When ALBA Berlin and Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade clash on Thursday for the eighth time this century, it will also be the fifth time ALBA forward Yovel Zoosman and Zvezda swingman Ognjen Dobric stand on opposite ends in a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague game.
ALBA enters this contest having won the last seven games against Zvezda. And Zoosman - who joined ALBA last season - has never lost a game against Zvezda.
Zoosman and Dobric twice went head-to-head while Zoosman was with Maccabi Tel Aviv, the first time in the 2017-18 season and again in the 2019-20 campaign. Both games were in Tel Aviv and finished with double-digit wins for Maccabi with Zoosman doing the heavy lifting in the latter, playing a career-high 33 minutes with 8 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and a career-best 4 steals.
Last season, ALBA swept Zvezda in their two regular-season games during which Zoosman just slightly outperformed Dobric in scoring, shooting, rebounding as well as steals. The last time they met, however, in ALBA's 74-70 win in the German capital, it was Dobric who shined with 12 points in 20 minutes, accumulating a +9 in +/- column, despite the loss.
When it comes to career numbers, Dobric has a slight edge. Dobric is posting 7.1 points per game for his career, including 8.2 points this season, compared to Zoosman's 4.6 career scoring average, which is up to 7.3 points per game this season.
In his 128 appearances, all in a Zvezda uniform, Dobric has attempted almost twice as many shots as Zoosman, and despite such a larger volume, has still made two-pointers at the same accuracy while knocking down three-pointers at 36.7%. Zoosman has shot 38.6% from behind the arc.
However, Zoosman has opened this season better. Dobric does have the aforementioned edge in scoring, but Zoosman is averaging a performance index rating of 8.4 in his eight appearances this season, while Dobric, who missed two games due to injury, has a 3.7 PIR.
On Tuesday night, Dobric is poised to do better as Zvezda aims to end its losing streak against ALBA, and Dobric hopes he finally gets his first win in his fifth try when Zoosman is on the other side of the floor.
