Olimpija in 2008/09 season

[elaj2]

I hope they sign some experienced SG, since Ozbolt is big if and i don`t think Klobucar is good enough for major role at Euroleague level just yet.

There is no serious money left to spend, so the SG will most likely be a signing from NCAA. They are looking for athletic defensive stopper who can hit an open three pointer, ofcourse within the budget range.

As far as I saw and heard, Tyler Crawford suits this description...

Džikić said that they will try to play fast basketball with a lot of fast breaks and try to execute the offense within first 8-10 seconds if possible.

Ožbolt and him have a special relationship... he won't rush him, Ožbolt will play when he will say that he is ready to play. I believe we won't see much of him during first few months.

Đorđe Mičić (200cm, 1993, SG/SF) also joined the team. There are still few bureaucratical stuff to solve around his official signing. Džikić said that he is a very promising youngster.

 

[RuleBook2]

Somebody on the most popular Georgetown Forum posted the following blurb about two exhibitions with the new players. It understandably pays a little more attention to the Gtown guys:

http://www.union.olimpija.com/4/11/6189/
Internet assisted translation:

After another friendly contest

Caption under JWall photo: Wallace plays well in Ljubljana.

Union Olimpija behind closed doors already played two friendly contests. In the first the Dragons had a large advantage over Elektre, and the Ljubljanians also won the second against Skofja Loka.
In the contest with Skofja Loka, leading scorers were Begic (19 points, 13 rebounds), Wallace (15 points), Zupan (13 points), Crawford (11 points, 5 rebounds), Rudez (11 points, 8 rebounds), Ilievski led the team with 5 assists. The Ljubljanians now travel to Zadar where on Friday and Saturday they will play Avzomašem and Ural Greatom.

The two teams they played are Slovenian teams. Zadar is in Croatia, but the two teams Union Olimpija will play appear to be Azovmash of Ukraine and Ural Great of Russia. Both are Eurocup teams. Khalid El-Amin plays for Azovmash.

 

[elaj2]

Somebody on the most popular Georgetown Forum posted the following blurb about two exhibitions with the new players. It understandably pays a little more attention to the Gtown guys:

http://www.union.olimpija.com/4/11/6189/
Internet assisted translation:

After another friendly contest

Caption under JWall photo: Wallace plays well in Ljubljana.

Union Olimpija behind closed doors already played two friendly contests. In the first the Dragons had a large advantage over Elektre, and the Ljubljanians also won the second against Skofja Loka.
In the contest with Skofja Loka, leading scorers were Begic (19 points, 13 rebounds), Wallace (15 points), Zupan (13 points), Crawford (11 points, 5 rebounds), Rudez (11 points, 8 rebounds), Ilievski led the team with 5 assists. The Ljubljanians now travel to Zadar where on Friday and Saturday they will play Avzomašem and Ural Greatom.

The two teams they played are Slovenian teams. Zadar is in Croatia, but the two teams Union Olimpija will play appear to be Azovmash of Ukraine and Ural Great of Russia. Both are Eurocup teams. Khalid El-Amin plays for Azovmash.

Yes, they played two closed for public friendlies. They trashed both teams (low level teams) for around 20-30 points and Wallace played good in both games. As I heard he scored around 20 points in first game and 15 in second. He is getting a lot of minutes and is basically our starting point guard in friendlies as Ilievski went to join his FYROM NT to play qualifiers for EC2009. He'll return on 21.9.2008. They are also without Golubović who is missing due same reasons.

Crawford is also showing his decent defensive skills and surprisingly also producing a bit on offense. More to come on Friday and Saturday when they play two friendlies against quite decent teams (Ukrainian Azovmash and Russian Ural Great). So far good.

I see we are getting a lot of attention from Gtown fans.

 

[RuleBook2]

Yes, they played two closed for public friendlies. They trashed both teams (low level teams) for around 20-30 points and Wallace played good in both games. As I heard he scored around 20 points in first game and 15 in second. He is getting a lot of minutes and is basically our starting point guard in friendlies as Ilievski went to join his FYROM NT to play qualifiers for EC2009. He'll return on 21.9.2008. They are also without Golubović who is missing due same reasons.

