2018–19 ABA League First Division

The 2018–19 ABA League First Division is the 18th season of the ABA League with 12 teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Serbia participating in it. It is the first time since the 2011–12 season that there are no participants from North Macedonia.

ABA League First Division
Season2018–19
DurationSeptember 28, 2018March 17, 2019
(Regular season)
March 23, 2019April 22, 2019
(Playoffs)
Games played143
Teams12
TV partner(s)Arena Sport, O2.TV
Regular season
Top seedSerbia Crvena zvezda mts
Season MVPGeorgia (country) Goga Bitadze [1]
RelegatedSlovenia Petrol Olimpija
Finals
ChampionsSerbia Crvena zvezda mts (4th title)
  Runners-upMontenegro Budućnost VOLI
SemifinalistsCroatia Cedevita
Serbia Partizan NIS
Finals MVPUnited States Billy Baron [2]
Awards
Top ProspectGeorgia (country) Goga Bitadze [3]
Statistical leaders
Points Serbia Dragan Apić 21.29
Rebounds Croatia Luka Božić 7.23
Assists Slovenia Matic Rebec 5.84
Index Rating Serbia Dragan Apić 29.50
Records
Biggest home winCrvena zvezda 97–54 Budućnost
(22 April 2019)
Biggest away winMornar 57–90 Crvena zvezda
(9 February 2019)
Highest scoringIgokea 115–105 Olimpija
(16 November 2018)
Winning streakCrvena zvezda
16 games
Losing streakOlimpija / Mornar
5 games
Highest attendance8,000
Zadar 92–97 Partizan
(19 January 2019)
Lowest attendance500
Igokea 91–73 Krka
(26 October 2018)
Krka 69–71 Igokea
(18 January 2019)
Cedevita 94–80 Mornar
(15 March 2019)
FMP 73–72 Partizan
(16 March 2019)
Attendance384,820[1]
Average attendance2,691[1]
All statistics correct as of April 22, 2019.

Format changes

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On March 13, 2018, the Adriatic League Assembly decided to abolish the National standings and, as of the 2018–19 season, participants are determined only based on the results in the competitions under the umbrella of the Adriatic League (First Division and Second Division). Promotion and relegation will now be based on the First and Second Division. The last place team in the First Division is relegated to the Second Division, while the winner of the Second Division is promoted. Also, as of the 2018–19 season, the 11th placed team of the 2018–19 First Division season and the runners-up of the 2018–19 Second Division season will play in a Relegation Playoff for a spot in the 2019–20 First Division season. The format of the Qualifiers will be best of three, while the home court advantage will be given to the team that played in the First Division in the previous season.[2]

The maximum number of clubs from one country in the First Division is five. The last placed club in the First Division will have a guaranteed place in the Second Division in the following season. The confirmed competition system shall not be changed until the end of the 2024–25 season, if there are no significant changes in the European basketball by then.[2]

Teams

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Promotion and relegation

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A total of 12 teams will contest the league, including 11 sides from the 2017–18 season and one promoted from the 2017–18 Second Division.

Team promoted from Second Division
Team relegated to Second Division

Venues and locations

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Belgrade
 
Zagreb
 
Belgrade clubs:
 
Zagreb clubs:
Location of teams in the 2018–19 ABA League First Division
Team Home city Arena Capacity
  Budućnost VOLI Podgorica Morača Sports Center 5,500
  Cedevita Zagreb Dom sportova 3,100
  Cibona Zagreb Dražen Petrović Hall 5,400
  Crvena zvezda mts Belgrade Aleksandar Nikolić Hall 5,878
  FMP Belgrade Železnik Hall 3,000
  Igokea Aleksandrovac Laktaši Sports Hall 3,050
  Krka Novo Mesto Leon Štukelj Hall 2,500
  Mega Bemax Sremska Mitrovica Pinki Sports Hall 2,500
  Mornar Bar Topolica Sport Hall 2,625
  Partizan NIS Belgrade Aleksandar Nikolić Hall 5,878
  Petrol Olimpija Ljubljana Arena Stožice 12,480
  Zadar Zadar Krešimir Ćosić Hall 7,997

