@ABA_League: There can be only one (@kkcrvenazvezda, @KKBUDUCNOST, @KKCedevita, @MornarBar)

Everything is ready for the beginning of the @ABA_League semi-finals that start tonight in Belgrade and Podgorica.

After the regular season, four teams are now ready to start the Playoffs and the battle for the trophy and the spot in the next season @EuroLeague. Those four teams are Crvena Zvezda from Belgrade, Budućnost from Podgorica, Cedevita from Zagreb and Mornar from Bar.

In the semi-finals Red and Whites are playing against Mornar, and Budućnost against Cedevita. The teams from Belgrade and from Podgorica have home court advantage against their opponents.

The winners of the semi-finals will be decided after two wins so the 2 teams that first score two victories in this round against their opponents will clash in the final.

Anyway, for all those four teams this wasn’t an easy job so everyone has to recognize that all of them did a great thing advancing in semi-finals because the league was interesting this year.

Crvena Zvezda:

The team from Belgrade, Serbia, finished the regular season as the first (19 wins and 3 losses) but during the season, for a long time they were competing with Budućnost for this final spot and in the last few rounds they prevailed as the best team after 22 rounds.

Up until now, Red and Whites had an amazing season, and their success is even more valid as they changed almost the whole team during the summer and most importantly they brought younger coach Dušan Alimpijević, who is doing a great job with his squad even though some players are older than him.

But the season is not over yet. The goal of this club is definitely the spot in the next season @EuroLeague and they have to win the @ABA_League in order to accomplish it. Until the end they have 2 obstacles: the first one is Mornar, and the second one will be decided in the games between Budućnost and the team from Zagreb.

Zvezda is also playing in the @EuroLeague this season and the team has a chance to gain a spot in the @EuroLeague Playoffs 2018 and try to fight for the spot in the Final Four that will be held in Belgrade. But for now, the team is going game by game and for them the next most important game is the one against Mornar in regional league.

Budućnost:

The best team from Montenegro is doing a great job in the @ABA_League for a couple of years now, and now they have a chance to win a trophy in the @ABA_League. They have never win it, but even though it won’t be an easy task, Budućnost showed that they can win against anybody and they are confident enough to try to win this year’s @ABA_League trophy.

After the regular season, they finished as the second team in the league with 17 wins and 5 losses, the same as their opponent in semi-finals, but with better score in the games against Cedevita.

One of the main strengths of Montenegrin team is their coach Aleksandar Džikić, former Partizan’s coach, who proved that with great team work, especially in defense, the team can accomplish big things. And one thing they had already accomplished is the semi-final of the @ABA_League.

Another goal they accomplished in this season is staying in Europe as much as possible, and Budućnost played in the @EuroCup quarterfinals, but lost both games against Darüşşafaka. They were the only team from the @ABA_League that lasted that long in the @EuroCup, but even though they didn’t qualify to semi-finals, they did an amazing job in both leagues they competed.

They still have the chance to fight for the trophy in the @ABA_League, but first they have to win 2 games against Cedevita, and those matches will be though ones because both teams are eager to qualify to the final.

Cedevita:

The Croatian team is a regular squad in the @ABA_League Semifinals, and this year is no difference. It was only a question from which spot they will start the next round, and up until the last game they had a chance to be the second team and win the home court advantage. But Budućnost didn’t lost in the last round of the regular season and they finished third.

Also, the team from Zagreb played in the @EuroCup this season, but, unlike Budućnost, they finished before their European tour, and maybe this will be one motive more against their opponent in the semi-finals.

And they have lots of motives to win in those games against the team from Podgorica: the main one is the final and the chance to win the trophy and comeback in the best club competition in Europe, the @EuroLeague.

After the regular season, it was already mentioned that Cedevita had the same wins (17) and losses (5) as their next opponent.

Mornar:

Another Montenegrin team in semi-finals, maybe the only surprise in the @ABA_League, as everyone expect more famous teams, but for those who were watching Mornar, this isn’t a surprise but a reward for the teamwork this squad showed.

They are living a fairy tale but their story isn’t over yet. The best is maybe yet to come, and even if they losses against Crvena Zvezda, with what they shown before, they are not coming to Belgrade with a white flag. They will fight till the last minute.

At the beginning of the season, no one was noticing this team at all but now they are the fourth team in the regional league with 14 victories and 8 losses leaving behind Partizan and Zadar, on fifth and six spots. Those teams are well-known in this region, but Mornar surprised them, and all basketball fans that were watching the @ABA_League.

The team is confident and, even most important, they are playing their own game no matter who is at the other side. So, maybe they are ready for another surprise and their own fairy tale sequel.