Krka turned on its engines ahead of new season

Krka’s team has undergone several changes ahead of the new season. Jan Rebec, Blaž Mahkovic, Urban Oman and Jaka Klobučar, all of whom were members of the club last season, will continue their careers in a Krka jersey. Three Americans will now also wear Krka’s colors: 29-year-old point guard Lovell Cabbil Jr., 27-year-old center Galin Smith and 26-year-old power forward Naje Smith. Krka have also added 21-year-old point guard Jon Dolničar and 22-year-old center Lenart Sirc, while the other newcomers are 25-year-old Serbian guard Đorđe Božić and 24-year-old power forward Uroš Šikanić. Guards Jazon Krošelj and Timotej Balažić will also be part of the senior team. Just a few days ago, they became European champions with the youth national team coached by Krka’s new head coach, Domen Zevnik.

Head coach Domen Zevnik will be assisted by Matic Šiška, Leon Stipaničev and Tin Hvalec. Gašper Šoln is the new strength and conditioning coach, while Davorin Matković remains the physiotherapist and Marcel Luzar the masseur.

Preparations will take place in Novo mesto, with the team also set to play several preseason games. Krka’s first official game will take place on Thursday, September 17. In Nova Gorica, they will face Cedevita Olimpija for the Super Cup title. This will be followed by the start of the domestic national championship, the OTP banka League, and the regional ABA League, where Krka will compete in Group A alongside Crvena zvezda Meridianbet, Cedevita Olimpija, Budućnost VOLI, Cibona, Igokea, FMP, Borac Mozzart, Slovan Bratislava and Široki TT Kabeli.

“The feeling is very good. It is great to be back in the gym. I think you can feel the positive energy, just as you probably can in every gym, because preparations are now slowly getting underway. We are all here and ready to work, so you can really feel a nice, positive energy,” head coach Domen Zevnik said to begin with.

“There is no need to focus only on what will happen at the end and be afraid of things that are still far ahead of us. I told the guys that we have to control what we can control. That means going day by day, or week by week. We need to improve every week, be better every week, and work every week with the energy and commitment that a team needs to have. We need to lay the foundations early, consistently and every day, and then build a story together that we can be satisfied with,” Zevnik explained the philosophy the team will follow in the new season, in which he will be able to count on four players from last season:

“We managed to keep Jan Rebec, Blaž Mahkovic, Urban Oman and Jaka Klobučar. We are very happy to have all four of them back. They were an important part of our team last season, and we believe that will be the case again this year. At the same time, we were looking for a mix of players who have already shown in Slovenian basketball that they have the potential to take the next step. The biggest filters when looking for new players were certainly character, the desire to improve and the desire to prove themselves. We want to have a fighting team that will throw itself into every game and want to win. If nothing else, we want to show tough, physical basketball,” Zevnik made clear.

“I promise that we will fight, and we hope the fans will recognize that and come out to support us. I truly believe there have been many wonderful evenings and real basketball celebrations at Štukelj, which we as a team could not have created without the fans. That is also why we play. I really hope people will recognize that again this year, but above all, that the team will first earn their support. We want it to be difficult to come away with a win from the Leon Štukelj Sports Hall this year as well,” Zevnik concluded.

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Krkaši začeli priprave na novo sezono

Po poletju, ki so ga zaznamovali uspešni reprezentančni nastopi, je napočil čas za klubsko košarko v Novem mestu. V minulih dneh so košarkarji opravili kardiološke preglede v Zdravstvenem centru Aristotel, danes pa so se prvič zbrali v Športni dvorani Leona Štuklja, kjer so opravili prvi trening pod taktirko trenerja Domna Zevnika.

