Partizan's derby problem: Jekiri out, 65 points a game in a three-game slide

By the Data Desk · Published 19 OCT 07:30

First reported by BasketNews · 18 OCT 12:34

Partizan scored 92, 92 and 86 in their first three EuroLeague games, then 76, 55 and 65 in three straight defeats. Now Tonye Jekiri, their second most productive player, will miss Thursday's Belgrade derby against Crvena Zvezda with a strain from the Fenerbahçe game, the club confirmed on Sunday.

• Partizan's statement, published by B92, says Jekiri strained a muscle against Fenerbahçe and will be checked again in two weeks; BasketNews reports he also misses the trips to ASVEL on 28 October and Zalgiris on 30 October.
• Jekiri averages 10.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 13.7 PIR in 17.4 minutes; only Carlik Jones (17.3 PIR) is higher in the squad (EuroLeague box scores).
• Partizan are 3-3 after averaging 90.0 points in the 3-0 start and 65.3 in the slide; a fourth defeat would leave them below .500 for the first time this season.

Jekiri left the 74-65 defeat in Istanbul on Thursday after 6 minutes and 8 seconds and did not come back. TV Arena Sport wrote that he got hurt near the end of the first half, and that the derby "je za njega završen i pre samog početka", over for him before it starts. The club's own note says "istegnuće abduktora", an abductor strain, while BasketNews, Eurohoops and Sportando, citing Mozzart Sport, all report it as an adductor strain. Either way, the timeline is the same: a check in two weeks, then a return date.

Partizan are not left without a centre. Kevarrius Hayes plays 17.9 minutes a game, Joffrey Lauvergne is back and Bandja Sy has played five games, and Danas expects Nikola Tanasković to slide inside at times. The drop is in production: Lauvergne averages minus 0.8 PIR in 6.9 minutes and Sy 1.6 in 8.2. In the three wins Jekiri posted 14, 22 and 21 PIR; in the three defeats, 8, 14 and 3.

The slide has a pattern. Partizan lost 86-76 at Real Madrid, 72-55 at home to Panathinaikos in front of 20,073 people, and 74-65 at Fenerbahçe, where they led 28-25 at half-time and lost the third quarter 34-16. Two of those three opponents, Panathinaikos and Fenerbahçe, are now 5-1, level with Olympiacos at the top, so the schedule has been hard.

Zvezda have problems in the middle too. Johnathan Motley has not played since round 3 and Ebuka Izundu since round 4, and Ibon Navarro's side beat ASVEL and Paris without either. On Sunday the club signed the 211 cm Cameroonian centre Christian Koloko (Eurohoops); whether he is registered in time for Thursday has not been announced. What happens next: Partizan host Zvezda on Thursday, 22 October, at 18:45 UTC (20:45 in Belgrade).