Basketball
Samodurov: The fight between Olympiakos and Panathinaikos and coach Spanoulis
Alexandros Samodurov unraveled the competition in the Rising Stars, Olympiacos and Panathinaikos fight hard for him and Vassilis Spanoulis expects him in his arms in a few days. This is the 17-year-old super talent from DEKA.
At 17, he is one of the most important talents in European basketball. With a height of 209 cm and a huge opening of his hands, Alexandros Samodurov is rightly considered the next great player in Greek basketball, as the spectators of the Rising Stars final in Patras on Sunday (February 27) saw him beat the competition with 30 points and 13 rebounds in the 40 minutes he held down against Olympiakos.
Originally from Georgia, Samodurov was born in Thessaloniki and grew up in the western districts. He’s a hard worker, he’s a humble kid and very focused on his goal, he makes one-on-one fights with Giorgos Kyriazis, a man of known worth who has also worked with Sasa Vezenkov – Dino Mitoglou, and breaks up everyone he’s in the championship faces third nationality. It is not easy for a child to compete in the national championships, since basketball is very dynamic and often tough, but Samodurov not only stands, but also manages to dominate every Sunday.
The young big man destined for the power forward position has already spoken with Olympiakos and Panathinaikos. Piraeus met him via sporting director Christos Bafe in Stavroupoli, a day before the game with Aris in Alexandreio, the Greens met him in the previous Rising Stars, with Albertis, Diamantidis, Pappas on the field. Samodurov has one more season in youth, it is considered certain that he will say goodbye to DEKA at the end of the current season, but he has not yet made his decision about the next step on the way to establishment.
The young athlete’s dream, of course, is the NBA and his goal is to enter the 2024 draft. That means that if his improvement continues to be rapid, the team that pushes him to his potential will lose him in two, much in three years but will pocket a significant amount of the buyout that will be included in his contract will. At the moment he will continue to play with the men’s team of DEKA in the third national team and try to win the national championship at youth level.
The next big event we will see him at will be the Adidas Next Generation Tournament, which will take place in Patras at the Prometheus premises from March 25th to 27th. There, Samodurov will play in next-generation Patras, led by Vassilis Spanoulis, who will form an eight-player squad from Greek teams other than Olympiacos and Prometheus, as Piraeus and Achaia join CSKA Moscow, Barcelona, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Stellachura and Helsinki.
As a reminder, in the three games at Rising Stars in Patras, Samodurov had 25 points and 12 rebounds against PAOK. 32 points and 12 rebounds against Panathinaikos, 30 points and 13 rebounds against Olympiakos with 21/33 two points, 9/23 three points and 18/24 shots.
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.
Basketball
“Victories over Euroleague teams, the Super Cup in Belgrade, the birth of Jean-Charles’ twins.” Vatutin named the brightest moments of 2025
President of basketball CSKA Andrei Vatutin, in a conversation with Match TV, named the brightest moments of the outgoing year, and also told how to meet 2026.
At the end of the 2024/25 season, CSKA became the champion of the VTB United League. In the current regular season, the army team is in the lead, having won 16 victories in 18 games.
— How satisfied are you with 2025?
— First of all, I would like to say that the team we have now is very dear to me. I am often asked: which season’s team do you like the most? For some reason, everyone thinks that the answer will be related to our victories in the Euroleague. Not at all. Every year we have a unique team. I’m happy to work with the guys we have today. I really value the victories in the United League that we achieved with this Team. That’s right, with a capital letter. The guys communicate well with each other. We have a great environment in the dressing room. I am very glad that our veterans – Kurbanov, Antonov, Ukhov – continue their careers. They mean a lot to me and to CSKA.
It is clear that if you won the championship in the past year, there is no reason to be dissatisfied with the sports result. But again, I’m happy to work with the coaching staff, our players, our club office and I would like everyone to be healthy and for us to continue to win together. I think everyone will have a lot of wishes in their New Year’s toasts. But surely each of the CSKA employees, players and coaches will wish us good luck and that there will be no injuries. If everything goes well, then there will be victories.
In addition to winning the championship, our team had many more bright moments. Birth of twins to Livio Jean-Charles. We played the pre-season in Dubai for the first time. The United League Super Cup was played for the first time in Belgrade. Plus we beat two Euroleague teams, which doesn’t mean anything, but in principle it indicates that we can now play with Euroleague teams. And I’ll probably also note Kurbanov’s pass to Livio in Krasnodar, when they scored 0.6 seconds before the end. A very bright moment. This suggests that basketball has become faster over the past decades: what took three seconds in Munich was now decided in 0.6.
Of course, my family gives me many very bright positive moments.
— How will you celebrate the New Year? What will be on the festive table?
