The coach of Red Star Meridianbet spoke to the press after the victory against Olympiakos.
Crvena zvezda Meridianbet succeeded knocks down the leader of the Euroleague in Belgrade (87:79). For the second time in the season, Duško Ivanovic outwitted Jorgos Barkokas and the team from Piraeus. After a slightly worse start to the match and a lot of mistakes, Zvezda played much better in the sequel and achieved victory.
Despite the fact that the red and white team had no chance to advance to the next stage, they fought until the very end and won.
“Great 30 minutes, good game, energy, confidence. There were some mistakes, but a good match. This is how a team should play, maybe we can’t make it to the Top 8, but we have the ABA league, the domestic championship, we have to play the best we know how,” Ivanovic said.
Before talking about the game and the crucial moments on the court, he was asked a question that took him back to the past. On this day 34 years ago, he became the champion of Europe with Jugoplastika.
“I really didn’t know that was 34 years ago, they told me that today. Big date, I’m going to dinner, to drink a bottle of good wine.”
He managed to knock down the Greek red and whites twice. “Each game is different, all opponents are strong, we can beat everyone, we can lose to everyone, there is no formula.”
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IN THE STAR FOR FIVE MONTHS LIKE TWO YEARS! Duško Ivanović: Today is THAT day? I will open a bottle of good wine tonight
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“I saw Nedović, he was playing. Holland is one of the most positive players I have seen in my career. He is always there, he gives his best“, Ivanovic said and added that Bentil did not play due to a hamstring injury and that he does not know how long he will be absent.
He also revealed what was the key moment of the match for him. “The decisive moment was when we started to play a more aggressive defense, the first 10 minutes we were away from them, they played like in training. We can’t play against anyone like that. When we changed that, it was better.”
He was then asked about the team’s better performance since they lost their chances to advance. “That’s your opinion, you’re commenting. No team has a great form throughout the season, the most important thing is that you don’t go too low during the season. We went down a little too much and that’s why we didn’t get into the Top 8. We try, every coach tries to make his team a little better day by day, now we’ve caught that rhythm. In this match tonight, I saw all the players who were in the mood to play, whether it was good or bad, it doesn’t matter.”
Zvezda had 13 steals against Olympiakos. “It depends a lot on the opponent and the matches, the decisive matches in the ABA are starting soon, we have to have a clear picture of how to play, there is no more time for experiments.”
Finally, he answered the question about his impressions of the Euroleague this season.
“This year’s Euroleague may be the most balanced, but it may not be the best. I am satisfied, a lot of time has passed, four or five months have passed, as if two or three years have passed, there are many matches. I am happy that I came here, that I met Zvezda’s family and these fans. That’s the most for me since this Euroleague“, concluded Ivanovic, who came to Zvezda in mid-November 2022.