Only in Serbia: hypnotizing Crvena Zvezda vs Partizan derby that left us stunned / News - Basketnews.com

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The Serbian derby between two Belgrade teams, Partizan and Crvena Zvezda, is a must-have experience for every basketball junkie. BasketNews traveled to Nis for the Radivoje Korac Cup final to share first-person impressions with European basketball lovers.

Free throws this season

81%17,6Points made:17,6Accuracy:80,6%Place in standings:3Record max:24Record min:11Most made FTs:Kevin PunterTeamEuroCupStatisticsSchedule

"What's your problem that you're in Nis?" one person smiled in the stands when he recognized me.

He was not the only one who asked me this question during the Radivoje Korac Cup weekend in the third-largest city of Serbia.

But my response was simple.

It's one of the must-have experiences on every basketball lover's bucket list.

One of the most passionate derbies in an entire European basketball.

Especially with both teams being so competitive this year.

On the red corner, there was Crvena Zvezda, who made every EuroLeague powerhouse life so difficult this year.

On the black corner, there was Partizan Belgrade, a new promising project with Zeljko Obradovic, the iconic coach, as its face.

This game is unique because the Cup is the only tournament where both Partizan and Crvena Zvezda fans can come to the arena simultaneously.

Before, I've been to Zvezda's and Partizan's games at Aleksandar Nikolic Hall. It was one of the most intense experiences atmosphere-wise.

But this game was something different, even if my Serbian colleagues didn't understand it.

Serbia is like the motherland of European basketball.

Every second man you cross by in the street looks like a basketball player.

I randomly hit one curious young kid in the coffee shop. It turns out he plays basketball at Partizan's youth team and might be a very intriguing basketball prospect in the nearest future.

When we started this new international website BasketNews.com, our idea was to tell stories.

From 126 accredited media members for the final game, we were the only ones from abroad.

And I'm here to share my behind-the-scenes experience of one of the hottest basketball atmospheres in Europe.

Avoid the gas station

"What should we expect from this final?" I asked one of the organizers.

Obviously, I was not concerned about the actual game, looking around all these police forces inside and outside the Cair Sports Hall.

"Prepare for everything," he smiled. "You just can't prepare for certain things over there. So prepare to be surprised."

Some people from the Korac Cup half-jokingly wanted to avoid Partizan - Zvezda final to enjoy a more peaceful title game.

That was not the case, with two Belgrade teams on the rise, heading towards a long-awaited final battle.

We reached the Cair Sports Hall less than two hours before the game.

The streets were empty. Empty in a way that it felt a bit uncomfortable like the calm before the storm.

But it was a bit different from what we expected. Colleagues on-site explained that the largest groups of fans gathered in two utterly opposite city areas. Police forces safely escorted them to the arena.

They said that more than a thousand policemen were keeping this game safe.

"Good luck, you'll see," one of the media members smiled just before the tip-off.

Serbians said that the main action happens outside the arena, for example, in the gas stations.

Nis and Belgrade are more than 200 km apart on a highway. Few people said that the gas stations on this highway become like a fighting ring, especially after the game.

To release the steam, as we say in Lithuania.

Even a couple of Crvena Zvezda fans I met in the restaurant admitted that they used to wait for Partizan fans in the gas station to fight them.

"We were waiting for them there when two cars arrived. They were just unlucky," one fan smiled in the local restaurant of Nis.

According to Serbian colleagues, Serbian police forces advise all the gas stations on the highway from Nis to Belgrade to close until Monday morning to avoid any possible issues.

Some even said that in some stretches of the highway, some fans were pulling cars over if they saw 3-4 men inside to check if they were not the opposing team fans.

So for these reasons, as locals told me, the police used to patrol the highway to make sure nobody would get into a fight.

Some of these stories might be exaggerated. But local police forces are prepared for every possible scenario to make it as peaceful as possible.

Firefighters

It was the first time I saw firefighters in the basketball game. And they were swamped.

As soon as Crvena Zvezda fans lighted the first flare in the first half, two firefighters suddenly appeared under the balcony full of fans.

They were fully prepared with the fire equipment and water bucket in their hands. It seemed like they were relaxed, as if it was just another day in their office.

Nate Wolters hit a three, and fans quickly dropped the flare under the balcony.

As barbaric as the word "safe" sounds in this context, there was nothing like throwing it towards the court, Partizan's fans, the bench, or anything like that. They picked, let's say, the safer way to get rid of the flare in their area.

It seems fans warned people below them. Or maybe these people in the neutral area were already aware of what was coming. But anyway, fans under the balcony made space around their legs as if they had built a bonfire. Firefighters quickly arrived to put the fire out, and that was it.

At the end of the game, one flare damaged the VIP tribune on Partizan's side. It took more effort to put out a fire, but there weren't any serious incidents.

