Dubai vs Crvena zvezda: Mottley Out, Dobric Doubtful
Crvena zvezda visit Dubai on Thursday at 6 pm in Round 4 of the EuroLeague without center Jonathan Mottley, while captain Ognjen Dobric is a doubt.
The day before the trip to the Emirates, after practice in Belgrade, Ibon Navarro spoke first about the players who will not be on the court. The Crvena zvezda coach confirmed that center Jonathan Mottley is out, that captain Ognjen Dobric had a problem in practice, and that his availability will be decided only on the morning of the trip.
Dubai vs Crvena zvezda tips off on Thursday, October 8, at 6 pm, in Round 4 of the EuroLeague. The hosts are 2-1, Zvezda are 1-2, and the Belgrade club played all three of its EuroLeague games so far at home. This is its first road game of the season.
Who plays and who doesn’t for Zvezda?
Mottley has a muscle injury. Navarro said only one week has passed and that he will be out for another “three or four”, while RTS reports the layoff will last four more weeks. Zvezda will therefore have to play what the coach called “small ball”, with Chima Moneke and Semi Ojeleye at the five, and Ebuka Izundu as the main center.
“Our fives are Ebuka Izundu and Jonathan Mottley. We don’t have Mottley, and last year Ebuka was the third center on the team. Because of his good games, the situation is different now and he is the main center. The club is always on the market, every EuroLeague team is on the market.”
That was Navarro’s answer when asked whether Zvezda are looking for reinforcements because of Mottley’s injury. On Dobric he was brief: “Dobric had a problem in practice, we don’t know whether he will be able to play tomorrow. We are going with 13 players and we will see tomorrow morning what the situation is with the others.” Zvezda are traveling with 13 players.
Navarro also recalled the start of the season, when the team was not complete: “Five players weren’t with the team, that’s something that happens, but the other players have to maintain the standard.”
How has Zvezda looked after three rounds?
In the EuroLeague, Zvezda lost to Zalgiris and Hapoel, then beat Anadolu Efes 77-72. At the start of the ABA League they lost to FMP 90-89. Navarro sees progress, but no reason for satisfaction:
“We are a team in progress. We are trying to improve the things we had problems with.”
The trip to the Emirates also comes with an unpleasant record. Zvezda lost all three previous games at the Coca-Cola Arena: 86-84 and 102-86 in the ABA League, and 114-91 in the EuroLeague.
Nikola Djurisic returned to the court after injury in the game against FMP and estimates that he is not yet at full strength. “I wouldn’t say I’m at a hundred percent, maybe 80-90 at the moment,” he said in a statement before the trip. His message was nonetheless firm:
“I expect us to go there and win. A tough opponent awaits us, Dubai was built for the EuroLeague Final Four, I hope we play as well as possible and take the win.”
What do Navarro and Pascual expect from each other?
Navarro described Dubai as a team that can play with a small or a big lineup, and he sees rebounding as the key. “Rebounds will be a problem, because they score a lot of points from second chances,” he said, adding that Zvezda must control the tempo of the game.
Dubai coach Xavi Pascual is in his first season with the club and knows Navarro from Spain.
“He is a great coach. He showed that during previous seasons in Malaga, and I’m not revealing anything new when I say he is a top coach.”
About Zvezda, he said they play at a high pace: “They play at a very high pace all the time. They are one of the best teams in the competition in the first seconds of the attack, as well as on the offensive rebound.”
Before the game, Pascual said Zvezda should not be written off because of their record:
“We think too much about the current situation. All teams, all of us have our process, and at the start of the season it is normal for some losses to happen until the team gets used to a new system, a new coach, and until all the pieces come together.”
Dubai won their first two games at home, then lost to Fenerbahce in Istanbul. The roster includes two Serbian players, Nemanja Dangubic and Filip Petrusev, and Pascual said of them:
“They are fantastic. They all have an excellent work ethic. But, generally, I am a coach who doesn’t divide players by nationality or anything like that. For me they are all Dubai players and nothing more.”
Zvezda need a first EuroLeague road result, and whether they get it with 13 players and without Mottley will be known on Thursday after 6 pm.
