U-BT Cluj-Napoca, in its first season in the Adriatic League, was praised by the director of the competition: “It's a real refreshment”

In the summer of last year, after several seasons spent in the EuroCup, the second continental competition, U-BT Cluj-Napoca made the decision to join the Adriatic League, a regional competition in which several groups from the Euroleague take part.

The black and white reached an agreement valid for 3 seasons with the management of the ABA League, showing his willingness to pay the wildcard which costs 500,000 euros/season. U-BT was welcomed into the competition alongside BC Vienna and has collected 13 wins and 12 losses so far.

Milja Vojinovic, director of the ABA League, praised Cluj: “A city that lives for basketball”

In an interview for Mozzart Sport, Milija Vojinovic, director of the Adriatic League, praised U-BT Cluj-Napoca.

“Their entry into the ABA League has brought multiple benefits, the most important being that new markets have emerged, but they have undoubtedly lived up to expectations. Cluj participates in the playoffs and is a real refreshment. With the team they formed, but especially with the atmosphere in the hall of a city that lives for basketball and for that formation, they brought additional quality“, he declared.

“Vienna managed to keep their place in the first league, which, considering their lack of experience at this level, is certainly a great success. It's an indicator of their dedication and I congratulate them for that,” Vojinovic added.

The director of the ABA League revealed that, starting next season, the league will expand to 20 teams, one of them being Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia). Vojinovic also believes that this competition deserves its reputation as Europe's 3rd league in terms of quality.

This week in Barcelona, ​​a meeting was held between the leadership of the ABA League and representatives of EuroLeague Basketball, where several aspects of the collaboration between the two competitions were discussed.

U-BT Cluj-Napoca is dueling with Buducnost Podgorica in the quarter-finals of the ABA League

U-BT Cluj-Napoca finished the Top 8 phase in 5th position and qualified for the quarter-finals of the ABA League, with Buducnost Podgorica as their opponent. The Montenegrins won their first game of the series 86-73 and is one win away from joining the competition's “ace box”.

On Friday, May 8, at 20:00, the series will move to the “students” field, where U-BT, encouraged by the Cluj supporters, will try to get revenge. If the black and whites win, the decisive match will be played in Podgorica.

“We are facing another decisive match. We are not strangers to this, because we have played with such stakes before this season. I will tell you exactly what I told the players: we must, it is imperative that we try to win this game for our fans, first of all, who have supported us in all the games at home and beyond this season. We owe it to them and we owe it to ourselves to try to prove that we are the best team in the Adriatic League outside of the three Euroleague teams“, said Silvășan, at the press conference.

“We have an extremely capable opponent, a physical opponent, who gave us problems. Taking into account also the fact that Guzman, who is a very physical player, is missing, it drags us down even more. But that is the situation and we are trying to adapt and find solutions. I also want to thank the fans for being with us in all these games played at home. They have a big role in our success and they are one of the reasons why our motivation is high in every match we play at home, we are still waiting for them and we convey to them that the season is not over yet”, said the U-BT technician.

Mihai Silvășan, at time-out, during the duel with Dubai Basketball/Photo: Manases Sandor (aba-liga.com)

Iverson Molinar: “We know that the hall will be with us again”

We have a group with a strong character and I think that in the important moments the team responds always present. That's why we have high expectations from tomorrow's game. We need to be better at rebounding, especially offensively, and execute better on offense. At the same time, how we handle the pressure in defense will matter a lot.

If we do all these things well, I think we will be in a position to win. We know that the hall will be with us again. We love the fans from Cluj-Napoca and we greatly appreciate the energy they give us at every match. We expect him to come in big numbers and be, once again, the team's sixth man

– Iverson Molinar, U-BT Cluj-Napoca player