“Is he injured? Let’s watch him on the bench and see how he’s moving,” Serbian reporters agreed early in the second quarter of Crvena Zvezda’s game against Anadolu Efes.
Jared Butler had scored 19 points against Hapoel and 11 against Žalgiris. No player’s decision to stay made Zvezda fans happier this summer.
And yet, Butler did not step onto the floor for the first 13 minutes against Efes.
He would play just nine minutes and 25 seconds. Chris Jones played eight minutes and 38 seconds.
Perpetually in good spirits, Butler greeted Ognjen Dobrić and the reporters as he headed home after the game. Jones was among the first players to leave the locker room, accompanied by his family.
Neither had the kind of night he had imagined. Both would surely have wanted another chance to turn it around.
But if this Zvezda team is to fulfill its potential, and if Ibon Navarro is to turn his basketball philosophy into wins, the players will have to come to terms with the fact that there will be nights like this.
“We’re not there yet,” Chima Moneke said, as direct and open as ever.
“There were guys today who weren’t happy. In the next game, there will be other guys who aren’t happy. There will be guys complaining to other people about minutes and distribution, but our strength is in our numbers.
“On any given night, Tyson [Carter] can take the main role, Šegi [Ognjen Dobrić] can, I can, Chris [Jones] can. That’s exactly what can make us special.”
You Never Know Whose Night It Will Be
Through Zvezda’s first three games, only two players have spent more than 25 minutes on the floor in a single game – Moneke played 25:47 against Žalgiris, while Semi Ojeleye logged 27:15 against Hapoel.
Even from the outside, it can be difficult to keep track of all the substitutions and rotations, the different guard combinations, the different frontcourt pairings. Jordan Nwora has even spent stretches of the last two games nominally playing at the four.
“With most teams, you know where the points are going to come from,” Moneke said. “You know who is going to play 30 minutes a game. With us, it’s not like that.
“I’ve known Coach Navarro for years, and what he did in Málaga was special because you really didn’t know who to stop. That made them very dangerous, and they were the best team in Spain for three years in a row.
“I completely believe in him, his system and what he says. Over time, we’ll all get there.”
The hallway at Belgrade Arena had mostly cleared out by the time Nwora was heading home.
“It’s not my turn today, right?” he said with a smile to the remaining reporters.
“It can be, if you want.”
Keeping Everyone Guessing
The most visible change from Zvezda’s first two games was the starting five.
Žalgiris and Hapoel had both scored 28 points against Zvezda in the opening quarter, so this time Navarro started two of his best perimeter defenders: Nick Weiler-Babb and Ognjen Dobrić.
It worked.
Dobrić was seemingly everywhere at once – almost like a box-to-box midfielder in football. He ran out of gas a little toward the end and missed shots he would normally make, but his overall impact on Zvezda’s game was clearly positive.
When Pablo Laso was preparing for the game, he surely did not expect Dobrić to play that many minutes.
He surely did not expect Stefan Miljenović to check in before Butler, either.
A surprise for opponents, certainly. But Zvezda’s own players will also need time to get used to it.
“This win is a step in the right direction,” Nwora said. “A lot of things are new for a lot of guys, including myself. Even when we lose, it’s important that we play the style of game we aspire to.“
When we told him what Moneke had said, Nwora agreed.
“I think that’s fair to say. This is very different from what a lot of guys are used to. It’s very different from what I’m used to as well. I think this team can be really good when we all fully buy into that system. That’s part of what makes this team strong.
“This is going to be a season where you don’t know whose night it’s going to be. Every game, it’s going to be somebody different. That’s exactly what’s going to make this team special.”
Ojeleye’s Consistency, Krämer’s All-Around Game
Through three games, Semi Ojeleye has been Zvezda’s most consistent player, which is not particularly surprising considering his approach to the game and his versatility.
David Krämer once again showed why he could be one of the surprises of the season.
Against Efes, he knocked down his shots, but again showed that he is more than a player who simply comes off screens and shoots.
He can put the ball on the floor, goes hard after defensive rebounds and does not shy away from contact defensively – even when he finds himself matched up with a stronger player in the low post.
One possession was particularly telling.
Krämer was guarding the inbounder when Dobrić lost his man coming open for a shot. The German immediately read the play, helped off for a second to take away the pass, then recovered to his own man.
Both collectively and individually, this team has significant potential.
But potential and quality are not the same thing.
Navarro’s Zvezda still have a long way to go.