Dubai Basketball, the emirate’s inaugural professional basketball franchise, has journeyed to Slovenia for a pre-season training camp in preparation for a groundbreaking season. The team is set to make history as the first from Dubai to compete in a European league, specifically the ABA League, which includes teams from the Balkans region of Europe. Recently assembled, the squad embarked on their maiden training camp to Koper, Slovenia, under the leadership of head coach Jurica Golemac and his coaching staff. The camp commenced on August 19 and is scheduled to conclude on September 2.
August 20 marked a significant milestone for the club, as it was the first occasion for the entire first-team roster, including two academy players, to train and play together, just a month before the start of the new season. During their stay in Slovenia, the team will engage in four exhibition matches against KK Dinamo, Buducnost, KK Split, and KRKA.
“This camp is a superb chance for us to unite as a team and gear up for the season ahead. The players have been together for merely a week, yet I am already witnessing strong indications of them forming a cohesive unit,” remarked head coach Golemac. “This will be a rigorous camp for the players, involving intense training and challenging games, but the knowledge we will acquire during our two-week stint in Slovenia will be priceless.”
Upon returning from Slovenia, the team will spend seven days in Dubai, during which they will compete in a pre-season friendly at Coca-Cola Arena on September 10. They will then travel to Sarajevo, Bosnia, from September 14-16 to participate in the Mirza Delibašić tournament, where they will face off against Cluj from Romania and either Dinamo Sassari from Italy or KK Bosna from Sarajevo. Their ABA League journey will kick off on September 22 with a match against the reigning champions, Red Star, at Coca-Cola Arena.
