The reigning champions rolled over MZT Skopje Aerodrom in their season opener
The reigning ABA League champions Crvena zvezda mts had no problems of overcoming MZT Skopje Aerodrom in the first game of the ABA League season for both teams. The outcome of the game was decided in opening quarter.
Torey Thomas (Photo: Crvena zvezda mts)
The reigning ABA League champions Crvena zvezda mts had no problems of overcoming MZT Skopje Aerodrom in the first game of the ABA League season for both teams. The outcome of the game was decided in opening quarter.
ABA League, Round 1, Thursday 29.09.2016:
CRVENA ZVEZDA MTS – MZT Skopje Aerodrom 91:69 (27:20, 22:10, 20:16, 22:23)
Game recap: In front of more than 3700 fans at home in Aleksandar Nikolić Arena, Belgrade, Crvena zvezda mts cracked the resistance of MZT Skopje Aerodrom as early as in the opening half and continued their ABA League journey the same way that they have ended it last season – in the style of champions. That gives a reason for optimism to the Zvezda fans and lots of things to worry about to the head coach of ambitions MZT Skopje Aerodrom – Emil Rajković, before the upcoming clashes – and there will be many over the next couple of days.
Key moments: The game was decided no later than in the opening 20 minutes. After the result was tied at 17:17 in 8th minute, Zvezda pulled away until the end of the first quarter, when they set the score of 27:20. However, that margin was not enough for Dejan Radonjić’s squad. MZT stayed close until 15th minute, when they were trailing by 6 (33:27), but then the 16:0 run by the red and white followed, which led them in front by 22 points in the last minute of the first half. From this point there was no chance of return for the visitors.
Man of the match: It took Zvezda’s fans their breath away, when he got hit unintentionally by Jure Lalić and had to leave the court, but the joy was back on their faces when he entered the court again. And they knew exactly why – Stefan Jović has become the true leader of this Crvena zvezda mts team and he has proven it again on the court of Aleksandar Nikolić hall this time around. He scored 11 points, had 6 assists, 2 rebounds and a steal additionally, but what is the most important is the fact that his team made a margin of 23 points in their favour in only 19 minutes that he spent on court. Stefan Jović is Zvezda’s man of the match.
Can't trick the stats: Besides some other indicators that went Zvezda’s way, the key difference between two teams for sure was the assists/turnovers ratio. While Zvezda had 21 assists and only 9 turnovers, the picture on MZT’s end was completely different. They had only 15 assists and just as many turnovers. This pushed the flow of the game into the direction that suited the home side just fine.
