Early season pacesetters go head to head as Fenerbahce (2-0) welcomes Zvezda (2-0).
Game Notes: Fenerbahce vs. Zvezda



It will be a special night for Fener’s summer signing Boban Marjanovic as the giant center faces Zvezda for the first time since he represented the Serbian club between 2013 and 2015. A key to Zvezda’s early-season success has been the long-range accuracy of Isaiah Canaan (16.5 points per game, 50% three-point shooting) and Nemanja Nedovic (15.0 points, 66.7% for threes), with Codi Miller-McIntyre pulling the strings to the tune of 7 assists per game. But the Turkish team is also a deep threat, as shown by Bonzie Colson, Wade Baldwin and Nigel Hayes-Davis all knocking down a trio of triples to win last week’s Istanbul derby win at Efes.
Game Videos
- Fenerbahce holds a 12-6 edge in meetings against Zvezda, but Zvezda has won the last three games, including a two-game sweep last season. The last time these two teams met, Zvezda beat Fenerbahce in Istanbul, 76-85, with Joel Bolomboy scoring a career-high 24 points.
- Last season in Belgrade, Zvezda crushed Fenerbahce 87-56 with Milos Teodosic scoring 18 points.
- Fenerbahce center Boban Marjanovic spent two seasons with Zvezda, from 2013 to 2015. He earned All-EuroLeague First Team honors in 2015. He was a teammate of Branko Lazic, Luka Mitrovic and Nikola Kalinic during his time with the club.
- Marjanovic holds Zvezda's single-game club record with 17 rebounds, which he has done twice.
- Crvena Zvezda forward Nikola Kalinic spent five years with Fenerbahce, from 2015 to 2020, and helped the team win the 2017 EuroLeague and reach five consecutive Final Fours.
- Kalinic was a teammate of Melih Mahumutoglu in the title-winning 2016-17 season, and also with Nicolo Melli, Marko Guduric and Tarik Biberovic during his time with Fenerbahce.
- Fenerbahce swingman Marko Guduric played two seasons for Crvena Zvezda, from 2015 to 2017. He made his EuroLeague debut there and won two Adriatic League and two Serbian League championships as well as one Serbian Cup. He was a teammate of current Zvezda players Luka Mitrovic and Branko Lazic.
- Zvezda's Dejan Davidovac, Ognjen Dobric and Uros Plavic were teammates of Fenerbahce's Marko Guduric on the Serbian national team, together they won the bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
- Davidovac, Dobric and Fenerbahce's Guduric also won the silver medal at the 2023 Basketball World Cup with the Serbian national team.
- Guduric, Marjanovic and Lazic also teamed up on the Serbian national team and won silver medals at EuroBasket 2017.
- Marjanovic and Guduric have also been teammates of Zvezda's Nikola Kalinic, Nemanja Nedovic and Luka Mitrovic on the Serbian national team.
- Injured Fenerbahce guard Scotie Wilbekin played under current Zvezda head coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos at Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv for four seasons, from 2018 to 2022.
- Fenerbahce guard Wade Baldwin had career highs in points (38), three-pointers made (6) and free-throws made (10) playing for Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv against Zvezda in February 2023.
- Ognjen Dobric scored a career-high 22 points playing in Zvezda's 91-89 win against Fenerbahce in April 2023.
- Dobric recorded a career-high 4 steals playing for Crvena Zvezda against Fenerbahce in January 2021.
- Zvezda forward Dejan Davidovac recorded his career-high in performance index rating (25) against Fenerbahce in March 2018.
- Nemanja Nedovic made a career-high 7 three-pointers playing for Panathinaikos Athens in a win over Fenerbahce in October 2020. His PIR of 28 earned MVP of the Round honors for that performance.
- Nedovic set his career high with 13 made free throws playing for Unicaja Malaga against Fenerbahce in April 2018.
- Fenerbahce swingman Marko Guduric grabbed a career-high 8 rebounds in a 71-73 win over Zvezda in January 2021.
- Fenerbahce guard Melih Mahmutoglu set career-highs in points (20) and three-pointers made (5) in a home win over Crvena Zvezda in November 2022.