Group G preview: BC Akademik Plovdiv

BC Akademik Plovdiv is one of the teams in Group G of Delasport Balkan League alongside Hapoel Holon and KK Kumanovo 2009. The Bulgarian side finished top of Group E with 8 wins and 2 losses displaying some really good performance over the course of Stage 1. Now the Plovdiv team enters the Second Stage with the ambitions to build on that success and reach the Final 4. The first game will be on March 4th when Akademik will visit Hapoel in Israel.

Akademik cruised through Stage 1 with a very good all-around performance and playing well both on offense and defense. The only two defeats came against the opponent in Stage 2 - KK Kumanovo 2009 and were in a middle of a streak with a lot of games. That however is without doubt something that Akademik will have on its mind when it meets the North Macedonians as the battle between the teams is expected to be really huge.

Perhaps Akademik's most impressive win was in Skopje against KK TFT after overtime. It came after Akademik was losing big at the break but then showed character and won. Akademik did well also in the other games beating Beroe twice by a single point and generally looking impressive in most of their outings.

With a new coaching staff in Yordan Yankov and Aleksandar Gruev, Akademik tried to show something different and the team played with a lot of passion, energy, hustle and motivation. That is what characterized them in all the matches. Of course the team is led by captain Vasil Bachev, who despite not averaging the most points, is without doubt the heart and the soul of Akademik. The three players under the basket really impressed in Stage 1 with Obrad Tomic, Jere Vucica and Tony Gugino all averaging double figures. The same can be said for Nikolay Nikolov and Nikolay Titkov who improved their performances and are key to the team's style of play. They've also averaged over 10 points per game and with the help of Martin Sotirov and newly signed Jahii Carson, Akademik is able to have enough players in order to play its aggressive style. When Adriyan Sekulov returns it will also help and hopefully for the Plovdiv team, they'll be able to cap a good start to the season with a qualification for the Final Four.

By clicking on the link below, you can check the Akademik's results so far and the schedule for Stage 2. Further below you can also watch again the win over BC Beroe on January 28th, which secured the team the first place in Group E:

BC AKADEMIK PLOVDIV'S RESULTS AND SCHEDULE FOR STAGE 2