Bayern's arrival to the Serbian capital to face Crvena Zvezda will mean another matchup between big men Joel Bolomboy and Devin Booker.
Bolomboy, Booker clash for a fifth straight season
Article
3 Mins read
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade and FC Bayern Munich entered this season with big ambitions, but the two teams have combined for only one win in the last four rounds. While both have struggled to register victories, each has been able to get a steady contribution from their veteran big men.
Joel Bolomboy is one of four Zvezda players scoring in double figures, with 10.2 points per game. He's converting 77.8% of his two-point attempts, often with powerful dunks. He also pulls down 3.8 rebounds and has 1.2 assists for Zvezda's second-best average PIR so far, 14.2.
Meanwhile, Devin Booker has been Bayern's leader in minutes played (25:15 per game), starting in all five games. He averages 9.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists, posting an average PIR of 10.6.
Booker and Bolomboy's previous meetings
Thursday will mark the seventh time that these two players go against one another in the EuroLeague. In their six previous head-to-head games, all in the regular season, Bolomboy and his teams have 5-1 records when Booker is on the other side. They played at least one game in each of the past four seasons
Both players made their competition debuts in the 2018-19, but crossed paths for the first time in the EuroLeague only a season later, when Booker was with Khimki Moscow Region and Bolomboy with CSKA Moscow. In that first game, Booker shined with 18 points. In the second, he collected 6 points and 10 rebounds, but Bolomboy took both victories despite totaling just 6 points and 7 rebounds in those two clashes..
Bolomboy got the better of Booker in their lone meeting in 2020-21, scoring 10 points in another CSKA win over Khimki. A year later, Booker helped Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul to a win in Moscow, and his only victory against Bolomboy, collecting 13 points, 5 rebounds and a career-high 5 assists. Bolomboy has 6 points and 7 rebounds.
These two centers also met last year, with Bolomboy and Olympiacos Piraeus sweeping two games against Fenerbahce. He averaged 5.0 points and 3.5 rebounds in those wins, while Booker had 8.0 points and 5.0 rebounds.
In all six games between them, Booker averaged 9.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists, making 63.0% of two-point shots. Meanwhile, Bolomboy managed 5.2 points and 4.0 rebounds, making 14 of 17 two-point shots in games when Booker was on the opposite side.
Bolomboy will hope to improve on those numbers, but more importantly, continue the high-level performances he has displayed so far this season to end Zvezda's four-game losing streak with another win against Booker. On the other hand, in his team-leading role, Booker would certainly love to change his fortunes against Bolomboy on Thursday night.