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Paced by the solid performance of PG Dontaye Draper (17 points, 4 steals) Cedevita was able to achieve 75:57 W vs 3rd placed Partizan team and keep the 2nd place in the overall AL standings.

In the much expected local battle Zagreb’s frontcourt strength prevailed over Cibona’s eagerness to prove that Drazen Petrovic arena should always be considered as their home court.

Zagreb CO won the game 82:77 led by the great performance of it’s captain SG Kruno Simon who finished the game with 29 points (3-4 threes, 12-12 free throws), 7 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals.

C Mario Kasun added 13 points and 14 boards for Zagreb, while SF Damjan Rudez had 23 points and 8 boards for Cibona which now shares 7-5 AL record with Zagreb.

SG Antwain Barbour, Cibona (photo by ABA)

Both Croatian representatives lost their Eurocup games yesterday.

Cedevita managed to keep close until the closing minutes but eventually lost 68:73 to the competitive Spartak St.Petersburg squad which is coached by Slovenian basketball legend Jure Zdovc.

Center Miro Bilan paced the home team effort with 16 points and 8 boards in just 23 minutes of action. Croatian NT PG Dontaye Draper had another pale evening with only 6 points, 2 assists and 5 turnovers in 28 minutes of action. G/F Marino Bazdaric added 7 points, 6 boards and 4 assists.

Cibona was also able to hold on through out the first three quarters but at the end lost it’s away game vs Gravelines (France) by 81:77. Head coach Danijel Lutz  got another strong performance from his frontcourt anchors, Andrija Zizic (20 points, 8 boards) and Goran Suton (13 points).

Interestingly enough Cibona’s players received only 12 personal fouls and were thus rewarded just 4 free throws in the game (Zizic went 4-4 from the line).

Starting today at 20.45 CET, Croatian Champion Zagreb CO (2-6) will play it’s last Euroleague home game  vs Unicaja Malaga (3-5), Spanish powerhouse which features potential Croatian NT members F Hrvoje Peric and PF/C Luka Zoric.

Regular Season, Game 5, December 13

GROUP A [analysis] Results Hapoel Jerusalem vs. BC Donetsk 68-74 Gravelines vs. KK Cibona 81-77

GROUP B [analysis] Results BC Khimki vs. Cholet Basket 76-70 PAOK BC vs. VEF Riga 76-81

GROUP C [analysis] Results CEZ Nymburk vs. Aris BSA 78-72 Rudupis vs. GasTerra Flames 97-70

GROUP D [analysis] Results Lukoil Academic vs. Telenet Oos. 77-83 Valencia Basket vs. Asvel Basket 96-88

GROUP E [analysis] Results Lok. Kuban vs. G. Canaria 2014 73-51 Fraport Skyliners vs. Banvit BK 56-62

GROUP F Results Lietuvos Rytas vs. Krka N. Mesto 82-72 Le Mans vs. BC Azovmash 75-67

GROUP G Results Cedevita vs. Spartak SPB 68-73 Benetton Basket vs. Bayern Munich 92-66

GROUP H Results PGE Turow vs. Buducnost Voli 73-78 Alba Berlin vs. Dexia Mons 83-63

F Tomislav Zubcic, Cibona Zagreb

Croatian teams achieved perfect 3-0 record in the 11th round of the regional Adriatic league.

On Friday, after three straight losses Cibona(7-4) led by Tomislav Zubcic’s 14 points (3-6 threes) managed to win the game over Crvena Zvezda Beograd by 87:73. This W gives 2-3 record to the new head coach Danijel Lutz.

On Saturday, Croatian champion Zagreb CO(6-5) led by excellent SG Kruno Simon (26 points, 7 boards, 4 asists, 11-12 from the line) managed to handle Maccabi Tel Aviv it’s first loss of Adriatic league campaign. Zagreb CO won the game by 81:74  and managed to cross 50% winning margin for the first time in this season.

Later on Saturday, Cedevita(9-2) orchestrated by Croatian NT PG Dontaye Draper (11 points, 5 boards, 4 assists) managed to win talented Siroki squad led by Zagreb native F Zeljko Sakic (11 points, 4 boards, 3 steals) by 74:60.

Cibona’s SF Damjan Rudez is about to play his 1st game for Cibona vs his former team Cedevita.

In the derby of 10th round of Adriatic League Cedevita Zagreb (7-2, 2nd place) will host local rival Cibona Zagreb (6-3, 5th place) at 17.00 CET.

Cedevita will reportedly play without SG Chris Warren and PF Vedran Vukusic who have both suffered minor injuries. Expect PG Dontaye Draper and PF Chris Owens to play with increased intensity.

Cibona Zagreb will be coached by the rookie head coach Danijel Lutz who now has 1-1 record with the team since the departure of Josip “Joke” Vrankovic. Lutz has announced that he doesn’t intend to install zone defense against Cedevita “since it decreases overall offensive performance of his team”.

Cedevita put on a heroic effort in a battle for Adriatic League lead this Saturday in Tel Aviv. At the end Maccabi’s debth and experience prevailed in 96:89 W.

TIP-OFF: Mario Kasun (Zagreb) vs Miro Bilan (Cedevita)

Cedevita Zagreb won the first edition of Drazen Petrovic Cup co-organized by Croatian Basketball Federation (CBF) and Museum-Memorial Center “Drazen Petrovic”. Cedevita faced local rival Zagreb CO in three categories (cadets, juniors, seniors) and needed to achieve victories in at least two categories.

After Cedevita’s cadets led by Sabic (23 points) won the first game of the day by 74:63, Zagreb Co was able to equalize the score with the 78:65 victory of their junior team led by European phenom triangle of Saric-Hezonja-Mavra which combined for 53 points.

