Trainer Red stars Saša Obradović said before the trip to Milan that his basketball players will approach every game until the end of the regular season as a playoff game.
And indeed, the game with which the red and whites brought the game of the 22nd round to an end Euroleague against Milan's Olimpia, was worthy of the specific moment in which Zvezda finds itself, and the moment is such that on the way to achieving the high ambitions they have set for themselves, there is no more room for cheap glitches.
Crvena Zvezda defeated Olimpia away with a score of 104:96, but in addition to this victory being significant in terms of results, last night in Milan Obradović also got a clear picture of everything Zvezda should and should not do if they plan to stay "above the line" until the end of the season.
Two Zvezda games in Milan
Crvena zvezda played two different games last night, to use sports jargon, which on a wider scale vividly describe the two seasons that the red and whites play before and after the eternal derby.
After coming out of the relatively even first quarter with a two-point advantage, in the next two it was constantly behind by ten points.
Everything in that period resembled matches against Paris, Valencia or Zalgiris, where Zvezda was constantly one step (sometimes more) behind the opponent, with occasional flashes and abysses in the game.
In the defense, which was the key to the blitzkrieg of the red and whites in the first third of the season, everything seemed disjointed again, while the attack only managed to maintain the connection, but not to break through the barrier and come close to equalizing.
How Red Star crushed Milan
And then in the fourth quarter Zvezda showed everything it is capable of.
Obradovic shortened the rotation, Nikola Kalinic and Sammy Odjelej locked down Zvezda's basket, Cody Miller McIntyre started to choose the right moves, while Jared Butler and Jordan Nwora only had to fill Milan's basket.
Zvezda came back from a deficit of 13 points and won the last part with 34:14. The key to victory was defense, and in support of how surgically precise Zvezda defended before the end of the game, the fact that the bonus was fulfilled already in the first two minutes, and that by the end of the match Olimpija only got a few free throws, with periods of several minutes without points.
What does the Red Star need?
Since the defeat in the derby, which Zvezda met at the top of the table, the red and whites have lost momentum. Until last night, Obradović and the team won only two and lost five games in the Euroleague, including Partizan, which dropped them to the lowest branches of the playoffs in the table.
The club from Mali Kalemegdan is the best when they are on their feet, and they showed that at the beginning of the season. However, during this crisis period, Zvezda played more spontaneously, which at times gave results, as in the first minutes of the second half against Valencia, but over time, in the long run, everything would fall apart.
In Milan, Zvezda again found a way to control that element and organize it better, which could be a hint of a return to the paths it followed before the derby. Obradović knows what he needs to do, the question is whether he will implement it.
One game does not decide the season
People who follow the Euroleague, and sports in general, are always full of "key moments" and "breakthrough games".
However, one game rarely decides a season. After all, Partizan also won a "key" game against their eternal rival, so the season ended, but only up.
It is true that, as Obradović himself said, regardless of this encouraging victory, every next game until the end of the season will be a playoff game for Zvezda.
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