Nemanja Nedovic on defeat vs. ALBA: 'The most painful loss alongside ASVEL' / News - Basketnews.com

Nemanja Nedovic expressed frustration following Crvena Zvezda's road loss to ALBA. The Serbian guard observed that his team doesn't react on time during games and stressed that the result affects Red Star's playoff chances.

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Last season, ALBA Berlin defied all odds to convincingly defeat Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet in Belgrade (72-87) and thus significantly hinder the Serbs' chances to qualify for the playoffs.

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In this season's Round 23 game held at the Mercedes Benz Arena, the German side prevailed once again by 89-80.

Now, with a 9-14 balance and 11 more games left to play, Zvezda cherish mostly mathematical hopes of catching up with the pack.

"Alongside ASVEL, this loss is the most painful defeat this season," guard Nemanja Nedovic told Sportklub after the defeat against ALBA.

"I don't know what to say anymore after games like this where we simply don't show all our quality. We always kind of wake up late, we don't have that instinct, that you go into these kinds of games with the mentality of simply stomping on this kind of team," the Serbian international continued.

"But here we are. We always get the lead, then we let it slip away, and then we chase the whole game. I don't really know what to say," Nedovic continued.

Nedovic thinks the result will drastically affect the possibilities of his team to somehow reach the playoffs.

"It will affect 100%. I think we had very good chances against ASVEL, Baskonia, and tonight to take that step towards the Play-In tournament. We are two wins away from the 10th position, but unfortunately, we did not use any of our opportunities."

Nedovic had a great desire to play, despite the fact that he had just come off an injury.

"I insisted on playing and traveling with the team. I barely convinced them to let me play, but I feel good. Everything is OK on both sides", Nedovic added.

On Sunday, Zvezda will play the derby against Partizan for the ABA League, which could decide the battle for first place, before moving on to the home games against Valencia and Barcelona.

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