Dubai Basketball bow out of ABA as EuroLeague beckons
3 June 2025 01:00
KUUMAR SHYAM (ABU DHABI)
Dubai Basketball's remarkable run in the Adriatic Basketball League (ABA) came to an end with a 114-97 defeat in the decider of the three-game semi-finals to Partizan Belgrade.
Playing away in Serbia, the UAE outfit led for more than 25 minutes before their defence crumbled to end their Eastern European campaign.
Had the team held on for another 15 minutes and shored up the defence on rebounds, they would have stunned the most experienced, decorated side of the competition. Yet, the Dubai club can hold their heads high and can look forward to a level up in international competition.
Dubai Basketball are awaiting formal confirmation of their inclusion in the EuroLeague for the next season as Europe's elite competition looks to expand to 20 teams from the current 18. Making a strong impression in their debut in the ABA will only cast the spotlight more firmly on Dubai Basketball.
According to reports, a shareholders' meeting held last week by EuroLeague laid out the expansion plans. Though two teams are to be added, regulars Alba Berlin have announced they are pulling out, so three teams have been pencilled in.
Without naming the teams, EuroLeague officials said the list will be submitted for ratification 'contingent upon the completion of all required formalities'.
Basket News identified the trio as Hapoel Tel Aviv, Valencia Basket and Dubai Basketball, while reporting that Alba Berlin would be joining the rival Fiba Basketball Champions League from next season.
The report added that Hapoel Tel Aviv, the reigning champions of Europe's second-tier EuroCup, have been granted a one-year licence, while Valencia Basket – who were relegated from the EuroLeague in the 2023/24 season – and Dubai Basketball will hold three and five-year licences respectively.
In the revised schedule post the expansion, each club will play an expanded regular season of 38 games, up from 34. Six teams will advance directly to the play-offs with four others entering a play-in tournament.
The road ahead looked so rosy that Dubai Basketball may have lost focus on the job at hand on Sunday night. They had bounced back from the opening-game loss, also in Serbia, to win at the Coca-Cola Arena and level the series against Partizan Belgrade.
In the decider, they led 50-47 after the first half but a 14-point run, starting late in the third quarter, swung the momentum decisively with star tactician Zeliko Obradovic playing a vital role for Dubai's rivals.
Besides Obradovic, Duane Washington Jr. notched a team-high 18 points. Sterling Brown and Carlik Jones added 17 points apiece while captain Vanja Marinkovic chipped in with 15 points (5/5 triple-pointers) and Tyrique Jones had 14 points with 5/5 two-pointers.
For Dubai, their Latvian import Davis Bertans stood out with 18 points, including 11 in the first quarter. Nate Mason followed with 16 points.
Dubai's Slovenian coach Jurica Golemac said afterwards: 'I would like to congratulate Partizan on the victory; there were a lot of points and quality basketball tonight. In the third quarter, our energy started to drop, and Partizan stood out, especially with the individual quality of Marinković, who scored 3-4 times for three points and took the game away from us.
'We also missed [Awudu] Abbas, who was injured in the last match. It was very difficult for us to match Partizan's athletic abilities, and this was seen on the rebounds, where Partizan had 11 more possessions. We cannot be dissatisfied because we led against them for 23 minutes, and we played good and smart basketball. I wish Partizan all the best in the final.'
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