Basketball
National Basketball won because it couldn’t lose
Ethniki had no right to defeat and survived thanks to Papanikolaou’s shots. Now he’s aiming for the 2 in 2 in Turkey, that gives… qualification. writes Spyros Kavalieratos, who also reminds us of the qualification system.
Such a foul as that of Costas Papanikolaou in 3 seconds has often been carried out by the Spaniards in the past… It has also been called in favor of the Turks. And many other European teams. For years such decisions only applied to Greece. So neither Mahmutoglu nor anyone else has the right to speak. That’s what happens in basketball, he doesn’t have to yell or create a situation in the face of Monday’s game.
Costas Papanikolaou scored at least one home whistle and Greece beat Turkey thanks to his own shots. But the only truth is that our national team deserved to win in Ano Liossia. It would be totally unfair to lose and be five feet away from the 2023 World Cup. Greece remains a major basketball power, and now that everyone is looking excited and united, they have a prime opportunity to grow. It’s always been high in the world rankings, but now it’s time to expand on its legacy.
Of course, our national team turned out to be almost the ideal suicide. Big differences came twice (52-37 and 66-56) but Sain Larkin’s Turkey had to come back and take that fate into their own hands. However, in a scene reminiscent of the match between Olympiacos and Efes, the Turks failed in their last attack, giving Greece time and Costas Papanikolaou got the foul in 3 seconds. But even if there was no offense, there was time for a shot in good conditions. Therefore, no one knows what would happen.
Thanks to Costas Papanikolaou and his accuracy in critical shots (73% players from the line in EuroLeague), Greece survived and spread joy to over 7-8000 people creating incredible atmosphere in Ano Liossia. He won because Greece couldn’t lose that game. Let’s not forget that he also played at the stadium that hosts AEK, so the title attack fits the occasion.
Justification of two months of effort
It was generally a justification for the efforts made by all Greek basketball in the last two months to achieve this victory that keeps the national team alive in the qualifying fight.
The choice of this seat fully justified the federation, it is perhaps the basketball court in Greece where people stand off the ground and help the team in their own way.
Panathinaikos risked his own match to help the representative team with Papagiannis. And he even had to declare it in a EuroLeague game three hours later, just in case.
Olympiacos gave up five of his players to the national team, although four of them had played for Armani Milano 20 hours earlier. And finally it was Papanikolaou who signed the big win with the two shots.
Overall, everyone involved in basketball mobilized in Greece and stood by the national in this game against Turkey. Whoever was at the event to sponsor OPAP recognized that there is an effort to reunite all Greeks.
No, of course that’s enough. Victory has come, but qualification still has a long way to go. Just a loss would be catastrophic. Turkey are already stirring up spirits against Greece, and now it’s games without tomorrow if they want to win the game in Istanbul.
The EuroLeague is to blame for everything
Monday’s game in front of 10,000 spectators isn’t that easy, if of course there’s still a win there, Greece will definitely go through to the qualifying round. The national team will carry the defeat to Great Britain to the end, which of course is due to the way the qualifiers were conducted and the EuroLeague’s irritating attitude towards FIBA. If Greece – and every team with EuroLeague players in their roster – were complete in all games, it wouldn’t look like any of the games against Turkey would have a final.
On the other hand, the defeat by Britain helped rally all forces around the National, with the Federation handling the situation appropriately. After all, Turkey is going to the windows with Shane Larkin, an American who got a passport, gets money to play in the national team and, of course, is a player with a €3 million contract. The neighbors have long since taken their measures, seeing evil coming, little by little other federations across Europe are following. No matter how painful it is for the athletes, no matter how much risk the clubs take, it is now clear to everyone that national teams have tremendous value and participating in a World Cup is a big deal for any country’s basketball.
And something about how to qualify
Some may still be confused about the qualification system, so let’s remember what the road to the World Cup is like.
The three of the four teams in each group in the first stage advance to the second, broadcasting ALL results. For example, Greece is now 2-1 with three games left. A 5:1 would be ideal, 4:2 would be good, with 3:3 it will be difficult. He plays Turkey away on Monday and has two more games in the June windows, with Britain in and Belarus out. Logically, the EuroLeague players will be there again, so a 4:2 is possible.
In the second phase it will face the teams of the first group (logically Serbia, Latvia and Belgium, who today have a 2-1 record like Greece) and will play 6 more games. The two ahead of Eurobasket 2022 (meaning the teams will come with full rosters as it will be like a pre-match for the big date), two more in November and two more in February 2023.
Of the 6 teams in the second phase, the top 3 qualify for the World Cup.
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.
“Kharkov Falcons” announced his return to the team Vyacheslav Kiktev.
The 23-year-old basketball player spent the first half of the season on loan at BC Zaporozhye.
As part of the Kazakhs, Kiktev was on the field for an average of 14:42 minutes per game and recorded 4.4 points and 3.0 rebounds.