Krkina ekipa je pred novo sezono doživela nekaj sprememb. V dresu Krke svojo kariero nadaljujejo Jan Rebec, Blaž Mahkovic, Urban Oman in Jaka Klobučar, vsi so bili člani kluba že v lanski sezoni. Po novem pa bodo dres Krke nosili trije Američani: 29-letni organizator igre Lovell Cabbil Jr., 27-letni center Galin Smith in 26-letni krilni center Naje Smith. Krko sta okrepila 21-letni organizator igre Jon Dolničar in 22-letni center Lenart Sirc, novinca pa sta še 25-letni srbski branilec Đorđe Božić ter 24-letni krilni center Uroš Šikanić. V članski ekipi bosta tudi branilca Jazon Krošelj in Timotej Balažić, ki sta pred dnevi v dresu mladinske reprezentance, ki jo je vodil naš novi trener Domen Zevnik, postala evropska prvaka.

Glavnemu trenerju Domnu Zevniku bodo asistirali pomočniki Matic Šiška, Leon Stipaničev in Tin Hvalec. Novi kondicijski trener je Gašper Šoln, fizioterapevt ostaja Davorin Matković, maser pa Marcel Luzar.

Priprave bodo potekale v Novem mestu, ekipa pa bo odigrala tudi nekaj pripravljalnih tekem. Prva uradna tekma naše košarkarje čaka v četrtek, 17. septembra. V Novi Gorici se bodo s Cedevito Olimpijo pomerili za superpokalni naslov. V nadaljevanju sledita začetek domačega državnega prvenstva, Lige OTP banka, in nastopanje v regionalni Ligi ABA, kjer bo Krka v skupini A igrala skupaj s Crveno zvezdo Meridianbet, Cedevito Olimpijo, Budućnostjo VOLI, Cibono, Igokeo, FMP-jem, Borcem Mozzart, Slovanom iz Bratislave in Širokim TT Kabeli.

"Občutki so zelo lepi. Zelo lepo je biti nazaj v dvorani. Mislim, da se čuti pozitivna energija, tako kot verjetno v vsaki dvorani, saj se zdaj počasi začenjajo priprave. Vsi smo zbrani, pripravljeni na delo, tako da se res čuti lepa, pozitivna energija," je uvodoma povedal trener Domen Zevnik.

"Ni treba gledati samo na to, kaj bo na koncu, in se bati stvari, ki so še daleč pred nami. Fantom sem povedal, da moramo nadzorovati tisto, kar lahko. To pa pomeni, da gremo dan za dnem oziroma teden za tednom. Da vsak teden napredujemo, da smo vsak teden boljši in da vsak teden delamo z energijo in zagretostjo, kot mora ekipa delovati. Da temelje postavljamo zgodaj, redno in vsakodnevno ter potem skupaj gradimo zgodbo, s katero bomo lahko zadovoljni," je Zevnik predstavil filozofijo, ki se je bodo držali v novi sezoni, v kateri bo računal na štiri fante iz minule sezone:

"Uspelo nam je zadržati Jana Rebca, Blaža Mahkovica, Urbana Omana in Jako Klobučarja. Za vse štiri smo zelo veseli, da jih imamo nazaj. V lanski sezoni so predstavljali pomemben del naše ekipe in verjamemo, da bo tako tudi letos. Ob tem pa smo iskali nekakšen miks fantov, ki so v slovenskem prostoru že pokazali potencial, da naredijo korak naprej. Največji filter pri iskanju novih igralcev pa so bili zagotovo karakter, želja po napredku in dokazovanju. Želimo imeti borbeno ekipo, ki bo na vsaki tekmi šla na glavo in želela zmagati. Če ne drugega, pa pokazati čvrsto, moško igro," je jasen Zevnik.

"Obljubljam, da se bomo borili in da upamo, da bodo to prepoznali ter nas prišli podpreti. Res verjamem, da je bilo v Štuklju veliko zelo lepih večerov in pravih košarkarskih praznikov, ki jih mi kot ekipa brez navijačev ne bi mogli ustvariti. Zato tudi igramo. Res upam, da bodo ljudje tudi letos to prepoznali, predvsem pa, da si bo ekipa njihovo podporo najprej zaslužila. Želimo si, da bo tudi letos težko odnesti zmago iz Športne dvorane Leona Štuklja," je sklenil Zevnik.