Coach Sasa Obradovic's team finished a perfect double-round week in style
Crvena Zvezda sets multiple club records in Bologna
Informes de partidos
3 Min lectura
Regular Season
Round 24 of 38
Regular Season
Virtus BolognaVIR
93102
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet BelgradeCZV
Overview
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Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade has been unstoppable of late, and it continued its upturn in form at Virtus Arena on Friday night.
By downing Virtus Bologna 93-102, Zvezda grabbed its third consecutive win, all of them on the road, and it scored 100 points or more in all three games. All of a sudden, Zvezda has a 14-10 record despite its many injuries and has a three-win gap over Virtus, which ranks 11th at 11-13.
Before this three-game winning streak, Zvezda had scored 100 points or more just six times in 339 games, so coach Sasa Obradovic had plenty of reasons to be happy.
"I think we are in a great moment, playing great basketball. We deserve all the road wins we had. We have to keep the same focus and energy for each game," Coach Obradovic said. "We go [back] home and I am really happy with the whole team, with everybody's contribution. It is a great thing."
Zvezda set several club records and season-high marks in Bologna. It scored 82 points in the opening three quarters, a new club record; its previous record was the 80 points it netted through three periods in a 90-78 home win over Khimki Moscow Region on October 31, 2019.
The Serbian side also finished the game with 16 three-point makes and 31 assists, new season highs and close to the club's all-time records in the competition. Zvezda dished a club-record 34 assists in an 101-77 home win over FC Bayern Munich on November 29, 2014, while its three-point record remains the 17 drained against LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne on October 5, 2023.
The biggest key to the game was the way Zvezda was able to diversify its offense, finding new go-to guys along the way ever since Jordan Nwora provided the fireworks with three consecutive three-pointers in the opening two minutes. Nwora was one of seven Zvezda players to score in double digits. It was a first for the club in its EuroLeague history, having seven players each scoring 10 points or more. Jared Butler ending up leading the way with 16 points.
"I think it's important for us, if we are going to be a great team, to win on the road. And we have been doing that. We have just shown more character, more belief in ourselves, and it's been good," Butler said after the game. "I think every game is important at this point. We have got to keep going every game, one game at a time."
Nwora added 15, Nikola Kalinic and Chima Moneke got 13 apiece, Ebuka Izundu had 12, Semi Ojeleye chipped in with 11 and Codi Miller-McIntyre netted 10. Miller-McIntyre added 12 assists for a rare double-double with no turnovers, becoming the 12th player to reach at least 12 assists with no turnovers in EuroLeague history. Nick Weiler-Babb is the only player to do so multiple times (three), and the list includes stars like Nikos Zisis, Tyus Edney, Facu Campazzo, Vasilije Micic, Kostas Sloukas, Mike James and his current Zvezda teammate Yago dos Santos, among others.
"I think we did a great job on the road, sticking together, really locking in on defense. We got to do a better job, but I'm proud of the way we fought this week," Miller-McIntyre said. "They have a really great team, great players and a great coach, but our team was able to stay focused and do what we needed to do to win the game. We just have to continue to fight. At the end of the day, that's all we can do. We got to do it every possession, every game, every week. And we'll see where we end up at the end of the season."
Zvezda will play six of its next seven games at home, starting against Dubai Basketball on Friday, January 30. That same day and after back-to-back home losses, Virtus faces AS Monaco on the road.