Crawford is also showing his decent defensive skills and surprisingly also producing a bit on offense. More to come on Friday and Saturday when they play two friendlies against quite decent teams (Ukrainian Azovmash and Russian Ural Great). So far good.

Wallace playing well doesn't surprise me and I knew Crawford is a solid to plus defender, but I am a bit surprised at Crawford's offense. Crawford does have a pretty solid set shot-particularly from three and I guess that with a decent number of minutes he could put in some points. It looks like I'll be a diehard Olimpija fan this year (with the added bonus that they seem to be run better than my favorite NBA team, the knicks).

Are Azovmash and Ural Great still teams they should beat even though they are missing two starters?

 

[RuleBook2]

I see we are getting a lot of attention from Gtown fans.

Definitely..Olimpija's Washington DC fanbase might have doubled!

 

[elaj2]

Wallace playing well doesn't surprise me and I knew Crawford is a solid to plus defender, but I am a bit surprised at Crawford's offense. Crawford does have a pretty solid set shot-particularly from three and I guess that with a decent number of minutes he could put in some points. It looks like I'll be a diehard Olimpija fan this year (with the added bonus that they seem to be run better than my favorite NBA team, the knicks).

Are Azovmash and Ural Great still teams they should beat even though they are missing two starters?

Yes, I think we should be able to beat them, but you know friendlies... the result is not important, coaches care more about how the team looks on the court.

You should check www.olimpija.tv - clip "Predstavljamo: Jonathan Wallace" (Representing: Jonathan Wallace) if you didn't see it yet and "Union Olimpija obiskala AND1" (Union Olimpija visited And1), that was taken from Wallace's first practise when he came here while the second clip is showing some Crawford action on the practise in first minutes.

As for the pictures, just check the news.. there are some photos from some sponsor events and so on.

 

[Alyosha122]

Yes, I think we should be able to beat them, but you know friendlies... the result is not important, coaches care more about how the team looks on the court.

You should check www.olimpija.tv - clip "Predstavljamo: Jonathan Wallace" (Representing: Jonathan Wallace) if you didn't see it yet and "Union Olimpija obiskala AND1" (Union Olimpija visited And1), that was taken from Wallace's first practise when he came here while the second clip is showing some Crawford action on the practise in first minutes.

As for the pictures, just check the news.. there are some photos from some sponsor events and so on.

I wanna be a basketball player in Olimpija too, and just go to a store and get everything i want for free

 

[elaj2]

Olimpija lost their friendly against Azovmash (this was Olimpija's third preparation game, still missing two main guys - Golubović and Ilievski) 66:77. Young Sarajlija (1991!) scored 12 points for Olimpija, Zupan added 9 while Crawford, Rudež and Klobučar added each 8 points. Begić, Milič, Hukić, Radojević and Wallace also played, but no stats about them yet. Sirnik and Ožbolt didn't play.

Olimpija won their friendly against Ural Great 77:68. Begić had 22 points, Hukić 15, Milič 9, Wallace 8, Crawford 5, Ožbolt 5.

Olimpija won also against Cedetiva Zagreb 94:76. Begić had 33 points and 11 rebounds (WTF!?), Rudež added 15, Milič 14, Hukić 14.

 

[Inspector2]

http://www.union.olimpija.com/4/11/6229/?UnionOlimpija=oplfph00qp3ldpcarm09cqndm3

I can't understand what happened to Begič... After having scored 22 pts against Ural Great, he scored today 33 pts and had 11 rebound against Cedevita (a team from the Croatian league). Last year he wasn't able to score 5 pts in the slovenian championship and now he is showing an amazing progress... I would like to see him playing now, as I still can't believe...

I hope he continues with such performance for the whole season...

 

[Joško Poljak Fan2]

I think we'd all be happy with only half of that as well

centers ussually take time for progress, let's do hope Begić can now contribute in the next season.

