CEZ Basketball Nymburk hosts Crvena Zvezda on Tuesday in the Czech Republic with both teams trying to start the Last 16 on the right foot. Nymburk won its last two regular season games and got some help in Week 6 to finish atop Group H with a 4-2 record. Head coach Muli Katzurins men also went undefeated at home by an average margin of 17 points per game. Crvena Zvezda won Group F with a 5-1 mark and has already recorded impressive road wins at Dynamo Moscow and Benetton Treviso. However Crvena Zvezda could be without its leading scorer, forward Tadija Dragicevic this week, due to personal reasons. Without him, head coach Aleksandar Trifunovic make focus more on his backcourt, which has started to shine with Week 6 MVP Mike Taylor at point guard and Filip Videnov and Vuk Radivojevic alongside him. The perimeter heroes make things easier for Elemdin Kikanovic and Marko Keselj inside. Nymburk boasts four players who averaged double figures in scoring in the regular season and a well-abalnced roster overall. Point guard Arthur Lee and scorer Ron Lewis are the backcourt lynchpins, while Phil Ricci anchors the paint and Petr Benda is a factor at power forward. Nymburk has also used 11 players in its rotation thus far, but may need to focus on a smaller number in the Last 16. Three crucial matchups that will greatly impact the outcome are at point guard between the experienced Lee and dynamic newcomer Taylor, in the paint between the powerful Ricci and Keselj and on the wing where Lewis meets Videnov. Nymburk is the natural favorite at home, but the young fighting spirit of Crvena Zvezda cannot be overlooked. How Dragicevics expected absence affects the visitors and how Oliver Stevic or Nemanja Bjelica respond to extra minutes in his place could be the most important factor in the ooutcome.
REFEREES: Volodymyr Drabikovskyi, Boris Shulga, Apostolos Kalpakas