2014-15Regular SeasonRound 1
October 16, 2014 CET: 20:45
Local time: 20:45 KOMBANK ARENA

Crvena Zvezda takes first Game of the Week against Galatasaray

The first Game of the Week this season witnessed a beautiful, energetic Group D duel between Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade and Galatasaray Liv Hospital Istanbul on Thursday night. In front of a jam packed Kombank Arena in Belgrade, Serbia, Zvezda stepped up and took the first win of the season thanks to the connection between point guard Marcus Williams and big man Boban Marjanovic, who led the way to a 76-68 win for the hosts. Zvezda started the game strong, but Pietro Aradori launched Galatasaray to a 0-12 burst to jump ahead. However, Jaka Blazic led the comeback for Zvezda, and Marjanovic and Williams took care of the rest in the second half, as the athleticism of the hosts, combined with the energy of the fans, carried the team to victory. Marjanovic was the man of the game for the winners with a double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds. Williams added 15 points and 7 assists and Blazic contributed 12 points for Crvena Zvezda. For Galatasaray, Zoran Erceg had 17 points and Aradori nailed 11.

Galatasaray manages to erase a bad start

A great atmosphere at Kombank Arena was witness to the game tip-off as Marjanovic started his paint dominance with the first bucket. Galatasaray soon replied with two threes by Martynas Pocius and Erceg for 4-9. The atmosphere pumped the teams into a high tempo as Williams and Charles Jenkins put the hosts ahead, 9-6. Marjanovic dominated the boards and was soon up to six points, 13-8 after a huge put-back. Galatasaray was struggling on offense, but when Marjanovic went to the bench for Zvezda, things flowed better. Aradori stepped up with five straight points, including a three, that launched a 0-9 burst that had the guests up by 15-17. Aradori punished the rim some more with a new three, but Jaka Blazic closed the first quarter and, snapped a 0-12 run with a layup in traffic for 17-20.

Crvena Zvezda comes back and rolls on both ends

Another huge swing put a start to the second quarter, as Maik Zirbes was up for four straight points for Zvezda to put the hosts ahead again, and then it was time for Blazic, who nailed eight consecutive points, finishing up with fast penetration plays. Galatasaray was groggy as Marjanovic was back on the court and played a two-on-two with Nikola Kalinic for 31-23. Coach Ergin Ataman had to call a timeout, and Nate Jawai soon started ticking in the paint to break a bad run for his team, but things were falling on Zvezda's side. With big hustle on both ends of the court, the hosts kept increasing the lead from 38-26 after Kalinic's layup, to 46-30 when Luka Mitrovic scored inside surrounded by the Galatasaray defense to send the game into halftime.

Defenses take center stage, the visitors don't quit

Defenses took over at the start of the third quarter. Zvezda used its athleticism and youth to stay on top of Galatasary, while the visitors tried to outsmart the opponents with experience. Vladimir Micov opened fire in the second half but Marjanovic replied with a dunk inside. Carlos Arroyo also appeared for the first time but Kalinic replied swiftly as the partial score was 4-4 after 5 minutes into the quarter. Blazic made it an 18-point game from the stripe, while Erceg stepped up for five straight points to send a clear message: Galatasaray was far from done. Zvezda missed a couple open shots and Galatasaray used it to get closer as baskets by Jawai and Nolan Smith made it 52-43. As if suddenly waking up, Marcus Williams hit an acrobatic three-point play and then Nemanja Dangubic and Mitrovic posted back-to-back baskets to make it a 15-point again, 60-45. At the end of the quarter, Williams beat the buzzer with a three-pointer for 63-48, lifting the Kombank Arena crowd up on their feet.

Williams, Marjanovic seal the deal for the hosts

The connection between Williams and Marjanovic did not stop a bit at the start of the last period, as the two combined for seven quick points that made it 70-52. Ian Vougioukas presented some problems in the offensive paint for the guests, but Marjanovic was simply unstoppable. The crowd pushed its team to the limit and the big man obliged with a new dunk, 73-56. Galatasaray never let the guard down, however, and with a 0-7 burst capped by Furkan Aldemir's dunk, the guests made it an 11-point game with 3 minutes to go. Erceg still made it 74-65, but when both teams missed crucial shots, and the game was nearing completion, Williams fed Mitrovic for a layup down below that sealed the deal. Arroyo still had time to squeeze in a three-pointer thinking about possible point differentials in the future, but in the present, Crvena Zvezda fans celebrated a much deserved win.

