May 23, 2012
UNION OLIMPIJA hangs on to Markota
Damir Markota - Union OlimpijaOne of the pillars of Union Olimpija Ljubljana's surprise run to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top 16 last season, forward Damir Markota, will be back for another season, the club announced Saturday. Markota (2.08 meters, 26 years old) posted a rock-steady 8.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists over 26 minutes on average in 15 games, all as a starter, last season. He was Olimpija's second-best rebounder and third-best assist-maker as the team finished second to eventual champion Panathinaikos in the regular season, then came a basket short of starting the Top 16 at 2-0 before a one-point loss to previous champ Regal F.C. Barcelona started a downward spiral. All along, Markota was a favorite of the record crowds that filled Stozice Arena in Ljubljana to watch their team's unexpected run. Before Slovenia, Markota had spent the previous six seasons in five countries. He made his Euroleague debut, a 20-second appearance with Cibona Zagreb in the 2001-02 season, when he was 16. He returned two seasons later to score his first basket, and within two years was averaging 7.8 points and 5.1 rebounds for Cibona. His next stop was Milwaukee of the NBA and Tulsa of the NBA Development League. He returned to Europe to split the 2007-08 season with Spartak St. Petersburg of Russia and Zalgiris of Lithuania as a double-digit scorer in both places. From there he spent most of the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons in Spain, with Bizkaia Basket Bilbao, reaching the Eurocup Finals in the second season.
Saturday, August 06, 2011
Euroleague.net
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