2020-21Regular SeasonRound 20
Valencia Basket 91
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 71
January 15, 2021 CET: 21:00
Local time: 21:00 LA FONTETA

Valencia bounces back at home

Valencia Basket snapped a three-game losing streak by downing Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 91-71 at La Fonteta on Friday night. Valencia improved to 11-9 and Zvezda dropped to 6-14 after losing its last three games. Louis Labeyrie led the winners with 16 points. Nikola Kalinic added 14, Mike Tobey 13, Derrick Williams 12 and Joan Sastre 11 for Valencia. Johnny O'Bryant led Zvezda with 21 points, and Quino Colom added 11 against his former team. Valencia led 27-15 after 10 minutes and boosted its margin to 46-30 late in the first half. Zvezda managed to get within 56-51 on a three-point play by Colom but Valencia restored a 68-57 margin after 30 minutes and never looked back.

Ognjen Dobric hit a floater to get Zvezda going. Kalinic followed a layup with a corner triple in a 7-0 run that put Valencia in charge. Williams took over with an alley-oop slam but Dejan Davidovac and Marko Jagodic-Kuridza kept Zvezda within 9-7. Sam Van Rossom and Sastre each struck from downtown in a 12-0 run that Williams capped with a jumper for a 21-7 score. O'Bryant stepped up with a layup and a jumper, then Aleksa Radanov scored around the basket to bring Zvezda within 23-13. O'Bryant dunked but Labeyrie and Tobey restored a 27-15 Valencia lead after 10 minutes. Fernando San Emeterio buried back-to-back triples early in the second quarter and Tobey dunked to make Zvezda call timeout at 35-20. Martin Hermannsson took over with a backdoor layup but Davidovac and Langston Hall kept the guests within 37-24. Hermannsson and Tobey kept pacing Valencia, and Labeyrie soon made it a 16-point game, 46-30. Branko Lazic and O'Bryant each hit a triple, getting help from Dobric and Colom to give Zvezda hope, 49-42, at halftime. O'Bryant converted a jump hook and a jumper soon after the break, but Tobey and Guillem Vives restored a 53-46 Valencia edge. O'Bryant scored again and Colom erased Williams's triple with a layup-plus-foul, but Kalinic scored around the basket and Van Rosson struck from beyond the arc to give the hosts fresh air at 61-51. Radanov and Colom rescued Zvezda but Kalinic kept the hosts way ahead, 68-57, after 30 minutes. Sastre scored twice in penetration early in the fourth quarter. Colom downed a jumper and O'Bryant added a layup to keep the guests within 72-62 with 7 minutes left. Vives buried a three-pointer, getting help from Labeyrie and Williams to boost the hosts' lead to 78-64. Nothing really changed in the final 4 minutes, as Valencia cruised to a well-deserved win.

Pivotal performer

Nikola Kalinic contributed at both ends and allowed Valencia to stay solid throughout the game. He finished with 14 points on 4-of-6 two-pointers, 1-of-1 triples and 3-of-4 free throws, adding 2 rebounds, a steal and matching his career-high in assists, 7. All that allowed him to get a PIR of 20.

Game-changing moment

Valencia went on a decisive run midway through the first quarter. Zvezda trailed 9-7 when Van Rossom buried a three-pointer, Sastre copied him, Kalinic and Labeyrie hit free throws and Williams sank a jumper. That 12-0 burst, fueled by five different players, boosted the hosts' lead to 21-7, enough to control the game for good.

Stellar stat

Valencia shot much better, especially in the paint, and took much better care of the ball. The home team hit 66.7% of its two-point shots and 45% from downtown, doing much better than Zvezda (52.8% 2FG, 26.3% 3FG). Valencia recorded 22 assists and 10 turnovers, while Zvezda registered 11 assists and 17 turnovers.

Did you know?

Miki Vukovic, one of the most successful coaches in Valencia’s history, passed away at the age of 76 on Friday. Vukovic coached Valencia from 1995 to 2000, starting in the Spanish second division, and led the team to its first official title, the Spanish Copa del Rey in 1998. Before that, he led Dorna Godella to back-to-back EuroLeague Women titles in 1992 and 1993, helping it become the first Spanish squad to win that competition.

Next game

Both teams return to Turkish Airlines EuroLeague action next week. Valencia visits LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne, featuring former star guard Antoine Diot, on Thursday, and a day later Zvezda hosts FC Barcelona.

