By Stelios Toromanidis/ info@eurohoops.net
The time for the reward arrived for Crvena Zvezda! The last three years the Serbians are getting better and better in the Euroleague, but they eventually got the ticket for the Euroleague’s playoffs!
Crvena Zvezda will face CSKA Moscow in its first participation in the playoffs of the Euroleague and for sure the success story is really interesting and teaching. The previous big success of the team was held in the Euroleague in the season 1972-73, when reached the semifinals.
The course of previous years
Crvena Zvezda do not have a rich history in the Euroleague, with this year being their third appearance in the competition. What’s worth mentioning is the fact that the team from Belgrade gets better year by year, constantly making steps forward.
In their first attempt, even though they fought all their games to the end, they were knocked out from the first phase with a 4-6 record, leaving the best impressions on a competitive level but also for the spectacular atmosphere their fans create in their home games.
Last season, Zvezda had a great regular period, finishing in second place of their group with an 8-2 record. In the Top 16, though, they weren’t able to respond to unfamiliar, for them, experience and, in this way, they said farewell to the competition with four wins and ten defeats.
| SEASON | KNOCKOUT
STAGE |
RECORD | WIN
RATE |
| 2013-14 | Regular season | 4-6 | 40% |
| 2014-15 | Top 16 | 10-14 | 41,7% |
| 2015-16 | To be continued… | 12-11 | 52,2% |
The… inauspicious start with the many mishaps
Everything was going wrong and backwards for Zvezda at the beginning of the regular period and, as a result, no one believed that the season would be a success.
The absolute star of last season’s Euroleague, Boban Marjanovic, departed in order to play overseas with the colors of the San Antonio Spurs, while the starting small forward, Nikola Kalinic moved to Obradovic’s Fener. The starting point guard, Marcus Williams … was caught using performance-enhancing drugs.
Sofoklis Schortsanitis, who was asked to fill in… part of the Serbian giant’s loss, didn’t offer the team what was expected of him, which resulted in the inglorious end to his collaboration with the club. The icing on the cake? The serious injury of 23-year-old captain, Luka Mitrovic, in the left knee with doctors’ projections speaking of a six-month absence!
The rebirth from the… ashes and the valuable additions
Other teams would have given up trying for something better this season, left to… their fate. But not Zvezda. Coach Radonjic had to handle a changing roster that reached the 19 players. However, he felt vindicated by his starters.
More specifically, German big man Maik Zirbes stepped in Marjanovic’s… shoes (so to speak), having the best season of his career so far (13,1 points and 6,5 rebounds per game). Stefan Jovic grabbed the maestro’s baton from Williams with great success, as he boosted his stats (6 assists per game from 2,8 last season), forming a great duo with Zirbes. Also, role players like Marko Simonovic became protagonists, contributing greatly.
The management’s help firstly came with the addition of the 23-year-old NBAer, Quincy Miller, who turned out to be one of the best rookies of this year’s Euroleague, offering score (14,2 points per game), energy and athleticism to the champions of the Adriatic league. Secondly, with the signings of the experienced Vladimir Stimac and Tarence Kinsey, who gave the required depth to this already well-oiled machine.
Result…
Hard work and team effort, as we know, are rewarded. With their unbelievable home court as their launching pad, the Serbs initially qualified for the Top 16 being third in the toughest group of the regular season, with opponents like Real, Fener, Khimki, and Bayern. In fact, they then triumphantly proved wrong all those who believed that the team reached its highest limit, by prematurely securing the qualification for the quarterfinals of the competition for the first time. Is there anyone who can underestimate them ahead of the playoffs?