Basketball
The obvious for Panathinaikos is not self-evident
To go from -14 to +17 against Prometheus and together in the 26th final of its history, Panathinaikos most importantly defeated himself. Something he needs to repeat to make trophy blackjack in the cup. writes Giannis Zoitos
As of tonight, the cup final for Panathinaikos turned 26. What is more common and predictable in Greek basketball than the almost constant presence of Trifyllio in the annual battle for the second hierarchical national trophy of each season. An etiquette that was rarely not observed.
46 finals have been played since 1976 and the Greens have managed to be finalists in more than half. Their terrifying success rate matches that of the most reliable shooters from the foul line, as the collection counts 20 cups on 25 attempts (80%). 9 of them in fact in the last ten years without wasting a single drop of opportunity.
One would say Panathinaikos was lucky in not always playing against evenly matched opponents. When with Rethymno and when with the lighthouse of A2. Or he could not find Apollo of Patras opposite him. So he was preferred. Could be. It’s just that everyone is responsible for what they did or didn’t do, and not what happened somewhere else at the same time that turned out to be beneficial afterwards.
In the victorious semi-final of the Final Four against Prometheus, the defending champion didn’t wait for a butterfly to flap its wings in Chania to go with the current created in Heraklion. He had to and finally managed to become the driving force behind activating the qualifying formula for the big event on Sunday (February 20, 5:00 p.m.) in the same stadium.
The truth is there was a delay. A delay that would not be surprising if it turned out to be disastrous in the process. Panathinaikos is not far from being ruled out, especially in the first third. The -14 after ten minutes of play was like an insurmountable obstacle for a team that had no well-aimed shot from the outside (0/7) and was constantly in a hurry to squander most of their possession. Without at the same time having secured their self-protection in the defense.
His picture referred to the emptiness of the past few months. As if Priftis knew…his players yesterday, as if they didn’t know each other at all, as if Jovic never came.
However, that Panathinaikos is ‘living’ a relatively good moon, half full one might say compared to the… turbulence of the first half of the season, undeniably helped him to have reduced the empty intervals on the floor. The light seemed to him to find his way.
Last but not least, the ‘clearing’ of the… Lunar Nedovic with 12 personal points from 13′ to the break set the stage for the fall, but Prometheus is a good and hard-working team that you can lose, as they say Larissa , only from a player’s score. As good as it is.
It took the Greens a lot more to dominate the game and take control of the game. Above all, they needed an extra effort for their personal defense, either on the ball itself or off screen. Defensive use was a prerequisite for the balance on both sides of the floor.
Passport Sant-Ross, the key Evans and the invincible Papagiannis worked in this part, the consistent White and of course Nedovic lent a hand and Panathinaikos, raising the level of his toughness, quickly reaped the rewards, regaining calm, confident confidence and above all the sense of security that he avoids every danger. He had +8 in 30′. With sub 45-23 in the meantime.
Prometheus didn’t want to leave the match at all, nor did he show any willingness to compromise with a double-digit difference. Ray and Agravanis had many hearts within them. But it was beyond her power. The solutions were missing. With a superior opponent found and a coronavirus shattering any ambition, Zouros’ players ran out of breath in the final and -17 smeared, making the effort unjustified.
What was taken for granted was in fact the qualification of Panathinaikos. But the obvious is not always given. Especially in this case. It took physical effort and mental validation to turn the page. That means complete clarity. It’s no coincidence that despite a bad start, the Greens finished with 57% in twos and 29% in threes. With 18 assists, from correct reading, for 11 errors!
Of course, Sunday’s final requires similar data to the highest degree. Of course, if Panathinaikos wants blackjack trophies by drawing without burning from … 26!
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.
Three matches were played as part of the 18th round of the Euroleague on December 26.
Partizan hosted Maccabi Tel Aviv and suffered a heavy defeat.
The home team, which started the match better, was separated from the opponent by 11 points (28:17) in the first quarter, and at the end of the first 10 minutes, they missed the 3:13 attack and reduced the difference with the opponent team to 1 point (31:30). In the second quarter, Maccabi seized the initiative and after a 14:0 move, they fell behind by 15 points, 56:41. This part of the game was decisive, since then the away team increased their advantage and achieved +33 points – 92:58 at the end of the third quarter, after which they relaxed a little and allowed the opponent to reduce the gap to the last 25 points – 87:112.
This was Maccabi’s fifth consecutive win in the Euroleague, which moved them up to 14th in the standings.
While the most productive player of the match was Walker, who scored 20 points, overall five of Maccabi’s players scored 10+ points.
Monaco had a tough home win against Real Madrid.
The Monegasques were ahead almost the entire game against Los Blancos, but they could not gain a comfortable distance. At the beginning of the third quarter, the home team had a 14-point lead, but then they missed a move at 4:14 and allowed their opponent to return to the game, and at the end of 10 minutes, Real equalized the score: 70:70. The decisive factor in the fourth quarter was Monaco’s 12:0 breakthrough towards the middle of the 10-minute period, which gave them a 12-point advantage: 87:75. After this, although the guest team reduced the gap, they did not fully return to the game. As a result, Monaco won with a score of 100:95.
