Basketball
Bartzokas: “Papanikolau sacrificed himself and committed himself to playing, we are looking for one or two players”
Giorgos Bartzokas praised Kostas Papanikolaou, who played with a back problem in the game against Red Star, and again admitted that Olympiacos are in the market and looking for a player.
Kostas Papanikolaou played in the game against Red Star with a back problem, Giorgos Bartzokas revealed at the press conference after the final of the game at SEF. The Olympiakos coach admitted that he is paying attention to the players, especially after Nigel Williams-Goss’ injury, but explained his reasons for the red-and-whites’ possible transfer reinforcements.
In detail what Giorgos Bartzokas said:
“Congratulations to the players and the audience, it was a great atmosphere as always. We finished the double week with two wins. Don’t underestimate victory. We lost here against Baskonia and you saw that they beat Barcelona comfortably afterwards. Anyone can beat anyone. Even in the away game against Maccabi we were up by 15 in the first half and lost Williams-Goss and Peters, we won with a little rotation. We were criticized for not playing well. I don’t know exactly what some of us expect.
We’re talking about the EuroLeague. Anyone who understands basketball knows how difficult every game is. Red Star, you’ve seen how powerful it is. We were up by 15, we had some loose decisions, some bad decisions. They gave us 10 points in three attacks. We have to value every win in this competition, especially now when we are missing a lot of players. I would like to congratulate Yannis Sfeiropoulos. I believe they have their best squad yet and are strong playoff contenders.
Thanks to Kostas Papanikolaou, he had a fantastic game despite an injection in the middle. It hurts. He was really in doubt tonight, he gave it his all and played a key role in the result. I don’t usually talk about individual achievements, but this is more than that: he sacrificed himself for the team.
We will not sign a player under the pressure of public opinion because if we have doubts we will not make a move because it will not work for him or for us. Take a look at the “super reinforcements” that exist. It’s all the teams in the market, half of them certainly because they’re struggling. We don’t think a player can give us anything straight away. Yes, we are in the market and looking at players because the Williams-Goss injury is also important. On the other hand, McKissick is coming on Monday, Milutinov is coming on Monday, Sikma is back and we are plus three players. I repeat, we are in the market and will do something if it really helps us.”
It worries me that we are playing in red. I’ll say it again: we started the World Cup with seven players, which is not an easy process. These players will certainly change over the course of the year, it happens to other teams too. Fenerbahce lost three players and lost three in a row. We decided on a smaller squad. You really have to have more players to be successful, as practice shows. We are in the market, but what is slowly happening? Many foreigners are excluded from the league. That is fatal.
They say that we are missing the simple result, that we are missing the leader. I would like you to suggest to me who is the one who brings these scrolls. Every game is like a playoff game. The chemistry of the teams, the locker room, the calm will lead to a result that is important in the long term. We will work professionally and emotionally, if we can, we will get one or two more and do our best. There has to be trust after what has happened in the last 2-3 years. It is the right of the world to believe that we have done something wrong, but it does not affect us.
We can also make two additions if the players match and have elements that the other players don’t have. It is possible that we will rely on a squad with 10 foreign players. We are speaking to players’ representatives. We want to give our players rest, not challenge them. I didn’t think Vezenkov would leave after an MVP year. The market at number four doesn’t have many good players. We insist on a core, every second-year player improves. Peters and Canaan are better this year. They know things better, that’s why it’s difficult for me to sign a player and he plays well. Only at Olympia Larissa did I bring a player with me and he scored 28 points in the first game. And Shaquille McKissick
Every year is different. We lost the best player in Europe, the ones we brought in are very good. If you assume that they will fly from the beginning of the year, that is not possible.”
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.
“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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