Igokea - SC Derby
International - Liga ABA, Round 26
Igokea and SC Derby will close the program of the last, 26th round of the regional ABA league in a non-competitive match, in which both teams will have the opportunity to play completely relieved.
With the performance of nine wins in this season in ABA league, tonight's home team solved all concerns about survival. They have long been without chances for the playoffs. On the other hand, SC Derby fulfilled expectations by reaching the quarterfinals, and this season's good games of the young team from Podgorica will be rewarded with playoff duels against one of the excellent teams from the Euroleague (Partizan or Crvena Zvezda).
It will be a difficult task for Igokea to prevent the transition game of coach Andrej Žakelj's team, as well as a large number of three-point shots that SC Derby players will certainly take. Both teams are on the rise and have generally made a good impression since mid-winter. Igokea, before the defeat of Euroleague team Partizan away in the previous round (89:74), had four wins in a row. It was in the second half of March that the team from Bosnia and Herzegovina secured survival.
SC Derby continuously plays effectively, an example is the match played on April 4 away to the favorite Cedevita Olimpija in Ljubljana, which the team from Podgorica lost 84:83. It rarely happens that in SC Derby matches, at least one team does not score at least 85 points. Against teams of similar quality, as Igokea is, Andrej Žakelj's players as a rule manage to impose a fast tempo of the game and ensure a large number of shots on both sides.
This is supported by the fact that SC Derby scores 84.6 points per match in the ABA league this season, and receives as much as 89 on average. Igokea is not defensively competent either, in the past 25 rounds they have conceded 85.4 points per match.
The first part of the season saw a spectacle of attacking basketball, SC Derby won 104:85 in Podgorica on December 28. Since then, Igokea has changed coach, found winning energy and the rhythm of the game that suits them. Last season, in their only previous match in Laktaši in March 2022, it was 83:67 for Igokea. Since then, SC Derby have completely changed their game system and adopted an attacking mindset, making them one of the most attractive teams to watch in the regional competition.
If the match had any significance in the results, we would expect a big fight with fierce duels, especially under the basket. This is how we should expect a match with a large number of shots from distance, in which teams will not risk injuries to important players.
The performance of guard Loren Jackson, the main playmaker for SC Derby, could also determine the outcome of the duel - the American has an excellent 15.7 points and 5.7 assists on average this season and is the team leader in the ABA league in both categories. He missed four matches in a row in the ABA due to injury and returned in the previous round in the victory over FMP 84:74. With an exceptional game (19 points and four assists), he only confirmed that he is fully recovered - as well as how important he is to the game of the Montenegrin team.