In the decisive game of the day, after nervous and rough start by both teams, Cedevita was able to lead throughout the complete game and convincingly beat Croatian champion Zagreb CO by 78:61.

Cedevita was paced by F Vedran Vukusic’s 18 points, while F/C Matjaz Smodis added 13 points. For the losing side SG Kruno Simon had 21 points, while C Mario Kasun added 13 points.

General impression is that Cedevita has done much better job in the off-season by bringing in more experienced and compatible reinforcements while Zagreb has done very questionable job and could be on it’s way to experience trouble in the upcoming Euroleague competition.

Although he was on his team’s bench in the final game in which his team trailed by as much as 21-points, phenom Dario Saric didn’t enter the game due to a coach Buric’s decision.

They are now teammates in Cibona - Kovacevic & Zubcic (photo by kkcedevita.hr)

ZAGREB CO (web site: www.kk-zagreb.hr)

31-08-2011 – according to the official team’s web site (interview with head coach Ivica Buric) team has signed Slovenian combo guard Saso Ozbolt

26-07-2011 – according to zagrebancija.com team has reportedly signed G Diante Garrett, PF/C Gary McGhee and PF Papa Dia

05-07-2011 – according to an independent source close to CroHoops.com Zagreb CO C Mario Kasun “could be close in reaching a deal with his former team.”

28-06-2011 – according to kosarka.hr Kovacevic’s teammate from Cedevita SF Damjan Rudez is rumored to cross the river Sava and become a new member of Zagreb CO.

28-06-2011 – according to an independent source close to CroHoops.com Zagreb CO C Mario Kasun “is not involved in any kind of negotiation with Montepaschi Siena.”

CEDEVITA ZAGREB (web site: www.kkcedevita.hr)

18-08-2011 – Cedevita Zagreb has officially confirmed the signing of experienced Slovenian PF Matjaz Smodis.

03-08-2011 – has signed veteran swingman Chris Warren who played for Cibona Zagreb before moving to Spain where he spent the last couple of seasons.

04-07-2011 – according to it’s official web site Croatian runner-up Cedevita Zagreb has signed veteran power forward Chris Owens (6’8”/1979) who spent the last season with Azovmash Donjeck (Ukraine)

29-06-2011 – Cedevita has announced the signing of experienced G/F Ivan Opacak. 31-year old played for Cedevita in it’s inaugural Adriatic League campaign back in 2009/10. Last season Opacak helped Krizevci to reach Croatian A1 League.

20-06-2011 – Cedevita has named Drazen Anzulovic the new head coach. 44-Year old Anzulovic, who coached Cedevita’s local rival Cibona Zagreb for the part of the last season, has also previously coached Charleroi, Ural Great, Donjetsk and Lietuvos Rytas.

11-06-2011 – Cedevita has added experienced sharpshooter Marko Car. Car finished last Croatian A1 League season as the 2nd best statisticly ranked player overall, trailing only to F/C Luka Zoric.

CIBONA ZAGREB (web site: www.cibona.com)

29-08-2011 – team has acquired NCAA standout combo guard Demonte Harper

25-08-2011 – team has signed experienced veteran PF Andrija Zizic

10-08-2011 – according to EuroBasket.com Cibona Zagreb has reached one-year deal with prolific SG Antwain Barbour.

09-08-2011 – team is reportedly very close to sign versatile combo guard Brian Chase who had stellar season for Igokea Aleksandrovac averaging 16.2 points and 4.0 assists

06-07-2011 – according to team’s web site Cibona Zagreb has signed sharpshooting SF Damjan Rudez (6’8”, 1986). Native of Zagreb has spent the last couple of seasons with Cedevita Zagreb and was rumored to sign with Zagreb CO.

05-07-2011 – according to team’s web site Cibona Zagreb has signed one-year deal with experienced and hard working PF Goran Suton (6’10”/1985).

28-06-2011 - according to Sportske Novine explosive combo guard Hrvoje Kovacevic has signed two-year deal with Cibona and will try to spark the team in it’s effort to reach Euroleague through the additional qualifying cycle.

ZADAR (web site: www.kkzadar.net)

13-07-2011 – named Slovenian expert Ales Pipan as the new head coach

- team has reportedly added potential starters in Slovenian PG Uros Zadnik, high-scoring G Ante Delas (Alkar Sinj), explosive G/F Toni Brnas (Cibona/Zabok), hard-working PF Ivica Radic (Alkar Sinj) and experienced C Franko Kastropil (Cedevita Zagreb)

SVJETLOST SLAVONSKI BROD (facebook.com/kksvjetlostbrod)

- has added head coach Mladen Erjavec who coached eventual Croatian champion Zagreb CO to Croatian Cup title in 2011. Team has also added experience and size with the acquisition of veteran G Ivan Tomeljak, G/F Filip Basljan, F Ivan Papac, PF Marijo Hajdic and PF/C Ljubo Samadan

PRIGORJE FINANCIJE KRIZEVCI (web site: www.kk-krizevci.hr)

17-08-2011 – added prospects G Roko Jurlina (Zadar) and F Ivan Buva (Cedevita)

05-07-2011 – signed veteran G/F Mladen Gligora (6’7”/1982) to a one-year deal

28-06-2011 – ex-Zadar head coach Tihomir Bujan took over as the head coach of the newest Croatian A1 League member Prigorje Financije Krizevci.

JOLLY JADRANSKA BANKA SIBENIK

29-08-2011 – team has reached three-year agreement with talented combo guard Marko Petrovic. Team has also added PG Ronald Ross and G/F Luka Katura.

Last updated on 31-08-2011. Any trade or rumor missing? E-mail us at   crohoops@gmail.com.