Cedevita Olimpija Starts its Training Camp Ahead of the 2025/26 Season

The coaching staff welcomed seven members of the senior team and two promising young players, who will be actively involved in preparations from day one. The following gathered on the small arena court: Jaka Blažič, DJ Stewart, Žiga Daneu, Lovro Gnjidić, Joseph Girard III, Umoja Gibson, Luka Brajković, Cameron Houindo, and Martin Tonejc.

Before leaving for training camp, Zvezdan Mitrović said: “We are starting preparations for the new season. Of course, after the end of last season, we analyzed it and drew the necessary conclusions. Unfortunately, we were not able to keep some of our best players. That’s how the market works, and we depend on it, which is why we lost some of the team’s leaders. Nevertheless, we quickly managed to put together a new team, bringing in seven new basketball players. They will once again have to be integrated into the whole. Personally, I am a supporter of continuous work, but now we are in this situation and we have to adapt to it. At the moment, our biggest problem is the absence of national team players. We will travel to Kranjska Gora without six of them, and that is a big blow for us. The team is young, with the exception of Jaka Blažič, David Škara, and Aleksej Nikolić. The newcomers are also young, but ambitious.”

“Before the beginning of training camp, I was quite excited. One chapter is ending, a new one is starting, and we are returning to the court. We have completed initial medical examinations and testing with our conditioning coaches and physiotherapists. We are slowly moving into the phase where we start training seriously. The preseason is the toughest part of the season, especially the first days, and then the games begin, which are the best part of the preparations. We need to get to know each other well, since the team has been significantly renewed, with many foreign players. We will take advantage of the time in Kranjska Gora, where we will be together all day long, to get to know each other as much as possible while also preparing physically. Everyone worked on themselves during the summer, but when it comes to the basketball part of the preparations, it’s something different, and it takes time to get into the right form. We also have to grasp some of the coach’s tactical ideas, which we will then use throughout the whole season,” team captain Jaka Blažič added at the start of preparations:

The absence of several national team players is due to international commitments — Aleksej Nikolić, Rok Radović, and Miha Cerkvenik are spending the summer with Slovenia’s national team ahead of EuroBasket 2025. Nikos Chougkaz is preparing for the European Championship with Greece, Thomas Kennedy will represent Canada at the AmeriCup, while David Škara is playing for Croatia in the World Cup pre-qualifiers.

The team will head to Kranjska Gora with a slightly changed roster, as Niko Šare, Noa Škrobot, and Luka Santiago Stojić from Cedevita Junior will join the Dragons, along with Žiga Dimec, whose experience will help ensure a smooth training process during the ongoing national team activities of the other Dragons.

Before the start of preparations, there were also staffing changes in the coaching and medical support staff. The role of head physiotherapist was taken over by Borut Černilogar, a member of Slovenia’s senior national team staff. Longtime physiotherapist Rok Žagar stepped down from his active role with the team but will continue to work with the club as an external collaborator. Černilogar will be supported by Jakob Jesih, while Blaž Janežič will continue his work with youth categories.

The medical team of the senior squad has also been strengthened by two new doctors, Rok Slokar and Timon Zupanc. There has also been a change in the team manager position — Tevž Ružič has stepped down, and will be replaced in the new season by Matic Zupanc.

The Dragons are therefore ready for a new chapter, beginning with clear direction, energy, and the desire for successful preparations for a season that will bring battles in all competitions under the Slovenian Basketball Federation, the EuroCup, and the ABA League.

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Cedevita Olimpija začenja priprave na sezono 2025/26

V ponedeljek bo članska ekipa Cedevite Olimpije odpotovala na pripravljalni tabor v Kranjsko Goro, kjer bodo Zmaji v naslednjih devetih dneh opravili uvodni cikel priprav na novo tekmovalno sezono 2025/26. Ljubljanski kolektiv je v novo sezono vstopil že med sredo in soboto, ko so igralci opravili vse potrebne zdravstvene preglede in obenem individualno trenirali na stoženskem parketu.

Strokovni štab je v Stožicah pozdravil sedem članov članske ekipe ter dva obetavna mlada košarkarja, ki sta od prvega dne aktivno vključena v priprave. Na parketu male dvorane so se zbrali: Jaka Blažič, DJ Stewart, Žiga Daneu, Lovro Gnjidić, Joseph Girard III, Umoja Gibson, Luka Brajković, Cameron Houindo in Martin Tonejc.

