Krka seek salvation against wounded Partizan NIS
In the opening game of Sunday’s ABA League programme, Krka will try to come up with a huge upset and beat Partizan NIS on the road in the middle of the Belgrade. The win is a must for Simon Petrov and his players in order to continue fighting to avoid relegation.
William Hatcher(Photo: Krka/Danilo Kesic)
ABA League 25th round, Sunday, 5.3.2017:
Where? Aleksandar Nikolić Sports Hall, Belgrade.
When? 17:00
Story of the game: An unusual game, where it is almost impossible to make any predictions ahead of its start is coming up in Belgrade, where Partizan NIS will host Krka.
Why unpredictable? Partizan NIS are still facing many health problems of their players and will definitely not be able to count on Will Hatcher, Vanja Marinković, Miloš Koprivica, Kenan Karahodžić and Slobodan Jovanović and maybe even on Jamont Gordon, Branislav Ratkovica and Novica Veličković.
On the other hand, Krka are coming to Belgrade with the new head coach which will present his new philosophy for Krka’s team, so it is expected for us to see a whole new outlook of the Novo mesto side, which will play without injured Danish international Darko Jukic.
It is a game of huge stake for both sides, as Partizan NIS desperately need to win in order to maintain their realistic chances of taking the second place in the standings after regular season and gain home court advantage in the semi-finals. On the other side, Krka are currently alone at the bottom of the standings and only victories can save them from possible relegation from the regional competition.
The first time that the two sides have met in the ABA League this season, Partizan NIS triumphed in Novo mesto with the score of 82:70.
Match-up in focus: Partizan are placing their hopes on the dominance in the paint, under the guidance of ABA League February MVP Stefan Birčević. On the other side there will be excellent Krka’s most valuable player Marko Luković, who will try his best to prevent him from doing so. Will he succeed?
Head to head in regional league: In total 12:3; In Belgrade 5:2.
