Türk Telekom is coming to Stožice for spectacle

The 7DAYS EuroCup playoffs start for Cedevita Olimpija on Tuesday. The Turkish team Türk Telekom is coming to the Arena Stožice in the eighth finals of the European Cup at 19.00, and only one match will decide which team will advance to the quarterfinals. Tickets to watch Tuesday’s basketball spectacle are still available.

Cedevita Olimpija has been on fire lately and enters the knock-out rounds on an eight-game winning streak. No other team has won its last four regular-season games this season. Cedevita Olimpija did so with a very attractive playing style and noisy home crowds at Stozice Arena. Indeed, its outstanding winning streak allowed Cedevita Olimpija to soar from being 3-7 and fighting for a playoffs spot to an 11-7 record in Group B and the home-court advantage in the eighthfinals.

Cedevita Olimpija broke the 100-point mark three times in its ingoing winning streak, getting 103 against Frutti Extra Bursaspor, 104 against ratiopharm Ulm and 105 against Umana Reyer Venice. It averaged 80.7 points in the 10 previous games. Over its last eight contests, Cedevita boosted its scoring average to 94.3 points while getting many different players involved. It is all set for a big basketball party in Ljubljana and Cedevita Olimpija has the pressure to live up to the high expectations.

Turk Telekom had to wait a very long time to get this close to a EuroCup title. Its last eighthfinals or Last 16 appearance came in the 2009-10 season, when it reached the second group stage. Led by Lamayne Wilson and Erwin Dudley, Telekom failed to advance to the quarterfinals, finishing the Last 16 with a 2-4 record. A year earlier, in the 2008-09 campaign, Turk Telekom opened the Last 16 with a home win against Zadar, but went on to lose its next five showdowns.

Its only appearance in elimination rounds came in the 2008 eighthfinals. Turk Telekom had a brilliant regular season, finishing it with a 9-1 record and handing Joventut Badalona its only loss that season. Khalid El-Amin, Chris Williams and Michael Wright led the team to a first-place finish in its group. UNICS Kazan stood in its way, getting a 91-65 win in the first leg of the two-leg series that was too much to overcome.

Both teams have players who know what it takes to lift the EuroCup trophy. Turk Telekom features JaJuan Johnson, who helped Darussafaka Istanbul win the title in 2018. He did so as one of the best players on the team; Johnson was chosen to the 2017-18 All-EuroCup Second Team after averaging 13.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 21 games. He had 8 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks in the title-clinching win against Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar.

A year earlier, Cedevita Olimpija center Alen Omic helped Unicaja Malaga win the 2016-17 EuroCup. Omic joined Unicaja midway through that season and averaged 6.4 points and 5.5 rebounds in 11 games. Omic had a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) in Game 2 of the finals against Valencia Basket to help Unicaja tie the series. He was ejected in Game 3 right before Unicaja’s fourth-quarter comeback.Dictating the game tempo is arguably more important in this game than in any other eighthfinals series, mainly because both teams have very different playing styles. Turk Telekom averaged 76.4 points per game this season. Only Slask Wroclaw (74.5 ppg.) has a lower scoring average among the 16 teams that reached the eighthfinals. Turk Telekom has taken 33.0 two-pointers and 24.1 three-pointers per night and gone to the foul line 17.4 times on average.

Cedevita Olimpija plays with shorter possessions and a faster rhythm. It has taken 34.7 two-pointers and 28.5 three-point shots on average, while going to the foul line more often (19.7) than its opponent. In that sense, point guards should have the key to this series. Alex Perez and Can Ogut should try to control the game tempo for the visitors. Cedevita Olimpija has a lot of guards – Jaka Blazic, Zoran Dragic, Jacob Pullen, Yogi Ferrell – who thrive in open court and transition situations and could make the difference.

STATEMENTS AHEAD OF THE GAME:

Jurica Golemac, head coach of Cedevita Olimpija:
“Türk Telekom is an experienced team with a lot of quality, which has a mix of former Euroleague players and experienced home players. We’re sure, that they won’t be afraid of Tuesday’s match. We will need a lot of help from our home fans. The playoffs are here. We have to give everything we got. We have quality to get a win, but we have to prove that.”

Jaka Blažič, captain of Cedevita Olimpija:
“We’re facing a team, which consist of a mixture of experienced Turkish player and players with Euroleague experience. Our opponents have a good playing system, and they’ve also won the game in Turkish domestic league, which they played on Saturday, so they’re coming to Stožice in good rhythm. We’re sure they’re not coming to Stožice with a white flag. We’re happy that the fans will join us in the arena.”

7DAYS EUROCUP, EIGHT FINALS

Stožice Arena (Ljubljana, Slovenia), Tuesday, April 19, at 19.00:
CEDEVITA OLIMPIJA – TÜRK TELEKOM