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Everything depends upon Nymburk's motivation

The strongest Czech team are once again way ahead of their competition in the league. They beat the hosts without no problems in the last few games, and they shouldn't have any today as well despite Benda's absence

At the season opening, Nymburk competed for the Euroleague, but they couldn't win the last ticket that was handed out at the qualifying tournament in Vilnius. Being without Reynolds and Bonda, they got stuck at the very first hurdle, the Turkish Banvit. Simmons excelled in that game 827 points, six rebounds and seven assists), but he couldn't win it all by himself. However, the disappointment wasn't big. Everyone in the club is aware how the Eurocup is this team's reality. Competition in the Eurocup is very strong and Nymburk will be able to develop better here than in the Euroleague where they would probably be cannon fodder for the best European teams.

- We're a bit disappointed, because we're away with a little luck we could've won. However, Banvit was better, and our goals remain high - said Chester Simmons.

- Overall, we didn't play a bad game, but Banvit are simply a better team. We made some mistakes that allowed our opponents fast counterattacks and easy points. We're sorry we lost, but on the other hand, we made a step forward as a team - said coach Kemzura.

Teh VTB league starts in a few days, and before that Nymburk will play their first championship game against Usti. The away game against the Estonian Kalev is more important than this one against Usti, but Kemzura wants to start the championship in a good way and there will be no relaxing.

Usti managed to keep their major league status last season, and they enter the new one with slightly larger expectations. During summer there were a lot of changes, four new Americans came, so did the young Zampach and Bejchek. All leading players left the team. So we won't be able to watch Lichartovsky, McFadden, Horak, Reese and Lewandowksy any longer. New blood should put away all problems from the last season and turn the page.

The new Usti will be Czech-American mix, and a pretty young team (25 in average) is noticeable. The three newcomers, playmaker Mitchell, back Clement and forward Steffeck were all born in 1989. They arrived playing university basketball and it is to be seen how they're going to adapt to th Czech league. Forward Vernon Lewis is somewhat more experienced, but he also played only in the USA, a completely different surrounding than in Czech Republic.

All in all, this is a pretty young and inexperienced team and not much should be expected from them. The club's ambitions aim to avoid the last season's stress and the fight to stay until the last round.

- I believe in a better season for Usti - said Zampach.

Usti had a successful pre-season in which they played eight games winning five. However, most were played against German minor league teams. The most notable win was the one over the major league Braunschweig (85-74), but they also badly lost to them in the second game (55-95). They lost the last game to their neighbors Dechin 83-79.

- I'm especially pleased with the first part of the preparatory period. We couldn't count on several players by the end, and we also missed one or two games axtra which we didn't manage to play because the season in Germany had started. I think we played good games - said Usti's new coach, Martin Stavel, pointing out goals for the new season.

- The management gave assigned a clear aim for us - the tenth position. But I would be a bad couch if I didn't want more. That means I'd be very happy if went for the playoffs.

The first game will be the hardest test possible. They will play against the best team in the country.

- It will a basketball feast to us, I expect a good game with a difficult opponent and a great number of fans - said Stavel.

These two teams met last season in the early stages of the championship, in mid-October. Nymburk were better then with 88-73, only three days after they defeated Lokomotiv Kuban from Krasnodar. They also had no problems in the previous two away games, winning with 32 and 23 points of difference. We should look at the today's game in a similar manner. The difference between these two teams is huge and everything will depend upon Nymburk's motivation.

The visitors will most definitely be without Benda (knee), while there's no information on Reynold's state, who missed the qualifying tournament in Vilnius due to suspension.

If this game was scheduled in the mid-season or in the playoff there is no chance the bookmaker would give us this margin. In the last season's playoff the margin for Nymburk (on the away matches) was couple of point higher, even against much stronger teams. Usti didn't impress me with their lineup. Their players from the States will need a bit more time to adopt to european basketball and they will probably struggle in the first couple of matches. They have a new head-coach, and he will also need time to get to know his new team. On the other side, I think Nymburk is much stroneger than the last year. Simmons is one of the best players in the league and I think it would be extremely hard for the Usti's player to stop him. Nymburk started the season very early as they were preparing for the tournament in Vilnius. That should be their big advantage for today's match. The only reason against this bet is the fact that they have the very important away match in Kalev in the last round so they could slow down a bit in the second half. If the match was held in the second part of the season and if Nymburk were concentrated only on the domestic championship, this would be an 8/10 bet. There is a huge difference in quality between these two teams.