By ALLON SINAI
After opening the Eurocup regular season with an impressive road win against Valencia in Spain last week, matters should only get easier for Hapoel Jerusalem.However, that is the exact type of thinking Jerusalem coach Simone Pianigiani will be warning his players against as they prepare to visit Olimpija Ljubljana in their second Group D game on Wednesday night.Hapoel made a strong statement regarding its intentions in the competition by claiming an 81-77 win at Valencia, which is considered to be one of the best teams in the Eurocup.Ljubljana has the youngest roster in the Eurocup, at 22.9 years on average, and has lost its first two games in the group.Hapoel will be taking nothing for granted though, especially after having its record 14-game BSL regular season winning streak snapped by a previously winless Hapoel Gilboa/Galil on Saturday night.“I expect a difficult game as every game in the Eurocup is, especially on the road,” said Pianigiani. “Olimpija has a great basketball tradition and today they have a young and talented team with many players that want to prove themselves in this competition. In order to capitalize on the good victory from last week we need to continue the momentum.”Hapoel also faces Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar of Russia and Ulm of Germany in Group D, with the best four teams from each regular season group to advance to the Top 16.
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