— In Moscow, with my family. As always, it will be delicious. I generally love to eat (laughs). So to say that today I eat tasteless, but on New Year’s Day it’s delicious, would be wrong. Before the chimes, as always, we will listen to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin’s New Year’s address. Then we’ll have a glass of champagne, and then maybe move on to red wine.
— The Year of the Fire Horse is ahead. Does this mean that CSKA must definitely become the champion?
— (Laughs) I’ll say this: we don’t owe anyone anything. Whether it’s the year of the blue Horse or the Ox, our goals remain the same: we will try to please our fans. The Year of the Red Horse does not impose additional responsibilities and obligations. Of course, it’s nice that it’s the Year of the Horse, but it will be all the more interesting and enjoyable to ride this horse. Our competitors will probably oppose this. It is clear that the New Year’s toasts of the leaders of UNICS, Zenit, and Lokomotiv will also be for victory. Now is the middle of the season, and the most interesting is ahead,” Vatutin told Match TV.
Watch live broadcasts of VTB United League matches on the television channels of the Match holding company, as well as on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.
Source: Sportbox
I am a sports journalist who has been writing for a news website since 2015. My work primarily focuses on sports news, but I have also written about other topics such as technology and the arts. I have an extensive background in journalism, having worked as a reporter for a local newspaper before moving to a news website.
President of the Zaporozhye Regional Basketball Federation Valery Elkinson Summarized the results of the first part of the season for BC Zaporozhye.
– Valery, at the beginning of the season you made predictions about BC Zaporozhye’s performance in the Super League and the Ukrainian Cup. The second round is already underway. Are you happy with the results?
– Yes, I am satisfied. Many experts predicted that we would be ninth or tenth, but we need work, system and team for the result. We have a very small staff: club president Viktor Stelmakov, chief accountant Tatyana Kozachenko and media director Roman Polyachenko. These people have been working for the benefit of Zaporizhzhya basketball for years, and thanks to this, we achieved the current result.
– Which matches did you like the most? Where did the team perform at its best?
– First of all, both matches will be played against Kharkov Falcons. Unfortunately, we lost the first match in overtime and won the second match by one point. These are important matches as the opponent’s head coach is our former mentor Valery Plekhanov. The matches were quite challenging and interesting.
– What about the matches against Dnepr?
– “Dnepr” is the leader of the championship today and so far it is difficult for us to fight with them. Our main duty now is to protect basketball in such difficult times. We plan to compete for medals in the future as well. We have a common dream with the city and regional authorities: to return the European Cup of basketball to Zaporozhye.
– How do you evaluate the role of American legionnaires in BC Zaporozhye?
– The team has a very good microclimate, foreign players are very well integrated into the team. They are the leaders of the team today. At the same time, you must understand that times are difficult and communicating with strangers in such conditions is a particular challenge. But despite all the difficulties, the team works in unity and produces results.
Captain Anton Buts plays a big role; He is a leader not only on the field, but also in the locker room, helping young people and communicating with foreign players.
– Anton Buts plays a very consistent game. Was he given any special assignments?
– Anton has been in our club for many years and is playing better every season. He has a strong character and he shows it in his matches. He manages the team; This is very important.
– How do young people express themselves?
– We are satisfied. Ilya Lishchina is our student who returned home after studying on the Dnieper. Vyacheslav Kiktev is a hardworking player, although there are some difficulties. We also signed another student, Alexander Petrenko, which allowed us to expand our squad.
– Where is it more difficult to play; In the Super League or the Ukrainian Cup?
– These are different tournaments. It is a cup elimination match. For years we had no luck in the draw; We reached Dnepr early. This year the draw was more favorable and for the first time in ten years BC Zaporozhye advanced to the Final Four. In the cup, everything is decided by a single match, while in the championship, the distance is longer.
– How do you evaluate the work of head coach Dmitry Shchiglinsky?
– Dmitry actively participated in the formation of the team, has his own vision of the game and tactics. We can say that he did the right thing with the choice of actors, including foreign actors. We try to create conditions where the team can work safely despite all the difficulties.
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.
Krasnodar Lokomotiv-Kuban defeated Saratov Avtodor in a home match of the VTB United League regular season.
The meeting ended with a score of 88:65 (19:17, 29:16, 22:20, 18:12). At Avtodor, Alen Hadzhibegovic from Avtodor scored a double-double (26 points and 17 rebounds). For Krasnodar, Jeremiah Martin scored the most points – 25.
Lokomotiv-Kuban (12 wins and 6 losses) is third in the standings, Avtodor (4–15) is 10th.
Watch live broadcasts of VTB United League matches on the television channels of the Match holding company, as well as on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.
Source: Sportbox
I am a sports journalist who has been writing for a news website since 2015. My work primarily focuses on sports news, but I have also written about other topics such as technology and the arts. I have an extensive background in journalism, having worked as a reporter for a local newspaper before moving to a news website.
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