2019-20Regular SeasonRound 17
January 02, 2020 CET: 19:00
Local time: 19:00 STARK ARENA

Zvezda thrashes Bayern at home

Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade confirmed its outstanding momentum at the start of a new year by overwhelming FC Bayern Munich 93-63 at home in the Serbian capital on Thursday. Zvezda improved to 8-9 in the standings and extended its winning streak to three games. Bayern dropped to 6-11 with its third consecutive loss. Lorenzo Brown and Kevin Punter led the winners with 15 points apiece. Vladimir Stimac and Dejan Davidovac each added 13 while Billy Baron had 10 for Zvezda. Greg Monroe led Bayern with 20 points and Vladimir Lucic added 11 for the guests. Monroe had 8 quick points to give Bayern an early 4-9 lead but Brown and Ognjen Kuzmic fueled a 12-0 run for a 16-9 Zvezda lead. An outstanding Stimac boosted the hosts' lead to double digits, 25-13, after 10 minutes. Davidovac and Punter sparked Zvezda to a 43-24 margin midway through the second quarter. Zvezda boosted the difference to 53-31 at halftime and then again to 71-46 after 30 minutes, enough to seal a no-doubt-about-it win.

Monroe got Bayern going with a layup, a mid-range jumper and a jump hook for a 0-6 lead. Borisa Simanic stepped up with a floater for Zvezda and Kuzmic dunked but Monroe and Maodo Lo kept Bayern in charge, 4-9. Kuzmic kept pacing Zvezda with a layup and a tip-in to which Brown added 4 points in a 12-0 run highlighted by Branko Lazic's dunk off a steal. Mathias Lessort rescued the guests with a tip-in but Davidovac erased it with a power layup and Stimac added a jumper for a 20-11 lead. A red-hot Stimac scored again and Brown made it a double-digit game, 25-13, after 10 minutes. Davidovac took over with 7 quick points early in the second quarter but Lucic kept Bayern within 32-17. Stimac scored twice in the paint and Marko Jagodic Kuridza added a huge dunk, making the guests call timeout at 38-22. Monroe and Lo tried to change things for Bayern but Punter and Davidovac kept Zvezda way ahead, 44-27. Monroe downed a mid-range jumper and Leon Radosevic added a jump hook but Brown and an unstoppable Jagodic Kuridza helped Zvezda break the game open, 53-31, at halftime. Baron, who had been scoreless until then, nailed a triple right after the break. Lo scored around the basket and Radosevic swished a jumper for a 57-35 Bayern deficit. Brown scored in penetration and Lazic added a layup off a steal to make it a 25-point game, 61-36. Kuzmic scored again but even when Bayern improved its defense, the guests kept struggling to score. Baron found answers with a driving layup but Lucic and Diego Flaccadori brought the guests a bit closer, 65-44. Baron and Charles Jenkins each sank a triple for a 71-46 Zvezda margin after 30 minutes. A reverse layup by Stimac and a three-point play by Punter sealed the outcome, 76-46, early in the fourth quarter. Bayern only managed to trade baskets after that, giving Zvezda fans plenty of time to celebrate an outstanding home win.

Pivotal performer

Stimac came off the bench and did everything right to make sure his team won this game. He finished the game with 13 points on 6-of-7 two-point shooting, adding 6 rebounds, a block and 2 fouls drawn for a PIR of 18 in just 21 minutes.

Game-changing moment

Bayern had a strong start and led 4-9 early but Zvezda adjusted its defense and found a go-to guy in Kuzmic, who banked in a close shot and added a tip-in. Lazic added a dunk off a steal, Lorenzo Brown had 4 points and Stimac capped a 12-0 run with a layup, good for a 16-9 margin. Zvezda didn't lose momentum after that, getting a 22-point lead at halftime.

Stellar stat

Zvezda did everything right in the first half, hitting 17 of 24 two-point shots (70.8%), outrebounding Bayern by 19-10, getting 4 blocks and dishing 14 assists against just 3 turnovers. The PIR difference at halftime said it all: Zvezda led 74-19!

Did you notice?

Zvezda remains undefeated against Bayern -- three games, three wins. They had only faced each other in the 2015-16 EuroLeague, when Zvezda beat Bayern twice, 79-90 in Munich and 85-76 in Belgrade. Stefan Jovic had 19 assists in Munich -- still the EuroLeague's all-time record -- and 13 in Belgrade. Unsurprisingly, he went on to play for Bayern two years later.

Next game:

Both teams return to EuroLeague action on Friday, January 10. Bayern hosts CSKA Moscow at 20:30 CET and Zvezda visits LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne at 20:45 CET.