Boban Marjanovic - Crvena Zvezda Telekom - EB14
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Euroleague.net
Referees: CONDE, ANTONIO; ANASTOPOULOS, PANAGIOTIS; SHEMMESH, SEFFI
Attendance: 16991
By Quarter1234
Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade17291713
Galatasaray Liv Hospital Istanbul20101820
End of Quarter1234
Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade17466376
Galatasaray Liv Hospital Istanbul20304868
Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
3 WILLIAMS, MARCUS 28:54 15 2/8 3/8 2/4 2 2 4 7   1     2 4 14
4 REBIC, NIKOLA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
6 DANGUBIC, NEMANJA 12:02 3 1/2 0/1 1/2   1 1 2 1 2     3 1  
9 MITROVIC, LUKA 29:46 8 4/6 0/3   3 5 8 5 2 2     3 1 14
10 LAZIC, BRANKO 8:51 1     1/2           1     1 1 -1
11 BLAZIC, JAKA 18:50 12 5/5 0/2 2/2   2 2 1 1 1     2 1 12
12 KALINIC, NIKOLA 24:15 5 2/4 0/1 1/4 1 5 6 2 1 3 1   3 2 5
13 MARJANOVIC, BOBAN 27:34 22 11/14   0/1 1 9 10       2   2 2 30
15 TEJIC, MARKO 5:28         1   1           2 1  
22 JENKINS, CHARLES 18:17 4 2/7 0/3     2 2 1 1       2 2  
24 JOVIC, STEFAN 13:37   0/1 0/1   1 3 4 1   1   1 1 2 2
33 ZIRBES, MAIK 12:26 6 3/5             1       1   4
Team           2 2 4               4
Totals 200:00 76 30/52 3/19 7/15 11 31 42 19 7 11 3 1 22 17 84
        57.7% 15.8% 46.7%
Head coach: RADONJIC, DEJAN
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
Galatasaray Liv Hospital Istanbul
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
5 MICOV, VLADIMIR 20:08 4 2/5 0/1 0/2   3 3 3 1 1     1 2 5
7 ERCEG, ZORAN 29:21 17 4/6 2/8 3/4 2 6 8   2 1     2 4 19
11 JAWAI, NATE 10:52 7 3/4   1/2 1 2 3     1     2 1 6
12 GONLUM, KEREM 8:23 3 1/2   1/2 1 3 4           1 1 5
15 VOUGIOUKAS, IAN 9:22   0/4       2 2 2         1 1  
17 POCIUS, MARTYNAS 24:55 7 1/2 1/5 2/2           2     2 2  
19 ALDEMIR, FURKAN 19:46 6 2/3   2/2 3 2 5     1 1 1 1 2 10
21 ARADORI, PIETRO 25:23 11 1/1 2/3 3/6   6 6 3 2 1       6 23
22 SMITH, NOLAN 16:25 6 2/8 0/1 2/2 1 2 3 1   2   1 2 1 -1
30 ARROYO, CARLOS 23:35 7 1/2 1/5 2/2   2 2 5   2     3 2 6
32 GULER, SINAN 11:50   0/2 0/2     1 1 2   1   1 2   -5
33 ARSLAN, ENDER DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team           4 2 6     1         5
Totals 200:00 68 17/39 6/25 16/24 12 31 43 16 5 13 1 3 17 22 73
        43.6% 24% 66.7%
Head coach: ATAMAN, ERGIN

Head Coaches

RADONJIC, DEJAN
Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade
"Congratulations to my players. Our supporters were really great, pushing us all the way. We played good defense against a team with the highest ambitions in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague. Some of my players are not 100 percent ready and that was the reason for our slow minutes in the second half. Our rhythm falled down but we managed to keep our winning margin."
ATAMAN, ERGIN
Galatasaray Liv Hospital Istanbul
"Congratulations to Crvena Zvezda and its supporters for a really great atmosphere. They were aggressive and we had problems to stop Marjanovic under the boards and playing against Marcus Williams in isolation and transition situations. The key was their menthal strengh. They were ready to give everything on court. Our matchup zone defense was good. We had fast break and transition points in the second half but it was not enough to return to the game. This was a bad night for us but the good thing is that we lost with by 8 points."

Players

JENKINS, CHARLES
Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade
"We played against a very good team tonight. We managed to pull out the win with defense, as coach did a great job by rotating seven players who always came in and out with fresh legs."
BLAZIC, JAKA
Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade
"We played aggressive on defense and that was the key, that's what mattered. What can I say? Look at these fans and this atmosphere, winning this game has been unbelievable. I think it is important to win the first game. We are young and this win will help us gain more confidence and play better in future games, I am sure. We have to build on this win."