By Nikola Miloradovic / info@eurohoops.net
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet traveled to Greece today and will face Olympiacos in Piraeus on Thursday in EuroLeague Round 30. The Belgrade team has suffered three straight defeats and is now at risk of losing its postseason position in the standings, holding a 16-13 record.
The biggest issue at the moment is that coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos does not have any centers available.
Joel Bolomboy suffered an injury last week against Olimpia Milano and is expected to be out for three to six weeks. Luka Mitrović underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his knee and his return to training is expected in 14 days, while Filip Petrušev is ineligible to play against Olympiacos, as he was loaned to Crvena Zvezda by the Greek team earlier this season.
“Our job is not easy at all because we don’t have centers, and we will try to give our best with the team we have. This is a challenge for all of us to show character and make up for the lack of centers. I expect everyone to give their maximum. We have to fight for every position on both ends,” said Sfairopoulos.
On top of that, Mike Daum is still not ready to play, despite recovering from the injury that kept him sidelined for months.
“He hasn’t practiced with the team yet. First, he needs to start working with the team, then go five-on-five, and after that, we need to wait between a week and ten days to see how his leg reacts to training. It takes time for him to get into rhythm after being away from competitive basketball for so long,” Sfairopoulos concluded.
Therefore, Sfairopoulos will likely have to experiment with the likes of Dejan Davidovac and John Brown at the center position against Olympiacos’ big men, such as Moustapha Fall and Nikola Milutinov.
As for Olympiacos, the EuroLeague leaders with 22-7 record, coach Georgios Bartzokas admitted that Nigel Williams-Goss is unlikely to play, while Tyler Dorsey is also questionable.
“At the moment, it looks like Goss won’t play. He might be able to, but we don’t want to take any risks. He’ll probably be ready by Sunday. Today will give us more clarity. That’s the most likely scenario—I don’t want to rule anything out, but that’s the plan. Tyler Dorsey is also questionable. He suffered a sprain in the game against Marousi—not a serious one, but he might still be in pain, so we’ll have to see about that,” Bartzokas said.
Thomas Walkup and Keenan Evans are also out, but Olympiacos still has Naz Mitrou-Long, Luca Vildoza, and Saben Lee in the roster to help at the point guard position.