Personnel and sponsorship

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Team Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Budućnost VOLI   Jasmin Repeša   Suad Šehović Spalding VOLI / Tea Medica
Cedevita   Slaven Rimac   Andrija Stipanović Adidas Cedevita / INA
Cibona   Ivan Velić   Marin Rozić Visual Erste Bank
Crvena zvezda mts   Milan Tomić   Branko Lazić Nike mts
FMP   Vladimir Jovanović   Radoš Šešlija Champion FMP
Igokea   Dragan Nikolić   Vuk Radivojević GBT m:tel
Krka   Simon Petrov   Domen Bratož Žolna šport Krka
Mega Bemax   Dejan Milojević   Ognjen Čarapić Adidas Bemax / Tehnomanija
Mornar   Mihailo Pavićević   Marko Mijović Armani epcg
Partizan NIS   Andrea Trinchieri   Novica Veličković Under Armour NIS / mts
Petrol Olimpija   Jure Zdovc   Gregor Hrovat Peak Petrol
Zadar   Ante Nazor   Šime Špralja Visual OTP Bank / Crodux

Coaching changes

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Team Outgoing manager Date of vacancy Position in table Replaced with Date of appointment Ref.
Igokea   Dragan Bajić 2 April 2018 Off-season   Žarko Milaković 2 April 2018 [3]
Crvena zvezda mts   Dušan Alimpijević 8 May 2018   Milenko Topić 8 May 2018 [4]
Cedevita   Jure Zdovc 6 June 2018   Sito Alonso 8 June 2018 [5][6]
Cibona   Ante Nazor 6 June 2018   Ivan Velić 8 June 2018 [7][8]
Zadar   Aramis Naglić 21 June 2018   Aleš Pipan 28 June 2018 [9][10]
Crvena zvezda mts   Milenko Topić July 2018   Milan Tomić 13 July 2018 [11][12]
Igokea   Žarko Milaković July 2018   Nenad Trajković 14 July 2018 [13][14]
Zadar   Aleš Pipan 23 October 2018 12th (0–4)   Ante Nazor 23 October 2018 [15][16]
Cedevita   Sito Alonso 25 October 2018 9th (1–3)   Slaven Rimac 25 October 2018 [17]
Partizan NIS   Nenad Čanak 26 October 2018 7th (2–3)   Andrea Trinchieri 1 November 2018 [18][19]
Igokea   Nenad Trajković 5 November 2018 9th (2–4)   Žarko Milaković 5 November 2018 [20]
Petrol Olimpija   Zoran Martič 19 November 2018 11th (2–6)   Saša Nikitović 19 November 2018 [21]
Igokea   Žarko Milaković 24 December 2018 10th (4–8)   Dragan Nikolić 24 December 2018 [22]
Budućnost VOLI   Aleksandar Džikić 29 December 2018 3rd (8–4)   Jasmin Repeša 30 December 2018 [23][24]
Petrol Olimpija   Saša Nikitović 19 February 2019 10th (6–13)   Jure Zdovc 19 February 2019 [25]

Regular season

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The season began on September 28, 2018. The regular season ended on March 17, 2019.[26]

League table

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification or relegation
1   Crvena zvezda mts 22 21 1 1875 1517 +358 43 Advance to the playoffs
2   Cedevita 22 16 6 1924 1769 +155 38[a]
3   Budućnost VOLI 22 16 6 1783 1636 +147 38[a]
4   Partizan NIS 22 14 8 1779 1663 +116 36
5   Mega Bemax 22 10 12 1802 1880 −78 32[b]
6   FMP 22 10 12 1736 1786 −50 32[b]
7   Cibona 22 9 13 1744 1810 −66 31
8   Igokea 22 8 14 1798 1869 −71 30[c]
9   Mornar 22 8 14 1780 1907 −127 30[c]
10   Krka 22 7 15 1587 1776 −189 29[d]
11   Zadar 22 7 15 1803 1900 −97 29[d] Qualification to the relegation playoffs
12   Petrol Olimpija 22 6 16 1685 1783 −98 28 Relegation to the Second Division
Source: ABA League
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Cedevita 1–1, 1.02; Budućnost VOLI 1–1, 0.98
  2. ^ a b Mega Bemax 1–1, 1.06; FMP 1–1, 0.94
  3. ^ a b Igokea 2–0, 1.17; Mornar 0–2, 0.85
  4. ^ a b Krka 1–1, 1.05; Zadar 1–1, 0.95

