Basketball
As long as Olympiacos wins, Bartzokas can wait
The victories provide the fertilizer to build the ground and allow Olympiacos to evaluate their squad the way Giorgos Bartzokas wants. Yiannis Fileris writes about the double against Maccabi and the “very SEF” coming next month…
There is no yes, but, no, yes and no for Olympiacos this season. Whether he plays or not, what matters in the end is the result. The victories and defeats. He lost two games in a row while chasing the score.
This time he was chased in Belgrade by the typical home team Maccabi. He withstood all the shocks, achieved the double and is now waiting for the Red Star on Thursday in SEF.
Everything would, of course, be easier, although the “Red-Whites” were not affected by their persistent misfortune in this victorious game, because for a comeback they count on a defeat! That happened yesterday.
Sikma came back to help at either ‘5’ or ‘4’, he had a positive mark (8p, 4p), but was knocked out by Goss, who went to the bench clutching his quadriceps after a nice try and a basket .
Later, midway through the third period, Alec Peters, the leading scorer (again in this game), had fouled three times in a row and received a technical penalty, the game began to smell… of a fumble.
The excellent (strong in the air and full) Olympiakos of the first half, with the help of everyone, very good ball circulation (15 assists) and great accuracy rates (14/21d, 6/13tr), comfortably achieved 51 points and an impressive +15, he had to compete with a team poor rotation and fatigue on the shoulders of their key players.
However, he managed to “screw up” his defense, both the (missing) Lorenzo Brown and Josh Nimbo, pressing hard in the first half and scoring a valuable brace.
Walkup’s basket after Papanikolaou’s offensive rebound was enough to create a 4-point lead at the end of the game, while another “trash” from Brazdeikis after his own second miss gave Kanan the opportunity to seal the victory with two shots for his team.
Olympiacos was under pressure from Maccabi’s defense, which had no choice but to play hard to close the 15-point deficit, having 1/9 three-pointers in the second half but thanks to 18 offensive rebounds, that they were no longer in danger….
The right of the trainer
With Olympiakos struggling but continuing to lose players, the coaches are thinking about the moment when the entire squad will be available to them. Bartzokas said it the other day, his partner Giorgos Bozikas repeated it after the game: Let all the players return and if it turns out that there is a numerical problem, then we will do an addition.
The truth is that they have never had all of them since the beginning of the year. The lack of preparation led to a problematic start in terms of options and solutions as injuries followed one another.
The cry of “let’s get a player” (some wanted two) is constant. But the coaches have their own reasoning.
They want to see the squad in full action and as they drafted it in the summer. As much as fans’ concerns are justified, team members must also be given the right to express their own opinions. And especially for the players we haven’t seen in action yet.
✑ Luke Sikma, for example, was labeled a colossal failure without even competing. The minimal range of his actions on the floor convinced almost everyone to say “no.” Although of course there are only a few minutes of action in his normal position at “4” (even yesterday in the first half he played in place of Fal), the criticism he received was much greater than what he was able to show. However, a complete picture of the blonde American does not exist.
✑ Of course, fitness certificates are not necessary for Shaquille McKissic. It is known that this year’s Olympiakos sorely missed how the American fit into the “red and white” team, how he changed the game and, above all, his vertical attacks.
They are obviously expecting a player who has provided a lot of assists over the past two years and has often made the difference for the “Red and Whites”.
Somehow, Bartzokas and his colleagues are quite cautious about whether they should proceed with extraordinary supplements. After all, there are a lot of question marks. Will someone come in to supplement or will there be a replacement player (who is under contract)? We remind you that the two injured players are currently not playing in the Greek League and it is Brazdeikis who completes the six players.
Therefore, it goes without saying that in order to make a reinforcement decision he would have had to clarify the situation with the readiness of McKissick in particular and the actual assessment of Sikma, who has just (re)entered the rotation. On the other hand, the players’ injury history also plays a role.
