Saturday brings matchup with Budućnost in Morača

Cedevita Olimpija will face Budućnost VOLI on Saturday at 18.15 in Round 4 of the new regional season in Podgorica. The Dragons are chasing third straight victory in ABA League.

The Ljubljana Dragons face a new challenging away game. On Saturday at 18.15, Cedevita Olimpija will face Budućnosti VOLI in Morača, Podgorica, in the fourth round of the regular season of the regional league. The Ljubljana team left for the capital of Montenegro in the early hours of Thursday morning, and their journey from Cluj, Romania, where they lost to U-BT Cluj in the second round of the 7DAYS EuroCup (76:94) on Wednesday, led them through Munich and Vienna, where Yogi Ferrell joined his teammates and travelled with them to Podgorica. However, Lovro Gnjidić did not travel to the Montenegrin capital, as he returned to Ljubljana after playing in Cluj, where he is awaiting additional medical examinations following an injury to his hamstring sustained in the last seconds of the second round of the European Cup.

You will be able to watch the live TV broadcast of the match on Arena Sport 1.

After three games played in the new regional season, Budućnost VOLI has two wins and one loss on its account. The team from Podgorica experienced this in the second round against the current champions of the competition, Crvena zvezda mts basketball players (65:69), followed by a reliable victory over MZT on their home floor (89:66). The current Montenegrin national champions enter the showdown with Cedevita Olimpija after a great victory over Slask from Wroclaw in the second round of the 7DAYS EuroCup regular season (98:58). The most effective basketball player of Budućnost was Cameron Reynolds, who added seven rebounds to 21 points, while Alpha Kaba (17), Igor Drobnjak (13) and Kenan Kamenjaš (10) also scored in double digits. Reynolds joined the Budućnost team this summer, as did Kamenjaš, Kaba, Phil Booth, Treo Bell-Haynes, Aleksa Ilić, Aleksandar Lazić and Aaron White.

“A new game is ahead of us. Budućnost is always an extremely strong competitor in Podgorica. Just like us, the locals have also renovated their team compared to last season. They improve from game to game, play recognizable and fast basketball. We have to make a step forward and play tighter, more intense, with more running and more fighting. We lacked that in the last few games. We are picking ourselves up slowly and we will do our best to play a good game. Some players are back in the team after health problems, hopefully , so that they will catch their breath and the right rhythm as quickly as possible. It will certainly be easier for us, because our main game organizer has also joined the team. We have analyzed the last match in the 7DAYS EuroCup, and at the same time, players who did not train before will now be able to work with the team training,” Cedevita Olimpija’s strategist Jurica Golemac said before the match in Podgorica.

“It’s nice to be back. I’m still not quite right, but the most important thing is that I’m with the team and that we train together. I missed the boys. We have a challenging match in Romania behind us, but we have an opportunity to pick ourselves up in the showdown with Budućnost. Our rivals have put together a good team again. It is a team that is extremely attack-oriented, but we have to do everything to stop their shooters and at the same time limit them with a physical defense. We have to play the whole game focused, especially on the little things, but at the same time to get battles that can go either way and get back on the winning track,” point guard Yogi Ferrell said upon returning to the team before Saturday’s game.

Cedevita Olimpija did not step on the court in the third round of the regional league due to health problems, which greatly affected the green-orange team. On Wednesday, the Ljubljana basketball players stepped onto the floor in the Romanian BT Arena in a weakened lineup and, despite a fighting performance, with which they almost made up for the 29-point deficit from the third part of the game in the last quarter, lost with a score of 76:94. Josh Adams had his best performance of the season, adding nine assists and seven rebounds to his 25 points.

REGIONAL LEAGUE, ROUND 4

Sports Centre Morača (Podgorica, Montenegro), Saturday, October 22, at 18.15:
BUDUĆNOST VOLI – CEDEVITA OLIMPIJA

STANDINGS: