The new Ratiopharm Ulm will face the Eurocup favorites, Virtus Bologna
The new Ratiopharm Ulm will face the Eurocup favorites, Virtus Bologna
Today`s hottest match in Eurocup is the duel between Ratiopharm Ulm and Virtus Bologna. We all know that Virtus have high expectations for this season, but let`s see all the changes they`ve made and what results they achieved so far.
Ratiopharm Ulm was eliminated in the top-16 last season and in Germany, they were smashed by ALBA Berlin in the first round of play-offs. During the summer, Ulm added 12 new players, a big amount of new faces in order to deliver the right results, but their most important piece is the new coach Jaka Lakovic. Alongside Zoran Dragic, there were added the Americans Tyler Harvey, Seth Hinrichs, Derek Willis or Grant Jerrett. To provide some help from the bench six new Germans players were brought in alongside young French, Killian Hayes. In the first round of German League, all new additions played very well, securing a comfortable win against last year sensation Rasta Vechta, 84-62. A total of 12 players were used in this game, which means the rotation will play a key factor in Ulm`s season. Main contributors were: Zoran Dragic (18 points and 3 steals), Killian Hayes (15 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists) and Andreas Obst (15 points and 5 rebounds).
For Virtus Bologna the aim is very simple for this year: Fight for every trophy. They added many new players, including stars like Milos Teodosic and Vincent Hunter. Alongside them were added Julian Gamble, Kyle Weems, Stefan Markovic or Frank Gaines, all with big experience in different European Competitions. They won both games in the Italian League against Virtus Roma (74-67) and Pistoia (88-78) and till now in the absence of the injured Milos Teodosic their top performers are: Vincent Hunter (17 points and 2.5 steals), Kyle Weems (10.5 points and 8 rebounds) and Stefan Markovic (5.5 points, 8 rebounds and 13 assists).
This match will be a heavy battle for the victory. Both teams have huge expectations, both started well the new season and both have good rotation and valuable players. I expect Virtus Bologna to win after a high scoring match.
Photo: www.virtus.it
Bogdan Vasile Tirc