 

[elaj2]

I'd be happy if he can add something like 6pts+4rbs+1blk every game.

 

[RuleBook2]

Pre season tournament?

Pre season tournament?

Hello everyone!

I've heard the team played in a tournament with high profile European teams recently--teams like Panathinaikos, Maccabi and Fenerbahce?

Any results, statistics, opinions, evaluations?

Thanks!

 

[Joško Poljak Fan2]

There are comments about this tournament in this thread you might want to check out.

You're probably interested in both Georgetown guys. Wallace seems a bit reserved at this moment, still doesn't have any troubles with ballhandling and obviously can nail a threepointer. He said he has a lot to learn, which generaly is an apreciated attitude when it comes to US "right out of NCAA" players.
Crawford didn't receive that much playing time, but played well in those few minutes... I am staying optimistic regarding both of them. Wallace should maybee tighten up in defense a little bit, while both had some troubles with passing set screens. (...afterall... who doesn't vs. Batiste and Peković)
Anyway, these are observations from Fenerbahce and Panathinaikos games which are one of the best teams in europe with the best players outside NBA and considering all those differences, cultural shock and all other issues NCAA players have to adapt when starting their career in europe it wouldn't be fair to evaluate them in one of their first appearances in eruoe-bball and especially vs. such a strong teams.

 

[elaj2]

Hello everyone!

I've heard the team played in a tournament with high profile European teams recently--teams like Panathinaikos, Maccabi and Fenerbahce?

Any results, statistics, opinions, evaluations?

Thanks!

Union Olimpija won the tournament hosted in Ljubljana (Slovenia) with two wins and one loss.

Union Olimpija : Fenerbahce Ülker 74:57 (53:43, 30:33, 17:10)
Union Olimpija: Wallace 3, Ilievski 12 (2:2), Golubović 2, Crawford, Rudež 12 (8:14), Milič 18 (4:5), Hukić 14 (2:2), Begić 11 (3:4), Sarajlija, Sirnik, Zupan 2, Ožbolt.
Fenerbahce Ülker: Green 5 (2:2), Turkcan 7, Basak 5, Giriček 15 (9:9), Mršić 3, Vidmar 6 (4:10), Demirel, Demir, Savas 10 (3:4), Smith 6, Cetin, Preldžič.

Union Olimpija : Panathinaikos 71:83 (25:15, 43:36, 55:62)
Union Olimpija: Wallace 12, Ilievski 5, Golubović 6 (0:1), Crawford 9 (3:4), Rudež 12 (4:5), Milič 13 (3:4), Hukić, Begić 9 (3:5), Sarajlija, Sirnik, Zupan 3 (1:2), Ožbolt 2 (2:2).
Panathinaikos: Kecman 6 (1:4), Spanulis 10 (2:2), Perperoglu 11 (2:2), Batiste 10 (2:2), Fotsis 11, Nicholas 16, Sartaris 7 (0:2), Diamantidis 2, Peković 8 (4:4), Šakota 1 (1:2), Jasikevičius.

Union Olimpija : Maccabi Tel Aviv 83:81 (27:15, 48:29, 68:55).
Union Olimpija: Wallace, Ilievski 15 (6:6), Golubović 16 (6:8), Crawford, Rudež 14 (4:4), Milič 17 (4:4), Begić 9 (1:1), Sarajlija, Sirnik, Zupan 4 (2:2), Ožbolt 8.
Maccabi Tel Aviv: White 10 (2:2), Sharp, Arroyo 15 (4:4), Eliyahu 17 (1:1), Green, Burstein 7 (3:3), Simmons 2, Williams 4, Casspi 16, Batista 6 (4:6), Fischer 4.

Georgetown guys need at least one or two more months to adapt to European style of basketball, in my opinion. Wallace showed himself in a bit too soft way for my taste, while Crawford didn't do much (didn't get much minutes) to judge him yet.

Wallace will be a solid backup to our main playmaker Vlado Ilievski, but I expect from Wallace to be more aggressive in defense and also contribute more to the offense of the team. I had a feeling that he was very nervous, probably due the fact that he was first time playing at this kind of level - inexperience, but still, he should have been more dangerous for the basket.