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Also, one flare was thrown from Partizan's side towards Zvezda's tribune at the end of the game when red and whites were already celebrating the title with a couple of minutes to play.

A few years ago, there was an incident when one fan in a neutral area was hit by a flare and got his face burned severely. This time it didn't look like it hit anybody.

My colleague Gytis Blazevicius was filming tribunes for the videos we later published after the game. He was even asked a few times if he was recording stands because he was tracking people throwing things on the court to send it to authorities, which later fined clubs for fans' behavior.

There were no other more significant incidents.

Of course, if we don't count any coins, lighters, paper sheets, or batteries (players hate these the most) that were constantly thrown on the court.

In Serbia, it's so innocent that I almost forgot to mention it.

The hate

The hate was real. One hour before the game, the gym was already packed and super loud.

Fans were signing songs big time. They were throwing some offensive chants at each other, showing some middle fingers this and there, but more or less, that was it.

There was a moment when Partizan fans chanted something, and I felt that my ear didn't fool me because I've heard the same chant by Zvezda fans.

Then, Partizan fans applauded their opponents with smiles on their faces.

"Oh wow, maybe it was some chant about Belgrade, ultras, or some similar political views they share? Maybe that's how they memorial the victims of their previous clashes?" I thought.

I texted my Serbian colleague and asked what that chant was all about.

He replied with a smile. It turned out it was a chant about the president of Serbia. That chant was not the most polite one, obviously.

The political point here in Serbia is just crazy.

Both team fans accuse each other of getting money from the government. For example, in the fourth quarter, Zvezda put a huge banner that said, "Zeljko Obradovic is a government's project."

But if you're not in Serbia or from Serbia, you won't understand it. Neither do I.

It also gets personal frequently.

For example, during the semifinal game against FMP, Partizan fans were chanting something offensive towards the president of Crvena Zvezda, Nebojsa Covic, and his wife.

Zeljko stood up from his seat, turned to Partizan's fans, complained, and asked them to stop insulting Zvezda's president family.

The only moment that really united fans was the Serbian anthem. There was an orchestra on the court, and it felt extraordinary when everybody sang the anthem with the lights off.

In general, you have to respect the police forces that entirely controlled the situation.

I didn't hear that anything happened after the game, so the derby was a huge success.

I saw the only "altercation" behind the courtside fans, where one Partizan fan had some verbal disagreement with a few Zvezda supporters. A few of them aggressively approached him close to the fence, but it didn't turn out into anything violent.

Covid who?

"You can't sit at this table. Because of Covid restrictions," one barista politely asked us to switch the table at one great cafeteria in Nis.

It made me and my friend, who was not from Serbia, smile.

They're talking about coronavirus when I'm here watching the Serbian Cup final in Cair Sports Hall, full of 5000 fans and everyone barely wearing a mask.

What corona in Serbia are we talking about, brate?

Don't mess with the flag

A few minutes into the second quarter, I could barely see the game.

My view was disturbed when Partizan fans put a massive banner on their balcony, a little bit over the media tribune. The bottom of the flag had covered half of the last row of media tribune, where I was seated.

I didn't even think about doing something special about it, though.

A few years ago, one journalist pulled the flag in a way that made Partizan fans angry. According to the story, a couple of them jumped into a media tribune and, let's say, explained that it was a mistake he shouldn't repeat.

So I was completely okay with that banner in front of me. I just gave a little lift and looked at the court like through a curtain, just like a few other colleagues did.

One person in the media tribune was braver and grasped the flag to put other journalists on alert. They asked him to put it down to avoid getting in trouble.

We were good.

Meeting Zeljko

Zeljko Obradovic was on fire.

At the end of the second quarter, the legendary coach spent the entire timeout in a heated face-to-face conversation (or rather monologue, to be more precise) with one of the referees. He complained about Dejan Radonjic, who already had one technical foul, and aggressively stepped over the line on the sidelines again.

BasketNews took it on camera how a piece of paper hit the referee, who was already under the attack of the coach. It was a few centimeters away from Zeljko's face.

Once, he almost went to the center of the court to show his disappointment with Nemanja Dangubic when the timeout started.

It's incredible to see how much energy he leaves on the floor. Being so emotional, so active, so involved in everything that happens both on and off the court, it seems like Zeljko, 61, just shuts down himself after the game.

You can see the apparent switch in his body language and energy level in the press conference.

I had the same feeling watching him in the Istanbul Cup in the preseason when I didn't want to disturb him with post-game routines after an emotional return to the Ulker Sports arena.

He seemed like any other guy after an exhausting day in his work, where the only thing you want is to stretch your legs on the sofa, have some glass of beer/wine, and just rest. Just another proof of how much Zeljko gives to his team and this game.

My wish was to have a one-on-one interview with Zeljko Obradovic. But just before this trip, after many exclusive interviews all over Europe, he decided to suspend this availability to focus on the season.