“Due to the huge competition for the Pinterest position, I started loaning Vyacheslav to BC Zaporozhye in the summer. We had doubts about whether Slava would get enough playing time with the Falcons this season, especially considering the fact that he averaged only 10:41 minutes per game last year, even in the Major League. Under these circumstances, the loan from BC Zaporozhye was a consistent and balanced decision, and in my opinion, it was in Vyacheslav’s best interest. Luckily, the loan club was also in the interest of Vyacheslav.” BC Zaporozhye had almost no players in the center position and we knew that our player was guaranteed to get playing time.
A number of injuries in our squad necessitated the return of Vyacheslav Kiktev to the Kharkov Falcons. Due to lack of players, we have not been able to train five-on-five for more than a month. At the same time, the recovery period of players such as Dmitry Kleban, Nikita Bezima, Dmitry Martynov has also been postponed – at the moment we do not have specific information about when these players will fully return, at least to the training process,” Valery Plekhanov commented on the transfer.
Earlier, Valery Plekhanov summarized the team’s results for 2025 and talked about the preparations for the continuation of the season.
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.
The NBA sent a memo to league teams proposing stricter rules on injury reporting and betting because of federal charges in gambling cases involving current and former league officials. The purpose of the changes is to reduce the value of insider information and prevent manipulation of results.
The league is considering measures to prevent intentional losing, more frequent updating of injury reports and restrictions on betting on individual match events. Specifically, teams will be required to submit injury reports updated every 15 minutes on match day. It is also planned to expand gambling-related education programs, strengthen the protection of players and staff against pressure from bookmakers and improve the monitoring of suspicious activities.
In addition, the league plans to introduce discounts and restrictions on betting on individual player statistics, highlighting the need for greater control over the types of bets offered by bookmakers.
Macau tries to move away from casino city image
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.
Nine games were played in the NBA regular season on the night of December 27-28.
“San Antonio” hosted “Utah” and suffered a sensational defeat.
Spurs had a good first quarter, during which they made a 15:2 spurt to take an 11-point lead at 30:19, but failed to build on it or at least maintain it. In the second quarter, the Jazz responded with a 25:5 attack and took the lead 62:51 with the same 11 points. Utah then kept the opponent at bay for more than 10 points until the middle of the fourth quarter, when Spurs equalized the score – 106:106, thanks to a 14:2 breakthrough. However, the home team could not achieve this success and failed at the end of the match. In the last three minutes of the game, San Antonio scored 2 points and lost them with a score of 2:11 and had a score of 114:127 throughout the match.
Svyatoslav Mikhayyuk He was in Utah’s starting five and stayed on the field for 14 minutes, during which time he scored 3 points (1/1 three-pointers), also made 1 rebound and 1 assist with 1 loss and 1 foul.
The most productive player of the match was Vembanyama, who brought 32 points to Spurs, but this did not help them achieve positive results. Jazz has 29 points from Markkanen and 28 points from George.
“Chicago” lost at home to “Milwaukee”, where Giannis Antetokounmpo returned.
The Bucks gained a minimal advantage in the first quarter and then gradually increased it, eventually winning all quarters of the match and winning with a score of 103:112.
In this game, Antetokounmpo returned to the field after his calf muscle injury and became the most productive player, scoring 29 points for Milwaukee. Portis also scored a double-double for the guest team with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
NBA. Regular season, December 28
San Antonio – Utah – 114:127 (40:32, 20:38, 27:28, 27:29)
San Antonio: Vembanyama (32 + 7 rebounds + 5 blocks), Castle (20 + 7 assists), Vassell (11), Shempeni (4), Barnes (3) – start; K. Johnson (27 + 10 rebounds), Harper (7 + 7 rebounds + 12 assists), Cornet (7 + 8 rebounds), Brian (3), Sohan (0), McLaughlin (0), Waters (0).
Utah: Markkanen (29), George (28 + 6 assists), Nurkic (16 + 7 rebounds + 6 assists), Sensabaugh (11), Mikhailyuk (3) – start; Clayton (17), Williams (8), Collier (7), Filippovski (6 + 6 assists), Hendricks (2).
Chicago – Milwaukee – 103:112 (26:28, 24:26, 30:31, 23:27)
Chicago: White (16 + 5 losses), Vucevic (16 + 7 rebounds), Giddy (13 + 7 rebounds + 9 assists), Okoro (10), Buzelis (8) – start; Dosunmu (11), Collins (10 + 10 rebounds), Herter (7), Smith (6 + 10 rebounds), Jones (6 + 6 assists), Williams (0).
Milwaukee: Y. Antetokounmpo (29 + 8 rebounds), Rollins (20 + 7 rebounds), Turner (13), Porter (8 + 9 assists), Green (6) – start; Portis (17 + 11 rebounds), Kuzma (12), Sims (4), G. Harris (3).
