Zadar and SC Derby to close Round 15
In the last match of Round 15, Zadar will host SC Derby on Tuesday evening.
(Photo: SC Derby/Filip Roganovic)
2023/24 AdmiralBet ABA League Round 15, Monday, 9 January 2024:
ZADAR - SC DERBY
Where? Krešimir Ćosić Sports Hall, Zadar
When? 18:00
Story of the game: In the last match of Round 15, Zadar will host SC Derby on Tuesday evening.
After scoring two consecutive wins in the league, including the one against the reigning champions Partizan Mozzart Bet, Zadar suffered defeat last week in the match against Budućnost VOLI. That game brought some more bad news for the Zadar crew as one of the team best players Marko Ramljak got injured and will be sidelined for some time. On top of that, coach Jusup stated ahead of this game that Adem Mekić might miss the clash against Budućnost VOLI due to illness, while one more player from the roster skipped the last couple of trainings.
The remaining players will therefore have to give extra effort to mask Zadar’s short rotation for this match and to try beating the rival against which they do not really have the best head-to-head score.
Zadar and SC Derby have faced each other 5 times so far in the regional league and the score is 4:1 for the Podgorica side.
In the first part of the season, SC Derby have easily defeated Zadar at home court by 88:75 and the Students hope for the same outcome in the upcoming game. SC Derby have a fairly good score on the road in this season (3-4), while they have won 2 out of the previous 3 away games.
Match-up in focus: After dominating the league for 13 consecutive weeks, Zadar’s star player Luka Božić scored just 4 points last week in the match against Budućnost VOLI. Yet, everyone is convinced that it was just a bad day for Mr. Triple-Double and that Božić will get back to his dominant days already with the next game.
On the other side, SC Derby will try to answer with Aubrey Dawkins who is the team’s best scorer with 12.1 points per game. Dawkins also play at the forward position, which means that he may have a direct duel with Božić in this match.
Head-to-head score in the regional league: In Zadar 1:1; In total 1:4.
