Basketball
Bartzokas on match night: ‘They say it’s nice to be at Olympiakos but it has demands and stress’
George Bartzokas spoke to Game Night about the Greek Cup final and conquest, as well as the glory of the Cup.
Olympiakos won the Greek Cup after eleven years. George Bartzokas’ team defeated Panathinaikos OPAP (81-73) in the final of the Final Four in “Dyo Aorakia”.
The coach of the red and white, George Bartzokas, spoke to Game Night about the final of the cup, about the regular procedure, but also about the shine that such a trophy has achieved.
Bartzokas’ statements in detail:
For Dorsey: “Because he could have been fresh in the last 20 minutes. The fives are and how they fit together. I wanted to open up the squad, it came out after we won. It’s the momentum of the game. It’s also a matter of instinct .”
Who is the MVP: “I won’t choose, my position is always difficult, I have to support all the players. The five that finished the game played a disastrous defense. Panathinaikos scored consistently, made difficult shots, had less pressure than us. We needed a defensive five because Panathinaikos also scored in the first ten minutes. And we changed tactics on defense. The decisions of the moment often play a role, Vezenkov’s tip, Dorsey’s three-pointer play a role, all of that is crucial. We couldn’t have scored Panathinaikos if it had scored more.”
When this team is no longer under pressure: “There’s always pressure from the favourites, especially in a single game. It’s definitely the approach to a single game, for that and in the cup there are surprises. I’m not saying it would be a surprise if Panathinaikos won.” “Panathinaikos is a quality team. Basically what happened in the first half, they shot hard and put us under pressure, we stayed calm. I told them that Panathinaikos can’t shoot with such quality to be close to the goal to stay and we with ours.” Quality and our tactics to get lucky in the game”.
Change tactics in defense: “We changed different defenses depending on what the opponent did. All of Nedovic’s shots were marked, Nedovic played good defense in Wokap. Nedovic is crucial to Panathinaikos’ victories. I feel like he’s under pressure advised, they had to scoop.”
For the tournament when the trophy shines: Although I’ve read to fail that it wasn’t a crowded stadium, I have a feeling that if the slogan on the t-shirt read “It’s not a war, it’s a celebration”, it was. The referees were very good and the team benches to be a high level of those participating. If this is the case, the trophy automatically gets a different shine. Back in the day when the two teams were fatal in the Euroleague’s Fina Four, the trophy didn’t matter that much – just play by the rules and stay true to them.”
Returning from absence and when there is relief: “They say it’s nice to be at Olympiakos but it has demands and stress, today it was a relief. In Greece we know that games like this are more important than anything else here in Greece. Yes, they are life and death, but there is continuity with existing losses.΄
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.
Check out this post on Instagram
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.
-
Ligue 13 years agoRenato Sanchez signed in Paris for five years
-
Europa League4 years agoIn transfer alert at Olympiakos for additions and concessions
-
Europa League4 years agoFenerbahce – Eintracht 1: 1: The Germans took 1st place in the Olympiacos group
-
Europa League4 years agoWithout Nainggolan and Samata, the 11th team from Antwerp
-
Europa League4 years agoEuropa League
-
Europa League4 years agoAtalanta announced the acquisition of Boga
-
Europa League4 years agoFears that Zapata will be out for 4 months
-
Premier League4 years agoExcept for the rest of January, Sean was injured