For many teams, Week 6 is a farewell to the current edition of the Alpe Adria Cup. In Group C and Group D, however, it’s all about who will go to the playoffs from which place. Read our preview ahead of these matches.
In Group A, Pardubice have a chance to finish the group stage without a loss. Their opponent will be another sure advancer – Dabrowa Górnicza. “Even though we know how we will finish in the group, we still want to win. If only to keep building our confidence, to keep the winning mentality. I think the coaches will prepare for the game like they do for all the others and together we will do everything to win! We will be playing at home and we definitely don’t want to lose in front of our fans. Dabrowa Górnicza is a very good team. We know that, we have respect for them, even though we won there. If I have the right information, they have partially changed their team since our first match. In any case, they are the second team in our group and we definitely don’t take the match lightly. We’ll go on the field and just want to win,” said before the match pivot of Pardubice Robert Rikić. Oberwart and Furnir are playing in this group for third place.
In Group B, the situation is also clear in all positions. Olomouc will try to say goodbye to the competition with success at home. “We lost the opportunity to fight for the promotion place in the last game, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want to win. Every game like this is important for us. We want to improve, and the successes achieved on the court help us the most. We will do our best to say goodbye to the Alpe Adria Cup with dignity and a good result,” said the coach of Olomoucko Tihomir Bujan. Šibenka goes into the quarterfinals from second place. “We will give our best in this match as always. The players deserve praise, we’re going to do some good team building. We want to give everything on the court and we will try to win,” said the Šibenka coach Damir Milačić. Vienna welcomes Ilirija in the second match of the group. “In our group, the placement is already set – we are first in the group. We will use the game to rotate many players and prepare for the further, continuous progress in the AAC and the domestic league,” reflects the Vienna coach Aramis Naglić.
The C-group is played for the first place. Komárno is still undefeated in the competition and will try to stretch its record against Kolín. “I’m also looking forward to the next game. We have a great chance to finish the regular season of the Alpe Adria Cup on top of the table. Kolín plays physical basketball, which we will only be able to answer if we concentrate and play our game. If everything falls into place, we will definitely be tough to beat. I hope that our fans will come to support us, because we play better with their support,” said Dusan Vicentic before the game. In addition, the third place is up for grabs, Kapfenberg must win by at least 14 points against Škrljevo.
Also in the D-group there is still a play for promotion places. Timisoara can confirm their first place against Rogaška. Spišskí Rytieri still have a chance, they play against Zabok first and foremost to be sure of a place in the playoffs. “We know that we need one more win to be sure of advancing to the quarterfinals. We will try to get it in the next home game against Zabok. Their team has changed since our first game, they are playing better, they have some new players. So it will definitely be as tough a game as it was in Croatia. Only with responsible team play, concentration and the right commitment, we can think about victory, which we will definitely fight for,” revealed coach Teo Hojč.
AAC Regular season Week 6 schedule :
Group A (14th of December)
17.30 h: BK KVIS Pardubice – MKS Dabrowa Górnicza
19.00 h: UNGER STEEL Oberwart Gunners – KK Furnir
Group B
13th of December, 18.00 h: BK REDSTONE Olomoucko – GKK Šibenka
14th of December, 19.00 h: BC GGMT Vienna – Nutrisport Ilirija
Group C (14th of December)
18.00 h: BC Komárno – BC GEOSAN Kolín
19.00 h: Kapfenberg Bulls – KK DepoLink Škrljevo
Group D (13th of December):
17.30 h: SCM OHMA Mozzart Bet Timisoara – KK Rogaška
18.00 h: Spišskí Rytieri – KK Zabok