2020-21Regular SeasonRound 1
October 02, 2020 CET: 19:45
Local time: 20:45 ULKER SPORTS AND EVENT HALL

Fenerbahce starts Kokoskov era with win

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul defended its home court to overcome Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 77-63, giving new coach Igor Kokoskov a comfortable winning start. The Turkish team used strong defense to establish a double-digit lead before the break, and moved further ahead during a low-scoring third quarter. Zvezda, led for the first time by Sasa Obradovic, kept fighting but could never get the margin down to single digits, and the home team cruised home. Nando De Colo led Fenerbahce’s offense with 12 points and 7 assists, while debutant Lorenzo Brown top scored with 17 points on 8-of-12 field goal shooting. Edgaras Ulanovas and Ali Muhammed both made 3 three-pointers in their respective totals of 13 and 11 points. Zvezda was led by 15 points from Jordan Loyd while Langston Hall added 12, but the visiting team suffered through committing 17 turnovers.

Zvezda got moving through Hall’s mid-range jumper and a triple by Marko Jagodic-Kuridza, and Hall’s deep strike made it 3-8. Ulanovas made his second three-pointer and Danilo Barthel tied the score from the foul line before feeding Jan Vesely for a big slam. Corey Walden answered with a threeball but Fenerbahce moved back ahead with free throws and another Ulanovas triple made it 18-13. Hall and Duop Reath pulled Zvezda level, but Muhammed made back-to-back triples for 24-20 after ten minutes. Melih Mahmutoglu and Muhammed scored inside, but Hall and Ognjen Kuzmic did the same to keep Zvezda close. Defenses prevailed for the next few minutes before a flying slam from Brown made it 35-25. Dejan Davidovac reignited Zvezda from the corner, but Brown twice danced through to score and De Colo netted his first field goal from deep to give Fenerbahce a 42-30 half-time lead. Two sharp close-range finishes from Ulanovas extended the advantage shortly after the break, and Vesely’s jumper stretched the gap to 50-32 before Hall ended a 8-0 run from deep. Muhammed and Vesely made it a 20-point game, but three-pointers from Walden and Ognjen Dobric pulled it back to 57-41 after three quarters. Dobric struck again but Brown settled Fenerbahce from the corner, before Kuzmic and Vesely exchanged highlight reel dunks. De Colo and Barthel extended the lead to 67-50. A flurry of points from Loyd ensured the margin didn’t grow, but the home team was always comfortable and Jarell Eddie finished the game with a deep strike.

Bogdanovic and Guduric in the stands

The game was played behind closed doors but was still attended by two very special guests: former Fenerbahce players Bogdan Bogdanovic and Marko Guduric. Bogdanovic began his career with Zvezda’s cross-town rivals Partizan Belgrade, while Guduric started out with Zvezda so had split loyalties on this occasion.

New signings make their mark

Fenerbahce had a lot of help from its new signings, led by former Zvezda player Lorenzo Brown who top scored with 17 points. Brown, Edgaras Ulanovas (13), Danilo Barthel (5), Jarrell Eddie (5) and Dyshawn Pierre (3) combined for 56% of Fenerbahce’s points, while Johnathan Hamilton made 3 blocks in the first half.

Long-range shooting helps host

After a close start, Fenerbahce pulled into the lead with back-to-back triples from Ali Muhammed, and long-range shooting accuracy proved to be one of the differences between the teams. Fenerbahce finished with 10-of-24 three-pointers (41.7%), while Zvezda made just 9-of-29 (31%).

Milestones for Kuzmic

There was a double milestone for Zvezda’s big man Ognjen Kuzmic, who paired 7 points and 7 rebounds to take his respective EuroLeague career totals to 505 points and 403 rebounds.

Next round

Round 2 will see Fenerbahce face an Istanbul derby trip to Anadolu Efes on Thursday, while Zvezda will play its home opener against TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz on Friday.

