The Serbian team made a statement of postseason intent with an impressive performance against Fenerbahce
Rejuvenated Zvezda nurturing high hopes after stellar night in Istanbul
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Regular Season
Round 3 of 34
Group Regular Season
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A resounding 57-76 road win at Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul propelled Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade to a perfect 3-0 start in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and galvanized the club’s ambitions of reaching the postseason after last term’s fiasco.
Zvezda finished 16th in the 2023-34 campaign with a dismal 11-23 record but this term, a slightly revamped team looks capable of making the EuroLeague Playoffs after its magnificent performance against a more heralded opponent, which stunned even the Serbian side’s head coach, Ioannis Sfairopoulos.
Having forced 18 turnovers from Fenerbahce, 5 of them in the fourth quarter when the chips were down, Zvezda stifled out the home team throughout a lop-sided contest in which the hosts also made a mere 12-of-32 shots from two-point range and 7 of 23 from downtown.
Sfairopoulos, who guided Zvezda to a domestic treble last season despite a poor EuroLeague campaign, was thoroughly impressed with his team’s display in the Turkish capital.
“It’s not easy to play against Fenerbahce, especially here on their home court as this is a team with a lot of high quality players,” the Greek tactician told reporters at the post-game press conference.” The performance surprised me in a lot of ways as we kept our rhythm throughout and I am very pleased.”
Zvezda has thrived from the addition of playmaker Codi Miller-McIntyre to the backcourt, as there seems to be a new level of composure on offense. The return of Ognjen Dobric and Nikola Kalinic has provided the kind of defensive steel missing last season, while big man Joel Bolomboy keeps dominating at both ends of the court like he did last term.
Sfairopoulos will now expect his men to show some consistency which was conspicuous for its absence last season, and his first step in that direction was to remind his players they must keep their feet firmly on the ground. Especially in view of the fact that Zvezda has already suffered shock early losses to Split and Dubai Basketball in the regional ABA League, notably the latter as it came against a modest team which has a 1-3 record in the competition.
“It’s too early to get excited because there is a long way to go, it’s a marathon. We will stay humble in order to keep learning and improving,” said the 57-year-old head coach.
His Fenerbahce counterpart, Saras Jasikevicius, had to answer some tough questions concerning the horror show his players served up to their fans, and one of them was to comment on the early departure of droves of disgruntled supporters in the gym.
“We want our fans to support us, no question, but we are also responsible for the product we put out on the court,” stated the Lithuanian tactician. “To be honest, maybe I’d have left early too.”
Having congratulated Zvezda, Jasikevicius lambasted his team for lack of effort and cutting edge.
“Zvezda was the better team in everything on the court tonight, first of all their desire to play,” he said. “Offensively we were really bad, we had too many turnovers and we didn’t find the spots where we can do damage. We didn’t make good decisions and it was a difficult evening for us.”
In Round 4, Zvezda is at home to FC Barcelona in what should be a blockbuster while Fenerbahce has a chance to redeem itself when it visits ALBA Berlin.