SC Derby basketball players have recorded three wins in a row in the AdmiralBet ABA League, and all three games were accompanied by good play, primarily in attack.
After the victory over Mornar (94:74), the "students" defeated Split (102:89) in a match in which they made 20 three-pointers, which is the second best result in the history of this competition, and then on Sunday, after overtime, they were better than Igokea - 111:109.
One of the players who marked the game against the team from Laktaši was SC Derbi center Zoran Nikolić. In 35 minutes, he scored 22 points (one point shy of his personal best) and had 13 rebounds, equaling his best performance in terms of steals in a single game - he also had 13 against Mornar in mid-March. In addition, the Nikšić native had four assists, three steals and eight forced fouls against Igokea, culminating in a record-breaking 40 index points and the award for the most valuable player of the round.
"We started well, we had everything in our hands for 30 minutes, then they turned it around, so the game went into overtime. Lately we have been playing well in attack, we have good ball flow, we have open shots. I think we have raised the level of play a lot, which is evident through three wins in a row," Nikolić said for "Vijesti".
The match against Igokea is just a continuation of the good games this season.
"I'm very satisfied with how I played this season. I'm sure I could have done even better in some other games. I raised my level of play, I think I'm playing the best basketball of my career. It's nice when you see after the game that you've set a new record. That's an additional motivation to try to play better from match to match, to progress, to have an additional challenge. The nice thing is that I managed to break my personal record in index points," Nikolić is honest.
Nikolić has also moved up the all-time list of players with the most blocks in this competition. He is currently in seventh place with 128 blocks, Luka Žorić has seven more, and the record holder is Uroš Luković with 283.
And when it comes to blocks in a single match, Nikolić shares second place with Luković, Šon James, Smiljan Pavič and Slavko Vraneš (7). The record holder is Karlo Matković, who had nine blocks in a single match against Krka two years ago while playing for Cedevita-Olimpija.
"While Karlo Matković didn't have nine blocks in one game, I shared first place with some other players on the list of basketball players with the most blocks in one match. That was in my first season in Buducnost. The very act of being on the impressive list of players with the most blocks impresses me a lot. I try not to focus on it, not to think about it, but to let everything go its own way. It's a nice thing to see my name on that list. I enjoy it while it lasts," said Nikolić.
Before the start of the season, Nikolić told "Vijesti" that he chose SC Derbi because of the role he wanted to have, namely that he wanted to be the team's first center. The end of the season is near, and the Montenegrin international is satisfied with how everything went.
"During the summer, I told my agent that I wanted to stay in the role I had in Igokea and Vojvodina. There were other options, but I said that if there was a possibility of being a first-choice player in a team, I wanted to. I am satisfied with SC Derby, I am satisfied with my games. I will try to increase my level of play even more by the end of the season," said Nikolić.
There are five rounds left in the ABA League regular season, SC Derbi secured survival a long time ago, and is two wins behind FMP, Mega and Zadar, who are fighting for the playoffs.
"We have 10 wins, we could have had maybe more. We are trying to make up for those losses by the end of the season and win some games that are not expected of us."
The “Students” have a tough schedule until the end. In the next three rounds, they will play against Buducnost, Red Star and Cedevita-Olimpija, and after that, against Mega and Borac.
"We don't want to give up on the playoffs. Anything is possible. The other teams have a tough schedule too. It's an advantage for us that we're looking forward to the next three games with no pressure. On the other hand, Buducnost is fighting for first place, Red Star with Dubai for third, and Cedevita-Olimpija for fifth. There's more pressure on them, I hope we can take advantage of that and try to surprise them," added Nikolić.
With the strongest squad, we have a chance to reach the round of 16.
The Montenegrin national basketball team got its rivals at EuroBasket last week. The “Reds” are in Group B, with the teams of Germany, Lithuania, Finland, Sweden and Great Britain.
Our team will play in Tampere, Finland.
"Germany and Lithuania are the favorites, but it all depends on what teams they come with. Great Britain has been playing well for the last few years. They beat us in the qualifiers for the previous European Championship. Sweden has a good, uncomfortable team, we had problems with them in Stockholm. Finland has good players, they are the hosts, they will have support from the stands."
Montenegro will seek a place in the top four in order to advance to the knockout stage, which will be played in Riga.
"We can compete. The group is not easy, but it is not a group of death either. It will be difficult against Germany and Lithuania, but we will fight with the other teams to advance. I hope we will be in the strongest squad. Then we would have a great chance of reaching the round of 16," concluded Nikolić.
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