« No injuries, no Covid, we just didn’t do our job »

The European season did not start according to the expectations or desires of the Ljubljana team. Last week, he lost to Bursaspor, who has now won – with only seven players in rotation – the competition’s favorite Juventus, which comes to Stožice on Wednesday. Cedevita Olimpija scored another defeat, having been beaten by the competition’s newcomer, Roman Cluj, by 94:76. The Slovenian champion traveled to Transylvania weak, suffering from a lot of health problems. In addition to injuries, they were also affected by covid-19, which, of course, was known, but, as they themselves emphasized, nothing should be an excuse to perform under any criticism in the first part of the meeting.

“If the game starts quietly, you can’t expect to win. There was no energy, no intensity, and we didn’t play enough physically… Like I said, we started very quietly. Then we chased the whole time back, but the players lacked the strength and the mood to come out victorious,” He was a crucial coach from Ljubljana. The hosts played a really mediocre run. Executing almost everything was bad. The team, which was supposed to have an attacking potential similar to that of the second half of last season, when Ljubljana’s attack was the best in both the ABA League and the European Cup, gave only 31 points in the first half of the match. It’s true that some important guys were missing, but a good 30% field goal is still too low to succeed down the road at this level.

The five balls they lost in the first 20 minutes were wasted after they started making mistakes. At the same time, they collected a total of five passes. Josh Adams, Who gave 15 points in the first part, should be in his absence Yogi Ferrell To also take the role of the organizer, but in the first half he created the American only for himself and played rather aggressively, like some of his teammates, while others watched him steadily. However, the American was the only one in a good mood in the first half of the match. In general, no one deserves a positive review of the game in the first part. The guests entered the second half with a 17-point delay, which was more the result of a very poor defense than an ineffective attack.

In the first half, he is a non-combatant and very selfish

Cluj’s basketball players were able to easily get open shots, but the jump will be especially noticeable. Not only did Ljubljana lose in the battle for 26:16 rebounds, the hosts collected more offensive rebounds (12) than defensive Cedevita Olympia (11). « We didn’t play as a team in the first half. We were selfish. Then in the second half we started playing like this, but it didn’t work out. We fought and we have to keep going and building in the second half. But that’s no excuse. We should have won. We have good players, enough talent and we didn’t. You fight in the first half. It has nothing to do with injuries, not COVID-19. We didn’t do our job, » He said Aaron Harrison.

The American was among the most responsible for bringing the Dragon back into the game after falling behind by 29, but in the end they didn’t even come close to -7. Harrison contributed 15 points. Adams was even better, as in the second half he also did a better job of organizing and collecting a total of nine assists, with 25 and Allen Omec with 17 “We found five players who worked hard on the field and really gave their best at the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the last, but we didn’t have enough strength to catch it. In the end, that’s the result. Cluj is a good team, especially at home in front of a full house. No We are well prepared and then a match like this happens. Obviously we are not satisfied. It is still the beginning of the season and we have to collect, analyze and train as best as possible to be better.” Golymak said. Harrison added:We fought and showed that when we play the right way, we are a good team. We have to be more disciplined, keep our heads up and fight like we did in the second half. »

The next test will be very difficult. On Saturday at 18:15, as part of the ABA League, the Dragons will visit Morača, where they will face Budućnost. They went to Montenegro directly from Romania. It is possible that some of those who missed the tour in Transylvania will join the Gollum line in Podgorica. The champions of Montenegro have once again made a strong team, and given that Crvena zvezda and Partizan are one step ahead on paper and on budget, they should be the main contender of Team Ljubljana in the battle for third place in the region. It’s on the hot seat in Podgorica alexander dicic replacing Vlada Yovanovicwho previously managed Mega, and in the past already won the Adriatic League with Partizan.

The Dragons haven’t been celebrating in Moraya for a long time

There are also many changes in the Budućnost team. The first shooter is an American winger basketball player Cameron Reynoldswho came from Trento and also played a few games in the NBA. Aaron White from Zvezda, Phil Booth from canada ostend Trey Bill HaynesHe is the first game organizer from Breogne. First place is now French Alpha Kappa Who was a member of Gaziantep recently, and in the ABA league he has already played for Mega. The Bosnia delegate joined from the Student Center Kenan Cummings And the Alexa Illich, And from the seas, a former dragon Alexander Lazic. They are gone Kendrick Petty, Justin Cobbs, DJ Seely, Willie Reed, Vladimir Mikov, Danilo Nikolic …

The Dragons reliably won their last match in March, but before that Budućnost had been five best in a row, and the residents of Ljubljana in the Montenegrin capital had not defeated them in nearly nine years. Last week, Podgorica scored two big wins, beating Slasek 58:98 in the European Cup, and MZT Skopje 89:66 in the Adriatic League. Previously, in the regional competition, they lost to Zvezda (69:65) and got rid of Split (94:59), while in the European Cup they lost to Hamburg (73:66), where Summer seal Contribute 11 points.

Summer was also Cedevita Olimpija’s wish when she left Spain. Jeseničan spent one season at Ljubljana before moving to Madrid to join Real. In Cluj, the dragons had a lot of problems organizing the game. I felt Ferrell’s absence, Lovro Gengedic However, after the injury, he is still unable to find the right rhythm or form. Meanwhile, in Stožice, they agreed on a short-term cooperation with Matisse RibisiHe made his debut in Romania with the Slovenian champions shirt. So they now have three playmakers in the squad, and with Ferrell gone there were a lot of problems. The « play » for the national team was at hand Alexey Nikolic, which is already a proven name at the top European level, but already in the summer, Cedevita Olimpija rejected this possibility. He trained and waited for the right show, and before signing Ryback, he agreed with Italian Sassari and scored 16 points on his debut.