Semifinal 1: Rilski Sportist - Mega Hypo Leasing (preview)
Rilski Sportist once again versus Mega HL
The first semifinal of the Eurohold Balkan League on Tuesday matches up Final Four hosts Rilski Sportist and young Serbian team Mega Hypo Leasing. It will be a fascinating battle between two teams that were not considered among the favourites when the BIBL started, but gained in confidence as it went on and one of them is now bound to reach the final. The question is - who?
If we went by the evidence of the teams` regular season form, the simple answer to that question would be - Rilski Sportist. The Bulgarian team topped Group B with a 6-2 record. They are still unbeaten at home in BIBL games, but they have shown how dangerous they are on the road too, defeating Fersped Rabotnicki in Skopje on the last day of the regular season in what was the BIBL Group B 1st place decider. In contrast, Serbs Mega Hypo Leasing finished 4th in the same Group B with a record of 4-4. The pattern of their home-away/win-loss record (2-2-2-2) showed they were equally capable of winning or losing versus everyone everywhere. But they did lose both games versus Rilski Sportist in the Group, athough both were unlucky defeats by just 1 point - 97-96 in the BIBL inauguration game in Samokov last October and then 84-85 in Belgrade in November.
All of that might have suggested that Rilski Sportist would be the clear favourites, especially with the Final Four being played on their home court, but mainly - citing them being that littel bit more experienced and mentally tough (the latter - judging by the already mentioned two 1-point victories).
But the situations is changed now and is still changing. And not because Rilski Sportist have become any weaker, but because the super talented Mega HL younsters have shown they are much stronger! And they are still gaining in game quality, maturity and self-esteem by the hour, with no certainty of what heights they can reach, before their great run of form is eventually halted by someone. The real question is will Rilski Sportist be that someone or will the Bulgarians be the next opponent to fall prey to the ethusiastic young Mega HL players. That has already happened to the last 5 teams they have met in the Serbian league, where they finished the 1st plhase with 5 wins in a row. It has also happened to another Serbian team - Eurohold Balkan League favourites Swisslion Takovo, sensationally ousted by Mega HL in the two-leg BIBL quarterfinal. What is left to see is whether the Belgrade team can do it in a real international match-up, at the grand stage of the Final Four, versus a highly motivated home team.
As for Rilski Sportist, their domestic form hasn`t been quite as stable. In the Bulgarian National Basketball League they`ve been down at 4th or 5th in the standings all season long, holding a losing record most of the time. But they also had some magnificent victories there, ivcluding one at home versus non other than Bulgarian champion and powerhouse Lukoil Academic. The feat proves that sky is the limit to what the team can do in their own Arena Samokov and now they will be doubly determined to succeed, considering the importance of the occasion.
Lets remind ourselves what are the main arguments of both teams when it comes to player personnel.
Rilski Sportist coach Aleksandar Todorov relies on a team game but also on one big ace out of the pack - American center Travis Peterson, the MVP of the BIBL Regular Season. For the opponents of Rilski Sportist it is always hard to contain his offence (21 points per game) as well as keep off his shot-blocking, when they try to score in the paint. He is also the leading rebounder of the team with 9.1 boards per game.
The next 4 best scorers for Rilski Sportist in the Eurohold Balkan League are as follows: Young Serbian power forward Dragoslav Papic (16.5 ppg), Serbian point guard Branko Mirkovic (14.1 ppg), 20-year old Bulgarian prodigy Ivan Lilov (14.0 ppg) and shooting guard Bogdan Boev (9.4 ppg).
Papic is a three-point shooting threat, with 2.1 triples made per BIBL contest. Mirkovic is also the leader in assists not only for Rilski Sportist but the entire Balkan League as well with 4.8 per game. Of course, as Serbs, both of them are facing a team from their own country, but that could mean they are even more motivated to prove their abilities.
The average age of Mega’s roster is just 20 years and 4 months, as only 4 out of the 19 players were born before 1989. It’s a 20-year old – shooting guard Stefan Stojacic – that has been the top scorer and the star of the team, netting 16.2 points (including 2.1 treys) per game in the BIBL.
Behind Stojacic (in fact – including him) it is a real balanced team performance by Mega Hypo Leasing – there are 4 more players averaging double digit (between 11.9 and 12.4) points per game in the BIBL so far.
The "double digit foursome" includes Uros Nikolic, Strahinja Dragicevic, Dusan Katnic and Aleksandar Mitrovic. Nikolic is a 21-year old center, who has led the team in rebounds per game (8.3) to add to his 12.4 points. He will be the man to guard Travis Peterson and will be interesting to see how he fares in that. 23-year old power forward Dragicevic didn`t start this season with Mega HL, but in November came back to the team he had already spent one season with and since then has contributed 12.3 points per BIBL game. His personal match-up with Papic will also be quite a curious one. 20-year old Katnic is currently the team`s starting point guard and brings 12.1 points and 4.2 assists per game. Shooting guard Mitrovic is an 18-year old prodigy, who has successfully utilized his 200-cm stature to move up to small forward this season and average 11.9 points per game.
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| No Games Scheduled |
| Delasport Balkan League 2023/2024 Regular Season | |||
| 1 | .jpg){kind=logo} KB Sigal Prishtina |
8 - 2 | 18 |
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