As we are nearing the end of the first half of the season, it can be said that there have been many surprises in 2007, but not many bigger than the record of the South’s last place team, not to mention the team’s name. On Sunday, Kragujevac hosts Belgrade in what is the last game in the conference South this spring, and also the Wild Boars’ last chance until September to get a win.
After this game, play in the South won’t continue until the second weekend of September and 16th of September for the Boars, when they will host the Gladiators.
Even though their remaining playoff chances are purely theoretical, even those will be gone unless they finally get a win on Sunday. And win by more than 34 points which is the margin they lost with in Belgrade, meaning their chances are slim.
“There’s always a chance. We won’t pressure ourselves and we’re hoping for the best. We haven’t lost in Kragujevac to them, but considering the score in Belgrade we don’t have many reasons to be optimistic. Anything under 15 points would be a good result for us”, says Nemanja Trajković, the teams starting quarterback.
While the other teams in the conference have had injury problems as well, it had the worst effect on the Wild Boars. Playing without most of their offensive line for the first three games the results, or lack of, are evident. Four losses, two of which were blowouts, have put them in toughest position in team history.
With some of their players back two weeks ago they lost in Novi Sad, but hung on the entire game. Their offense managed zero points the first three quarters, but their defense prevented another blowout, and they eventually cut the lead to just 3 points late in the fourth quarter, so the team has shown improvement.
“That’s questionable, but let’s says we’re playing a bit better. Regardless of that, we’re leaving the role of the favorite to them”, says Trajković.
Both team’s results speak for itself, but the Vukovi will come to Kragujevac without five of their top players. Ivan Ristić, Miloš Stanimirović, Dušan Lalić, Miloš Todorović and Dejan Rončević have been suspended for two months and fined by the Serbian Federation for their behavior during the Dukes – Wild Boars game in Novi Sad, when they yelled insults from the stands to their former coach and Serbian national team coach Igor Hoffmann. The first four are starters on defense and Serbian national team members, while Rončević is the team’s starting guard.
The game is scheduled for 5PM at FK Sušica in Kragujevac.