Coach Zeljko Obradovic’s men seek their first victory at Palau Blaugrana in nearly four decades
The questions Partizan needs to answer to finally win in Barcelona
Is it possible to upgrade from Every Game Matters to Every Game Especially Matters Now?
In case you have not noticed, after this week there will be only five rounds remaining and there are currently ties for the last spots that guarantee playoff berths and for the last place in the Play-In Showdown. When FC Barcelona hosts Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade on Thursday night, the race for the next stages will be at the heart of the matter.
Barcelona is currently second in the standings with a 19-9 record, but it does not want to entertain the thought of a late-season slide as the teams tied for fifth-seventh place have just two fewer wins. Every win now brings Barca closer to clinching home-court advantage for the playoffs.
Partizan, 13-15, is one of the teams tied for the last Play-In Showdown spot and its fate could easily come down to one win, one loss or even a tiebreaker.
Despite the rich histories that both these teams boast, there is hardly a rivalry to speak of. Barcelona has won eight straight games against Partizan. The Serbian giants last beat Barcelona in February 2010 and its lone win in Barcelona came in 1987. To put that in perspective, Zeljko Obradovic was a reserve guard on Partizan’s roster that season.
Obradovic has another tie to Barcelona in that he coached both Jan Vesely and Nikola Kalinic – as well as current Partizan swingman James Nunnally – to the 2017 EuroLeague championship with Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul. Vesely has Partizan ties, too. He made his EuroLeague debut with the club, spent three seasons there and helped the team reach the 2010 EuroLeague Final Four.
Plenty of interesting storylines
Now that that's out of the way, what are we looking forward to in this game? There are some other interesting subplots. Both teams have strong and versatile frontcourts. One of the matchups could see Barca’s Willy Hernangomez face his former Charlotte Hornets teammate Frank Kaminsky.
I suspect all fans should be intrigued by Barcelona’s backcourt every time the team plays, whether they love the club or just love basketball. Why? Two words: Ricky Rubio.
It’s not just the hype around Rubio’s return, but the effect on the rest of the backcourt. How will Tomas Satoransky, Nicolas Laprovittola and Rokas Jokubaitis play alongside Rubio? How will the chemistry grow with Rubio and the bigs? Rubio’s impact on any given game at this point is almost irrelevant. The key is how ready he will be to make an impact next month once the playoffs come around.
Impact on the playoffs is key for Partizan, whose goal now is just to get there. And if there is a profile of a player who doesn’t give a damn about the name, stats or salary of the man guarding him, it’s Aleksa Avramovic. When at his best, Avramovic has been a difference-maker for Partizan and is coming off two of his best games of the season.
After serving up a career-high 30 points against Anadolu Efes Istanbul in Round 27, he came back with 18 last week at EA7 Emporio Armani Milan. He made his way into the paint to shoot a combined 15-of-17 on two-pointers in those games. Fifth in the league in two-point accuracy at 70.6%, Avramovic is one of only two guards in the top 25 in the league in that category.
Will he be able to penetrate at will against the likes of Satoransky and Rubio? Is backcourt mate PJ Dozier due for a bounce-back game after totaling 7 points in the last two games? Will Kevin Punter go off for a 20-point game?
For me, the game’s outcome rests on those questions. Big games for two of those players could be the recipe for a long-awaited Partizan victory in Barcelona. But the history and the teams’ records remind us that Barcelona is the clear favorite.