Ideal start to the competition for Montenegro Nikola Vucevic. After a quiet victory against Mexico (91-71), the Balkan country continued with a victory against Egypt (89-74).
A victory that still bears the mark of the pivot of the Bulls, author of 16 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks, supported by four teammates emerging at 10 points or more, where, opposite, Ehab Amin finished top scorer of the meeting with his 26 points.
Two days earlier, Nikola Vucevic had done even stronger against the weak Mexican racket by slamming 27 points (11/15 on shots) and 10 rebounds.
“ It’s always good to start with a win. It helps to gain confidence (because) the first matches are often the most important, especially with our schedule, which includes matches against Mexico and Egypt. It’s clearly easier to move forward, to mentally prepare when you’ve already won instead of losing. “, he had reacted.
Before adding: our last game (of preparation) against the Philippines helped us prepare. But I think we had a very good month of training, with many matches and everything. That’s what allowed us to come here ready and play a very good first game. »
Montenegro are so well prepared today that they sit first in Group D, awaiting Lithuania’s result against Mexico, with two wins from two matches. This means that the qualification for the second group stage is almost guaranteed. On Tuesday, his team will have the opportunity to secure their first place by winning against the best team in the pool, Lithuania.
” It’s still a very good team, even if they lack key players, led by Jonas (Valanciunas) which I know very well. We fought a lot against each other in the national team and especially in the NBA. It will be a very tough duel for us but it will be useful for us to see where we are. Both teams are close to qualifying for the next round and we can try to play for the first place in the group. We will have to prepare to play much better than we did in the first two games », wishes the Montenegrin leader.
