@PartizanBC is hosting Olimpija Ljubljana (@ABA_League)

Today, Saturday, Partizan NIS is hosting Petrol Olimpija from Ljubljana, Slovenia, in the Round 9 of ABA League. The match starts at 7 p.m. in “Aleksandar Nikolić” Hall.

Belgrade team will host team from Slovenia without two players in the squad – Marko Čakarević, who is injured and Samardo Samuels, who is suspended because of his post on Instagram where he talked about salary and situation in Partizan.

But even though those players won’t be able to help their team mates, all players are hoping to win against Olimpija in front of their fans “Grobari”, who are supporting the club from the beginning of the season.

In Europe, black and whites has only one victory, but in the regional league they have 5 victories and 3 losses, and Petrol Olimpija has 5 losses and 3 victories. So both teams are searching for a new win, but Belgrade team has the home advantage and for all clubs is difficult to play in front of Partizan’s fans, but then the victory is sweeter then.

Head coach of black and whites Miroslav “Muta” Nikolić emphasises the importance of Saturday’s game against Slovenian team.

“The game against Olimpija is important to us in order to gain confidence again. I expect from my players to play better defense and with more energy. It is important to play good, better in defense than before and to play fast break as well”, said “Muta” Nikolić.

Novica Veličković, captain of the black and whites squad also said that his team needs to play better defense than in previous games.

“We are expecting a little break because of the competition for national teams, so it is important to try to win the game so we can rest peacefully while waiting to continue competitions. All of us who are playing against Olimpija have to be aware which gears we are wearing and colours we defending. All of us, counting me, the oldest one, and Pecarski, who is the youngest, need to forget about the words ‘it is going to be easy’ and to jump for every ball as if it were our last one. If we show we are fighters, and that has to be Partizan’s players recognizable sign, we know that fans will help us to win”, said Veličković.