Euro League
Fal, the animal center that makes the difference at Olympiakos
The clever Mustafa Fal became irreplaceable at Olympiacos, he has been in the care of coach Bartzokas and Giannis Fileris for three years
The new agreement between Olympiacos and Mustafa Fal makes the French center a permanent resident in Glyfada until the summer of 2025. The contract extension was… barbaric and lasted three years, which means that the great basketball player is at the end of his career Greece has to complete a period of four years. He’s never been on a team for so long. With the exception of Poitiers where he started and played for three years, he stayed a year at all the other clubs he has played at.
Exactly then, in the advertising clip for the contract extension with the “red and white” OEM, he started speaking Greek. In a short time he will have learned farce. In the stadium, the “Crocodile”, as George Printezis christened it, or “Mous”, as his friends call him, has no problem communicating anyway.
If Olympiacos was looking for a great man who would be both a scarecrow and a creator and a major influence on his game, Fal was the first lottery number, although his acquisition was not based on an expectation “that my lottery would fall”. It was purposeful and well thought out considering George Bartzokas and his collaborators have had Fal on their radar for three years now.
In the summer of 2018, he was being mooted for a position in Khimki, with Fal eventually wearing Lokomotiv Kuban’s jersey. It is said that Bartzokas made a turn and chose a 218cm body as he used to play with shorter centers. The truth is that Bartzokas likes fast highs, regardless of size. And in addition to his animal body, Fal is also known for his speed.
But who would have expected that with the changes in the screens, the tall Frenchman would be unbeatable in defense and rise to three points to miss the opposition? At the same time having the ability to follow him to the layup, essentially negating the advantage that the nearest opponent has over the larger one in these instances. These skills were greatly appreciated by the Piraeus technical staff.
What Fal is, Olympiacos found out in last summer’s friendlies, but also in the two games of the 2020-21 EuroLeague. So, when the question of acquiring a center arose in the summer and Fal was available, the flirtation ended in marriage three years ago. The big gap that existed within the Olympic racquet last year, especially in front of bigger bodies than Hassan Martin, has been filled with the above.
The “5” position became a reference point of this year’s Olympics, as Fal is one of the team’s most influential players in defense and attack. You don’t have to analyze the stats to understand why. It can also be seen with the naked eye inside the stadium.
Defensive support from the few, whether it’s fear of volume near the basket or because his massive body moves quickly during changes, causes the opposing attacker a constant headache. See the “red-white” center opponents shoot in the graphic, according to Instantscout.com
The low percentage of his opponents when they shoot for three points (5/23) shows his unique ability for a player of his size, which made Olympiacos’ good defense even better. It’s not wrong to say that his defense off the basket is better than at the post.
And in attack, however, the role of Fal is crucial. His teammates will be looking for him from the first moment, either to “support” the opponent high, play a pick and roll or create the conditions for a free kick.
He only threatens close to the basket if he misses the shot, but he has an instinct to pass to either the player moving off the ball and cutting to the racquet, or those set for a three-pointer. In a total of 41 games of the Euroleague and the Greek championship, Fal plays an average of 21:16 minutes, scores 8.4 pence (67.9% d, 63.4% b), gets 5 pence and still has 1.2 assists, 0.4 kg, 1.2 l and 1.1 blocks.
Fal finishes the stages very well in cooperation with his teammates. Best is Tyler Dorsey with 6/6, followed by Costas Sloukas with 6/7, Thomas Wookup and Sakil McKissick with 3/3 and Costas Papanikolaou with 3/4. By the Instant Scout’s measurements, the very large center completed 92% of the clutch plays he attempted. That is, reset the shots (mostly nails) with the timer. He was usually preceded by a very nice performance by his teammate and some kind of “pass put”. That number is his best, after 98% in post-up.
Above all, Olympiakos appreciates his cleverness on the pitch. The perception of the game, his quick adaptation and character outside the four lines immediately made him an important member of the team and very popular with Greeks and foreigners alike. Having another Frenchman like Livio Jean Charles made it easier for him to join SEF, while being immediately ‘connected’ and in very good company with Hassan Martin.