My only chance was to get a short exclusive session with Zeljko in English if Partizan won the Radivoje Korac Cup. But Crvena Zvezda are just too good for Partizan at the moment. However, the future looks pretty intriguing.

It was incredible how Crvena Zvezda fans mocked him after Partizan's head coach received a silver medal on his neck.

What's more astonishing is that Zeljko didn't lose his sense of humor. He kissed the award and showed it to the crowd ironically.

That's the rivalry we wish to see between two fierce rivals.

The only thing missing?

That was hands down the craziest basketball atmosphere I've experienced so far.

And I've been to places. From Rio de Janeiro (Brazil fans in the Olympics were awesome!), South Korea or New York, to Athens, Tel Aviv, Istanbul, or Kaunas.

These gyms and fans were unique as well. But I didn't see any fan group that managed to keep the intensity of the support for four straight hours as these guys from both clubs did at Cair Sports Hall.

Sometimes it felt like they put everybody under hypnosis. Especially first-timers like me and my colleague Gytis.

The saying "fans are like a sixth player" doesn't fit better anywhere as in Serbia.

It doesn't matter who it was, a mature woman, kid, or accredited media member, everyone was singing for their teams.

After the final whistle, fans stayed inside the arena (part of the safety protocol as well) but didn't leave the gym silent for a single second.

It took almost one hour for players to return to the locker room after the game, as both teams were enjoying time with their fans.

Even if they lost, Partizan got full support from their fans, who were singing "Only Partizan" and cheered their players up to get stronger for the next big fight against their rivals. Crvena Zvezda fanbase signed championship songs, jumped, and celebrated with their players.

The atmosphere during the game was so wild that it was challenging to focus on the actual basketball game.

I'm not surprised why young inexperienced players lose their heads in such games (that's one of the advantages of a more experienced Crvena Zvezda team). Tremendous respect for all these players and coaches who manage to mute this noise around, focusing on their goal and showing the best quality.

From the tip-off to the end of the celebration of Zvezda players, the whole show went non-stop from 8 pm to 12 am. The only thing missing was the competition on the floor.

I felt stunned walking down the empty streets of Nis after midnight. Stunned and exhausted from work, of course, but the emotions, adrenaline, and experience first and foremost.

Also, I was happy and quite surprised. Everybody was talking as if we should have prepared for violent scenes inside or outside the arena. Everybody warned us to expect something we couldn't predict.

"There's no safe place inside or outside the arena," they said.

But nobody got hurt. It didn't feel like anybody was in danger. That's the main thing when it takes Partizan vs. Crvena Zvezda games.

I talked with some colleagues who were also surprised by how safely everything went. Of course, they were pleased about it too.

Days after, I talked to some players, finding another part of this experience.

It's a great once-in-a-lifetime experience, for sure. Serbian basketball culture and derby atmosphere are worth a good Netflix documentary.

But when you're part of this derby, when it's a part of your job, it might be exhausting as well.

It might be really disappointing for a player when he can't take his family members to the game because it's just too dangerous for them.

Where you avoid looking at the people in stands because some might take it personally and start spitting or throwing things at you.

Where the main concern before the game is safety, not the outcome of the actual basketball match.

We discussed it with Nikola Kalinic both on the record and after the interview in Belgrade.

Exclude flares thrown out at people. Exclude some insulting chants for people that have nothing to do with this rivalry. Exclude throwing things at players and coaches, who deserve only respect for performing at the highest level under these circumstances.

And you still have the best atmosphere in Europe.

Love for your team can't be unlimited. You can be passionate about your team until you cross the line of the other person's well-being next to you.

The basketball game can't become the film set of The Purge, where physically and verbally attacking people becomes legal for two hours.

Everybody should remember that we love this game because of its performers, players, and coaches, who passionately compete on the basketball court and share that emotion with fans in the stands.

We all fell in love with sports not because of fans trying to steal the show.

Some of these remarks in my article might look weird for Serbians because they deal with it daily.

But believe me, I don't think I've ever experienced anything like that visiting various basketball arenas worldwide.

For example, such a small thing as smoking indoors literally everywhere, from the arena to the highest quality restaurants. One of my colleagues almost passed out when we had a three-hour interview session in a restaurant, where people smoked cigars on the following table.

But that's what makes European basketball unique. Every country and every region has its way and its own basketball culture. And it's only a pleasure to get to know other people across the borders. To learn from them and with them.

You can have your feelings about it, but you must respect the culture.

Serbia is full of traditions, passion, force, confidence, dedication, and grind.

Behind this strong Serbia presence, we felt kindness, hospitality, and heart when we met old or new Serbian friends.

This Partizan vs. Crvena Zvezda derby in Radivoje Korac Cup final 2022 was something very close to the ideal basketball atmosphere you can ever experience.

Having a Final Four in this basketball city is only a pleasure. See you soon, Belgrade!

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