2018/19 ABA League Teams – Petrol Olimpija
One of the two teams that have participated in each and every regional league season since its establishment, is entering the new season with the brand-new philosophy – full of youthful energy.
(Photo: ABA League)
The team of Ljubljana will for sure be one of the most intriguing in the following season of the ABA League, since its management have not only decided to rebuild the majority of their new team, but have decided to enter the new chapter with a brand new philosophy – one that will require lots of hard work to develop the success story, but… if the job is done properly, the reward will be huge.
The squad, which will continue to be led on the court by head coach Zoran Martić will be arguably not just one of the most talented in the region, but in entire Europe. The Dragons have managed to gather three major prospects of European basketball in one place, as Ukrainian prodigy Issuf Vladlen Sanon, the 44th overall pick at the 2018 NBA Draft, is staying in Ljubljana and Croatian and Montenegrin rising stars Luka Šamanić and Marko Simonović have joined here. One should also mention another newcomer, the youngest member of the squad, Petar Vujačić (stepbrother of famous Sasha Vujačić), who used to be the key player of Slovenia U18 National Team this summer.
The new American duo, including Marvin Jones and Jalek Felton also possess lots of youth and talent, not forgetting their athleticism.
Jan Barbarič, Igor Tratnik, Jan Špan, Dražen Bubnić, Mirza Begić, Bojan Radulović and Erjon Kastrati are here to give the team the necessary stability and to make sure that it would climb up the ladder, which they have stepped on last season when they have won the domestic league trophy for the second time in a row and qualified for the ABA Super Cup for the first time in a row by claiming the 7th place in the ABA League. While the other newcomers, such as Aleksandar Lazić, Blaž Mesiček, Miha Lapornik and Jan Rebec are expected to bring some experience and depth to the entire team.
Since the Ljubljana squad have currently no less than 18 players under their umbrella, some of them will likely not receive significant playing time in the ABA League, but it might be too early to identify those. The rotation is wide and the coach will have lots of sweet dilemmas in his practices when his lads will be competing for their spot on the court.
