Saturday’s derby against Partizan

Cedevita Olimpija will continue with the strenuous rhythm of matches on Saturday. At 19.00, the Dragons will face Belgrade’s Partizan NIS in the 17th round of the ABA League in the Stožice Arena.

The basketball players of Cedevita Olimpija are facing a new and demanding test. The infernal rhythm of matches in January will continue on Saturday at 19.00, when they will face Belgrade’s Partizan NIS in the derby of the 17th round of the ABA League. The match, which will take place behind closed doors of the cone beauty, will be broadcast live on Arena Sport 1.

The team of head coach Jurica Golemec enters the clash with the people of Belgrade with a series of four consecutive victories, and a series of successes began last Tuesday, when they defeated Budućnost VOLI in Stožice with 74:71. The Podgorica team was then defeated two days later in the fifth round of the ABA League (95:84), followed by a high victory in Split (98:81), and on Wednesday the Dragons defeated JL Bourg in the Stožen Hall (94:91). In this period, the Ljubljana team is adorned mainly with fighting and uncompromising play, and every individual who steps on the field contributes to the success of Cedevita Olimpija.

Partizan NIS basketball players started the second part of the 7DAYS EuroCup with two defeats in three games. They experienced their last failure on Wednesday, when they played in Krasnodar and lost to Lokomotiv 67:74. The best scorer in the black and white team was Novica Veličković, who added five points and five rebounds. It should also be mentioned that Partizan did not step on the floor last weekend in the ABA League and clashed with FMP, as the duel with the team from Železnik was postponed for preventive reasons and fear of infections with COVID-19 in the ranks of Partizan.

In the 15 ABA League matches played so far, Partizan, led from the bench by an old acquaintance of the Ljubljana club Sašo Filipovski, has collected seven victories and suffered eight defeats. The most efficient basketball player of the Belgrade team in the regional competition is another old acquaintance of Cedevita Olimpija, Codi Miller-McIntyre, who has recently been at the exit door of Partizan, and his performance in Saturday’s match is thus in question.

STATEMENTS AHEAD OF THE GAME:

Jurica Golemac, head coach of Cedevita Olimpija:
“A challenging match with a lot of physical play awaits us. In defense, we will have to play great and parry in the game in the jump. In Belgrade, the basketball players of Partizan NIS ‘beat’ us, and at the same time picked up a lot of jumps in the attack. Therefore, the most important thing will be to protect our basic defensive jump, and, of course, to watch out for all other things. Partizan is a great team with a very good coach. There is definitely a tough match ahead of us, as the rhythm of the matches is really fierce. We are all healthy and we will all do our best to record a new victory.”

Luka Rupnik, player of Cedevita Olimpija:
“We have another in a series of difficult matches ahead of us, and the rhythm is extremely strenuous. I hope we continue with the series of good performances we have shown so far. Partizan NIS is a great team with very good individuals. It is true that the people of Belgrade did not start the season in the best way, but with the arrival of head coach Saša Filipovski, they set up the game system anew. I believe they will rise even higher in their game in the future, so we will have to continue to play solidly in defense on Saturday, help each other out and control the game in the jump.”

ABA LEAGUE, ROUND 17

Stožice Arena (Ljubljana, Slovenia), Saturday, January 30, at 19.00:
CEDEVITA OLIMPIJA – PARTIZAN NIS

STANDINGS: