Two teams in good spirits will clash when Buducnost VOLI Podgorica hosts Dolomiti Energia Trento in Group B action on Wednesday. Buducnost (4-2) survived a tough test in Tel Aviv to defeat Hapoel last week and remain undefeated on the road this season. However, Coach Vlada Jovanovic’s men are only 1-3 at home. They will look to please their home fans against Trento (1-5), which snapped a 17-game EuroCup losing streak by defeating Gran Canaria last week. Coach Lele Molin’s men will now look to exercise another curse; Trento has not won on the road since November 2020 - a run of 17 consecutive road losses.
Play in the paint will be key when Buducnost faces Trento
Alpha Kaba (14.5 ppg., 11.3 rpg., 2.3 spg.) has been a monster inside for Buducnost recently with four consecutive doubles, while the red-hot shooting of Cameron Reynolds (12.2 ppg.) made the difference last week in Tel Aviv. Darion Atkins will be one of the players charged with slowing down Kaba for Trento, while do-it-all swingman Drew Crawford could match up with Reynolds. Another key duel will be at point guard where Trento’s Diego Flaccadori (13.5 ppg., 4.8 apg) takes on Trae Bell-Haynes (12.3 ppg., 4.8 apg.).
Buducnost boasts one of the best defenses in the EuroCup; it has allowed the second-fewest points this season (73.2 ppg.). Trento is last in scoring with just 73.5 points per game. The game could be decided in the paint; Trento is last in the EuroCup in two-point accuracy (44.3%) and has been outrebounded by 3.7 boards per game. Buducnost leads the EuroCup in rebounding (44.7 rpg.) and offensive boards (14.0 orpg.) and is third in blocks (3.7 bpg.). Even though Buducnost hasn’t shot well, its strong inside play has made the difference and that could be the key this week, too.