Igokea vs. Zadar Prediction, Tips and Odds – Dec. 09, 2022 18:00 CET
In the tenth round of the ABA League in Aleksandrovac, home team Igokea welcomes one of the most pleasant surprises of this season, Zadar. Both teams together with Budućnost from Podgorica share a great fourth place. Who will make a breakthrough, the BH champion, or the guests from Dalmatia?
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Igokea Team News
As in previous seasons, Igokea is at the very top of the ABA league this season as well. In addition to the ABA League, they are competing in the FIBA Champions League for the second season in a row, wherein the extremely difficult group D, they are tied for second place with Turkish Bahcesehir. They achieved a great victory in Bilbao, where they beat the home team by three points.
As in the previous seasons, Igokea brought great “under the radar” Americans who are doing a great job. First of all, we think of Crawford and Ray. It was Crawford who decided the match against Bilbao by scoring 17 points and adding 7 more rebounds, while Ray excelled last weekend against MZT where he scored 37 points with 13/20 shooting from the field!
Igokea has a strong base of domestic players, above all young and talented ones who have experience playing in the ABA League, at the highest level. The team left Aleksa Radanov, but former Real player Mario Nakić arrived, who injured their ligaments, and probably ended the season. The guys who were one of the leaders last year, Jošilo, Tanasković, and Stefan Đorđević, are doing a great job.
This season, Dragan Bajić’s team plays much more open basketball and is “softer” in defense, but the short rotation does not allow the intensity in defense to be at a high level for the entire 40 minutes.
Zadar Team News
Zadar has been in financial problems for years. Before the beginning of this season, they were without a large number of players, and many saw Zadar in the fight for survival. The management of Zadar did a great job during the summer, Danijel Jusup from Široki arrived as head coach, who is in his third term in Zadar. It can be said that they are a real little surprise in the league, and with 5 wins they are a real refreshment. They play the best offensive basketball, scoring an average of almost 93 points per game.
Jusup opted for players eager to prove themselves. Luka Božić arrived with him from Široki, who has an average score of 36 points and is one of the best players in the league. In addition to Božić, Marko Ramljak arrived from the BH League, more precisely from Sarajevo Spurs, who has problems with injuries at the beginning of the season.
Zadar plays simply and quickly, which is a characteristic of teams led by Danijel Jusup. Zadar produced the biggest surprise this season and won against Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade, while against Buducnosti they were defeated by one ball.
In the last round of the Croatian championship, they very easily defeated Alkal from Sinj, and also scored 90 points. While the ABA leagues beat FMP, with a score of 103:97. In nine rounds, the Zadar team did not score more than 90 points only twice, which is a sufficient representation of what kind of attacking team it is. In addition to Božić, Antonio Jordano is also playing in great form, hitting 5 three-pointers from 5 attempts against FMP. They have great athletic and defensive potential, but they are still one of the weakest defensive teams, and that segment of the game leaves plenty of room for improvement.
H2H
11.03.22 – Igokea : Zadar – 79:67
18.11.21 – Zadar : Igokea – 64:77
28.03.21 – Zadar : Igokea – 63:86
13.12.20 – Igokea : Zadar – 72:48
Igokea vs Zadar Prediction
Although Zadar plays away against Igokea, we think that the limit of 10 points below the average number of points scored by Zadar this season is more than tempting. Last season, Igokea was known as an excellent defensive team, but this season they are much worse defensively, so we expect another attacking rhapsody of the team from Zadar.
Igokea has problems with injuries, Nakić is most likely finished for the season, Marić and Talić are also questionable for this match, while Zadar has the strongest team.
Tip-off Time: Friday, 09.12.2022, 18:00 CET
Prediction: Zadar over 82.5 points
Odds: 1,80
Sportsbook: Bet365
