Buducnost - Partizan
International - ABA League, Round 22
The Basketball Expert
A very turbulent week is behind Buducnost. First, they squandered a big lead against Ulm in the Eurocup round of 16, and then they shockingly lost to Borac Cacak in the ABA league. Due to these results, head coach Vlade Jovanovic was fired, and Petar Mijovic succeeded him. The atmosphere inside locker room isn’t best, and team is generally poorly assembled. During this season, Erick Green, J.J. O'Brien and Emmanuel Lecomte were additionally signed. Things improved a bit from the moment they arrived, but it didn't last too long. No matter how this game against Partizan ends, Buducnost will have Mega as their opponent in the ABA League quarterfinals.
Only one more win separates Partizan from clinching first place in the ABA League. In this way, they would ensure home court advantage throughout entire playoffs. Only the winner of this competition is guaranteed a place in the Euroleague next season, and it’s clear how important it is for the black and whites to lift the trophy. Previous years taught us that it is extremely difficult to make a break in the final series of the ABA league. In the last 18 final games, home team won all 18 times. Everyone knows that and Partizan will make a maximum effort to stay ahead of Red Star in the table.
One of the weakest links of Buducnost this season is game under the rim. When Alpha Kaba is not in the mood or gets into foul trouble early, almost all opponents dominate against them. Kenan Kamenjas is not at that level, so Mathias Lessort will definitely cause a lot of problems for Buducnost. Momentum is also on Partizan side, and in Podgorica the black and whites always have great support from the fans. Partizan are a much better team, this game has incomparably greater significance for them, plus the atmosphere is much more positive in visitors camp. Maybe they won't win easily like in Zadar, but we shouldn't expect any close ending. Partizan will solve this in their favor much earlier.
Pistol Pete
Partizan has the task of securing first place ahead of the ABA league playoffs, in the previously postponed 22nd round match, against Buducnost Voli.
The Belgrade club, which previously secured the place in Euroleague quarterfinals, is the absolute favorite against Buducnost Voli. Since the end of March and the defeat against mighty Barcelona 89:80 in the European competition, the "black and whites" have won six times in a row in all competitions.
The team that is probably the best exponent of attacking basketball on the continent right now, in the ABA league has 15 wins in a row. Of those, only four were by less than double digits.
On the other hand, Buducnost Voli disappointed this spring. Last week, the defeats against the German team Ulm in the Eurocup, and then shockingly against the outsider Borac on their own field 87:85, cost coach Vladimir Jovanovic his job. Fan favorite Petar Mijovic was returned to the club, who has the opportunity to lead the Buducnost Voli team for the third time from the bench. So far, Mijovic has two triumphs in three matches against Partizan, but from the period when the Belgrade club was of significantly lower quality.
Now Partizan is recognized as one of the candidates for the European title, and is also the favorite for the throne in the regional competition. Because of this, Buducnost Voli will be fiercely motivated in this match, but Montenegrin team will hardly be able to match the favorite in Podgorica.
Buducnost Voli, first of all, showed in previous defeats (five defeats since mid-March) that it has problems in defense. Especially against teams that take a lot of three-point shots and that tend to solve attacks as soon as possible, and that is Partizan's style of play.
In the ABA league, Partizan scores as many as 93.6 points per match, while Buducnost Voli is also offensively inspired this season (87.2 points on average). The Belgrade team has a great 20.1 assists on average and it is certain that in the long stages of the match they will know how to punish the "holes" in the defense of the home team. This season, guests shoot three-pointers with as much as 45.8 percent of the realization in the ABA league, what is fantastic score.
When it comes to the historical score, Buducnost Voli as the host has a 10:8 advantage in victories against Partizan. But the reality is that since the founding of the ABA league, Partizan has probably not had such a high-quality set of individuals, as this season.
In their last two matches, Partizan managed to score over 100 points. At the beginning of December last year in Belgrade, the home team won 106:77, and in the third match of the semi-finals in May last year it was 101:77 for Partizan. The reality is to expect a convincing victory for the legendary coach Zeljko Obradovic's team in this match as well.