Sacramento-Dallas-113:107 (31:23, 28:21, 29:33, 25:30)
sacramento: Westbrook (21 + 9 assists), Ellis (21), Reynaud (19), DeRozan (9 + 6 assists), Achiuwa (5 + 9 rebounds) – start; Schroeder (10), McDermott (9), Clifford (8+9 rebounds), Monk (7), Cardwell (4+8 rebounds).
dallas: Flagg (23 + 5 turnovers), Washington (17 + 4 blocks), Gafford (11 + 7 rebounds), Christie (9 + 7 rebounds), Nembhard (9) – start; Thompson (14), Marshall (11), Russell (7), Hardy (5), Powell (1 + 11 rebounds), Caleb Martin (0), Cisse (0).
New Orleans – Phoenix – 114:123 (33:32, 22:33, 30:28, 29:30)
New Orleans: Murphy (24), Quinn (21 + 11 rebounds), Fiers (18 + 8 rebounds), Bay (17), McGowens (0) – start; Williamson (22), Alvarado (7), Missy (4 + 8 rebounds), Poole (1), Peavy (0).
Phoenix: Booker (20), Brooks (18), Gillespie (17 + 7 rebounds + 7 assists), O’Neal (15), Ighodaro (8 + 10 rebounds) – start; Goodwin (16 + 9 rebounds), Buey (12), Williams (10 + 8 rebounds), Fleming (5), Richards (2), Livers (0).
Orlando-Denver-127:126 (23:31, 25:31, 36:31, 43:33)
orlando: Black (38), Bane (24 + 6 assists), Carter (18 + 7 rebounds), Banchero (12 + 6 assists), Jones (0 + 6 assists) – start; da Silva (17), Kane (7), Isaac (5), Richardson (4), Penda (2), Howard (0).
Denver: Jokic (34 + 21 rebounds + 12 assists), J. Murray (24), Hardaway (20), Watson (15), Jones (14) – start; Strother (13), Valanciunas (4), B. Brown (2), Pickett (0).
Atlanta – New York – 125:128 (27:33, 28:35, 34:30, 36:30)
of Atlanta: Okongwu (31 + 14 rebounds), Johnson (20 + 9 rebounds + 12 assists), Daniels (13 + 8 rebounds + 9 assists), Young (9 + 10 assists + 5 turnovers), Risache (4) – start; Alexander-Walker (25), Newell (12), Krejci (9), Kennard (2), Guay (0).
New York: Towns (36 + 16 rebounds), Brunson (34), Anunoby (15 + 10 rebounds), Bridges (14 + 8 assists), Diawara (5) – start; McCullar (13 + 8 rebounds), Robinson (6 + 9 rebounds), Clarkson (3), Colic (2).
Miami – Indiana – 142:116 (29:28, 30:32, 39:34, 44:22)
Miami: Wiggins (28), Powell (23), Larsson (16 + 7 assists), Weir (15 + 7 rebounds), Mitchell (0) – start; Jaques (28), Jovic (19 + 7 rebounds + 7 assists), Smith (5), Yakucionis (4), Johnson (2), Fontecchio (2), Gardner (0).
indiana: Siakam (33 + 7 rebounds + 5 losses), Maturin (25 + 5 losses), Nembhard (15 + 16 assists), Huff (11), Furphy (9 + 7 rebounds) – start; Nesmith (9), Jackson (4), Walker (3), Bradley (3), Jones (2), Potter (2), Thompson (0), Peter (0).
Minnesota – Brooklyn – 107:123 (30:33, 33:29, 23:36, 21:25)
Minnesota: Edwards (28 + 7 rebounds), McDaniels (16), Randle (13 + 11 assists), DiVincenzo (11 + 6 assists), Gobert (6 + 8 rebounds) – start; Reed (13), Dillingham (7), Clark (6), Hyland (4), Juzeng (3), Beranger (0), Miller (0).
Brooklyn: Porter (27 + 10 rebounds), Claxton (14), Clowney (11), Demin (7), Menn (2) – start; Thomas (30), Wolf (11), Sharpe (10), Powell (7), Traore (4), Wilson (0).
Houston – Cleveland – 117:100 (32:24, 28:22, 30:17, 27:37)
Houston: Durant (30 + 7 assists), Smith (15 + 7 rebounds), Thompson (13 + 9 rebounds), Eason (9), Adams (9 + 8 rebounds) – start; Sheppard (18 + 8 assists + 5 steals), Okogie (8), Capela (4 + 8 rebounds), Davison (3), Green (3), Finney-Smith (3), A. Holiday (2), Tate (0).
cleveland: Mitchell (16 + 6 assists), Merrill (13), Garland (12), Wade (6), Allen (6) – starts; Tyson (23 + 15 rebounds), Proctor (7), Bryant (7 + 7 rebounds), E. Mobley (4), Hunter (2), Porter (2), Ball (2).
Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has written for various websites and magazines. I currently work as an author at Sportish, a news website that covers sports news. My main focus is writing about soccer, rugby and other sports in the world.
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