The Dragons to face Split on Sunday

On Saturday morning, the Cedevita Olimpija team traveled to Split, where the third match in the last six days awaits them on Sunday at 15.00. In the clash of the 16th round of the ABA League, the Dragons will face the players from Split.

After two victories over Budućnost VOLI in the home team Stožice, Tuesday in the 7DAYS EuroCup and Thursday in the ABA League, the basketball week for Cedevita Olimpija is not over yet. On Sunday at 3 pm, the Dragons will play in the 16th round of the regional league, and in Split they will face the home team, which currently occupies the eighth place in the ABA League standings with five victories in 15 matches.

If our memory only flashes to the first clash between Cedevita Olimpija and Split in the 2020/21 season, then many people could expect that the Dragons in Dalmatia will have an easy job ahead of them. Last year, on 16 October, the traffic light in Ljubljana’s Tivoli Hall showed 94:66 in favor of Ljubljana’s basketball players. The fact is that Split has recently proved to be an extremely unfavorable competitor in the ABA League, and the basketball players from Dalmatia gained additional weight with the accession of Roko Leni Ukić, who moved to Split in early January from Cedevita Olimpija.

In the Croatian national championship, Split currently occupies the second place with 13 victories in 17 matches, but lags only behind Zadar, which has more victories. It should definitely be added that Split achieved most of the last victories in the Croatian Premier League with a high advantage, in the 14th round of the ABA League Buducnost VOLI lost 78:77 in Split, and in the 15th round FMP won for the victory over Split needed as many as two overtimes (96:92).

The most efficient basketball player in Split this regional season is Marko Luković, who averages 17.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game.

STATEMENTS AHEAD OF THE GAME:

Jurica Golemac, head coach of Cedevita Olimpija:
“We have a very demanding match ahead of us. Split has been playing great lately, the team from Dalmatia also brought some players who gave the team additional quality. The players of Split play aggressively, they are all tall, and with that they can cover a large area of the court. For us, this match after two clashes with Buducnost is not coming at just the right time. We need to regenerate well and prepare for Sunday to be as physically and mentally present as possible in Sunday’s match. We will do our best to return home with two new points.”

Alen Hodžić, player of Cedevita Olimpija:
“Split is a very unfavorable opponent who plays better and better from game to game. They also proved this in the last two matches in the ABA League and defeated Buducnost and resisted FMP until the end of the second overtime. As in every game, we go for the win, but we will have to focus on our tasks for all 40 minutes, and win a new victory on the road with a game in defense.”

ABA LEAGUE, ROUND 16

Small Hall KK Split (Split, Croatia), Sunday, January 24, at 15.00:
SPLIT – CEDEVITA OLIMPIJA

STANDINGS: