Ibon Navarro has the kind of problem every coach would love to have. Everyone is healthy, almost everyone is playing well, and somebody has to miss out on the 12-man roster every game.
It’s a nice problem to have, but it also means Navarro can hardly go wrong with his selections.
Crvena Zvezda have just completed an outstanding EuroLeague double-game week, scoring a combined 203 points.
In a game in which all 12 players scored at least two points, the red-and-whites demolished Bayern 103–73 to improve their record to 6–3.
Zvezda Can Win in Different Ways
Outstanding three-point shooting propelled Zvezda past Maccabi, but against Bayern, defense was the key to their first-half dominance.
Just 11 points allowed in the opening nine minutes. Bayern’s best shooters smothered. Mobility, concentration and defensive discipline.
Zvezda maintained that intensity in the second quarter, and once the shots started falling, the lead quickly grew.
By midway through the third quarter, there was no longer any doubt about the outcome.
Koloko Stole the Show. He Wasn’t Alone.
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Understandably, Christian Koloko was the name on everyone’s lips after the game. Five blocks in 13 first-half minutes will do that.
Koloko has settled in more quickly than expected, and the early impression is that he could prove to be an excellent addition for Zvezda. Almost made of rubber – light on his feet, springy and blessed with an enormous wingspan.
His blocks put fear into Bayern’s players, but that wasn’t the whole story. By halftime, he’d altered several more shots – and on other occasions, his mere presence was enough to make Bayern’s players think twice about driving to the basket.
Another encouraging sign is that he doesn’t overcommit or chase blocks at all costs. Instead, he reads the game exceptionally well. His 12 points on the offensive end were a bonus.
“He’s very athletic and has great reactions. He can hedge out on a screen, recover and block a shot. He’s the kind of rim protection we need, and that’s really big for us,” Nick Weiler-Babb said of Koloko.
Two other players deserve special mention – Chima Moneke and Weiler-Babb himself.
By his own admission, Moneke produced one of his best performances in a Zvezda jersey, finishing with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists.
More importantly, Moneke matched his trademark energy with the kind of focus that hasn’t always been there.
There are times when Chima leaves his man to help unnecessarily. There are times when he finds himself out of position defensively. None of that happened against Bayern. Quite the opposite – he was the one who set the defensive tone for his team, securing rebounds, making timely rotations and holding his ground in the paint.
Weiler-Babb, meanwhile, had six assists by halftime and finished with nine. Just as importantly, he was glued to Andreas Obst all night.
Obst is one of the EuroLeague’s best three-point shooters, the kind of player who can catch fire in an instant. Yet he managed just four attempts from beyond the arc all game, none of them coming from a clean, well-created look.
“Just always keeping pressure on him, never really letting him get a chance to breathe. I think the biggest thing about him is that he makes tough shots, and he makes shots that can break you a little bit. So you have to keep the pressure on him, make every look he gets as difficult as possible, and keep the ball out of his hands as much as you can,” Weiler-Babb explained.
A Show of Support for Jonathan Motley
When you win by 30 points, it’s usually a sign that everyone has done their job.
Six players in double figures, an impressive 29 assists, defensive intensity throughout the game…
And yet, there is one player who still can’t seem to get going – Jonathan Motley.
Unlike against Maccabi, Navarro gave him the nod ahead of Ebuka Izundu, but Motley is currently a long way from his best. In fact, he’s not even close to his usual level.
A rough start to the season, followed by an injury layoff, hasn’t helped. And yet, one of the warmest moments of the night at Belgrade Arena belonged to Motley.
The fans began chanting Motley’s name, showing their support for a player who has been struggling. And when he threw down the dunk that brought up Zvezda’s 100th point, the stands erupted.
A Brutal Schedule Awaits
“This atmosphere is the main threat for us. All those good words, ‘fabulous, marvelous, fantastic’ – this is the worst thing for us. Also, when the bad words come too, just like the good ones, we must stay in our bubble.”
Those were Ibon Navarro’s words at the postgame press conference, and they suggest the Spaniard understands exactly where he has arrived – and how quickly public opinion can swing from one extreme to the other.
After playing six of their first nine EuroLeague games at home, Zvezda now face by far the toughest stretch of their season.
Next week’s trip to Olympiacos in Piraeus will mark the beginning of four consecutive road games. Real Madrid, Olimpia Milano and Barcelona follow, before a brief respite in the form of a home game against Virtus Bologna.
Then come three more demanding away trips: Fenerbahçe, Valencia and Panathinaikos.
There’s little point in predicting how many wins Zvezda might collect along the way. But if they emerge from that stretch in reasonably good shape in the standings by mid-December, it would be a massive boost to their playoff hopes.