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Oleson out, Navarro back, Valencia arrives after 9-0 in friendly matches

Perasovic has put together a great team and Lucic's transfer from Partizan was a great move. Barcelona, on the other hand, has the most offense-oriented team in the last few years so it's quite obvious we're in for a great game in Blaugrana

The atmosphere was unbelievable in Samson on Tuesday when Zeljko Obradovic won his first trophy with Fener in an arena that was on fire. Fener played Galata and the fact that they played a long way from Istanbul didn't matter at all because they have fans all over the country. The Turks are at their best when it comes to atmosphere. The arena really was on fire... Today, in Palau Blaugrana, the atmosphere won't be at the same level, but we're in for the European game of the week. A real treat for the week end.

Barcelona put together an amazing team this summer. Navarro said a couple of weeks ago that they're going after all the trophies and that's not an empty threat.

They've kept Navarro, Tomic, Lorbek, Oleson, Huertas, Sada, Hezonja and brought Nachbar, Dorsey, Papanikolau, Lampe and Pullen. They've strengthened their attack, but their defense is a bit weaker due to the departures of Jawai and Wallace. However, this is a team whose game is going to be much more enjoyable for the fans.

Last week they lost the Supercup final against Real in Vitoria after beating Laboral with 25 points difference. Navarro and Lorbek were absent while Oleson has suffered an injury and he's expected to be out until the end of November. Lorbek won't be available today either, but Navarro is back. In fact, he returned last week for a win against Joventut (85-73) in the final of the Catalan league that's usually played before the beginning of the season. Navarro scored four points in 14 minutes and looked very well.

- I'm just happy to be able to help my teammates - said Navarro before the match against Valencia.

- I wanted to give it a try before the start of the league. The doctors say everything's OK, but I'm not at 100% yet - said Navarro after missing Eurobasket due to right ankle surgery.

His return seems even more important after Oleson's injury because Pascual needs at least one real shooting guard. It's clear that Navarro won't be able to play more than 30 minutes so it's quite possible they'll be playing with two plays at the same time with Sada or Pullen on shooting guard position. When Sada plays with Huertas or Pullen, the team can be considered as a more defense-oriented. However, Pascual may provide Mario Hezonja with a chance because he's a member of the team who has been earning a lot of coach's confidence lately.

- When it comes to the season, I'm an optimist. We did quite well on the transfer market, we have well-known players and all the positions are filled with high-quality players - added 33 year old shooting guard also known as La Bomba.

Barcelona haven't played many friendly matches because Huertas played FIBA Americas, Papanikolau, Nachbar, Lampe and Tomic played Eurobasket and Navarro and Lorbek were injured. The team has been together since the end of last month. Navarro has been feeling better and their form should be on the rise. Today they're playing against Valencia, on Thursday against Partizan in Eurleague, next weekend they're playing an away match against Joventut and five days later they're playing their first derby of the season against Obradovic's Fenerbahce.

Today's rival is everything but an easy task. Valencia, whose team was assembled by Velimir Perasovic over the summer, are a great team. Last weekend, they've beaten Cajasol 98-57 in their official opening game in front of their fans. They've had a 9-0 record during the pre-season and they've scored over 90 points in their last 5 out of 6 games. Lucic has presented himself as a great addition to the team along with national team's centre Aguilar. Sato is a great acquisition for the defense and centre Triguero has successfully replaced Faverani, who transferred to Celtics. Van Rossom and Lafayette seem even better as plays than Markovic and San Miguel did last season. Perasovic has four players who can score a three-pointer at any given moment on the court, who play fast and eye-catching basketball and who are quite young. All together, they are a team that can be considered a title-contender, along with Real and Barcelona.

- We enter the match knowing that we're playing one of the best European teams. We want to know where we are at the moment and how far we can go - said Perasovic who has no unavailable players.

- We saw a much different Barcelona than last year's. They have 14 players and can make up for absent players. In addition, they're playing at a really high level and, in my opinion, along with Real they're a major title contender not only for league title, but for Euroleague, too.

Pablo Aguilar is one of the most important newcomers. Van Rossom and he transferred from Zaragoza who defeated Valencia last year in the first round of play-offs. His remarks are quite interesting...

- The muscles they've got with Dorsey in the paint, they had last year with Jawai, but the real difference is Nachbar's arrival. He can open up lots of space with his shooting and quality so I  have to prevent him from playing well.

I am convinced that Valencia's odds for today are far better than what we're being offered by bookmakers. The pre-season ratio of 9-0 is no random number, Perasovic's team is terribly potent and I think that they'll play superb basketball. Barcelona spent most of their budget on strengthening their attack we're in for offensive basketball in Palau Blaugrana today. In five of the last six pre-season games, Valencia won over 90 points, but the few on-line betting houses have them at 71.5. I am convinced that it is going through, because Barcelona will not play defensive basketball. But as they stepped up attack, it now goes over 150, I would not be surprised if he went over 160