The Buducnost Bemax basketball team traveled to Belgrade, where they will play Partizan tomorrow (16) in the derby of the 11th round of the WABA League.
It will be a duel between teams from the top of the table – the team from Podgorica has one loss in eight games, while the team from Belgrade has six wins and three losses, which means that tomorrow's rivals are in the fight for first place.
Starting this season, the WABA League's regulations have been changed - the leader goes directly to the final four, and the others to the play-offs, which are played over two matches. Everyone wants first place, because the play-offs can also bring surprises, and it is clear that many also want to bypass fourth place. Therefore, the stakes of the derby are high...
"We had practically no games for a month, and now we are playing two derbies in just a few days. There wasn't much time, but immediately after the match with Montana we focused on the duel with Partizan. This is an experienced and quality team, which has been playing really nice basketball this season. We know that Partizan is undefeated on its home court, so we are expecting 40 minutes of great fighting. There wasn't much time after the match with Montana, where we had a lot of expenses, but we are going full of confidence to play a good match," said Petar Stojanović, coach of Podgorica.
The Belgrade team was convincing at home against Celje, and in their away games against Celje and Montana they came close to breaking the deadlock. With three great foreign players, Partizan announced great ambitions from the start, so the "blues" know that they have one of the toughest away games ahead of them.
"The victory in the last round against Montana brought us a lot, both in terms of results and psychologically. Now we are in a position to decide everything ourselves, and that is what we wanted. Just as the duel with Montana was of exceptional importance, the match against Partizan also has special significance, but it brings additional motivation. We need to enter the game strong and focused, because we have 40 minutes of great struggle ahead of us. We are going to Belgrade very motivated, and we will do our best to play a good match," explained Nikolina Ilić, the "blues" winger.
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