The first match was played on Wednesday, 14th.
In short: it was a terrible game.
It all started with Partizan-fans being banned out from the venue. It was taken so seriously, that a bunch of policemen were standing around Pionir Hall, and when a group of Grave Diggers appeared, trying to somehow sneak in, hell broke loose, there were even arrests.
Wonderful.
(Not.)
Nevertheless, maybe to loosen up the tensed atmosphere a bit, there was a small celebration before the match, when all players got a ring for qualifying to the semifinals.
Then reds grabbed our throats. 5 players on the court, thousands of blood-thirsty fans on the tribunes.
Time of our life.
One of those cave trolls immediately picked a quarrel with Saša Pavlović. The standing was 8:0 in the meantime, and the truth is, the difference didn’t change much during the game. We couldn’t take the lead, the most we could achieve was to approach the opponent to 1-2-3 points.
Zvezda sent all their forces into the battle. Jaka Blažič, Slovenia’s shame made a new meaning for "backboneless, idiotic moron". (More about him later.) German player Zirbes was like an overly-steroidal uruk-hai bulldozed down our boys, who looked like hobbits around him. But the worst, most disappointing was Kalinić. I remember this guy, when he was the player of Radnički. He looked to be a hard-working, industrious player, who does all that he is asked for. Now he was one of the red idiots, breaking the rules of fair play just like his teammates, picking quarrels with Partizan team members.
And if all these weren’t enough, Zvezda-fans supported (?) their team in the most disgusting way, mocking Saša Pavlović, Duško Vujošević and Milan Mačvan, calling them names. Referees of course didn’t do anything against it, like e.g. pausing the match and wait until the audience calms down. I’d seriously like to know if the League will take any kind of sanctions against the red team for their fans.
Sorry, I need to take a pause now to laugh at my own joke.
As for Zvezda’s playing style, they didn’t even bother to at least look like following fair play. They stuck at nothing, clashing with our players roughly, aggressively and arrogantly, in a "piss-off-little-bastard-I-am-da-boss"-style. Referees seemed to be amazed at their actions, because they never whistled, even when Mačvan was killed slowly by half of the red team. The only funny element in this tragedy (if we can call it funny at all) was the humane mountain Marjanović. He could be tackled very smoothly, for him being very slow. I admit, he had indefeasible values while his team was on defense, but even this didn’t save him from Mačvan tackling him.
Pavlović and Blažič against each other
The result of the first quarter was 24:13, and the end wasn’t even near...
The second quarter brought Jaka Blažič’s unbelievably
The standing was 34:25. Milutinov got the ball, ran up and wanted to score. Blažič blocked him, but Milutinov still possessed the ball.
At this point the Slovenian smashed into Milutinov’s eye from behind.
It can be seen clearly as Blažič immediately scrawls back from the scene. No apologies, no handshake, nothing. Murić says something to him, most probably not something like "you little cutie pie". Milutinov collapsed and couldn’t return to the court.
(photo: Twitter)
At the post-game press conference we could get to know, Milutinov’s cornea was injured, thankfully it was not serious. (Hopefully.)
Needless to say, the referees didn’t whistle.
Then it was time for Kalinić. He pushed Milosavljević on the ground so heavily that the Captain was sliding on his bottom through the court. Murić and Williams also had a fight, then thankfully we could go for the half-time pause, with the result 38:31.
Duško Vujošević was not amused, to say the least. He often complained at the referees, usually with no effort
In the second half Saša Pavlović became the favourite punchbag of Zvezda-players again. At one point he was torn to pieces under the backboard, no, the referees again didn’t whistle.
At the post-game press conference Duško Vujošević told that after one of these cases (there were more...) Pavlović came off the court and threw up. But then he went black and continued to play. HERO.
In the meantime it got to be clear that the commentators of SportKlub 1 openly root for Zvezda (even I understood them and their orientation, with my basic Serbian). Mačvan tried to keep the spirit in the team, while the referees gave a generous gift to Zvezda in the form of many bonus shots, mostly because Mačvan blocked reds’ sly attacks pushing himself hard, putting all his heart and souls into defense. The end of the quarter was 55:52, Akognon scored a 3-pointer soon before the end.
It wasn’t easy for Akognon either, he was under very heavy pressure by the opponent
In the fourth quarter hell broke loose on the court. Brutality after brutality, often with cunning, sly methods, sometimes on the verge of physical fight. Referees also lost the remainings of their common sense, they supported Zvezda more and more often, giving us faults. At 60:56 Jović had a very nasty attack against Mačvan, and it says all that even the otherwise enthusiastic and patient Murić was yelling with rage. Marjanović, the big, inhumane-sized, overly slow mountain stomped Mačvan into the ground, the referees whistled a free throw - to Zvezda, of course. Murić was fouled out (why???...), Akognon was also fouled, after Jenkins hit the ball out of his hand... It was more and more like a surreal nightmare. We could end the game still with less than 10 points of difference, thanks to Marinković and Dallo. The final result of the first game was 73:64.
The next day came the next match (because we don’t stop until three games won).
Nikola Milutinov wanted to play, on his own risk. Doctors were heavily against it, but Milutinov isn’t that kind who just gives up after such a minor scratch.
It was unsure even right before the match if he could play, then this photo got viral on Twitter:
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Yes. It was Nikola Milutinov, warming up. Nikola Milutinov will play. Nikola Milutinov is ready to die for the team, sacrificing even his health.
Nikola Milutinov is a HERO, so now you stand up and salute for him.
So, it started again with Saša Pavlović as Zvezda’s favourite punchbag. Yet, we made it to 5:5 from 5:2. Our defense line improved a LOT during this one day, what a joy it was to see big, slow Marjanović and little, disgusting Blažič being blocked by our defenders.
We turned the standing to 7:8 from 7:5, thanks to Tepić’s heroic action.
Zvezda also changed a lot since the previous day. They were definitely slower, less aggressive. It seems, miracles last only 1 day around them. Instead of a brutal, ruthless and merciless team there was an average group of 5 players on the court. They didn’t even act as morons, they just looked to be in bad mood and slightly frustrated (which grew during the game).
And Partizan shamelessly used it for their own benefit.
Dragan Milosavljević turned the standing to our side (9:10), then came the other team members. Tepić scored twice (9:14), Milutinov also started to redeem his debts (9:18). Nothing worked for Zvezda, not even the idiotic mode (they still tried with being sly, but this time Partizan players avoided them with a grin). The first part’s result was set by Mačvan, assited by an enthusiastic Akognon (17:22).
Brief discussion: Duško Vujošević with Milan Mačvan on his right and Dragan Milosavljević on his left
We opened the second quarter with this:
It’s clearly visible how hard Blažič is trying to keep the Captain back, but the odds were against him.
At a point Zvezda turned the standings to their side (27:26), but again Tepić’s heroic act cut it short (27:28). Akognon quickly helped to fix it (27:31), while our defense line made miracles. Akognon stole the ball in the middle of a Zvezda-attack, ran up, made a great solo and threw the ball into the ring (27:35). Then Mačvan came, saw, took the team under his armpit and scored 5 points. The half-time result was set by Murić (35:42).
In the third quarter Mačvan continued the fiesta (35:47), even stirred up the audience that again consisted of only Zvezda-fans.
"Chill down, bitchez, I am da King!"
But the greatest was when the beast totally broke out of Mačvan in the heat of the game. Blažič (who still kept on using his dirty little tricks) ran up to our backboard. Mačvan didn’t hesitate, but jumped up and bodychecked the Slovenian with full force. It was so heavy that Blažič flew out of the court and landed on the floor with a big noise.
He deserved it. A lot.
Evil little sparks were playing on Mačvan’s face, this was the point when the entire Zvezda should have packed up and asked for political asylum in e.g. Timbuktu or at some other hidden places of the world. Mačvan is unstoppable even when he is in a beast-mode, but now he was a demon, everyone’s nightmare.
Of course Mačvan was fouled after this action, but Blažič was so confused that he missed out the free throw.
And Zvezda started to slowly fall to pieces. (They made mistakes even a kindergarten team would never do, e.g. dropping the ball out of their hands, etc.) Only Jenkins was really active, scoring baskets. But one player can’t stand for long against Partizan, that Partizan which is infuriated, vengeful and ready to die for the victory.
Against this Partizan even an entire army can’t stand for long, you sillies.
Mačvan was unstoppable. He was there at everywhere, at the attacks, at the defense, and he made it all with such an amazing troll style, in such a cheeky way that made Average Fan rolling on the floor. At the end of the quarter the atmosphere was very heated on the court. Zvezda-players were heavily frustrated, at a point Jenkins grabbed Andrić and simply threw him to the ground (referees didn’t whistle), but we were on the lead, against all odds, with 10 points difference. (48:58)
"You have no balls!" Andrić vs. Blažič
In the last quarter Mačvan again used the bodycheck-trick in the beginning while having a very evil grin on his face. Zvezda tried to keep the pace, though only their American players were active (56:62). Mačvan and Zirbes had a verbal fight, Zvezda made it to 61:62, but at this point Akognon activated his rocket mode and increased the difference to 61:67. Zvezda tried everything, but they couldn’t took back the lead even while clenching their teeth. Their players were totally nervous, yelling with each other, Lazić turned into a moron for the last minutes.
The end was a heart attack.
There were only 17 seconds left. The standing was 68:69. We missed out a chance, Zvezda attacked. Blažič ran up with the ball, and then came Nikola Milutinov’s moment we were all waiting for so much, the Moment of Noble Revenge, the Block of the Century.
Cardial arrest, cerebral haemorrhage, scratching the floor while gasping for breath. It’s our turn. We ran up... and in the most critical moment Lazić brutally pushes Tepić. Free throw. 68:70. Buzz. We won. WE WON!!!!!
Now the aggregated standing is 1:1, next match comes today at 21:00.
Old friends and former teammates were also very happy.
Bravvvooooo breeeee!!!!!!!!!!!! Jos dve !!!!!! ✌🏻✌🏻️💪🏻💪🏻👊🏻👊🏻
— Bogdan Bogdanovic (@LeaderOfHorde) April 15, 2015
bravo breeeeee . bravo grobariiii
— Lazar Markovic (@LMarkec50) April 15, 2015
mi smo jaci 👏🎉🎊🎈#jos2
— Joffrey Lauvergne (@1JOLOLO) April 15, 2015
After the game this photo spread over the internet with mighty speed:
(photo: Twitter, juznifront.com)
(Unmarked photos: Facebook/KK Partizan)
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