Basketball
Final Four – George Bartzokas: “Wookup is ready for the cup”
George Bartzokas stressed that Thomas Wookup is ready to return to the rotation given the Greek Cup Final Four.
With one more player in the rotation, Olympiakos will compete in the Greek Cup Final Four as Thomas Wokap has recovered from the injury problem of the previous days.
On the eve of the semifinals with AEK, George Bartzokas spoke about the veteran guard’s readiness but also the need for credibility and meritocracy to achieve shine and brilliance in the competitions.
Details on what the Red and White coach said:
“I would also like to welcome the holding of the Final Four, the first since 2004. It is a good opportunity for all of us to enjoy. Of course, the tournament is either a wedding or a funeral, as only one rejoices and celebrates while the other three get back to their everyday lives. There has to be a sense of responsibility for everyone, both the players and coaches, but also the people and those taking part in the event. I think we all do “tests” to see if Greece can organize tournaments like this. Due to the difficult situation, we all have a greater responsibility to make the games in the best possible atmosphere. We will show respect to all our opponents, with priority over AEK, the opponent in the semifinals”.
Of course, when you’re at Olympiakos, even two titles aren’t enough. European prestige always matters. Of course we want to get all the trophies we win this year. I think a lot of things have to be done for a title to matter. Greek basketball needs to develop to a level of organization and performance, I think we are on the right track in that regard. All the factors involved in each event I have credited to the judges to be on their level. Greece is a basketball country. We all have a responsibility to increase the importance of national titles. It’s important to have credibility and meritocracy to be sure the game is judged on the field“.
Finally when asked about Thomas Woookup and his availability, he said: “Woookup is here with us training with the team. He will definitely take part in the Final Four“.
For his part, o George Printez he said: “I wish and hope that in the future the Final Four will become a Final Eight so everyone can keep a close eye on their favorite teams to see games like this. People have shown that they love the sport. It’s very important for us that we’re back to claiming a goal. We can’t look any further than tomorrow’s game. I think we’re in good shape to win this trophy, which we really want. We’re not worried about the title of favorite at all. We have been working towards this goal since the beginning of the year“.
I am a sports writer and journalist who has written for various online publications including Sportish. I’m originally from the UK but currently live in Toronto, Canada. I’m also an author on Sportish and have written several articles on a variety of sports-related topics.
Head coach of “Kharkov Falcons” Valery Plekhanov He summarized the team’s 2025 results and talked about the preparations for the continuation of the season:
“Summing up the results of the calendar year, I want to congratulate all our fans on the upcoming New Year and Merry Christmas, wish our favorite team peace and good victories! “Kharkov Falcons” are the first players of this Super League season, so second place at the moment is a good result.
There are a few points we would like to emphasize separately. First of all, seven players from last season’s active squad won the Premier League together, but five of them never played in the Super League. Therefore, the experience they gained in the first half of this season is almost priceless. Secondly, Kharkiv Falcons are one of the two champion teams that did not play a single match at home. It’s very difficult when you’re not playing for your fans, you’re training in one gym, and you’re playing in a different gym every time, even on home tours. In these conditions, 4 defeats in 13 matches is a good result.
One of the most negative moments of this year was not being able to participate in the last four of the Ukrainian Cup. Unfortunately, we were a little unlucky in the draw. After an emotionally difficult and physically exhausting match with Krivbass, we did not have enough strength for the next match against Kiev-Basket in the quarter-finals. Unfortunately, our performances in the cup are over, but now we will be able to focus all our efforts on the championship.
Our main problem now is injuries. We have five injured players, three of whom have serious injuries that require a long recovery period. We’re about to get off to a very tough start to the new calendar season because the Falcons will be playing basketball six weekends in a row, which means six road trips with no rest time. If we could count on all twelve players in the squad at the beginning of the season, there will no longer be such a rotation. Therefore, all the responsibility and burden will fall on the players in the rankings. I hope they get over their injuries in the new year, recover from their injuries as soon as possible, return to work and help their beloved club properly represent Kharkiv in the Super League.
Despite the holidays, we have training scheduled almost seven days a week. “I really hope that by January 10 we will be a combat-ready team that can solve serious problems.”
Source: Sport UA
Ralph Bean is a writer for Sportish. Ralph has written about sports news for the last two years, and is currently an author on the site. He enjoys writing about sports, and hopes to cover more stories in the future.
On December 23, as part of the 1/8 final of the Romanian Cup, the Ukrainian derby was played between Bucharest and Dinamo. Vyacheslav Bobrova and “Fast” Alexandra Lipovoy.
Dinamo won the match 89:79, and the fate of the ticket to the next round was decided in overtime, as Rapid won the first match – 83:73.
The home players acted more accurately in extra time and won with a total score of 101:85 and advanced to the quarter-finals.
Vyacheslav Bobrov made a double-double in 33 minutes on the field, scoring 10 points (4/7 two-pointers, 0/1 three-pointers, 2/2 free throws), collecting 10 rebounds, 1 block, 5 turnovers and 2 fouls.
Alexander Lipovoy played 38 minutes, scored 16 points (1/2 two-pointers, 4/7 three-pointers, 2/2 free throws), collected 3 rebounds, made 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 4 fouls.
Romanian Cup. 1/8 final. 2nd match, 23 December
Dinamo Bucharest – Rapid Bucharest – 101:85 Overtime (17:22, 28:12, 24:19, 20:26, 12:6)
Match record:
Source: Sport UA
Ralph Bean is a writer for Sportish. Ralph has written about sports news for the last two years, and is currently an author on the site. He enjoys writing about sports, and hopes to cover more stories in the future.
Basketball
Mikhailyuk repeated his personal best from the NBA regular season in the match against Memphis
Ukrainian basketball player who plays for Utah Jazz Svyatoslav Mikhayyuk He repeated his personal best in starts in the NBA regular season.
This happened 128:137 in the game between the Utah Jazz and the Memphis Grizzlies on the night of December 23-24.
In this match, Mikhailyuk stayed on the field for 22 minutes and during this time he recorded 9 points (4/4 free throws, 1/4 two-point, 1/5 three-pointers), 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 1 turnover and 1 foul.
This match was Mikhailyuk’s 27th match as a starter this season. So, at the end of December, Svyatoslav repeated his career record in terms of starts, missing only one game against Dallas.
Previously, Mikhailiuk managed to play as a starter in many matches only in the 2019/20 season as part of the Detroit Pistons.
The Jazz are in 12th place in the NBA Western Conference rankings with 10 wins in 29 games. Utah will play its next game against Detroit on Saturday, December 27 at 04:30 Kyiv time.
Source: Sport UA
Ralph Bean is a writer for Sportish. Ralph has written about sports news for the last two years, and is currently an author on the site. He enjoys writing about sports, and hopes to cover more stories in the future.
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