Zvezdan Mitrović je pred odhodom na priprave dejal: “Začenjamo s pripravami na novo sezono. Seveda smo po zaključku lanske slednjo analizirali in prišli do potrebnih zaključkov. Žal nam nekaterih izmed najboljših igralcev ni uspelo zadržati. A tako je tržišče in od njega smo odvisni in zato smo ostali brez nekaterih vodij moštva. Vseeno pa smo zelo hitro uspeli sestaviti novo moštvo, pripeljati sedem novih košarkarjev. Slednje bo ponovno treba vklopiti v celoto. Osebno sem pristaš kontinuiranega dela, a zdaj smo v takšnem položaju in nanj se je potrebno prilagoditi. Trenutno je naša največja težava odsotnost reprezentantov. Brez šesterice bomo odpotovali v Kranjsko Goro in to je velik udarec za nas. Moštvo je mlado z izjemo Jake Blažiča, Davida Škare in Alekseja Nikolića, novinci so prav tako mladi, a tudi ambiciozni. “

“Pred začetkom priprav sem bil kar nekoliko vznemirjen. Zaključuje se eno obdobje, začenja se novo, vračamo se na parket. Za nami so uvodni zdravstveni pregledi in testiranja z našimi kondicijskimi trenerji in fizioterapevti. Počasi smo prešli v fazo, ko začnemo resno trenirati. Pripravljalni del sezone je najbolj naporen del sezone, sploh uvodni dnevi, nato se začnejo tekme, ki so najboljši del priprav. S fanti se moramo dobro spoznati, saj je ekipa precej prenovljena, veliko je tujih košarkarjev. Izkoristili bomo čas v Kranjski Gori, ko bomo skupaj po cele dneve, da se čim bolje spoznamo, obenem pa dobro fizično pripravimo. Vsi smo delali na sebi čez poletje, a ko pride do košarkarskega dela priprav, je to nekaj drugega, in potrebuješ nekaj časa, da ujameš pravo formo. Osvojiti moramo tudi nekatere taktične zamisli trenerja, ki jih bomo nato uporabljali tekom celotne sezone,” je ob začetku priprav povedal kapetan članske zasedbe, Jaka Blažič.

Manjko reprezentantov je posledica obveznosti na mednarodni ravni – v dresu slovenske izbrane vrste poletje pred EuroBasketom 2025 preživljajo Aleksej Nikolić, Rok Radović in Miha Cerkvenik. Nikos Chougkaz se na evropsko prvenstvo pripravlja z Grčijo, Thomas Kennedy bo na AmeriCupu branil barve Kanade, David Škara pa v predkvalifikacijah za svetovno prvenstvo zastopa Hrvaško.

V Kranjsko Goro bo ekipa odpotovala v nekoliko spremenjeni zasedbi, saj se bodo kolektivu Zmajev pridružili Niko Šare, Noa Škrobot in Luka Santiago Stojić iz Cedevite Junior, na pripravah pa bo prisoten tudi Žiga Dimec, ki bo s svojimi izkušnjami pripomogel k nemotenemu trenažnemu procesu v času še vedno trajajočih reprezentančnih aktivnosti preostalih Zmajev.

V Kranjski Gori ekipo čakata tudi prvi pripravljalni tekmi. V nedeljo, 24. avgusta, se bodo slovenski prvaki pomerili z nemškim prvoligašem MLP Academics Heidelberg, dva dneva kasneje, 26. avgusta, pa še z italijanskim moštvom Trapani Shark. Obe tekmi bosta za javnost zaprti.

Pred začetkom priprav je prišlo tudi do kadrovskih sprememb v strokovnem in podporno-zdravstvenem štabu. Vlogo glavnega fizioterapevta je prevzel Borut Černilogar, sicer tudi član strokovnega štaba slovenske članske reprezentance. Od aktivne vloge v ekipi se je poslovil dolgoletni fizioterapevt Rok Žagar, ki bo z delovanjem v klubu nadaljeval kot zunanji sodelavec. Podporo Černilogarju bo nudil Jakob Jesih, medtem ko bo Blaž Janežič svoje delo nadaljeval v mlajših starostnih kategorijah.

Zdravstveno ekipo članske zasedbe bosta okrepila tudi nova zdravnika, Rok Slokar in Timon Zupanc. Menjava je doletela tudi mesto vodje ekipe – Tevža Ružiča, ki se s to funkcije poslavlja, bo z novo sezono nadomestil Matic Zupanc.

Zmaji so torej pripravljeni na novo poglavje, ki se začenja z energijo in željo po uspešnih pripravah na novo sezono, ki prinaša boje v vseh tekmovanjih pod okriljem Košarkarske zveze Slovenije, EuroCupu in Ligi ABA.