Nikola Kalinic - Valencia Basket - EB20
Friday, January 15, 2021
Euroleague.net
Referees: RYZHYK, BORYS; KOROMILAS, ELIAS; HALLIKO, AARE
Attendance: 0
By Quarter1234
Valencia Basket27221923
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade15271514
End of Quarter1234
Valencia Basket27496891
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade15425771
Valencia Basket
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 PRADILLA, JAIME 5:45   0/1                 1        
6 PUERTO, JOSEP 2:36 4 1/3   2/2 1   1     1   1   1 2
7 LABEYRIE, LOUIS 19:53 16 5/5 0/1 6/6             1   2 3 17
9 VAN ROSSOM, SAM 22:08 6   2/5   1 3 4 6 1         7 21
10 TOBEY, MIKE 24:16 13 5/7 0/1 3/3 2 3 5   2   1   2 2 18
12 KALINIC, NIKOLA 25:27 14 4/6 1/1 3/4   2 2 7 1 3 1   3 4 20
16 VIVES, GUILLEM 25:38 5 1/2 1/1         4 1 2     4   3
19 SAN EMETERIO, FERNANDO 10:49 6   2/4         1             5
21 WILLIAMS, DERRICK 26:50 12 3/4 1/1 3/5 1 2 3     1     4 4 11
24 HERMANNSSON, MARTIN 13:05 4 1/1 0/1 2/2   1 1 2   2     3 2 3
30 SASTRE, JOAN 21:40 11 2/4 2/4 1/2   1 1 1 3 1 1   3 2 10
45 FERRANDO, GUILLEM 1:53     0/1     2 2 1             2
Team           1 3 4               4
Totals 200:00 91 22/33 9/20 20/24 6 17 23 22 8 10 5 1 21 25 116
        66.7% 45% 83.3%
Head coach: PONSARNAU, JAUME
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
00 O'BRYANT, JOHNNY 25:53 21 9/15 1/3   1 2 3 1 1 6   1 3 1 9
1 HALL, LANGSTON 9:45 2 1/2 0/1   1 1 2 4         2 1 5
2 WALDEN, COREY 22:33 3 0/2 0/2 3/3 1   1 1       1 5 1 -4
4 USKOKOVIC, ALEKSA 1:26                              
7 DAVIDOVAC, DEJAN 14:35 5 0/1 1/2 2/2 2 2 4     1     3 2 5
10 LAZIC, BRANKO 18:04 6 0/1 2/3   1   1 1         2 1 5
11 REATH, DUOP 10:40 2 1/1 0/2     1 1     1 1   1    
12 RADANOV, ALEKSA 21:35 9 3/4 0/1 3/4 1 4 5 2 1 2   1 2 2 11
13 DOBRIC, OGNJEN 21:18 6 1/3 0/2 4/4 1   1   2 1   1 3 4 4
21 JAGODIC-KURIDZA, MARKO 28:24 6 2/5   2/2 1 5 6 1 2     1 1 4 14
32 KUZMIC, OGNJEN 8:55                   1     1   -2
55 COLOM, QUINO 16:52 11 2/2 1/3 4/5   2 2 1   4     2 3 8
Team           4 1 5     1         4
Totals 200:00 71 19/36 5/19 18/20 13 18 31 11 6 17 1 5 25 19 59
        52.8% 26.3% 90%
Head coach: RADONJIC, DEJAN

Head Coaches

PONSARNAU, JAUME
Valencia Basket
"First of all, in life there are things which are more important than winning or losing, and one of those things happened today – the passing of a person who was really loved and respected, a reference for all coaches in Valencia and for everyone in this club. Miki Vukovic was the coach which whom the club took a step forwards and he gave this club a huge ambition and mentality. That had a reward, which was a title [the Copa del Rey 1998], but the biggest reward was his legacy for all Valencia Basket coaches – all those that are here, were here and I am sure also the ones who will come. He will always be our reference. The game was much less important. We started really well, with a great mentality, concentration and a great physical level. I think we played well against their strong points and clearly had the initiative in the game. If it wasn’t for the final minutes of each quarter in the first half, the halftime difference would have been bigger. But they took advantage of our lack of concentration and managed to reach halftime with a chance to win. In the second half, they had a clear reference in O'Bryant, and we had troubles against him but collectively, we learned to stop him and I think the most important thing we did in the second half, without any doubt, was our defense. We were consistent, solid, and only had some problems with rebounds, but I am very satisfied with how consistent we were defensively in the second half. We deserve credit for this win because we played against a very physical team who were more rested. This is what is happening in many, many games lately. We always play against teams that are more rested than us and even with that, the team showed its mentality and effort."
RADONJIC, DEJAN
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
"Congratulations to Valencia for the win. They played a good game tonight. We were defensively very soft from the beginning of the game and played bad on defense almost all 40 minutes. Some minutes in the second and third quarters were not enough to get a better result. They controlled the game and deserved to win against us tonight."

Players

KALINIC, NIKOLA
Valencia Basket
"They didn't have mercy for us in Belgrade, so we wanted revenge and this is how it is in sports. We lost three games in a row and wanted to get back on the winning track. And we did it, we played solid for 40 minutes with high energy, high concentration and it was enough this time. Next week we have a game against ASVEL and it is a nice chance to get a nice little win and start a winning streak. We lost some games in the previous period. We didn't play as aggressive and tough as we were supposed to, but we are hoping that we will learn from our mistakes and that we are going to be better in the next games."
VAN ROSSOM, SAM
Valencia Basket
"For sure, 22 assists is a good statistic. It means that we played pretty well together. I think the ball was moving pretty well, and that was important against their defense. It is an important win for us, to get back to winning ways. We had three tough losses in the last three games so it was a very important game for us at home, and a big win for us."
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