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Both teams not yet played-in at the beginning of the season

Warren should be pulling Szolnoki, while in Zadar they hope Car and Jardine will play well

Before the beginning of the season, Zadar had considerable financial troubles. Putting together a roster, starting with the coach, never took longer. In relation to last season they made many changes and the issue is whether they managed to get played in and whether chemistry among the players was achieved. The answer to that will be seen in the first round where they meet with the Hungarian representative Szolnoki whoe nded last season on the 12th place. They had many changes in the roster too. It's a team of Hungarians and Serbs, strengthened with two Americans and with a Serbian coach who led them in the second part of the previous season and knows well what they are capable of.

The Zadar players showed a lot of weaknesses in the preseason, especially at the main tryout before the start of the league, against Siroki in Pecara hall where they were trounced with 68:53. It's sure that their confidence is not at the top level.

One of the reasons for bad preformances is definitely the great change in the roster from last season. Change of coach also led to a different system of playing and all the players have to get used to that, and Hrvoje Vlasic, the new Zadar strategist, is aware of that.

- This isn't looking good at all, but I'm an optimist and I won't give up. I'm going to require that from the team too. We are aware that we are one month late. We could not play any strong opponents, not having a full team gathered. So, all this is quite normal. Every day means a lot to us. I think that at home we will react a lot better - said Hrvoje Vlasic about his team's preseason preparations, and asked about the opponents he answered:

- They are a tough team to play, well rostered and balanced. I think that throughout the season they will be a tough opponent to everyone. Above all I mean that in the roster composition, where they are shooting-oriented and we have to give special attention to that. They have strong players on the wings, and we mustn't allow them to get full play. Under the rim they have Marton Bader who is playing better as he gets older and is an important factor in the team. On play they have a strong individual Willie Warren who can also create a lot of trouble. They played well in preseason and so we know we+ve got our work cut out for us. But, we are playing in our hall and we+ll need a lot of support from the stands to achieve the first win in the game that is very significant for us.

The proof that there won't be any joking in this season of the ABA league id the Szolnoki roster. Regarded as the amateurs from a country that is not that basketball-oriented, Szolnoki in the last season got several worthy scalps, and this season they will be even more dangerous. If he' s not stopped by injuires, in many opinions Willie Warren could well be the top scorer of the league. Marton Bader got help in the paint from Peter Lorant who played in ACB league and the second Spanish league for sic years, and spent one year in Virtus Roma. On the small forward there is Chris Oliver who won the championship title in France with Nanterre.

With a pair of Hungarian national team members and Miljan Rakic on play zhis is a team that will on their home court make trouble for everybody. This season they are also in the protected status, meaning they cannot be relegated if they end up last, and that certainly lowers the pressure. In the second part of the previous season they have risen up significantly with the coming of coach Asceric, and if they go on like that they will be a tough opponent for anyone.

In the preseason they have shown some good and some bad sides, and their characteristic is that they score much more at home than in away games, where they've been known to look unrecognizable.

- During the last eight weeks we did a great job with the team, I am satisfied with everybody. I feel that we are ready for the season. However, we must not forget that the whole team was put together with many new and young players, so more time is required to achieve top form. I am sure that in this season we will be getting better and better from one game to another - Serbian strategist Nedjeljko Asceric said about the state of his team and continued:

- Zadar is a team with long history, it's true that during the summer we could hear a lot about their financial troubles, but I think they managed to do a good job this year. They have seven or eight experienced guys, and talented young players. Last three days we studied their game through videos. They are strong as a team, I wouldn't want to single anyone out. Expect a hard game, if we want to win we'll have to be very concentrated.

Both teams have the full roster at coach's disposal. Last year they played two matches. zadar won at home 72:54, and in the game in Hungary there was much more scoring, Szolnoki won 90:79.

In the general rehearsal prior to the start of the championship Zadar have scored 53 points against Siroki who are currently a weaker team than the Hungarians. Szolnoki have already established themselves as a respectable team in the second part of last season who were able to beat strong visiting teams. They've kept the coach (Asceric) who came in the middle of last season, they've kept the game backbone and strengthened it additionally, so this year they'll prove to be a challenge. Zadar is, according to my opinion, the prime favorite to be knocked out of the league, they have convincingly the weakest line-up. The team has been assembled at the eleventh hour, which is a consequence of great financial issues. It was unknown for a long time who will be the head coach. At the end the line-up was somehow assembled with Marko Car, Dijan, the British representative Lawrence, Sobin and Kraljevic from Split, next to Ivanov, Batur and Ramljak who stayed. All in all, a very modest team who currently aren't warmed up one bit, and have a very unconvincing game. The Hungarians have to win, they are currently a better team, and a great option with Croatian bookmakers is Zadar with under 77.5.