After U-BT Cluj-Napoca (2-4) and Joventut Badalona (4-2) both suffered defeats in Round 6 of the 7DAYS EuroCup, there is an extra level of intrigue ahead of their meeting at BT-Arena on Wednesday evening. Cluj fell to an 80-95 road defeat at Frutti Extra Bursaspor last week. The good thing for Cluj head coach Mihai Silvasan is that his team welcomes Joventut back on its home floor, where it is 2-1.
Cluj, Joventut look to get back on track in Round 7
There have been very impressive crowds at BT-Arena in Cluj's opening three home games and the fans will no doubt come out in force for the visit of one of the favorites to win this year's EuroCup. Cluj has the third-best offensive record in the competition, averaging 85.7 points per game, so it will be important that the likes of Leonardo Meindl (17.3 ppg.), Jordan Taylor (14.2 ppg.) and Karel Guzman (12.8 ppg.) all step up for the visit of Joventut.
Joventut comes into this clash on the back of an 80-85 loss at home to Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse, however, the visitors have the No.1-ranked defense in the EuroCup and could make life difficult for Cluj. Joventut lost its first road game in Round 2 but then bounced back by recording impressive wins away from Badalona at Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana and ratiopharm Ulm in Rounds 3 and 5, respectively. After seeing just Henry Ellenson (12.2 ppg.) and Pep Busquets score a double-digit number of points against Bourg, Joventut head coach Carles Duran will want some of his more experienced players, such as Ante Tomic and Pau Ribas, to play key roles in quietening down the noisy crowd at BT-Arena.