He says he’s very happy with what he scored at Olympiacos, he really likes life in Glyfada and has decided to accept the good offer from the ‘Red-Whites’ who knew they would be happy with his performance should be making rapid progress in the EuroLeague this year before other suitors emerge. The offer of the Angelopoulos was so great that Fal not only could not refuse, but also anchored for four years.
Hi, my name is Jayden James. I am a writer at Sportish, and I mostly cover sports news. I have been writing since high school and have been published in various magazines and newspapers. I also write book reviews for a website. In my free time, I enjoy playing soccer and basketball.
Mustafa Fal has delivered a monstrous performance in international matches and Vassilis Skoundis is tackling the problem, inevitably involving the first teacher of the art, Panagiotis Fassoulas.
“The gypsy saw his generation and his heart rejoiced,” says a proverb whose meaning fits the occasion… I mean, the occasion of Fal seeing the other Fal opposite him and enjoying him normally and in accordance with the law!
Let the necessary recommendations be made…
One of them is Mustafa Fal, who was born in Paris on February 23, 1992, he is French, he plays in his country’s national team, his hat comes from Senegal, he has been looking since he was 2.18. He is in his third season at Olympiacos…
Yusufa and Taco
The other person who competed against him yesterday is Youssoufa Fal, who was born in Dakar on January 12, 1995, is a Senegalese with French nationality, has a height of 2.21 m and is competing in Villerban for the third consecutive time…
There is of course the much wilder Taco Fal, who was also born in Dakar on December 10, 1995, spent three seasons in the NBA, is now sizzling in China and has had his head tickling the feet of God since he was 229 cm tall!
Mustafa, Yusufa and Tako have no relationship or kinship between them: they are synonymous, apart from the coincidence that ensures that they are all three kilometers long!
The triple-double figure in Pylaia
He had attacked the Olympiacos central defender again on the 11th of last month, on the occasion of the triple-double he scored in the game against PAOK in Pylaia, rare in our area, but he wanted to make us laugh for a while as his only goal!
At first he missed Yannis Fileris who treated him properly, but I also have some stitches for his fur!
To say my sin, I laughed and liked Fileris’ pun on… Wrong!
Fasoulas and… Lumidis
In any case, “Pani” was like…Lumidis in the field of coffee roasting, plus he made heads turn with soft nails with his unique and unparalleled skills.
To paraphrase Lumidis’ advertising slogan: in our case it was “Everyone in their own way and Fasoulas in their caps“!
Since the conversation broke out, the experienced PAOK and Olympiacos international center has recorded five triple-doubles with points, rebounds and blocks, which are of course rarer than those that include assists.
He scored the first of these goals on October 15, 1988 (PAOK-Panionios) with 18 points, 18 rebounds and 13 blocks.
Two weeks later he “wrote” the second with 20-18-11 against Apollon Patras, on November 19 he followed the third against Sporting (29-19-15), while in the 1990/91 season he added two more: 18 – 14-10 with Peristeri and 19-12-11 with Iraklis.
Vrankovic’s record and the “wow” with Green
Similar triple feats with plugs have also been achieved by Stojan Vrankovic (who is already the record holder in EuroLeague history with 10 in a Fortitudo Bologna-Cibona Zagreb game) with Panathinaikos, Anthony Cook with PAOK, Mike Smrek with Dafni, PJ Brown with Panionios, Efthymis Renzias with the National Youth Team and Antonis Fotsis with the Greens youth team.
On Friday night in Lyon, Fall broke the bank when he nearly followed in Draymond Green’s footsteps and posted a rare triple-double without scoring in double figures.
He reached the final horn with two points, seven rebounds, seven assists and eight blocks, while the Warriors’ cocky forward did so on February 10, 2017 against the Grizzlies with 11 rebounds, 10 assists, 10 steals and just two points.
