Group B co-leader Union Olimpija took a major step to keep its strong season going when it signed center Ratko Varda on Friday to reenforce its inside game. Varda (216, 23) returns from more than a year in the NBA in which he was on the roster of both the Detroit Pistons and the Washington Wizards, but saw action in just one game. Before that, Varda had played exclusively for his original team, Partizan of Belgrade, reaching his best averages in 1999-2000 with 8.1 points and 3.9 rebounds in the Yugoslav League, 7.7 points and 3.3 rebounds in the Saporta Cup. Olimpija, already the fourth-tallest team in the Euroleague, gets quite bigger with Varda. The objective of his signing is probably to gain some intimidation under the basket, as Olimpija ranks dead last in blocked shots (1.1 bpg) among the Euroleague's 24 teams. The Slovenians are also 17th in total rebounds (28.3 rpg), behind all but two other likely Top 16 qualifiers.
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