Zdovc: „We can hardly wait for it to begin“

Cedevita will face Budućnost VOLI in the semi-finals of the the 2018 ABA Playoffs, while their head coach Jurij Zdovc stated that the team cannot wait for the games to start.

The first match of the series will be played on Sunday in Podgorica, while Game 2 is scheduled one week later in Zagreb. If the score is tied after two games, the 3rd and decisive match will be played on March 31 in Podgorica.

„We can hardly wait for it to begin! The first game is very important, but there are no rules in semi-final series. We have some confidence as we have been winning games lately, and we need to play at the high level in order to keep winning. Yes, the offense is important, but I think that the key thing in this series will be defense. It is crucial for us to prevent their players in making some big scoring runs. They have a lot of quality in their roster. Whenever they face some problem, they can always count on Gordić, Ivanović or Gibson to make some points in a row and to completely change to flow of the game. Therefore, we must be smart and focused. We have no injury problems, we are well-rested and I can say that we really missed this kind of games,” said Zdovc.

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Zdovc: “Svi jedva čekamo da počne”

Regularna sezona ABA lige privedena je kraju, a Cedevita u doigravanje i lov na Euroligu kreće s treće pozicije i u polufinalnoj seriji igrat će na dvije pobjede protiv Budućnosti VOLI, koja je završila druga i imat će prednost domaćeg terena. Prva utakmica igrat će se u Podgorici u nedjelju u 21:00h, druga je na rasporedu tjedan dana kasnije (25. ožujka) u 18:00h u Zagrebu, a eventualna treća predviđena je za 31. ožujka.

Jurij Zdovc, trener Cedevite:

„Svi jedva čekamo da to počne. Prva utakmica u seriji je bitna, ali nema tu pravila kad se igra serija. Mi imamo neko samopouzdanje. Dobivamo utakmice, kako god da ih dobivamo, i moramo odigrati na visokom nivou. Napad je bitan, ali mislim da će na kraju presuditi obrana. Važno je zaustaviti serije njihovih igrača. Oni imaju individualnu kvalitetu. Igraju gore, dolje, padnu u neku rupu i onda se nađe neki Ivanović, Gibson ili Gordić, koji uđe u neku seriju i promijeni tok utakmice. Tu moramo biti pametni i koncentrirani. Bez ozljeda smo i kucam u drvo da tako ostane kako bi dali maksimum. Odmorili smo se, digli smo malo intenzitet. Fizički smo se spremili i možda smo se malo i zaželjeli tih utakmica.“