Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana is stronger for a Germany national team member Maik Zirbes, who signed a one-year-deal with a chance of extension for another year.

A line of the tall players on the Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana roster just got stronger with an addition of Maik Zirbes, the member of the German national team. Zirbes is a three-time ABA League Champions with Crvena zvezda mts, and he has experience with playing in the EuroLeague, 7Days EuroCup and regional competition.

Zirbes started his career with the Gladiators from Treves, where he stayed until 2012, and then went to Brose Baskets, with whom he became the German National Champion. His path led him to Belgrade, where he started his first stint with the Crvena zvezda mts, and won his first two titles of the ABA League Champion, to go along with two titles of the Serbian league champion.

In 2016, he signed the deal with Maccabi Tel Aviv, but then in the beginning of the next year, he was loaned to Bayern Munich. In 2017, he signed the deal with the team from Bavaria, and won the title of the German National Champion, his second of career. He stayed in Munich only for a season, as he moved back to Belgrade in 2018.

Zirbes first won the title of the ABA Supercup Champion in the beginning of the 2018/19 season, and finished the season with his third title of the ABA League champion. In the regional competition, he averaged 7.7 PPG and 3.9 RPG in 15.6 MIN of action. In the beginning of May, Crvena zvezda mts cut his contract, and he then moved to China to Guangxi, where he averaged 19.8 PPG and 15.5 RPG in 34.7 MPG in 31 games of Second Chinese League.

Maik Zirbes told as he joined Cedevita Olimpija: “I am happy that I have joined Cedevita Olimpija, and I cannot wait for the new season to begin, and to meet my new teammates. I have shared the locker room with a lot of them, so I believe, that I will fit in the team right away. I am excited for the high expectations of the new club in ABA League and 7Days EuroCup, and I hope, that successful season is ahead of us.”

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Cedevita Olimpija pod obročema močnejša za Maika Zirbesa

Člansko moštvo Cedevite Olimpije bo v novi tekmovalni sezoni močnejše za nemškega reprezentanta Maika Zirbesa, ki je z ljubljanskim klubom podpisal enoletno pogodbo, z možnostjo podaljšanja še za eno leto.

Cedevita Olimpija je svoji centrski liniji dodala novega visokega košarkarja z izkušnjami iz Lige ABA, Evrolige in 7Days EuroCupa. Ljubljanskim Zmajem se je pridružil nemški reprezentant Maik Zirbes, trikratni prvak regionalnega tekmovanja, ki se v slovensko prestolnico seli iz kitajskega moštva Guangxi Weizhuang.

Svojo košarkarsko pot je Zirbes začel pri Gladiatorjih iz Trevesa, kjer je ostal do leta 2012, nato pa prestopil v Brose Baskets, s katerim je leta 2013 postal tudi nemški državni prvak. Iz Nemčije ga je pot nato vodila v beograjsko Crveno zvezdo, s katero je v svojem prvem obdobju nošenja rdeče-belega dresa osvojil dva naslova prvaka Lige ABA ter dva naslova srbskega državnega prvaka.

Leta 2016 je podpisal pogodbo z izraelskim Maccabijem iz Tel Aviva, nato pa je bil v začetku prihodnjega leta posojen v domovino k Bayernu iz Munchna. Leta 2017 je Zirbes tudi podpisal pogodbo za klub iz Bavarske, med drugim osvojil tudi naslov nemškega državnega prvaka, drugega v karieri, a tam ostal le eno sezono, in se leta 2018 znova preselil k rdeče-belim v Beograd.

S Crveno zvezdo je v sezoni 2018/19 najprej osvojil naslov prvaka Superpokala Lige ABA, sezono pa sklenil z naslovom prvaka Lige ABA, tretjim v njegovi karieri. Na regionalni sceni je v minuli sezoni v povprečju dosegal 7,7 točke in 3,9 skoka na tekmo v 15,6 minutah na obračun. V začetku letošnjega maja so Beograjčani z Zirbesom prekinili pogodbo, nato pa se je preselil na Kitajsko, kjer je za Guangxi, ki nastopa v drugi kitajski ligi, na 31 odigranih tekmah dosegal 19,8 točke in 15,5 skokov v 34,7 minutah, ki jih je v povprečju prebil na igrišču.

Maik Zirbes je ob dogovoru z Ljubljančani povedal: “Zelo vesel sem, da sem se pridružil Cedeviti Olimpiji, in komaj čakam, da se nova tekmovalna sezona tudi začne, in da spoznam vse nove soigralce. Z nekaterimi od njih sem že delil garderobo, zato verjamem, da se bom hitro vklopil v moštvo. Veselim se visokih pričakovanj novega kluba v Ligi ABA in 7Days EuroCupu, seveda pa upam, da je pred nami uspešna sezona.”