KB Peja vs BC Rilski Sportist

KB Peja against BC Rilski Sportist is one of the semifinals in EUROHOLD Balkan League. The teams reached that stage through different ways but the important thing is that they are here and will fight to qualify for the final.

Peja won its group in the Second Stage after a last round victory over Mornar and missed the quarterfinals. Rilski on the other hand had to go through a very tough match-up with Kumanovo but showed heart, the players fought hard and at the end p?ssed to the next stage in overtime. However all of this has to be forgotten as a new challenge awaits them now.

Peja had some ups and downs during the season as the team had very good games and some not so good. At the beginning almost each match was surrounded by drama and the outcomes were often decided in overtime. Perhaps the best game Peja played was the away win in Kumanovo which actually turned out to be a very important one which opened the way to a direct qualification for the semifinal.

During the season there were also a lot of roster changes but finally it seems the current one is good as it was proven with winning the Kosovo cup. Drilon Hajrizi and Alban Veseli are the only key players that started the season have participated in all 12 matches so far. Jozo Brkic came a bit later and Janou Rubin and Dominique Wise have also performed well since their arrival. The biggest name in the roster without doubt is Mario Austin who has lots of experience that can be crucial in such games. Those are the key figures in Peja′s roster as well as Jaleel Nelson.

Hajrizi is averaging 13.1 points and 6.3 rebounds while Alban Veseli is having 13.0 rebounds and 5.8 rebounds. In his four games is averaging 13.5 points and 5.5 assists while Jozo Brkic is with 11.9 points and 7.3 rebounds.

Peja relies a lot on 3-point shooting as the team averages 28.6 attempts per game and 9.8 makes which is 34.1%. The team is shooting well for 2 points with 18.8 makes out of 36.9 attempts for 51% and is doing good from the free throw line - 14.7 of 20.5 for 71.5%.

Rilski Sportist is one of the teams that didn′t make almosy any changes during the season. The only one is the arrival of Zarko Rakocevic who replaced Ian Chiles. However this worked well for the team from Samokov because the Montenegrin is one of the top players now.

Rilski can look back with some pride as the team has performed well in most of the games this season. Perhaps the two matches with Sigal Prishtina and the home game from the First Stage against Kumanovo are the ones that have to be forgotten but otherwise Rilski did very well. Also the team from Samokov was the one that handed Kozuv′s first defeat this season which is also something to be remembered.

The veteran and captain Yordan Bozov is the leader of the team averaging 16.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists. His experience is invaluable to the club and he is performing at a high level. Zarko Rakocevic is also playing well with 15.8 points and 6.5 rebounds in six games while the rookie Julian Norfleet also is on a high with 13.9 points and 3.8 rebounds. However the most efficient player on the roster is Tony Gugino with 10.9 points and 7.9 rebounds being helped also by Vernon Taylor with 12.7 points and 3.8 rebounds. Those are Rilski′s main go to competitors with Zlatin Georgiev and Simeon Iliev also having key roles and receiving big minutes. Those seven players are the ones that will have to withstand the two matches with Peja and try to qualify Rilski for the big Final. The problem for Rosen Barchovski is the injury of reserve center Todor Todorov which shortens the rotation.

Rilski Sportist is the second best scoring team in the competition so far with 84.9 points per game. They are having 22.2 makes out of 42.5 attempts for 2 points which is 52.3% shooting while from the 3-point line they are 8.1 from 23.8 for 34.2%. Rilski is averaging also 16.1 made free throws from 20.9 attempts which is second best with 77.1% in the league.

Peja and Rilski are very evenly matched in the rebounding as they average 33.4 and 33.0 per game respectively. Peja is making more turnovers - 13.5 but also more assists - 16.6 per game. Rilski on the other hand is making 11.4 turnovers and 14.1 assists per game. Generally Peja is better in steals and blocks per game. "The Yellows" are having 6.9 steals and 2.4 blocks per game compared to 6.1 and 1.8 for Rilski.

And finally - the teams were in the same group in the First Stage and Rilski won both games - 105-97 at home and 93-91 away. Surely this will give the team from Samokov some confidence but Peja′s roster changed a lot since then. Without doubt we have to expect two great games that will be fought hard by both teams.

The first one is Tuesday in Unversiada Hall in Sofia at 18.30 hrs local time. It will be broadcast LIVE on BNT World, RTV 21 and Sportmedia.tv. Enjoy it!