Positions by round

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First place & advance to the playoffs
Advance to the playoffs
Qualification to the relegation playoffs
Relegated
Team ╲ Round12345678910111213141516171819202122
  Crvena zvezda mts4211111111111111111111
  Cedevita8679586444322222232322
  Budućnost VOLI1443333222233333323233
  Partizan NIS5355754555555444444444
  Mega Bemax6122222333444555555555
  FMP38681065666766668766666
  Cibona91011108479108679786889777
  Igokea7781169118771010710119910119108
  Mornar1112969109121211111189776781089
  Krka129107111212101112121212121212121212121210
  Zadar10111212121110781099118101111978911
  Petrol Olimpija25344781199881011910101110111112
Source: ABA League

Results

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Home \ Away BUD CED CIB CZV FMP IGO KRK MEG MOR PAR OLI ZAD
Budućnost VOLI 80–78 91–82 71–87 79–59 96–70 86–64 91–85 102–71 75–71 85–69 75–69
Cedevita 63–58 89–68 84–68 87–85 100–80 104–75 86–95 94–80 84–87 95–82 83–72
Cibona 83–77 78–75 54–76 90–71 84–86 99–71 89–71 84–73 59–83 87–70 66–97
Crvena zvezda mts 86–72 94–79 78–68 79–62 96–75 80–66 100–76 104–71 70–68 89–61 97–70
FMP 70–87 81–95 93–88 72–81 87–78 93–65 106–89 82–84 73–72 64–63 99–86
Igokea 78–85 75–78 87–69 77–79 74–85 91–73 79–80 81–60 84–92 115–105 100–82
Krka 69–64 82–71 90–100 66–96 71–76 69–71 82–69 80–76 80–76 62–59 77–78
Mega Bemax 70–77 101–107 82–80 68–78 89–61 93–88 80–72 82–80 74–81 81–77 85–97
Mornar 95–99 102–103 91–78 57–90 79–69 97–103 86–77 80–84 97–94 80–75 89–81
Partizan NIS 76–67 71–76 85–67 71–77 83–77 67–57 87–55 98–86 75–73 82–79 85–95
Petrol Olimpija 72–77 70–98 78–80 60–83 88–86 92–69 70–69 91–78 87–66 66–72 91–81
Zadar 69–89 85–95 95–91 69–87 79–85 95–80 64–72 80–84 83–93 92–97 84–80
Updated to match(es) played on March 17, 2019. Source: ABA League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Red = away team win.
Matches with lighter background shading were decided after overtime.

Playoffs

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The semi-finals will be played in a best-of-three format, while the Finals were played in a best-of-five format. Playoffs will begin on 23 March 2019 and planned to end by 22 April 2019.[26]

Bracket

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SemifinalsFinals
 
      
 
March 23 – April 6
 
 
  Crvena zvezda mts2
 
April 12 – April 22
 
  Partizan NIS1
 
  Crvena zvezda mts3
 
March 25 – April 7
 
  Budućnost VOLI2
 
  Cedevita1
 
 
  Budućnost VOLI2
 


2018–19 ABA League Champions
 
Crvena zvezda mts
4th title

Semifinals

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Team 1 Series Team 2 Game 1 Game 2 Game 3
Crvena zvezda mts   2–1   Partizan NIS 106–101 67–70 84–63
Cedevita   1–2   Budućnost VOLI 90–83 72–87 73–78

Finals

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Team 1 Series Team 2 Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Game 4 Game 5
Crvena zvezda mts   3–2   Budućnost VOLI 91–72 107–69 72–80 80–84 97–54

Relegation playoffs

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As of the 2018–19 season, the 11th placed team of the 2018–19 First Division season and the runners-up of the 2018–19 Second Division season will play in the Qualifiers for a spot in the 2019–20 First Division season.

