The so-Called Serbia’s week continues in the same arena but with a different opponent, as Olimpia faces Partizan, fresh from a defeat in Dubai. “They certainly had a long trip, and the day before a game this is never a good thing, but at the same time, we played three games in four days, and when we didn’t play, we traveled, so things balance out,” Coach Ettore Messina said after the victory over Red Star Belgrade. Olimpia also passed a significant mental test in Belgrade. Just to give out some numbers: Olimpia shot 63 percent on twos, 45 percent from three, grabbed more rebounds than the opposing team, and incredibly, they made 18 of 21 shots from the paint, both with the big men or driving with the perimeter players. The only negative note was free throw shooting, 72 percent on 18 attempts. Olimpia failed to complete a three-point play three times, with Ellis, Nebo, and Brooks. But even more so, the game against Red Star was played well in crucial moments, under pressure, despite the atmosphere, despite the absence of the most experienced point man, Lorenzo Brown. Olimpia used Nico Mannion (five assists), Quinn Ellis, and Leandro Bolmaro in that position, supporting their efforts with the valuable minutes gotten from Marko Guduric. “We put the ball in the right hands in the crucial moments,” emphasized Coach Messina. Partizan lost a game in Dubai that started badly due to the opposing team’s initial 7-for-7 three-point shooting, a run that forced Zeljko Obradovic’s team to play catch-up all night long, Olimpia returns to the Belgrade Arena for the second time in three days and will find 20,000 fans cheering on the home team and witnessing the 33rd battle in history between Zeljko Obradovic and Ettore Messina (the current record is 17-15, including the Italian league and national team games). It will be a special match for Zach LeDay, who played for Partizan for three years. Olimpia trained in the gym named after former player and coach Dejan Milojevic.
THE REFEREES – Mehdi Difallah (France), Carlos Cortes (Spain), Kristaps Konstantinovs (Latvia)
COACH ETTORE MESSINA – “We played well during the Supercup weekend and again against Red Star, but the next one will be our fourth game in six days, and we’ll need to control the minutes, the fastbreak that they are able to execute because of their powerful and athletic guards and work really well under the boards. The other key will be our ability of attacking their defensive switches they use a lot. We’ll need to take a step up in this regard. It is going to be a very difficult game that we approach with the confidence we built over the past weeks.”
ZACH LEDAY – “We’re a brand-new team and we need to take it day by day. Belgrade has always been a second home to me; the atmosphere is always special. We have a lot of talent and depth in the squad, but we just need to focus on improving every day, including tomorrow.”
PARTIZAN OUTLOOK – The point guard retained from last season is Carlik Jones, a former NBA player, a former China player, and former leader of the South Sudan national team at the last Olympics. Last season, in his EuroLeague rookie year, he averaged 14.1 points and 5.4 assists per game. Alongside him, Sterling Brown is a shooting guard with a strong body who can play two positions. He is in his second year in Belgrade after his first European experience in Berlin (he is a 41.1 percent career three-point shooter). The other guards are Duane Washington, in his second year in Belgrade after making 19 appearances last season; Vanja Marinkovic, a Serbian international with 160 career EuroLeague games, who can play as a small forward too; and Shake Milton, one of the most intriguing rookies of the entire competition. Milton played in the NBA for Philadelphia, the Clippers, Minnesota, and finally the Lakers. In total, he made 359 appearances, scoring 2.899 points, including a career-high 39 points in a single game while playing for the Sixers against the Los Angeles Clippers. The German Isaac Bonga is another of the players retained from last year (he also has NBA experience, most recently in Toronto, but above all, he’s a key member of the German national team, which won the World and European Championships). He’s an athletic, multi-talented forward who can play at least two different positions. At power forward, Partizan made the most significant summer moves by signing Jabari Parker, a former overall second- pick in the NBA draft (he stayed eight seasons, for 310 games), who averaged 12.2 points over the last two seasons at Barcelona. Dylan Osetkowski had already played in Villeurbanne (26 appearances in 2021/22) but that was an unsuccessful debut. So, after three years in Malaga, he returned to the EuroLeague, in Belgrade. Center Tyrique Jones, formerly with Efes, averaged 11.6 points per game with Partizan last year, while also grabbing 6.0 rebounds per game. Behind him Partizan has Alex Pokusevski, first at Olympiacos and then in the NBA, primarily in Oklahoma City, and new signing Miikka Muurinen, 18 years old, a Finnish international at the last European Championships, recently brought back to Europe after a stint in America. He didn’t play in Dubai but could make his debut against Olimpia. Guard Mitar Bosnjakovic and forwards Arijan Lakic and Mario Nakic could also enter the rotation.
PARTIZAN CONNECTION – Zach LeDay spent three years with Partizan after spending one season in Milan in 2020/21. At Partizan, he played in both the Eurocup and the EuroLeague. In the latter competition, he played 68 games for black and white team.
GAME NOTES – Marko Guduric is nine three-pointers shy of 400, a feat achieved by only 19 players before him. Devin Booker needs seven rebounds to reach 800 for his career. Shavon Shields has made a three-pointer in 20 of his last 21 EuroLeague games. Zach LeDay has scored in double figures in 16 of his last 17 games. Armoni Brooks missed the first free throw after 17 consecutive made. The streak was reopenend with the second one of his game vs. Red Star.
