Ratiopharm Ulm - Buducnost Voli
International - Eurocup, Playoffs, Round of 16
Ratiopharm Ulm enters the match of the round of 16 Eurocup against Buducnost Voli with important confidence, earned with seven wins in the last nine matches, played over a month behind us.
In that period, the German team played some exceptional attacking matches, first of all at home: against the excellent Romanian team Cluj-Napoca on March 29 (91:71), four days earlier in the German Bundesliga (93:73 against Ludwigsburg)... Last weekend Hamburg was defeated in style (112:78).
During the five-week period behind us, only the defeat against Euroleague team Bayern, on April 4, 77:59, was a major setback - and absolutely the only offensively bad game since the beginning of March. It is clear, why is everyone in the Ulm team convinced that they deserve the role of favorite against the Montenegrin representative Buducnost Voli. The trip to the quarterfinals will be decided already in this match in Ulm, and the German team plays mostly dominantly as the host.
On the other hand, the form of Buducnost Voli is on the rise in the regional ABA league - but that cannot be said when it comes to duels with European rivals. The team that finished the Eurocup group stage with a 9-9 performance (sixth place in the group) has lost as many as four times in the last five European matches. In each of those four defeats, the Montenegrin team practically did not threaten its rivals.
The last time Buducnost Voli played a good away game in the Eurocup was on January 11, when they also defeated Germany's Hamburg 87:59. However, Ratiopharm Ulm is offensively a much more mature, diverse and potent team than Hamburg.
Ulm scores an excellent 84.4 points per match in the Eurocup (the same amount they concede on average), while Buducnost Voli is more oriented towards solid defense (scores 78.7 and concedes 76.2 points per match). The home team will look for a way to speed up the game as soon as possible and will insist on shorter attacks. If they manage more of such longer phases of the match, in front of their fans, the convincing triumph of Ratiopharm Ulm will not be in question.
This will be the fifth duel between these teams, and Ratiopharm Ulm is in a good position to achieve a second victory. In the last season, the German team managed to beat this rival for the first time, 89:68. The attacking rhythm of players like Yago Dos Santos will be extremely important for the host: the excellent shooter has scored at least 12 points in each of the last five games in the Eurocup, including at least one three-pointer in each of them. In the last 16 matches in this competition, Dos Santos had at least three assists, and he is currently ninth in the competition in average index rating (17.4 per game) and third in average assists (6.1 per game).
When it comes to Buducnost Voli, the game of the visitors will depend a lot on the inspiration of the exceptional shooter Eric Green, who has scored at least one three-pointer in the last seven appearances in the Eurocup. Center Alpha Kaba is currently the first in the Eurocup in rebounding average (10.9 per game), and the hosts will try to prevent his offensive rebounds with special attention.
The home squad is a much better shooting team, they shoot three-pointers with 37.1 percent of success, and the rival with 32.9 percent... With the support of the fans and with an overall good form, anything but a victory for Ratiopharm Ulm would be a big surprise. The public in Montenegro does not expect much from their representative, while the Ulm audience and fans in the south of Germany have increasingly high expectations, based on the ever-improving results of local club. There is little chance that the German team will spoil the impression in the round of 16 of the Eurocup.