2016-17Regular SeasonRound 28
FC Barcelona Lassa 67
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 54
March 24, 2017 CET: 21:00
Local time: 21:00 PALAU BLAUGRANA

Barcelona downs Zvezda with great defense

FC Barcelona Lassa defeated Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 67-54 at Palau Blaugrana on Friday. Barcelona improved to 11-17, while Zvezda dropped to 15-13 and ranks eighth overall, one win ahead of Darussafaka Dogus Istanbul - the other team with a chance to advance to the next round. Stratos Perperoglou led the winners with 17 points, Petteri Koponen added 13 while Victor Claver pulled down 10 rebounds for Barcelona. Nate Wolters, Charles Jenkins and Luka Mitrovic led Zvezda with 8 points apiece. Three-point shooting made the difference in the first half; Barcelona hit 5-of-12 shots (41.7%) and limited Zvezda to just 3 of 15 from downtown (20%) to take a 32-29 edge at the break. Barcelona kept rolling, outrebounding Zvezda 29-26 and forcing the visitors into 13 turnovers. Zvezda did not shoot better from downtown after the break and finishing the game with 5-of-29 shooting (17.2%) from behind the arc.

Mitrovic got Zvezda going with a layup, but Tyrese Rice and Sasha Vezenkov each hit from downtown in an 8-0 Barcelona run that Brad Oleson capped with a jumper. Branko Lazic and Jenkins fueled a 0-7 Zvezda run, but Vezenkov struck again from downtown for an 11-9 edge. Lazic and Mitrovic scored around the basket before free throws by Moussa Diagne and Koponen kept Barcelona ahead, 15-13. Wolters hit a triple and matched Koponen's free throws with an off-balance, buzzer-beating jumper for a 17-18 Zvezda lead after 10 minutes. Koponen kept pacing Barcelona with a three-pointer and Perperoglou added a fast break layup, but a dunk by Milko Bjelica kept Zvezda within 22-20. Claver scored down low and a three-pointer by Perperoglou gave the hosts a 27-22 lead. Dangubic and Wolters rescued Zvezda and a corner triple by Marko Simonovic made it a one-point game, 30-29. Free throws by Juan Carlos Navarro fixed the halftime score at 32-29. Perperoglou took over after the break with a couple of layups and a three-pointer, while Claver also struck from beyond the arc to make it a double-digit game, 42-31. Oleson and Koponen joined the three-point shootout and Rodions Kurucs added a driving layup for his first basket in the EuroLeague, but Simonovic and Dangubic kept Zvezda within 52-43 after 30 minutes. Marcus Eriksson and Perperoglou nailed back-to-back triples for a 58-45 Barcelona lead early in the fourth quarter. Lazic and Jenkins fueled a 0-6 Zvezda run and a three-pointer by Marko Guduric gave Zvezda hope at 60-54. Perperoglou nailed a jumper and fed Koponen for a triple that sealed the outcome, 65-54, with over two minutes left.