The last two on the list, Goss and Milutinov, are among those who have suffered enough from serious or non-serious problems. Everything will count for the final decision, because in addition to the others there is also the … recycling of the wounded, because if there are losses, the others who enter exaggerate with the known result …
Victories in the SEF
However, the fertilizer to build the ground and make this year’s “red and white” building more stable are the victories. With the ‘Hala Pionir’ license and the great win against Maccabi, Olympiacos returns tomorrow to face Yannis Sfeiropoulos’ in-form Red Star. He will need the support of his world and a very big effort on the ground, where losses, injuries and question marks are of course forgotten.
The team has achieved four wins in eight games and would like to return to a positive record and wait for another success from Zalgiris Kaunas next week. In general, the next month – until December 15th – will have a lot of SEF to offer, as Piraeus will play five of the six games in the EuroLeague at home, with only one trip (to Monaco) in between.
Winning the games can increase everyone’s patience to eventually see the entire squad in full action…
Source: sport 24
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.
Six games were played in the NBA regular season on the night of December 28-29.
Toronto hosted Golden State and earned a hard-fought overtime victory.
The Raptors had a better first quarter, during which they broke away from their opponent by 10 points (33:23), but the Warriors leveled this difference quite quickly and by the end of the second quarter they were already +6 – 56:50. However, they were unable to maintain their advantage, at least until the big break when the home team took the lead at 65:64.
In the third quarter, Golden State took the initiative and took the lead by 12 points (95:83), but at the end of the quarter, Toronto made an 8:0 move, reducing the gap to 4 points (96:100). However, the guest team started the fourth quarter better and stayed two or three shots away from their opponents. This continued until the middle of the quarter, and then Toronto slowly began to close the gap, tying the score at 120:120 47 seconds before the siren, thanks to Quickley’s three-pointer. Podzemski then hit a two-pointer to put the Warriors back in front, but Barnes responded with a two-pointer with 24 seconds left in the quarter, sending the game into overtime. The home team started the match with a score of 10:0 and then calmly maintained its advantage with a score of 141:127 and scored 5 points in 5 minutes.
Barnes recorded a triple-double with 23 points, 25 rebounds and 10 assists for Toronto. The most productive player of the match was Curry, but the 39 points he scored did not help the guest team win.
The Clippers hosted Detroit and won a sensational victory.
The home team was ahead by 19 points (33:14) in the first quarter, and then remained ahead throughout the entire match, reaching its maximum advantage of 26 points (95:69) at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Before the end of the game, the opponent regained half of this handicap, but this did not help the Pistons fully return to the game. As a result, the Clippers earned a landslide victory with a score of 112:99.
The most productive player of the match was Leonard, who achieved a double-double by scoring 55 points and collecting 11 rebounds, which was almost half of the Clippers’ entire set.
The Lakers defeated Sacramento after a series of underachievement.
Özernye, who took the initiative from the beginning of the game, gradually increased his advantage, won all quarters of the match and was defeated with a score of 125:101.
For the Lakers, Doncic scored 34 points and Ayton had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
NBA. Regular season, December 29
Toronto – Golden State – 141:127 Overtime (33:29, 32:35, 31:36, 26:22, 19:5)
toronto: Quickley (27 + 7 assists + 5 turnovers), Ingram (26 + 6 assists), Barnes (23 + 25 rebounds + 10 assists), Barrett (12 + 7 rebounds), Agbaji (10) – start; Walter (18), Mamukelashvili (13), Shed (8 + 8 assists), Dick (4), Temple (0), Bettle (0), Mobo (0).
Golden State: Curry (39), Dr. Green (21 + 7 assists), Butler (19), Pist (8), Moody (3) – start; Podzemski (13), Richard (10 + 7 rebounds + 5 steals), Horford (7 + 7 rebounds), Payton II (4), Hield (3).