Lorenzo Brown - Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade - EB19
Thursday, January 2, 2020
Euroleague.net
Referees: PATERNICO, CARMELO; PEREZ, EMILIO; BAUMANIS, INGUS
Attendance: 16824
By Quarter1234
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade25281822
FC Bayern Munich13181517
End of Quarter1234
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade25537193
FC Bayern Munich13314663
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 KUZMIC, OGNJEN 13:07 9 4/4   1/2 3 4 7           2 1 14
00 PUNTER, KEVIN 16:49 15 4/9 1/3 4/4   1 1 3         1 3 14
4 BROWN, LORENZO 28:16 15 3/10 0/1 9/9   6 6 7 3 2   1   6 26
7 DAVIDOVAC, DEJAN 19:26 13 3/3 1/1 4/6 2 2 4 2   1 1   1 5 21
10 LAZIC, BRANKO 16:29 6 3/5 0/2   1   1   2 1     2   2
12 BARON, BILLY 23:11 10 1/2 2/5 2/2 1 3 4 5 2 2       1 16
13 DOBRIC, OGNJEN 4:37               1         2   -1
21 JAGODIC-KURIDZA, MARKO 24:31 7 2/2 1/2     1 1 1   2 2   1 1 8
22 JENKINS, CHARLES 11:44 3   1/1         1 1 2     4   -1
28 SIMANIC, BORISA 14:57 2 1/1       2 2 1   1 2   3   3
32 JOVANOVIC, NIKOLA 5:31       0/2   2 2           2 1 -1
91 STIMAC, VLADIMIR 21:22 13 6/7   1/2 1 5 6       1   2 2 18
Team           1 2 3               3
Totals 200:00 93 27/43 6/15 21/27 9 28 37 21 8 11 6 1 20 20 122
        62.8% 40% 77.8%
Head coach: SAKOTA, DRAGAN
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
FC Bayern Munich
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
7 KING, ALEX 5:02     0/1           1       1   -1
8 KOPONEN, PETTERI 14:43 6 0/1 2/5 0/2   1 1   1       4 2  
10 MONROE, GREG 24:27 20 8/11   4/6 3 2 5 3 1 1 1   2 6 28
11 LUCIC, VLADIMIR 26:18 11 4/6 0/1 3/4 1 2 3 2 2 1     3 2 12
12 LO, MAODO 21:14 6 1/4 1/5 1/2   2 2 3   2   2 4 3 -2
14 DEDOVIC, NIHAD 26:23   0/3 0/3         2 1 2   1 1 1 -6
16 ZIPSER, PAUL 22:10 6 2/4 0/3 2/2 4 2 6 2 1     1   2 11
20 NELSON, DEMARCUS 5:44   0/2               1   1     -4
21 FLACCADORI, DIEGO 13:02 5 0/3 1/2 2/4   1 1     1     1 2  
26 LESSORT, MATHIAS 14:10 2 1/2     1   1   1       2   1
34 HUESTIS, JOSHUA 14:50 2 1/2 0/1   2   2     1   1 2   -2
43 RADOSEVIC, LEON 11:57 5 2/4   1/2 2 4 6 1 1 1       2 11
Team           1 1 2               2
Totals 200:00 63 19/42 4/21 13/22 14 15 29 13 9 10 1 6 20 20 50
        45.2% 19% 59.1%
Head coach: RADONJIC, DEJAN

Head Coaches

SAKOTA, DRAGAN
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade

"We played good defense above all, which shows in the number of points received in each quarter. We had plenty of time to get ready with new players, they gave us new energy. We had great balance for all 40 minutes on both sides of the court. We didn't have a lot of problems tonight, but lacked some fluency with all the players who are not at their best level. I also want to improve the game under the basket a little bit, even though we already have players for it. All this could be even better if we didn't depend on outside shots and fastbreak points which are the product of good defense. I want to have the perfect balance in both attack and defense. You always strive for better. We had a deadline that was very short. The players were recommended. I looked at all the lists and in one conversation I saw what we needed. We got Stimac, an efficient center. Marko Kuridza has the energy, as he proved in the ABA League matches, that he deserves a better chance in his career, and that was all agreed."

"We should be very satisfied today. We are in a very good momentum at this moment. Somehow, we made some changes and our guys had the energy to stay 40 minutes in the game, because at halftime, with this difference, sometimes it is not easy to keep the same effort for 20 more minutes. But it was as we wanted it to be. First of all, we had one straight idea on defense, to play one-on-one on their big guys and control their spot-up shooters, which is their main strength. We did it and scoring came normally for us."

RADONJIC, DEJAN
FC Bayern Munich
"First of all, congratulations to Zvezda for the win, they played a very good game. Except for the first few minutes, they controlled everything. Defensively, this was a bad Bayern performance, we played soft and they used everything they could during the game. Once again, congratulations to Zvezda. Thanks to Zvezda and its fans for the great welcome, every step of the way. It was quite emotional, without a doubt, which cannot be said for what happened after that. In the last seven rounds, Zvezda had 5 wins and I think this is great. The corrections they made immediately paid off with a win against Zenit, and today, they proved that a lot of good things can be expected from Zvezda in the remainder of the season."

Players

PUNTER, KEVIN
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
"For sure, we just have to keep getting better each and every single day, but to start the year with a home win is pretty good. We have to keep pushing and keep working every day, just keep going and control our own destiny, and see what happens."
BROWN, LORENZO
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
"It feels great. The new guys came in and fitted in right from the top. We needed that. Kev (Kevin Punter) was aggressive, KJ (Marko Jagodic Kuridza) was aggressive and my guy S (Vladimir Stimac) was aggressive, too. We needed that from those guys. We feel like our bench came off and gave us great energy and led us to a great victory tonight."