U-Banca Transilvania to smash Balkan Botevgrad
U-Banca Transilvania to smash Balkan Botevgrad
In the 2nd round of the Fiba Europe Cup, one of the most promising teams, U-Banca Transilvania will host Balkan Botevgrad. The duel is very important for both teams in order to be closer to the next stage and I pick the Romanian team to win for many reasons:
- U-Banca Transilvania has impressive foreigners compared with the majority of the squads involved in the European competition. Who can defend Darko Planinic, Patrick Richard, Donatas Tarolis, Karlo Zganec, Artis Ate and Kerron Johnson? The foreigners of Balkan Botevgrad definitely don’t. The only small advantage that the Bulgarian team can have is at the local players, but I don’t think this will affect too much the final result.
- The reputed coach Dusko Vujosevic is a key element in this battle. He is preparing very well the tactics of the Romanian club and his experience is higher than Jovica Arsic’s one.
- The host team is having an important moral advantage, after beating this weekend the Romanian reigning champions, CSM Oradea in Cluj-Napoca. They are playing at home which will count a lot and they are already rested.
Why this result is so big? Because Balkan won last round against the strongest team of the group Enisey Krasnoyarsk and another win would complicate a lot the chances of U-Banca Transilvania to qualify to the next stage. That’s why the Romanians have to try to win as many points margin as they can in order to be sure in the case of a tie after the last game of the group.
U-Banca Transilvania is looking like a team that can reach the superior stages of the European competition, maybe including here the semifinals or even the finals. The club’s investment for this season is huge and the results are yet to come.
Photo: Fiba Europe Cup
Gratian Cormos