Clippers – Detroit – 112:99 (33:20, 27:22, 32:27, 20:30)
cutting machines: Leonard (55 + 11 rebounds + 5 steals), Harden (28 + 7 assists), Batum (12), B. Lopez (7 + 7 rebounds), Dunn (5) – start; D. Jones (3), Niederhauser (2), Miller (0), Sanders (0).
of Detroit: Cunningham (27 + 9 assists), Düren (18 + 14 rebounds), Harris (6), Thompson (6), D. Robinson (5) – start; Ivey (11), Stewart (8), Green (7), LeVert (4), Holland (4), Reed (3), Jenkins (0).
Lakers-Sacramento-125:101 (30:24, 38:29, 31:27, 26:21)
Lakers: Doncic (34 + 7 assists + 5 turnovers), James (24), Hachimura (12), Ayton (11 + 11 rebounds), Smart (0) – start; Smith (21), Larevia (11), Vanderbilt (5), Knecht (3), Thiero (2), Kleber (2), James Jr. (0), Timmy (0).
sacramento: DeRozan (22), Reynaud (16 + 10 rebounds), Westbrook (13 + 6 turnovers), Achiuwa (5), Ellis (2) – start; Schroeder (11 + 7 assists), Monk (11), Clifford (11), Cardwell (7 + 7 rebounds), McDermott (3).
Oklahoma – Philadelphia – 129:104 (32:29, 32:33, 38:24, 27:18)
Oklahoma: Holmgren (29 + 9 rebounds + 4 blocks + 6 turnovers), Gilgeous-Alexander (27), Jaylen Williams (14 + 6 assists), Hartenstein (5), Dort (3) – start; Wiggins (15), Mitchell (13), Wallace (9), Caruso (7), Carlson (4), K. Williams (3), Joe (0), Youngblood (0).
Philadelphia: Maxey (28), George (12), Edgecombe (10), Drummond (4), Barlow (2) – start; Grimes (13), Edwards (12), Bona (11 + 8 rebounds + 4 blocks), McCain (10), Walker (2).
Washington – Memphis – 116:112 (25:27, 35:32, 24:29, 32:24)
washington: Sarr (20 + 9 rebounds + 6 blocks), McCollum (16), Johnson (14), Coulibaly (14 + 8 rebounds), Middleton (10) – start; Bagley (14 + 7 rebounds), Carrington (12 + 7 assists + 8 turnovers), Champigne (10 + 12 rebounds), Brenham (6), Watkins (0), Riley (0).
Memphis: Jaren Jackson (31 + 8 rebounds + 4 blocks), Morant (21 + 7 assists), Aldama (14 + 10 rebounds + 5 steals), Coward (11), Wells (11 + 7 rebounds) – start; Spencer (8 + 7 assists), Jackson (5), Caldwell-Pope (4), Koloko (4 + 7 rebounds), Prosper (3).
Portland – Boston – 114:108 (31:30, 24:33, 31:22, 28:23)
Portland: Sharpe (26), Avdija (24 + 7 rebounds + 10 assists + 5 turnovers), Kamara (20), Clingan (18 + 18 rebounds), Murray (5) – start; Love (18 + 5 losses), Yang Hansen (3), Rooper (0), Sissoko (0).
Boston: Brown (37 + 7 rebounds + 6 turnovers), White (12 + 5 steals), Queta (11 + 8 rebounds), Pritchard (9), Walsh (5) – start; Simons (13), Gonzalez (13), Garza (5), Houser (3), Scheierman (0).
tournament tables
Western Conference
Eastern Conference
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.
Every day at 9 am, Ukrainians commemorate the people who lost their lives in the Russia-Ukraine war. Today Sport.ua pays tribute to the outstanding Ukrainian basketball player of two EuroBaskets participants, Viktor Kobzisty, who was killed exactly two years ago, on December 29, 2023, supposedly by a Russian missile deep in the lines in Lviv. The man will remain 44 years old forever.
The legend of “Budivelnik”
Viktor Kobzisty was born on March 7, 1979 in Kremenchug, Poltava region. As a child, Victor played hockey and football. I quit football before because I was too high for this game. Later, Kobzisty quit hockey and focused on basketball. Victor, who studied at Kremenchug children’s and youth school No. 2, was considered one of the most talented players of his age in Ukraine.
