Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana returns to the 7DAYS EuroCup hoping to build on a strong 2021-22 season it had last year.
Roster rundown: Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana
The team found its chemistry and gained momentum in the second half of the season as Coach Jurica Golemac led his charges to the quarterfinals before falling to eventual runner-up Frutti Extra Bursaspor. Now, Cedevita has regrouped and will look to go a step further.
BACKCOURT
Cedevita has kept a couple of its most important players in the backcourt: Yogi Ferrell and Zoran Dragic. The duo combined for 26.0 points per game in the EuroCup last season and they remain a pillar for the new-look team. Three more guards arrived this summer: Josh Adams, an electric point guard with EuroCup experience; Lovro Gnjidic, a young Croatian talent with a bright future; and Marko Jeremic, another veteran with EuroCup experience. Edo Muric also returns at forward for his fifth season with the team coming off one of his best seasons last year.
FRONTCOURT
Cedevita's frontcourt has also been revamped for the new campaign. The biggest arrival may be EuroCup champ, Amar Alibegovic, who averaged 5.3 points and 2.4 boards with Virtus Segafredo Bologna last season and was a teammate of Adams's there the season before. Power forward Jan Kosi arrived to make his debut in the EuroCup and he will be joined by Karlo Matkovic, who returns from being on loan for three seasons eager to make an impact now that he's back with the big club. These new faces will be greeted by some familiar ones, starting with center Alen Omic, who extended his contract this summer, Marko Radovanovic and youngsters Blaz Habot and Sasa Ciani to round out a roster that will be a perfect mixture of experience and youth.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Josh Adams returns to the EuroCup and is expected to have a prominent role with Cedevita. Adams has been a go-to scorer at nearly all of his previous stops and has EuroCup experience; he played for Unicaja Malaga in 2019-20 and Virtus Bologna in 2020-21. Adams comes off a season in Australia with Tasmania JJ where he averaged 17.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 34 games. Now, he returns to Europe and the EuroCup with a team that was on the rise last season. Adams will have to share the ball with Ferrell and Dragic, but if this trio manages to find a way to help each other on the floor, Cedevita will be a force to be reckoned with.
OUTLOOK
Cedevita's Group A is bursting with quality teams and unknown foes. The Slovenian team's campaign will start against the team that knocked it out last season, Frutti Extra Bursaspor, and from there it will face classic clubs Joventut Badalona, ratiopharm Ulm and Umana Reyer Venice as well as teams that have yet to reveal their potential in the EuroCup such as Prometey Slobozhanske and U-BT Cluj-Napoca. More than half the roster from last season stayed together, so it will be Coach Golemac's job to make sure that the new faces find their chemistry quickly so that Cedevita can pick it up where it left off last season.