The quarterfinal series is deadlocked at 2, so a ticket to the semifinals is on the line when Basket Brno hosts USK Praha in Game 5 today at 6 p.m. Watch it on TVcom.cz. Photo Credit: Jan Russnák.
Brno, May 5 (BD) — FC Zbrojovka faces likely must-win game on Saturday; Lokomotiva preps for second phase of season; and Draci players continue impressive careers.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Deciding Game for Basket Brno Tonight
Basket Brno is in the first postseason for the first time in its history and, with a win tonight at home, the team would advance to the semifinals of the top league in the country.
Basket Brno will face USK Praha today in the deciding Game 5 of their quarterfinal series. The game starts at 6 p.m. Watch it on TVcom.cz.
Brno (16-16) got home-court advantage because it finished Group A1 one position above Praha (16-16) because of a tiebreaker. Both teams have played well against each other through the four series games. The three other quarterfinal series were 3-0 sweeps.
In Game 4 in Prague on Sunday, Brno won 81-75 after a fourth-quarter rally, scoring the first nine points and outscoring Praha, 10-24.
“It is a very important victory for us,” said Martin Vaněk, assistant coach for Basket Brno after Game 4. “We showed there today that we want to return to Brno, that we want to fight for the series and advance to the semifinals. In the fourth quarter, we fought in every position, we got some balls, we put up simple baskets and that’s it. The series returns to Brno and we have to give the same performance if we want to move to the semifinals. “
For updated information and the schedule for Basket Brno games, go to the league website at https://www.nbl.cz/. The team website is: https://basketbrno.cz/ Use Google Chrome, right-click anywhere on the page and select “Translate to English”.
MEN’S FOOTBALL
Zbrojovka Hangs on to Hope
FC Zbrojovka is moving forward one point at a time — five ties in the past nine games — and the time has come that the team absolutely must win games to make three-point jumps in the standings.
Otherwise, the long-time Brno team will drop back into the second league, an embarrassing fate for the team, the fans and the second-largest city in the country.
On Saturday, Zbrojovka (4-10-16, 22 points) will host FK Mladá Boleslav (7-9-14, 30) at 5 p.m. in what looks like a must-win game.
Then, the remaining games are not easy: Zbrojovka goes to Liberec on Friday, May 14 at 8 p.m., hosts Opava on May 23 at 5 p.m. and finishes the season at Sparta Praha on May 29 at 5 p.m. Sixth-place Liberec (14-8-8, 50) and third-place Sparta (18-5-6, 59) will be tough. Opava (3-7-20, 16) is in last place and a definite need-to-win.
Teplice (6-8-16, 26), which has a four-point advantage, is the team Brno needs to catch and surpass in order to get out of the relegation zone when time runs out. Unfortunately for Brno, the Teplice schedule is decidedly easier: at second-place Jablonec, at home against 11th-place SK Dynamo České Budějovice, go to last-place Karviná and finish at home against 17th-place 1.FK Příbram.
On Saturday, Brno got a 1-1 tie at Baník Ostrava when Peter Štepanovský scored at the 79th-minute mark, within five minutes of coming onto the field.
For updated information and the schedule for FC Zbrojovka Brno games, go to the league website at https://www.fortunaliga.cz/. The team website is at https://fczbrno.cz/. Use Google Chrome, right-click anywhere on the page and select “Translate to English”.
WOMEN’S FOOTBALL
Lokomotiva Continues Season in Lower Half
Lokomotiva Brno Horni Herspice lost to AC Sparta Praha last Sunday, 0-10, to end the regular season in sixth place. The Brno team was 4-1-9.
The next phase of the season will pit Lokomotiva (13 points) against FK Dukla Prague (14), FC Slovan Liberec (12) and FK Pardubice (5). The schedule is TBD.
BASEBALL
Standings Jam Up, Draci Players Pad Career Marks
Six of the 10 teams in the baseball extraliga have won at least six games through four weeks of play, putting them all within a game of each other in the standings.
Cardion Hroši Brno and Eagles Praha, who met last weekend with Praha taking two of three, are both at the top with 8-4 records. Arrows Ostrava (6-3), Draci Brno (6-3) and Sokol Hluboká (7-4) are all a half-game back. Třebíč Nuclears (6-3) are just a game back.
Two long-time standout Brno players added to their career statistics for the Draci: Pavel Budsky hit his 164th home run and Arnost Dubovy (Draci) got his hit No. 500. The Draci have a three-game series with Tempo Praha this weekend.
The Hroši play the Třebíč Nuclears this weekend.
For updated information and the schedule for Czech extraliga baseball, go to the league website at https://extraliga.baseball.cz/. Use Google Chrome, right-click anywhere on the page and select “Translate to English”.