Valencia coach Txus Vidorretta highlighted Montenegrin forward Bojan Dubljevic’s performance as the key to downing Barcelona, en route to an 81-76 victory in the EuroLeague.
As a result of Valencia’s win, they now move level in the standings with their illustrious counterparts on 6-12, which for Valencia is good enough for 14th.
For both sides, a spot in the Playoffs looks distant, but not impossible, and Vidorretta believes that his side can reach the promised land, and paced by Dubljevic’s game-high 19 points, along with seven rebounds, they are giving it a go.
“Bojan Dubljevic was crucial,” said Vidorretta afterwards.
“He is always a reference for us in every balance game and he dominated tonight. We were better than them in the fourth quarter when we were able to give him two or three balls in the low post. He scored them and that gave us a lot of confidence to keep our lead between five and seven points. Our good mentality allowed us to get twice as many rebounds as a team that normally is physically better than us.”
Valencia started the EuroLeague season strongly but slumped to a ten-game losing streak. Since ending the unwanted mark at home to Panathinaikos, the Liga Endesa side has won three of their last four games with Dubljevic explaining that the latest win was good for team morale.
“This was a really important game for us, for our confidence,” Dubljevic explained.
“Thanks to everybody for their support. In two days we have another important game, so we need to be ready for that. It was a good win for our confidence, for everything. I think we are on the good road now.”
Valencia’s next challenge comes on the road, as they face Zalgiris in Kaunas.
