Veteran swing man Edu Muric of Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana talks about his thoughts before his team visits Buducnost VOLI Podgorica on Tuesday for a do-or-die showdown to reach the 7DAYS EuroCup Playoffs.
Edo Muric, Olimpija: 'We will all be at 1,000%'
Blogs
7 mins read
Hello everyone, this is Edo Muric from Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, posting this ahead of our do-or-die game against Buducnost VOLI Podgorica to get into the 7DAYS EuroCup Quarterfinals. These are the types of games you live for. It is the greatest feeling to play these games, and at the same time these they are also the most difficult to play. They mean a lot. You know how much work you put into getting into this situation, and you are happy to be in a situation to be deciding on your destiny.
We know how Buducnost plays in Podgorica. We are aware it will be a very difficult game. With a change of coach, they have new energy, like a new rush. In the last few games they have played really well. I watched every one of them and we are aware of what to expect on Tuesday. I hope we will be ready to play at our best level, that we have a good day. If we play our basketball, that will set us on a good path.
"I already have those positive jitters thinking about the game."
I already have those positive jitters thinking about the game. I have played some big games before in European competitions on a club level. I won the EuroChallenge Cup with Krka Novo Mesto, played a Basketball Champions League final with Banvit Bandirma, but making the EuroCup Quarterfinals is a big deal. Those previous experiences help. Every time you get one of these deciding games under your belt, you are calmer for the next one. I remember that in my first of several finals with Krka, I was so nervous at that time. Now, after getting through more of these games, you become calm and during the game, you are able to focus better on the things your coach talked about before the game. Now, you are able to show more during the game than when you were younger and playing in these big games for the first time.
So, I think I am experienced enough in this situation. There are other experienced players on our team, too, and we will see if that will help us on Tuesday. I cannot wait for the game, and to see if we will be progressing to the last eight teams, or not. I think we deserve it. But Buducnost is also playing great; both teams are playing great seasons. Each team has good players and good systems, and I think it will be fair that this better team in this one will progress.
It is no secret that we could have already been qualified for the quarterfinals. Last week's overtime loss against Virtus Segafredo Bologna is one of the toughest losses in my career and a loss that hit me the worst. I felt terrible after that game. I feel like we already won that game, but then we fell asleep in the final minutes. I don't know why. I am sure, however, that it was not about them having luck in the end; it was all about Virtus's experience. They have experienced players and they did not make a single mistake in the final minutes. And they punished every one of our mistakes. The Virtus players knew what they were chasing, while we waited for time to run out. In the end, even though we were the better team in that game, we lost, and that's what hurt us the most. We played a perfect game and fought like dragons for 37 minutes.
I think that was the first time we let the lead slip like that this season. Let's not forgot that it was Milos Teodosic, Marco Belinelli and Stefan Markovic on the other side. They stayed calm and punished us, and handed us a tough defeat. That's sports, and you have to come out of it stronger and better. But it still does not take away that we played enough games to know how we should have reacted being in our position and with the lead.
"There are no secrets between us and Buducnost."
If we look at the positives from that game, we played well against the top contender to win the EuroCup title. I think UNICS and Virtus are the top two contenders, and it demonstrates the belief we have that we can compete and play against anybody is true. Such a good game as we played against Virtus shows us that we belong in the quarterfinals, and if we get there, we will have a chance to compete against anybody. That gives you an even bigger desire to get to the quarterfinals.
It takes a little extra time to mentally rebound from such a loss, but it helped us a lot that we played and beat Borac Cacak in an Adriatic League game on Saturday. Having that game in between Virtus and Buducnost was great to bounce back and return to winning. It has also allowed us to forget about Virtus, and get ready and focus only on Buducnost. The moment we beat Borac, we started thinking about this, the most important EuroCup game.
We watched the last few Buducnost games, they play better than they did two months ago, when we played them twice and beat them twice in Ljubljana. We've got to prepare ourselves a little bit differently than the last time, and I expect a tight game until the very end.
"We are really dedicated to details, and you really want all this work in our club to come to fruition."
I like what Buducnost has been doing throughout the years, giving opportunities to their own domestic players, similar to what we are doing. They changed coaches since we last played against them. They were also playing well with their former coach, Petar Mijovic, but a change of coach kind of gives a team some new energy to take off again. Each player wants to prove himself again. So, they have used that incentive with head coach Dejan Milojevic, who is a very experienced former player and who has had plenty of success as a head coach already. He has charisma, which probably translates to the players and gives them a fresh look.
But I don't think that will mean all that much in one, deciding game. We will all be at 1,000%. There are no secrets between Buducnost and us. We know their main weapons, we have to be aggressive on defense, use our transition game, and we have to stay together whether we start well or bad. If we get the game at our rhythm, we will have a good chance. We can never give up.
It would mean a lot for this club if we would make it through. There is so much positive energy around the club the last two seasons since Cedevita and Olimpija joined forces. There is so much professionalism around our organization, from the management to the head coach. We are really dedicated to details, and you really want all this work in our club to come to fruition. Arenas are unfortunately still empty, but you can start feeling that people on the streets are talking more about basketball, about Olimpija. If we would produce a success like this one, to get into the EuroCup Playoffs, and with the way we play and how we fight, I just know we would have more and more support. And once things return to normal, with that growing support, I am certain we would have a packed Stozice Arena for our games in no time.
So, this game is important on many levels, and hopefully we will be able to get into the quarterfinals and that would also allow me to do another one of these blogs.
Wish us luck!