By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Chaos ensued in Game 3 of the ABA League finals when Kevin Punter hit a three-pointer to give Partizan a three-point lead in the final 50 seconds of the game and this time around it was Crvena Zvezda’s turn to file an appeal to the ABA League.
“Crvena Zvezda, after all the chaos seen in the third game of the finals, will not and has no right to remain silent”, the team’s statement reads.
“What the basketball public saw during the three-hour chaos that began for us even before the game started (about which we will inform the public and document everything on Thursday). […] From this moment on, everything that will happen in this final series, starting from the fourth game, will be held solely the responsibility of the regional league and the organizers of the BC Partizan NIS game!”
“Crvena Zvezda demands that we be told publicly whether we ‘must’ give the title to the winningest coach [Zeljko Obradovic] and whether, in doing so, we should endure what a normal person cannot endure during the three-hour chaos that began for us before the game had even started”
“Crvena Zvezda filed an appeal for the third game immediately after its end. We will see what will happen because the chief judge Matej Boltauzer said that he “does not know Cyrillic”. We believe that the delegate commissioner knows Cyrillic and can translate it for him.”
Zvezda also made a comment about the “impossible conditions” of the game, with referees “being hit upon leaving the arena”, as well as “an overcrowded hall with almost 1,500 people more than the maximum capacity”.
The series will continue Friday, June 3 in Partizan’s homecourt, and coach Obradovic expressed his disbelief and disappointment for the events that took place in Games 2 and 3 during the post-game press conference.
“It is a real miracle that no one got hurt”, Obradovic said as adapted by mozzartsport.com. “Rade [Zagorac] is feeling well, we will see how he will react tomorrow, but it could have been much worse. We will do our best to reach the fifth game. It will take a lot of energy, concentration, desire, and respect… It is not easy, especially for the players. I hope we gather the energy to play another game this way.”
“From the first day, I appealed to some things, to calm the passions, to play basketball. I told that to the fans when I took the microphone. This is a serious league, and in order to be serious, all the players in the game must be respected. Players and others on the bench. Tonight, the referees made the decision to empty part of the stands and they were absolutely right, but why didn’t that happen in the previous game? The safety of the players and everyone on the bench is the most important thing, why was the criterion different?,” Obradovic told reporters before making an appeal to Partizan’s fans.
“I appeal to Partizan fans, in every next game, to never do this again. To allow the opponent to play. This picture goes out into the world, like the picture from three days ago. What will people think of us, and what will they talk about?”