Cedevita Olimpija’s senior team is set to begin the new competitive season on the regional stage. In the first round of the regular season of the AdmiralBet ABA League, the team, led by head coach Zvezdan Mitrović, will face FMP Soccerbet. For the first time since the 2019/20 season, the Ljubljana club will start the new season in the regional league with an away game. On Sunday at 21.00, both teams will step onto the court in Železnik.

STATEMENTS BEFORE THE GAME:

“After preparations, pre-season games, and the first official match, our first regional league game against FMP is ahead of us. As with all first games with a new team and new players, we must expect a reaction from the players. Even I don’t know exactly how everything will look at a certain moment,” said the head coach of the Dragons, Zvezdan Mitrović, before the Sunday game. “We are preparing for the game, and I expect the team to step onto the court ready. I also believe the players won’t lack motivation. No matter how much you work and train, the first games are always unpredictable. We will prepare, wait for Sunday evening, and see how everything looks on the court.”

“From the beginning of preparations, we were aware that a working period was ahead of us, and we still have a lot of work to do. Each of us accepts and trusts what the coaching staff is telling us. There are still many things we need to incorporate into our game, but we are not rushing. We are taking everything step by step,” said DJ Stewart, who we didn’t see on the court in Laško on Tuesday. “We looked very good in the Supercup. We played tough, and we managed to throw our opponents off their rhythm early on, which affected their confidence. We still made a lot of mistakes, but we have time to correct them. Now, the first regional league game is ahead of us. It’s definitely a bit harder to talk about expectations; we can only control how we play and try to make as few mistakes as possible in our game. If we hope to win, we have to follow our game plan throughout the entire match.”

TV BROADCAST:

The live television broadcast of the match against FMP Soccerbet will be available on Kanal A, VOYO, and Arena Sport Slovenia 1 Premium.

MATCH PREVIEW:

After the preparation period, during which they won six out of eight friendly matches, Cedevita Olimpija successfully started the new season on Tuesday in Laško. The Dragons won the 2024 Supercup game against Krka with a score of 103:73, securing their 11th consecutive trophy in competitions under the Slovenian Basketball Association. In the Green-Orange squad, which played without DJ Stewart, Devin Robinson, Lovro Gnjidić, and Joan Beringer, the top scorers were Brynton Lemar, Aleksej Nikolić, and Žiga Daneu, each scoring 16 points. Daneu was also named the most valuable player of the Supercup match.

Ahead of the 2024/25 season, FMP Soccerbet has made significant changes to their roster, with new additions including Stefan Lazarević, Dušan Radosavljević, Danilo Tasić, and Bojan Tomašević. After reaching the playoffs in the regional league for two consecutive seasons, FMP missed out last season, so expectations will surely be high at the Železnik club.

Cedevita Olimpija’s Sunday opponent played six friendly matches during the preparation period. The Železnik team faced Zhejiang Guangsha, Michigan State University, Dynamic VIP PAY, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Dubai, and AEK, with their only loss coming against Hapoel.

Most recently, on September 10, the Panthers played against AEK and won 84:73. Danilo Tasić and Ognjen Kuzmić both scored 16 points, while Jovan Novak recorded 12 points and 10 assists.

ADMIRALBET ABA LEAGUE, REGULAR SEASON ROUND 1

Arena KK FMP (Železnik, Slovenia), Sunday, September 22, at 21.00:
FMP SOCCERBET – CEDEVITA OLIMPIJA (TV broadcast on Arena Sport 1 Premium and Kanal A)

LOOKING AHEAD:

The Dragons will travel directly from Belgrade to Romania the day after the game against FMP, where they will face Cluj in the first round of the BKT EuroCup regular season on Wednesday, September 25. Their first home game of the regional league season will take place on Sunday, September 29, at 5:00 PM in Stožice, where they will host Dubai. On Tuesday, October 1, Venezia’s Umana Reyer will visit Stožice for the second round of the EuroCup.

Tickets for both matches are already available at vstopnice.olimpija.com, and the game against Venezia will feature a Pre-Basket Party starting at 6:00 PM outside the arena.