From 0.8 to 8
Fal had grabbed 14 rebounds in the game against Red Star while he dished out seven assists in the game against Baskonia, so there is no news here…
The wave was caused by the eight caps, because on the one hand there are a lot of them and on the other hand the so-called do not have a big problem with davtes.
Before the game with Villerban, he had taken 12 shots in 14 games, and suddenly he flashed and thundered from a 0.8 average to eight!
What is the key quality a good blocker should have?
The cap for Moretti, the timing and the caps
Instead of answering, I’ll give the floor to a specialist and expert, none other than Panagiotis Fasoulas, who, among other things, scored the most decisive international match in the history of Olympiacos!
I am referring to the match against Paolo Moretti in the third game of the European Champions Cup playoff series in the 10993/94 season, thanks to which Piraeus qualified for the Final 4 in Tel Aviv.
“Everything is a question of timing“he explained to me when I asked him how he cultivated and developed his art.
“You need to know and understand where, when and how to jump to block the opponent’s shot. In addition to this sense of space and time, speed of movement and long arms also play a role. I did the caps and even covered the ball so we could go straight to attack” explains Fasoulas, who is already drawing the moral lesson of the story…
“Attack requires talent, but defense depends on will.”
The spider web
Last but not least, this desire flowed from the… gums of Fasoula, who went out and trapped his opponents in the spider’s web from which no one could escape.
From his appearance in the early 80s until his retirement in 1999, he reduced defense not only to a science, but to a spectacular spectacle!
Source: sport 24
I am a writer at Sportish, where I mainly cover sports news. I’ve also written for The Guardian and ESPN Brasil, and my work has been featured on NBC Sports, SI.com and more. Before working in journalism, I was an athlete: I played football for Colgate University and competed in the US Open Cross Country Championships.
Matias Lessor received hundreds of interesting messages from friends of Panathinaikos AKTOR about his injury and quickly explained what the situation is.
Matias Lessor’s injury was the only black mark in the game against Armani Milano. For this very reason, the people of Panathinaikos AKTOR didn’t enjoy it as much as they would have liked. At least until they received the results of the sports high school exams.
The day after the game, it became clear that the problem was not serious. However, Matias Lessor explained in detail how he feels after his injury and thanked everyone for their interest.
Matias Lesor’s message in detail:
“Thank you everyone for your lovely messages and your interest. I’m feeling much better. It just hurts, but I’m fine“.
Source: sport 24
I am a writer at Sportish, where I mainly cover sports news. I’ve also written for The Guardian and ESPN Brasil, and my work has been featured on NBC Sports, SI.com and more. Before working in journalism, I was an athlete: I played football for Colgate University and competed in the US Open Cross Country Championships.
End of alert for Matias Lesor at Panathinaikos AKTOR. The French center has a bad back due to the injury and will miss tomorrow’s (December 24th) game against Prometheus in Patras (20:15, ERT3 and LIVE on Sportish), but his tests were clear.
Matias Lesor will play in tomorrow’s (December 24th) away game of Panathinaikos AKTOR against Prometheus (8:15 p.m., 3 a.m. and LIVE from Sportish) on matchday 11 of the Stoiximan Basket League due to the lower back injury he sustained in this game , do not compete Armani Milano. But he escaped the worst.
The French center was tested immediately after the return of the “Greens” from Milan, who were “clean”. In other words, they didn’t show that the bone was broken in the middle – which everyone feared when they saw the Frenchman slaughtered on the ground. But Lesor is still in pain, ruling him out of the game against Prometheus and considered doubtful for next week’s EuroLeague game against Red Star.
With Lesor out, Oleg Balcherovski, Kostas Antetokounmpo and Dinos Mitoglou will fill the center position in the game against Prometheus.
Source: sport 24
I am a writer at Sportish, where I mainly cover sports news. I’ve also written for The Guardian and ESPN Brasil, and my work has been featured on NBC Sports, SI.com and more. Before working in journalism, I was an athlete: I played football for Colgate University and competed in the US Open Cross Country Championships.
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