Crawford will sign (or already signed) a two months contract in upcoming days (Jaka Klobučar (SG/SF is out with an injury for two months).

Preparation games are over, Union Olimpija played 10 games, won 8, lost 2 of them.

Union Olimpija - Elektra Esotech 86:66
Union Olimpija - Azovmash Mariupol 66:77
Union Olimpija - Ural Great 77:68
Union Olimpija - Cedevita Zagreb 94:76
Union Olimpija - Triumph Moscow Region 66:55
Union Olimpija - Rudar Velenje 79:72
Union Olimpija - Helios Domžale 67:56
Union Olimpija - Fenerbahce Ulker 74:57
Union Olimpija - Panathinaikos Athens 71:83
Union Olimpija - Maccabi Tel Aviv 83:81

During this time Union Olimpija also won Slovenian Supercup (game vs. Helios Domžale), but this still counts as an "unofficial" trophy, so it's included into preparation plan.

Roster for 2008/2009 season:

PG: Vlado Ilievski - Jonathan Wallace - Mirza Sarajlija
SG: Sašo Ožbolt - Jaka Klobučar - Tyler Crawford
SF: Jasmin Hukić - Damjan Rudež - Matic Sirnik
PF: Marko Milič - Miha Zupan
C: Vladimir Golubović - Mirza Begić - Dejan Radojević

 

[Alyosha122]

Its really amazing what Džikic was able to do with Begić in only one off season simply amazing he is like a different player.

Also i love the fire power Olimpija added with Ilievski, Golubovič and Rudež. Last year we only had Milič and Hukič. Also i feel that Wallace and Crawford are playing scared still when they get more comfortable with their roles they will be good. Wallace can really knock down some shots, and Crawford is useful in a lot of different ways be it hustle on defense or getting the offensive board i like what i saw in the limited minutes.

Also Ožbolt did some great stuff on defense and i loved the 1 3 1 zone from Olimpija it was fierce.

I am definitely buying my season euroleague tickets in advance because i have a feeling that we are gonna win some games and every time Olimpija is wining its impossible to get good tickets.

 

[MarkoMilic2]

I am a Fenerbahce fan but i also like Olimpija team, they are one of my favourites in European basketball. That is a little bit about Milic and mostly about the things and the way that they are trying to do... NBA is not the only threat for European basketball any more, budgets and salaries are also going crazy in Europe. European basketball needs teams like Olimpija, Zalgiris, Cibona or Partizan. Olimpija seems really strong this year, the most exciting Olimpija team in recent years... They have a good mixture of youngsters like Rudez, Golubovic and Klobucar and experienced names like Milic, Hukic and Ilievski. It will be quite difficult this time to support them due to being in the same group with Fenerbahce but i hope both will qualify for the next round. Milic has lots of fans here and i really know many people that have same ideas with me about Olimpija and Milic. It will be interesting to see him in Turkey again, as i said, he still has lots of fans here and the owner of this post is just one of them...

 

[Markoishvili2]

There are rumours that Olimpija will loan Romel Beck from Zadar.

 

[elaj2]

I don't see that happening (money wise I don't think Olimpija can afford him), but if he comes and doesn't cause any problmes in the lockerroom he'll be an amazing signing. He'd be an amazing solution for our SG problems and that would mean that Crawford is leaving.

With him and good chemistry in the team TOP16 of Euroleague would be more than just possibility.

 

[AlbionGate]

Goran Bodiroga (1993) is playing in Olimpija junior team. He is from Trebinje (Bosnia) and he has family links with Dejan Bodiroga.
The promissing Djordje Micic (1993) is also a Serb from Bosnia.

Will they decide to play for Bosnia, Serbia or Slovenia (such as the young serbian center Radojevic who was due to play the last U20 european championship, but missed it cause he was injured)?
The fact that Olimpija's coach is serb (Dzikic), so if they are very talented, serbian federation will probably call them.

 

[Srle2]

Micic will play for Slovenian cadets