From sublime to ridiculous: Zvezda’s fourth-quarter meltdown

Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade could not have played better than the final quarter of Wednesday night’s highly impressive 94-75 victory over Anadolu Efes Istanbul, when the reigning champ was blown away with a 26-8 partial score to keep Zvezda’s playoff hopes alive. Two days later, though, it was the same story in reverse, as the Serbian team lost a 16-point lead by imploding in ugly fashion on the way to a 75-66 loss at Panathinaikos Athens.
Leading 37-53 nearly midway through the third quarter, Zvezda then – in the succinct words of head coach Dusko Ivanovic – “stopped playing basketball.” The remaining 15 minutes of the game delivered only 13 points, 6 of which came in the final 71 seconds when the outcome was already decided. And at the other end, Zvezda suddenly had no answers to a Panathinaikos offense which had previously been stone-cold, as the Greek team more than doubled its points tally from the first 25 minutes.
On an individual level, it was a particularly sorry night for Zvezda’s star Argentine guard combo of Facundo Campazzo and Luca Vildoza. Campazzo, so dominant in Wednesday’s win over Efes, did not score a single point all night, finishing with 4 assists and 4 turnovers for a PIR of minus 1. It was a little better for Vildoza, who had 7 points and 4 assists without a turnover, but he was unable to establish any offensive rhythm as the game disappeared from Zvezda in the final 15 minutes.
An exasperated Coach Ivanovic admitted he had no idea what had happened to his team, saying: “After five minutes in the third quarter, I don’t understand it but we stopped playing on defense, we lost confidence on offense, and Panathinaikos played more aggressive than we did in the last quarter.”
And as it leaves Zvezda three wins away from the playoff places with just six games remaining, it could well turn out to be a collapse that effectively ends its hopes of post-season action.