Real Madrid’s Ukrainian headquarters Alexey Len He spent 6 minutes on the field and made 1 incorrect two-point shot and 1 foul during this time.
The two visiting players immediately recorded double-doubles. Tavares had 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Campazzo had 28 points and 10 assists. Okobo scored 22 points for the winners, but Monaco showed more team play; 6 home players scored 10+ points.
Virtus Bologna hosted Olympiacos and almost staged a surprising comeback in the fourth quarter.
The home team won the first quarter with a score of 25:23, but then the game went sideways and at the big break the Greeks had a 9-point advantage – 50:41, and before the last minute of the third quarter the away team was ahead +20 – 77:57. The fate of the match seemed certain, but then Virtus got back into the game with a move at 18:3. There was an even game further down the field, where the home team tried to equalize the score, but Fournier’s three-pointer with a score of 92:93 and successful free throws helped the Greeks preserve the victory, but Virtus made a three-point shot for equal score at the last second through Alston’s efforts.
Dorsey scored 23 points and Fournier scored 21 points for Olympiacos.
Europa League. Regular season. 18th round, 26 December
Partizan – Maccabi Tel Aviv – 87:112 (31:30, 12:28, 16:34, 28:20)
Partisan: Payne (15 points + 3 rebounds + 6 assists), Brown (12+2+4), Bonga (10+4+1), Jones (10+6+2), Marinkovich (9+2+1), Washington (8+1 assists), Osetkovski (8+1+3), Fernando (6+4+1), Lakic (6+1+1), Calathes (3+2+2).
maccabi: Walker (20+2+5), Sorkin (17+6+3), Leaf (14+6+1), Brissett (11+3 rebounds), Santos (10+2+2), Gord (9+4+2), Ryman (8+4 rebounds), Clark (7+3+6), Blatt (6+4+7), DiBartolomeo (5+3+1), Lundberg (3+2+2), Levy (2+1 selection).
Monaco – Reality – 100:95 (21:20, 26:23, 23:27, 30:25)
Monaco: Okobo (22+2+2), James (15+4+5), Nedovich (12+3 rebounds), Strazel (12+4 rebounds), Diallo (11+7+2), Mirotic (10+1+2), Theis (8+7+1), Blossomgame (6+4 rebounds), Hayes (4+7+1).
Real: Campazzo (28+5+10), Tavares (21+11 rebounds), Okeke (12+2 rebounds), Dec (9+4+2), Abalde (7+2 assists), Hezonja (6+5+2), Maledon (5+1+2), Procida (3), Garuba (2+2 rebounds), Kramer (2+1 rebounds).
Virtus Bologna – Olympiacos – 94:97 (25:23, 16:27, 19:27, 34:20)
virtus: Wildosa (17+2+4), Morgan (15+5 assists), Edwards (14+1+2), Diouf (12+4+1), Smailagic (9), Alston (8+2 rebounds), Niang (7+4+1), Hackett (6+3+4), Payola (4+1+4), Akele (2+1 rebounds).
OlympiacosDorsey (23+4+3), Fournier (21+1 rebounds), Vezenkov (16+5 rebounds), Milutinov (13+9+5), Peters (13+6+1), Papanikolaou (5+4+2), Walkup (2+2 assists), Ntilikina (2+1+2), Hall (2+2 assists), Morris (3 rebounds + 2 assists).
tournament table
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.
Croatian “Zadar” reported on its official website the transfer of a basketball player from the Ukrainian national team Ivan Tkachenko.
After a short trial period during which the Ukrainian player met the requirements of the coaching staff, a contract was signed with him at the end of the season.
The club has already announced that Tkachenko will participate in the Adriatic League and the Croatian Championship, so the Ukrainian can make his debut for the new team in the local championship match against Kvarner on December 27.
Tkachenko did not sign a contract with any club at the beginning of the 2025/26 season and played in only two official matches after the start of the season – as part of the Ukrainian national team, against Georgia and Denmark in November as part of the 2027 World Cup qualifiers.
Last season Ivan played for Mitteldeutscher, where he won the German Cup. The forward, who played in 32 matches in the 2024/25 Bundesliga, averaged 4.9 points and 3.8 rebounds in 17.3 minutes.
During his club career, Tkachenko played for Ukrainians Cherkasy Mavpy and Prometheus, as well as Finland’s Helsinki Seagals.
Zadar is in sixth place in the Adriatic League Group B with 4 wins in 10 matches, and is in second place in the Croatian Championship with a score of 10-1.
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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.
Star player of Los Angeles Lakers Luka Doncic Against the background of the embarrassing defeat of Houston Rockets (96:119), he explained what the team had to change to improve the results:
“I don’t know exactly what needs to change, but something definitely needs to change. We need to figure it out, that’s what we need to do. Everyone should discuss it.”
I know JJ Redick said it would be disturbing. And that’s the way it should be.
As I said, we need to discuss this. It may be uncomfortable, but everyone needs to try harder, starting with me.
We just have to challenge each other. Everyone should challenge themselves and their teammates. “There’s no way to play the way we play, so we’ve got to be better than that.”
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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