After graduating from nine secondary school classes, Kobzisty entered the Kremenchug Pedagogical School named after Makarenko and in 1995, at the age of 16, he became a player of Kremenchug Neftekhim, where he made his debut in professional competitions. In 1996, Victor moved to Russian Samara, where he played only in the second team. Due to the fact that the club management rejected the offer to accept Russian citizenship.
In 1999, Kobzisty returned to Ukraine and signed a contract with CSKA Kiev, with which he became the silver medalist of the championship and the winner of the national cup in his first season. The army team finished the next championship in third place, after which Kobzisty moved to the ranks of Mariupol Azovmash.
In 2001, Victor tried playing abroad again – he went to Bulgaria, where he spent a season as a member of Yambolgazy. In the same year, Kobzisty played in the EuroBasket final as part of the Ukrainian national team.
Victor returned to Ukraine in 2002 and immediately became the leader of the Kyiv Budivelnik in the broadest sense. The legendary club was going through difficult times at that time, but the young people gathered in the team led by Kobzisty showed incredible thirst and attracted the attention of the fans with their fighting character. Victor spent four brilliant seasons with the Kyiv team.
And although “Budivelnik” was not among the leaders at that time, Kobzisty regularly received calls from the Ukrainian national teams. In particular, he played with the national team in the second EuroBasket of his career in 2005 and with the student team in two World Universiades. In 2005, Ukrainians won the silver medal, for which Kobzisty received the title of international master of sports. In 2006, Victor moved to Dnepr, but in 2008 he returned to Budivelnik and with him became the champion of Ukraine for the first time in 2011, after which he ended his playing career.
Coaching activities
Completing his performances, Kobzisty became assistant head coach of Budivelnik in 2011 and worked as an assistant to Josep Berrocal, Zvezdan Mitrovic and Ainars Bagatskis until 2014. Later, Victor took over as head of Dnepr-Azot from Kamensky, with whom he worked for a year.
In 2015, Kobzisty became president of Kremen from his hometown Kremenchug, and in 2017-2018 he played several matches for the club’s second team in the first division. He held this position until 2020 and also served as president of the club’s children and youth sports school.
In 2021, Victor was invited to work at the Lviv City Basketball Federation, and from 2023 he worked as the head coach of the women’s club Dynamo from Kiev, which plays in the Ukrainian Super League.
Death
Viktor Kobzisty also came to Lviv at the end of 2023 on basketball-related matters. He rented an apartment on Gnat Khotkevich Street in the Sykhov residential area. And it was this house that was hit by a Russian missile on December 29. One person died then. Victor Kobzisty.
Victor was buried in his hometown of Kremenchug on January 2, 2024. The funeral took place in St. Nicholas Cathedral, and the basketball player found eternal peace at the Svishtovsky cemetery.
Family
Victor and his wife raised two children. One of the sons, Alexander, now 22, followed in his father’s footsteps and is now also a basketball player. He played on Ukraine’s youth and junior national teams, made his national team debut, and currently plays for the University of Oregon team in the NCAA.
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 Toronto Raptors beat the Golden State Warriors in a home game of the NBA regular season.
The meeting in Toronto ended with a score of 141:127 OT (33:29, 32:35, 31:36, 26:21, 19:5).
Toronto small forward Scotty Barnes spent more than 42 minutes on the floor and scored a triple-double: 23 points, 10 assists and 25 rebounds.
Golden State guard Stephen Curry scored 39 points.
Toronto (19 wins/14 losses) ranks fourth in the Eastern Conference. Golden State (16/16) is in eighth position in the West.
Results of other matches of the game day:
Oklahoma City Thunder – Philadelphia 76ers – 129:104
Washington Wizards – Memphis Grizzlies – 116:112
Portland Trail Blazers – Boston Celtics – 114:108
Los Angeles Clippers – Detroit Pistons – 112:99
Los Angeles Lakers – Sacramento Kings – 125:101
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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