Basketball
BAGATSKIS: We’ve had our ups and downs against Italy
Head coach of the Ukrainian national team Ainars Bagatskiler In the post-match press conference, he commented on the team’s defeat against Italy in the 2023 World Cup qualifiers (75:85):
“First of all I want to say that I enjoyed the game. I had the best position on the field. The room was for Italy of course, but I enjoyed the atmosphere on the site.
As I said before the match, the most important thing is the desire to fight for 40 minutes. We played against Italy twice in the summer and played 16 minutes of quality basketball in the games we played against them. We’ve had our ups and downs today. When we played well, when we didn’t make hasty decisions, when we forced Italy to play halfway down the pitch, everything worked out for us. But on offense, we lost focus in some cases. The Italians immediately punished us in the fast attacks and turned our losses into points. This is the key point. Sometimes the most important thing is not to lose the ball and sometimes the best pass is a shot where you have to get back to the defense.
I have lived in Ukraine for 7 years and I feel like a Ukrainian. But I can’t feel what Ukrainian players think about the war. The Italian fans really supported us today and it was a special feeling. But that was before the match and there are no friends in the match. Anyway, thank you so much for supporting Ukraine.
I enjoy working with these guys. As for my contract, I don’t want to say anything in advance. There has been a generational change during my time with the Ukrainian national team. We will have the final say in the match against the Netherlands in Riga and then we can talk about the contract situation.
From the first day in the Ukrainian national team, my idea was to attract new players, young players, young talents. Whenever we had the opportunity to train in the summer, we added new basketball players to the roster. All of the best Ukrainian basketball players, including debutant Oleksandr Kovlyar, were in the game and got playing time. He has a bright future in the national team with his work attitude. Another actor I want to work with is Maksim Shulga. He’s currently playing in America and he’s next. So there are talents and I think basketball in Ukraine is constantly advancing. We must win the war and keep moving forward.”
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
OFFICIALLY. Falcons return to Super League club on loan
“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.
Basketball
NBA changes betting policy amid scandals
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.
NBA
NBA: Utah and Mikhailiuk created a sensation, Antetokounmpo’s brilliant return
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.
-
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
