Crvena Zvezda - Split

International. ABA league, Round 26

Without a place in the Top 8 phase, but with their heads held high and with a clear impression of the rise of form, Crvena Zvezda finished the competition in the Euroleague last week.

Now the Belgrade club is completely turning to the regional ABA league, in which they are defending its title. In the last 26th round of the league, they will meet Split, who pleasantly surprised this season and earned ten victories in 25 games.

The guests have announced that they will play without several players who need rest during a longer recovery period, while the coach of Crvena Zvezda, the famous Duško Ivanovic, will certainly calculate with the playing time of the key first team players. Nevertheless, a fast-paced match is expected, for two teams that are relieved and motivated to provide good attacking games.

Crvena Zvezda's triumph in this match, the seventh in a row against the three-time European champions and the tenth in a row on their home ground in their duels, will not be in question. What is also certain is a match with a large number of shots on both sides, in which both teams have a chance for good realization.

The favorite is in excellent form, with eight wins in a row in all competitions. On their home field, Crvena Zvezda plays efficiently, in the last three matches in Belgrade they scored at least 87 points. The atmosphere in the team is much better than at the beginning of March, when the team ran out of chances for the quarterfinals of the Euroleague and had a costly defeat against Cibona away in the ABA league.

On the other hand, Split is largely focused on the end of the domestic Croatian championship, and the victory over Zadar 85:76 on Saturday is confirmation that the team is on the right track. In as many as 18 of the 20 matches played since the end of January in all competitions, Split scored at least 84 points. That says a lot about coach Srđan Subotić's game system, which requires players to shoot in the early phase of the attack, but also lets the opponents to do so. With the approach of always enjoying the game and believing in one's attacking qualities, even against much better rivals, such as Crvena Zvezda.

This season in the ABA league, Crvena Zvezda scores 87.3 points on average, while Split's score is 82.8 scored and even 85.6 conceded points per match. It is certain that the home team will have an opportunity for an exceptional offensive score in this game, if they have enough focus for a good realization in the long stages of the match.

Both teams play dominantly as a team, Zvezda has 21.9 assists per match (Split also very good 17.6 on average). The game of the Belgrade team will depend a lot on the playing time of the playmaker Facundo Campazzo. The Argentine played perfectly against Fenerbahce in Friday's Euroleague win. His minutes on the field will certainly bring quick opportunities for realization. Since he has been in the ABA league, Campazzo has recorded an excellent 15.4 points and 6.8 assists, as well as 2.5 steals on average.

Split also has an excellent defender among the guards, shooting guard Shannon Shorter is the first scorer (17.9 points on average), jumper (6.6), second assistant (3.2) and first in the category of stolen balls (2 on average) when it comes to the Croatian team.

Crvena Zvezda's convincing early lead will certainly bring a more relaxed game for both teams, it should not be surprising if the final score would be extremely high for ABA league standards.