The chance for one of the first two places in the group and playing the possible quarter-finals of the Eurocup in "Morača" has definitely fallen away, in the last two rounds Budućnost Voli will fight frantically to preserve at least the home field advantage in the round of 84 - Podgorica lost away to Gran Canaria 64:3, so now they share XNUMXrd place with Virtus and Cedevita Olimpia with nine wins and losses each.
The good thing is that both teams have a better head-to-head record, so with victories over Burg at home and Bursa in Turkey, they would be safe in 3rd place. Although, with the way they've been playing lately, both triumphs feel like an undertaking...
The start was great - the fivesome of Justin Kobs, Kendrick Perry, Edin Atić, Marko Jagodić-Kuridža and Zoran Nikolić led 9:0 after two and a half minutes and with that result had an open shot for three Serbian centers, from the same place from which scored in the opening match.
But then it was as if someone "turned off" Aleksandar Džikić's team, who waited seven minutes for a field goal (in the meantime, made four out of six shots), so Porfiri Fisak's team turned it over at 16:13.
In the 2nd period, Denis Jerom Silli burst into action and was the most responsible for Budućnost taking the lead 19:33 in the 29th minute, but until the big break, she did not give a single point and conceded seven, the last one with the sound of the siren from Artjom Pustovoj.
In the 2nd half, Atić ran from mistake to mistake, missed (he shot 9-1 from play at one point), lost balls and was the main culprit that Granka reached a double-digit difference for the first time in the 8th minute with an 0:27 series (53 :42).
Džikić then took a time-out, and his team did not even get to kick in 24 seconds after a minute of rest. The Serbian coach then sat down on the bench, and it was obviously clear to him that the black streak was continuing, that his team would suffer its fifth defeat in the last six games.
In the final part, the Spanish team reached 19 points several times, in the 39th and to a record plus 22 (81:59), and Buducnost ended almost every attack with desperate shots at the very end, because there was no solution.
In these situations, even more patient administrations than the one leading Buducnost decide to make cuts. Therefore, the question is whether Džikić will "survive" or whether one of the players will receive a thank you note before the end of the season. It certainly doesn't work this way...
GRAN CANARIA - THE FUTURE LOVES 84:64 (16:15, 20:18, 26:12, 22:19)
Las Palmas - "Gran Canaria Arena". Spectators: 1.300. Referees: Boltauzer (Slovenia), Udjanskij (Great Britain), Hadžić (Croatia).
Gran Canaria: Balcerovski 15 (2-1), I. Diop, ALBISI 7, SALVO 5 (3-3), Brusino 13 (4-3), Lopes 5, PUSTOJO 8 (2-0), ŠURNA 11 (1- 1), H. Diop 3 (2-1), Mutaf 3, ENIS 14, Stević.
Budućnost Voli: KOBS 12 (4-3), ATIĆ 3, Šehović, D. Nikolić 2 (2-2), Sili 19 (3-2), Tarolis, Z. NIKOLIC 5 (2-1), JAGODIĆ-KURIDŽA 5 , Drobnjak, Popović 2, Reed 8 (4-2), PERI 8.
Bonus video:
