May 20, 2012
The Club Scene: KK Crvena Zvezda
How it all started, Crvena Zvezda 1945High above the Serbian capital of Belgrade, looking down on the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers, the Kalemegdan Fortress is a symbol of national and civic pride in more ways than one. Not only do the city's origins begin there and tourists flock there to this day, but hard by the ancient walls of Kalemegdan, the seed of Belgrade's status as one of basketball's great breeding grounds was also planted. That's because Kalemegdan is also the address of Crvena Zvezda, one of the most accomplished basketball clubs not only in the Eurocup, but in all of European basketball. Now in its seventh decade, Crvena Zvezda boasts one continental trophy, 15 national championships and five domestic cups. Moreover, the club has produced some of European basketballs brightest stars, players who have gone on to win medals at the Olympic Games and world and European championships. And as indicated by its 3-0 start to the Eurocup season with a largely homegrown roster, the club continues to nurture great talents and great basketball today.

The Crvena Zvezda story begins in 1945, shortly after the end of World War II. The club was popular and dominant from the very start. The first 10 seasons of Crvena Zvezda basketball all resulted in Yugoslavian championships thanks to the starting five of Nebojsa Popovic, Tulio Roklicer, Aleksandar Gec, Ladislav Demsar and Srda Kalember, who go down in the history books as some of the most important players in club history. Crvena Zvezda was not a rich club and played its games in the open air court at the Kalemegdan fortress, but those five played for the love of the game and put Crvena Zvezda on the map for good with attractive and winning basketball.

After a decade of greatness, the players moved on and the next generation at Crvena Zvezda was unable to match their predecessors’ results. Another title would not find its way into the Crvena Zvezda trophy case until 1969. Ljubodrag SimonovicThat year, the club swept its season series with main rivals Partizan, Split and Zadar led by Vladimir Cvetkovic and a cast of promising young talents. Some of those, like Zoran Slavnic, Ljubodrag Simonovic, Dragan Kapicic and Dragisa Vucinic would join forces with Radivoj Zivkovic to usher in a new generation of success. During this period, Crvena Zvezda led the team to the 1972 Yugoslavian League title and Yugoslavian cup win in 1971, ’73 and ’75.

Crvena Zvezda’s continued greatness at home also resulted in the opportunity to play in Europe. After advancing from the qualifying to the Euroleague regular season in 1969-70, the club was back and fully loaded for the Cup Winners Cup in 1972. That year it knocked off Joventut Badalona in the semifinals and mighty Olimpija Milano in the final to lift its very first European crown. Crvena Zvezda. Although that would be the club’s lone European title, it did climb to the Saporta Cup final in both 1974 and 1975, losing out to BVV Brno and Spartak St. Petersburg, respectively. In 1984, Crvena Zvezda again reached a continental title game, this time falling to Pau-Orthez in the Korac Cup final.

The 1990s saw another wave of Crvena Zvezda dominance sweep over the Yugoslavian League. Sasa Obradovic, Dejan Tomasevic, Aleksandar Trifunovic and a young Peja Stojakovic were members of the team that won back-to-back Yugoslavian League crowns in 1993 and ’94. And Igor Rakocevic and Milenko Topic came aboard by 1998 when Crvena Zvezda claimed its 15th Yugoslavian League crown.

Igor Rakocevic with Crvena ZvezdaCrvena Zvezda’s most recent additions to its trophy case came in the form of the Radivoj Korac National Cup of Serbia and Montenegro, won in 2004 and ’06. The first one was especially not for the faint of heart, as Crvena Zvezda won the quarterfinals, semifinals and final all in overtime and needed to finish the semifinal against arch-rival Partizan with only four players after fouls and injuries had shortened the lineup. Rakocevic and Goran Jeretin were joined by Luka Bogdanovic and Cedomir Vitkovac as the most recognizable faces on that team. In 2006, Crvena Zvezda bested fellow ULEB Cup quarterfinalist Hemofarm in the title game as Goran Jeretin starred alongside Milan Gurovic and Miroslav Raicevic. By this time, the club had also become a regular Eurocup participant. Crvena Zvezda reached the quarterfinals in consecutive seasons, 2006 and 2007, led by Gurovic, who shattered several individual scoring records in the second of those seasons. He handed the torch to Tadija Dragicevic, the most recent homegrown star to shine for the club.

All those decades of basketball greatness are represented every night that a new generation of rising stars takes the floor wearing the Crvena Zvezda colors. Even on the current team, you can find homegrown stars like Dragicevic; players that have grown at the club, left and came home again like Vuk Radivojevic; promising talents that have come to the club to reach new heights, like Elemdin Kikanovic, Marko Keselj or Mike Taylor; and of course seasoned veterans who simply want to win with Crvena Zvezda, like Filip Videnov and Boris Bakic. And as Crvena Zvezda has proven over time, with those types of players and the great coaches who have paced the sidelines at the club, the end result is a special sight.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Frankie Sachs, Eurocupbasketball.com
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