By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Four straight losses to start the 2022-23 EuroLeague were a bit too much for Crvena Zvezda. Behind newcomer Luca Vildoza’s game-highs 20 points and six assists, plus six rebounds, Red Star defeated Bayern Munich 78 – 72 to register its first EuroLeague win this season.
“I am so excited, it was awesome,” Vildoza said. “My first game [with Zvezda] in the EuroLeague, to share it with these fans… They are crazy, man. I enjoy playing here. We played a great game. Sadly, in the last part, we didn’t feel like that team we need to be. We have to be smarter, but I am happy; it is our first win and we have to get more. The fans helped us a lot, but we trusted each other. That’s the thing we didn’t do in Madrid [in Round 4] and we haven’t been doing. We have to be happy because of the win, because of the fans we got, but we have to keep going.”
Bayern now stands alone in the “winless” category in EuroLeague, five rounds into the regular season. The German side struggled to make shots, particularly from the 3-point line, finishing with 7-31.
Cassius Winston led Bayern with 18 points, Vladimir Lucic scored 12 and Elias Harris added 10 points. “I saw that we made too many mistakes on individual players,” Bayern coach Andrea Trinchieri said. “Vildoza made big shots, but we didn’t focus on Bentil making big shots and in a game like this, both teams want to win, very physical, [so] every detail counts. We were bad on the little things, and little things make big things happen. We were a little bit passive on defense, and then we had a second half in which we were not aggressive enough on offense. With the [fact] that we never scored open shots, it is difficult to play, especially here.”
Ben Bentil posted 12 points plus 13 rebounds for Zvezda, Ognjen Dobric contributed 12 points as well while Nemanja Nedovic had 11 points in his season after recovering from leg injury. He drained a pair of free throws to put the hosts up by six with a 1:18 to play while Bayern was trying to get at a shooting distance after trailing by 13 early in the fourth period.
A major boost looking forward
Crvena Zvezda coach Vladimir Jovanovic was pleased to see the efforts of his players finally bearing fruits with a victory that can push his team in the upcoming battles.
“I am feeling great, of course,” Jovanovic said. “Big thanks to our fans for their amazing support. They gave us energy and it was incredible. Secondly, I want to congratulate my players because they came out with big energy. We had problems with injuries in the second half and they knew this is a very important game for us. Finally, they did it, the first win; a very important win for our confidence, and a good way to continue to work.”