Donar’s basketball players hope to qualify for the main phase of the FIBA Europe Cup in Skopje this week, but the Groningen team immediately suffered a setback against Sabah BC on Monday evening (72-75).
Donar traveled to Skopje from Eindhoven airport on Sunday. In addition to the Groningers and Sabah BC, CS Rapid Bucuresti and Rabotnicki from Skopje also gathered in the capital of North Macedonia this week for the qualifying tournament of the FIBA Europe Cup. The winner of the group receives a direct ticket for the main tournament, as do the two best runners-up from the seven groups.
Sabah BC was considered the most unpredictable opponent of the three. The club from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, has only existed for a year, emerged from the football club Sabah FC and immediately became national champions in the Azerbaijan Basketball League last season. The team has seven American forces and one striking name for Donar followers, that of Artjoms Butjankovs.
Latvian powerhouse
The Latvian powerhouse is a former player of the northern basketball pride, but did not have a great time in Groningen, especially after Donar was eliminated early from Europe last year. He had his contract terminated in November 2022, after which the forward was replaced by Swedish international Viktor Gaddefors.
The role of Butjankovs, who has only just arrived in Sabah, was limited to fifteen minutes of playing time in Skopje on Monday evening, in which he scored 9 points. Donar appeared to be able to compete well with the opponent from Baku. After trailing 5-0 in the opening phase, the Groningers took the lead. Sander Hollanders’ play in particular caught the eye. During the first matches in the national competition, the 22-year-old Limburger already showed that he had adjusted his remote artillery razor sharply last summer. It was no different in Skopje. Hollanders hit four of the six three-pointers and with 18 points had a significant share in the Groningen score.
Not at home
Yet in the end it turned out not to be enough. On the Donar side, too many players did not give up. Justinas Ramanauskas, who was supposed to set the tone for the northerners, played a chaotic match. Dakota Quinn quickly made mistakes, meaning the American was limited for a large part of the match and John Meeks also failed to make a mark. The initiative fell to the Azerbaijan team in the third quarter, which increased to 41-50.
There was nothing to criticize about Donar’s work ethic. Based on perseverance and the three-pointers of the Dutch, coach Andrej Stimac’s men came back to 57-59 at the end of the third period and it was even 72-75 shortly before the end, but in the final attack Ramanauskas missed his hastily taken three-point attempt. As a result, a 72-75 defeat remained on the scoreboard in the atmosphereless hall in Skopje, where there was hardly any public interest in the match.
Dream far away?
For example, Donar started the qualifying tournament on a low note and the dream of shining in Europe again, like in 2018 when the Groningers reached the semi-finals against Venice, seems far away. Yet no man has been overboard yet. This week the matches against Bucharest and host Rabotnicki are still on the agenda. Moreover, the small difference in the opening game against Sabah keeps the hope alive that the Groningers can still claim a position as best number two. The tournament continues for Donar on Tuesday with the match against the Romanians.