in the quarterfinals against the top team from Group A of the regular season in their bid for the semifinals.

In the regional league standings, the Ljubljana team currently sits in sixth place with 13 wins and nine losses, while Zadar, who will visit Ljubljana this weekend, is in ninth place with 11 wins and an equal number of losses.

TICKET PURCHASE:

Tickets for the game are available at vstopnice.olimpija.com, Eventim Slovenija, and the Petrol Ticket online platform. They can also be purchased at all Petrol gas stations across Slovenia.

The box office and arena gates will open at 5:00 PM. The NLB ‘Fast Entry’ will once again be available, allowing visitors who present an NLB bank card before entering the arena to access the Tivoli hall more quickly.

TV BROADCAST:

The game will be broadcast live on Arena Sport Slovenija 2.

PRE-GAME STATEMENTS:

“After the end of the European season, the ABA League battles now lie ahead of us. On Friday, we slowly began preparing for the game against Zadar. We need to get the players back into rhythm after these demanding matches we’ve had, which took a significant toll, and we’ll see how they’ll enter this slightly different schedule, both physically and mentally, especially after how we lost the game in Istanbul. On Friday, we already completed the first part of our opponent analysis, and it will continue on Saturday and Sunday. Zadar is an atypical team with many tall players, a lot of play in the paint, and they place great emphasis on rebounding. In our first mutual game, they had 14 offensive rebounds. Their players are experienced, have been working with their head coach for quite some time, and have their own system. We need to adapt to that, but the key question will, of course, be our energy, focus, and motivation from the very start of the game. Over the past week, we’ve really worn ourselves out, perhaps more mentally than physically, as we’ve faced tough games against quality opponents. The schedule hasn’t been in our favor either. Judging by myself, I was still very exhausted on Thursday and didn’t quite know where I was, and I believe it was even worse for the players,” said Zvezdan Mitrović, head coach of the Dragons’ senior team, ahead of Sunday’s showdown in Hala Tivoli.

“I hope and expect that the fans will come out to support us in large numbers. We’ll need to give it our all. We have to focus on our performances in the ABA League, where we need to secure a playoff spot, so every game is important, and we need wins. We must get back on a winning track, stay focused, and give everything, as Zadar will surely come out motivated. Another dog fight awaits us,” said Devin Robinson ahead of Sunday’s game.

GAME PREVIEW:

Despite Tuesday’s loss to Bahçeşehir in Istanbul, Cedevita Olimpija has recently sparked basketball fever in Slovenia. In addition to their home win in the EuroCup round of 16 against Beşiktaş in Stožice, the Ljubljana club defeated the EuroLeague team Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet in the same arena just a few days later. Amid the loud atmosphere in the stands of Slovenia’s largest sports arena, the scoreboard last Sunday showed 74:69 in favor of the Dragons, who thus ended a streak of two consecutive losses in the regional league in the best possible way.

Devin Robinson and Brynton Lemar were the top scorers for the Green-and-Orange squad with 15 points each. Aleksej Nikolić, who took over the captain’s role after Jaka Blažič’s injury, contributed 13 points and six rebounds, while Andrija Stipanović also reached double digits in points.

Zadar, the leading team in the Croatian national championship, will visit the Slovenian capital on Sunday. They are coming off a regional league win against Krka and a victory over Šibenka in their domestic league on Friday. Before beating Krka, Zadar suffered three consecutive losses, all against top-tier teams, but prior to that, they defeated SC Derby, lost on the road to Igokea m:tel in the 17th round, and recorded five straight wins between rounds 12 and 16. The Dalmatian team, which boasts a regional championship title from 2003, is still in contention for a playoff spot, forming a trio of teams with Mega Superbet and FMP Soccerbet, each with 11 wins and 11 losses.

Zadar’s most effective player in the regional league is American wing Tyler Wahl, averaging 10.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 3.0 assists, and reaching double-digit points in his last 13 games. He is followed by the experienced Vladimir Mihailović, who averages 16.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game.

In the first mutual encounter of the season at the legendary Jazine arena in Zadar, the Ljubljana team started cautiously and trailed by double digits after eight minutes. Unfortunately, this proved decisive, as although Cedevita Olimpija closed the gap in the final quarter and tried to turn the game around, they ultimately fell short, with the scoreboard showing 81:73 in Zadar’s favor. Devin Robinson led Cedevita Olimpija with 18 points, while Jaka Blažič added 12. For Zadar, Amar Gegić scored 24 points, and Lovro Mazalin finished with 21.

ADMIRALBET ABA LEAGUE, 23RD ROUND OF THE REGULAR SEASON

Hala Tivoli (Ljubljana, Slovenia), Sunday, March 16, at 6:00 PM:
CEDEVITA OLIMPIJA – ZADAR (ticket purchase; TV broadcast on Arena Sport 2)

STANDINGS:

LOOKING AHEAD:

With the competitive EuroCup season now concluded for the Ljubljana Dragons, the Cedevita Olimpija senior team enters a period where they will take the court just once a week. Their next challenge awaits them the following weekend when they travel to Belgrade to face Mega. They return to their home court on March 30, hosting Borac in Stožice.