The battle for the 4th place in group B and the match of the round of XNUMX of the Eurocup in "Morača" has been lost, because the sixth-placed Buducnost Voli has two victories less and a worse score than Paris and Promiteas, who meet in Patra on Wednesday, with two rounds to go.
For Vladimir Jovanović's team, the remaining two rounds in the second-ranked European competition (perhaps even the third, when you look at the list of FIBA Champions League participants) will only serve to "tighten up" the team before the key duels in the season.
That's why tomorrow's match with Gran Canaria (19 p.m.) is a chance for the "Blues" to prove that they can play with the strongest and to announce that they are ready for the end of the season.
The team from the Canary Islands, however, has a bigger motive - they need a win in order to have the best score and home field advantage in the battle with the leader of Group A, Ukrainian Prometheus, until the eventual final.
Jake Laković's team has a score of 13:3 and won Group B, while the Ukrainians, who play as hosts in Latvian Riga and Lithuanian Zalgiris, won 12:4.
"Gran Canaria is a quality opponent, who confirmed this by winning 1st place in our group. Before the start of the competition, they were one of the favorites in the Eurocup and they justified it. It's an excellent team, made up of quality defenders and centers," said Jovanović.
Against tomorrow's rival, the "Blues" were on the verge of victory in Las Palmas, leading to the finish, but fell in the extra five minutes.
"In Spain, we played a very intense game, which we lost in overtime. I spoke with the players and we are preparing to stop their outside line, in which even three creators play at certain moments. They depend a lot on the three-point shot and break games that way. I hope that with an aggressive defense and with a lot of contact, we will manage to throw them out of the shooting rhythm, so that we have a chance to get a good result", emphasized the Serbian expert.
The captain of Budućnost Petar Popović knows that Gran Canaria is fighting for home advantage until the end of the competition.
"It is a very high-quality team, and I expect us to show a better game than against Trento. We know that we have to be at a high level both energetically and with focus in order to be in the game for all 40 minutes. We will try to put into practice what we have been preparing these days and try to win," said the 26-year-old from Cetinje.
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