Lorenzo Brown - Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul - EB20
Friday, October 2, 2020
Euroleague.net
Referees: LAMONICA, LUIGI; LATISEVS, OLEGS; NEDOVIC, MILAN
Attendance: 0
By Quarter1234
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul24181520
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade20101122
End of Quarter1234
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul24425777
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade20304163
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
2 HAMILTON, JOHNNY 10:19           1 1     1 3   1   2
4 BROWN, LORENZO 31:28 17 7/9 1/3 0/1   2 2 3   3   1 2 1 12
10 MAHMUTOGLU, MELIH 6:53 2 1/2 0/2   1   1   1       1 1 1
13 BIBEROVIC, TARIK DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
19 DE COLO, NANDO 28:41 12 1/7 1/3 7/7   3 3 7 1 4   1 2 8 16
21 PIERRE, DYSHAWN 17:47 3 1/2 0/1 1/2   4 4 1   2     1 1 3
22 BARTHEL, DANILO 21:47 5 0/2 1/2 2/2   3 3 1 1 1     1 4 9
24 VESELY, JAN 26:15 8 4/6   0/2 2 6 8 2 2 1     4 1 12
31 EDDIE, JARELL 18:12 5 1/2 1/1   1 1 2               6
35 MUHAMMED, ALI 13:04 11 1/2 3/6         2   1         8
44 DUVERIOGLU, AHMET 3:26 1     1/2         1       1 1 1
92 ULANOVAS, EDGARAS 22:08 13 2/4 3/6     2 2 1         3 3 11
Team           5 2 7               7
Totals 200:00 77 18/36 10/24 11/16 9 24 33 17 6 13 3 2 16 20 88
        50% 41.7% 68.8%
Head coach: KOKOSKOV, IGOR
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
1 HALL, LANGSTON 22:17 12 3/5 2/3     2 2 3 1 2     4   9
2 WALDEN, COREY 25:00 9 1/2 2/6 1/2 1 2 3 3   5 1   4 6 7
3 LOYD, JORDAN 29:43 15 4/7 1/9 4/4   3 3 4 2 5     4 6 10
7 DAVIDOVAC, DEJAN 27:23 5 1/2 1/4     3 3   1 2 1   1 1 4
10 LAZIC, BRANKO 5:34     0/1                   2   -3
11 REATH, DUOP 17:48 4 2/5 0/1   3 1 4         1 1   2
12 RADANOV, ALEKSA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
13 DOBRIC, OGNJEN 17:32 6 0/1 2/3     4 4             1 9
19 SIMONOVIC, MARKO 13:56     0/1   1 2 3   1 2     2   -1
21 JAGODIC-KURIDZA, MARKO 18:47 5 1/5 1/1   1 3 4 2 1 1   2 1 1 5
22 SIMANIC, BORISA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
32 KUZMIC, OGNJEN 22:00 7 3/4   1/2 3 4 7           1 1 12
Team           3 2 5     1         4
Totals 200:00 63 15/31 9/29 6/8 12 26 38 12 6 18 2 3 20 16 58
        48.4% 31% 75%
Head coach: OBRADOVIC, SASA

Head Coaches

KOKOSKOV, IGOR
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul

“It’s always a good feeling to win a game, especially without playing for six months. We’re missing fans, we’re missing that energy and everybody who comes to this arena know how much the fans mean to this team. There’s a lot of room for improvement, we really have so much to improve but I’m pleased with our approach to the game and we are competing. We knew that we were playing a tough team who play together, with a lot of contact and energy, but we matched their energy and that was a key. We’re trying to play with a long bench with everybody involved, unfortunately it was a short rotation tonight and the guys were tired. That’s on me to keep the guys fresh and it’s something we’ll figure out as a team.”

“We have to simplify our offense and manage the game better, so we could have continued building the lead when we were up 15 or 17. Limiting our turnovers will be something we have to emphasise as a group. Lorenzo Brown is a huge piece of our team, a great acquisition. He’s in a good place and happy to be part of the Fenerbahce family. Our expectations are very high and we can ask for even more from him.”

OBRADOVIC, SASA
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
“Congrats to Fener, they deserved to win today. For our first game in EuroLeague we played too hectic, too nervous, without communication or a plan. Too fast, without reading the game. We were too nervous and committed too many turnovers, which a team like Fener punish. For some of the players this was their EuroLeague debut so maybe there was some pressure, but with time I expect we will play very different.”

Players

VESELY, JAN
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
“I feel good, it’s the first game and I’m happy we got the win. We didn’t play many preparation games and I think for a start it’s good, we have good communication between the players so I’m happy. [Nando De Colo and I] are two of the most experienced guys on the team so it’s logical that we’re in the starting five. We have to collaborate and last year we didn’t play many games together so I’m looking forward to know him better on the court, but for now it’s great.”
BROWN, LORENZO
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
“I feel like we executed our game plan the right way, we got it going offensively in the second quarter and kept it going in the second half. That’s going to be important for us. It feels great, these guys are great teammates, the coach is a great coach, and we come in here and work hard every day. Basketball a game of ups and downs, one second the other team is going and then we are. We’ve got to keep our momentum and focus on our defense.”