Stratos Perperoglou - FC Barcelona Lassa - EB16
Friday, March 24, 2017
Euroleague.net
Referees: CHRISTODOULOU, CHRISTOS; PASTUSIAK, PIOTR; SILVA, SERGIO
Attendance: 3629
By Quarter1234
FC Barcelona Lassa17152015
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade18111411
End of Quarter1234
FC Barcelona Lassa17325267
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade18294354
FC Barcelona Lassa
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 MUNFORD, XAVIER DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2 RICE, TYRESE 22:29 5 1/2 1/1         2   3     1   2
10 CLAVER, VICTOR 26:24 5 1/4 1/4   1 9 10 1   1     2 1 8
11 NAVARRO, JUAN CARLOS 8:19 2   0/1 2/2         1 2       2 2
14 VEZENKOV, SASHA 20:00 8 0/1 2/4 2/2   1 1   1   1 1 2 1 6
17 KURUCS, RODIONS 3:20 2 1/1 0/1                       1
20 ERIKSSON, MARCUS 12:57 3   1/2   1 2 3 2   2     2   3
21 DIAGNE, MOUSSA 13:36 3     3/4   2 2 3 1 2 1   3 3 7
24 OLESON, BRAD 17:48 7 2/2 1/2     1 1 1   1     3 1 5
25 KOPONEN, PETTERI 27:38 13 0/1 3/7 4/4   4 4 2 1 2     2 8 19
32 RENFROE, ALEX 17:31 2 1/1 0/1   3   3 3 2 2     2   5
33 PERPEROGLOU, STRATOS 29:58 17 4/8 3/5     5 5 3   1     1 4 21
Team             3 3               3
Totals 200:00 67 10/20 12/28 11/12 5 27 32 17 6 16 2 1 18 20 82
        50% 42.9% 91.7%
Head coach: BARTZOKAS, GEORGIOS
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 WOLTERS, NATE 15:07 8 2/6 1/3 1/2   4 4 2 3 1   1 3 2 7
2 THOMPSON, DEON 10:00 2 1/1   0/2                 2 1 -1
6 DANGUBIC, NEMANJA 20:26 5 0/2 1/3 2/2                 4 2 -1
9 MITROVIC, LUKA 24:15 8 4/5 0/2   2 1 3   1       2 1 8
10 LAZIC, BRANKO 31:01 7 2/4 1/5   3 1 4   3       3   5
13 DOBRIC, OGNJEN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
19 SIMONOVIC, MARKO 25:53 7 1/1 1/7 2/2 1 7 8 3 1 1     1 3 14
22 JENKINS, CHARLES 30:50 8 4/4 0/2         2 3 4     3 3 7
23 GUDURIC, MARKO 19:25 5 1/2 1/6     1 1 1 1 3     1 5 3
24 JOVIC, STEFAN 3:03   0/1       1 1 2             2
32 KUZMIC, OGNJEN 7:16 2 1/2     1 1 2     2 1 1 1 1 1
51 BJELICA, MILKO 12:44 2 1/1 0/1     3 3     2         2
Team           1 3 4     1         3
Totals 200:00 54 17/29 5/29 5/8 8 22 30 10 12 14 1 2 20 18 50
        58.6% 17.2% 62.5%
Head coach: RADONJIC, DEJAN

Head Coaches

BARTZOKAS, GEORGIOS
FC Barcelona Lassa
"Congratulations to our players for a win against a very good team with a deep roster, despite our absences. I also have to say 'thank you' to our audience, our fans, who came to see us with bad weather today in this game. For me, every game is important, no matter if it is in the EuroLeague or a Spanish League game. We have to show our improvement and do it with stability. Generally, I think we played excellent defense tonight, which is not easy against a team with so many creators - keeping them close to 50 points. We stopped their creativity and did not allow Simonovic to shoot. He is their main scorer in this team. Stopping their creativity, limiting them to 10 assists compared to our 17 was the key of the game. Today, we had a completely different situation, because Moussa [Diagne] is not experienced for this level. Victor [Claver] had to play as a '5' and I have to give him credit because he played at a '3' for the first five months. He is now playing as a '4' which is, for me, his best position, and today he played as a '5', getting 10 rebounds and helping on defense. This kind of defense, when you have mobile, versatile players, helps us a lot to cut the rhythm, especially against a team with good shooters."
RADONJIC, DEJAN
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
"Congratulations to Barcelona for the win. They played better than us tonight. We played solid on defense at the start of the game, but had a lot of problems on offense. They played really well on defense and we had problems with our three-point shots, all game. Barcelona hit 43% three-point shots and we hit 17%. They had a lot of problems with injuries, of course, but they also have very good players. Congratulations to them again."

Players

KURUCS, RODIONS
FC Barcelona Lassa
"It was an incredible feeling [to make my EuroLeague debut]. They called me from the second team and I thought I would play a little bit. Coach said 'be ready to go, be ready to play and do everything you can do for the team.' It was a dream and it came true; I also had my first points in the EuroLeague, it was really cool! I wanted to go on the court when I was in the lineup for the first time, in Milan, but it was a tough game and I didn't play there. I was waiting for this for a long time."
KUZMIC, OGNJEN
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
"We did not have a good start of the game and, in general terms, we played bad, especially on offense. We did not offer our best version. We have to forget about this game and focus on the Adriatic League game against Buducnost which is really important to us; the Adriatic League winner qualifies to the EuroLeague. We had too many turnovers tonight."
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