As the team coming from the ABA League, Zadar had the home court advantage in the first and third game of the series, while MZT was the host of the second game of the Qualifiers series.[27] Zadar won the series 2−1 and kept its First League status.[28]

Teams

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Results

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Team 1 Series Team 2 Game 1 Game 2 Game 3
Zadar   2–1   MZT Skopje Aerodrom 83–89 78–77 86−75

Statistical leaders

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As of 22 April 2019
Pos Player Club PIR
1   Dragan Apić FMP 29.50
2   Luka Božić Zadar 21.68
3   Sava Lešić Igokea 18.05
4   Tomislav Zubčić Igokea 17.57
5   Dominik Mavra Krka 17.29

Points

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Pos Player Club PPG
1   Dragan Apić FMP 21.29
2   Tomislav Zubčić Igokea 19.00
3   Jacob Pullen Cedevita 17.40
4   Dominik Mavra Krka 16.29
5   Sava Lešić Igokea 15.18

Rebounds

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Pos Player Club RPG
1   Luka Božić Zadar 7.23
2   Dragan Apić FMP 7.14
3   Uroš Luković Mornar 7.00
4   Michael Ojo Crvena zvezda 6.43
5   Sava Lešić Igokea 6.41

Assists

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Pos Player Club APG
1   Matic Rebec FMP 5.84
2   Joe Ragland Crvena zvezda 5.73
3   Dominik Mavra Krka 5.71
4   Alex Renfroe Partizan 5.54
5   Scottie Reynolds Olimpija 5.50

Source: ABA League Archived 2017-12-28 at the Wayback Machine

Awards

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Pos. Player Team Ref.
MVP
C   Goga Bitadze   Budućnost VOLI [29]
Finals MVP
SG   Billy Baron   Crvena zvezda mts [30]
Top Prospect
C   Goga Bitadze   Budućnost VOLI [31]
Ideal Starting Five
PG   Joe Ragland   Crvena zvezda mts [32]
SG   Jacob Pullen   Cedevita
SF   Stratos Perperoglou   Crvena zvezda mts
PF   Jock Landale   Partizan NIS
C   Goga Bitadze   Budućnost VOLI

MVP List

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MVP of the Round

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Round Player Team PIR
1   Dragan Apić   FMP 40
2   Sava Lešić   Igokea 30
3   Nemanja Vranješ   Mornar 33
4   Uroš Luković   Mornar 31
5   Luka Božić   Zadar 36
6   Luka Božić (2)   Zadar 33
7   Stefan Pot   FMP 39
8   Luka Božić (3)   Zadar 36
9   Jacob Pullen   Cedevita 43
10   Vanja Marinković   Partizan 32
11   Marko Ljubičić   Cibona 30
12   Dragan Apić (2)   FMP 34
13   Dragan Apić (3)   FMP 42
14   Luka Božić (4)   Zadar 25
15   Elgin Cook   Cedevita 32
16   Filip Bundović   Cibona 29
17   Nemanja Vranješ (2)   Mornar 29
18   Stefan Pot (2)   FMP 35
19   Luka Ašćerić   Mega Bemax 35
20   Dominik Mavra   Krka 37
21   Goga Bitadze   Budućnost VOLI 31
22   Danilo Anđušić   Igokea 30
SF1   Dejan Davidovac   Crvena zvezda mts 26
SF2   Vanja Marinković (2)   Partizan 22
SF3   Nemanja Gordić   Budućnost VOLI 16
F1   Billy Baron   Crvena zvezda mts 27
F2   K. C. Rivers   Crvena zvezda mts 20
F3   Norris Cole   Budućnost VOLI 20
F4   Norris Cole (2)   Budućnost VOLI 36
F5   K. C. Rivers (2)   Crvena zvezda mts 21

Source: ABA League

Month Player Team Ref.
2018
October   Goga Bitadze   Mega Bemax [33]
November   Dragan Apić   FMP [34]
December   Dragan Apić (2)   FMP [35]
2019
January   Marcus Paige   Partizan [36]
February   Stefan Pot   FMP [37]

Attendances

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Attendances include playoff games:

Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1   Partizan NIS 66,420 7,920 1,200 5,535 +20.6%
2   Crvena zvezda mts 73,031 6,858 2,345 4,564 +3.4%
3   Zadar 48,750 8,000 1,000 4,432 +2.1%
4   Budućnost VOLI 55,009 5,860 1,950 3,929 +15.5%
5   Mornar 25,400 3,000 1,550 2,309 +8.6%
6   Cedevita 25,850 5,500 500 1,988 +44.1%
7   Igokea 19,350 3,500 500 1,759 −19.6%
8   Petrol Olimpija 16,670 3,500 700 1,515 +6.2%
9   Mega Bemax 16,080 2,500 1,000 1,462 +1.5%
10   Cibona 14,740 2,350 590 1,340 −5.2%
11   Krka 13,730 2,000 500 1,248 +51.3%1
12   FMP 9,790 1,400 500 890 −2.6%
League total 384,820 8,000 500 2,691 +5.7%

