Buducnost Voli showed a little less than two months ago, with a victory over Partizan in the Belgrade Arena, that this season they are a serious threat to their eternal rivals in the fight for the title in the AdmiralBet ABA League, and if they knock out another great team, then it could be said that the "blues" have some kind of advantage over the last two champions of the regional competition.
The Podgorica team will host Red Star Belgrade tomorrow at 20 p.m. at the "Aleksandar Nikolić" stadium, and a possible win would make them two more wins than the "red and whites", which could be crucial in the fight for the top spot and home-field advantage in the playoffs.
It's certainly too early to make calculations, but it's clear to everyone that victories in Belgrade (whether against Partizan or Red Star) are always worth double, so Buducnost have no doubt that they are ready to face a team that has won 26 times in 16 rounds of the Euroleague.
- It's difficult to play in Belgrade, but we're going to give it our all and of course win. Red Star is in very good form, and we may have an advantage over our opponent because they had a double round in the Euroleague - said Buducnost winger Nikola Tanaskovic.
There is no recipe for victory in sports, but Tanaskovic notes what Budućnost has to do to even match Giannis Sferopoulos' squad.
- Energy, defense and rebounding - that has to be at the maximum level. Especially because Red Star plays with a lot of tall players in the front five, all of them are dangerous in rebounding. We need to pay attention to that, to build the racket in the right way and collect rebounds - emphasized the Partizan academy graduate.
Buducnost has two defeats (to Spartak and Red Star), as many as Partizan (losing to Buducnost and Red Star), and the current champion has suffered three - two to newcomers Dubai, as well as Split...
The Montenegrin champion last defeated Red Star Belgrade in Belgrade a little over four years ago - on December 6, 2020, in the ninth round of the ABA League, when the score was 67:65. That match was also played in the "Aleksandar Nikolić" hall, where Buducnost knew how to win, lose convincingly, but also often experience unpleasant situations in duels with the same rival that had little to do with basketball.
After that victory, the two great rivals played 15 more games and Buducnost celebrated four times, the last one a year ago - on February 5th when they shone in front of their fans with an 84:62 triumph.
Looking at the current form, this is probably the ideal moment for Buducnost to host the favorite, but the same can be said for Red Star, which is on a roll in the Euroleague where it emerged from the double round with victories over Asvel and Alba.
Andrej Žakelj's team has won 15 of its last 13 matches in all competitions (ABA League and Eurocup), with its only defeats coming against Bahçeşehir in Turkey and Wolves in Lithuania, while Red Star Belgrade is on a five-game winning streak and is tied for third place in the European elite, just one win behind - and one game ahead - of second-placed Fenerbahçe.
There is no doubt - it will be a real derby and another opportunity for Buducnost to show that this season can bring something big.
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