Updated to match(es) played on April 22, 2019. Source: [1]
Notes:
1: previous season average applied to second division games

Clubs in European competitions

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Competition Team Progress Result
EuroLeague   Budućnost VOLI Regular season 15th (6–24)
EuroCup   Partizan NIS Top 16 Group E  (1) 4th (2–4)
  Crvena zvezda mts Top 16 Group G  (1) 3rd (2–4)
  Cedevita Top 16 Group H  (1) 4th (0–6)
  Mornar Regular season Group D 5th (2–8)
Champions League   Petrol Olimpija Regular season Group D 8th (1–13)

See also

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2018–19 domestic competitions
Teams

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Average attendance increases over 2,600 for the second time". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Important decisions confirmed at the ABA League j.t.d. Assembly Session". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  3. ^ "Igokea smenila Bajića i odmah imenovala naslednika". sport.blic.rs. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  4. ^ "NOVI ZVEZDIN TRENER Ko je Milenko Topić, miljenik navijača i čovek koji je pobedio Olimpijakos u Beogradu". sport.blic.rs. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  5. ^ "Razišli se Cedevita i trener Jure Zdovc". gol.dnevnik.hr. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  6. ^ "Bivši trener Barcelone preuzeo Cedevitu". gol.dnevnik.hr. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  7. ^ "Cibona smijenila trenera: Ante Nazor i zagrebački klub nisu uspjeli dogovoriti nastavak suradnje". sportske.jutarnji.hr. 6 June 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  8. ^ "Ivan Velić new Cibona head coach". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  9. ^ "Aramis Naglić is no longer head coach of Zadar". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  10. ^ "Zadar appoint Aleš Pipan as new head coach". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  11. ^ "Milan Tomić novi trener KK Crvena zvezda mts!". kkcrvenazvezda.rs. Archived from the original on 1 May 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  12. ^ "TOMIĆ NA TRI GODINE: Crvena zvezda rešila pitanje trenera ugovorom sa legendom Olimpijakosa". novosti.rs. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  13. ^ "Igokea ima novog trenera!". mondo.rs. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  14. ^ "Trajković novi trener Igokee". sportsport.ba. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  15. ^ "Pipan više nije trener Zadra". www.kkzadar.net. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  16. ^ "Ante Nazor returns to Zadar". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  17. ^ "Rimac replaced Alonso at Cedevita bench". www.aba-liga.com. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  18. ^ "Nenade, hvala!". kkpartizan.rs. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  19. ^ "Trinkjeri tri godine na klupi Partizana!". novosti.rs. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  20. ^ "Zbog loših rezultata: Rastali se Igokea i trener Nenad Trajković". scsport.ba. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  21. ^ "Aleksandar Nikitović is the new Petrol Olimpija head coach". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  22. ^ "Dragan Nikolić is the new head coach of Igokea". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  23. ^ "Aleksandar Džikić is no longer head coach of Budućnost VOLI". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  24. ^ "Jasmin Repeša is the new head coach of Budućnost VOLI". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  25. ^ Tilen Jamnik (19 February 2019). "Vodstvo Olimpije potrdilo: Novi trener je Jure Zdovc" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  26. ^ a b "ABA League is ready for the 2018/19 season". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  27. ^ "ABA League Qualifiers to begin on 17 April". druga.aba-liga.com. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  28. ^ "Zadar clinch the ticket for the 2019/20 ABA League season". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  29. ^ "2018/19 Regular Season MVP: Goga Bitadze (Budućnost VOLI)". www.aba-liga.com.
  30. ^ "Playoffs MVP: Billy Baron". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  31. ^ "2018/19 Top Prospect: Goga Bitadze (Budućnost VOLI)". www.aba-liga.com.
  32. ^ "Bitadze heads the Ideal Starting Five". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  33. ^ MVP of October: Goga Bitadze (Mega Bemax)
  34. ^ MVP of November: Dragan Apić (FMP)
  35. ^ "MVP of December: Dragan Apić (FMP)". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  36. ^ "MVP of January: Marcus Paige (Partizan NIS)". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  37. ^ "MVP of February: Stefan Pot (FMP)". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
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