Basketball: domestic leagues

[Archer]

Fenerbahçe has signed Uros Tripkovic and Shelden Williams.

 

[Milos-BC]

^^ Tripkovic is an amazing player and it will certainly be a reinforcement I don't in what kind of shooting form he is right now, but a couple of years ago when he was still in Partizan, he could hardly miss. One of the best shooters our club created in the last 10 years certainly.

 

[Milos-BC]

Oh and btw, this is a great text about our club from the Euroleague website

No doubt here, it's Pionir

Imagine that you could attend in person only one more basketball game in your lifetime. How would you choose?

A single-game championship final? That's certainly a good bet. But I would probably reserve that choice for 2032 in Istanbul, considering that city's title-game history of last-second title-winning shots 20 years apart. (See: Sasha Djordjevic, Partizan 1992 Djordjevic triple final 92 contra la Penya - YouTube and Giorgos Printezis, Olympiacos 2012 Euroleague Basketball)

If the choice was a whole day of basketball, and not just one game, I would go to a semifinals double-header of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four, the Olympic Games, the World Championships or the NCAA tournament - in that order of preference. For a true basketball junkie, there is nothing like the electricity and tension of back-to-back semifinals, with four teams playing for the chance to become champions.

But we are talking about one game only. Your last one in person, packed in with other fans, feeling the drama as you can only with thousands of like-minded basketball lovers shoulder-to-shoulder with you.

You might argue for a playoffs final series, but what game would you choose? Game 7s are not something you can put on your schedule, nor Game 5s or 6s. Game 4 of a sweep? There's no drama in a sweep. And since the potential for drama is a major factor in choosing your last basketball ticket, let's not even talk about something like all-star games.

But even if you decided to choose a playoff game or single-game final as your last, where would it be? Also difficult.

I have been to games at most of the cathedrals of basketball on both sides of the Atlantic. It's great to see a game in any of them. Nowhere, however, will you be assured beforehand of a great game.

Now, imagine if there was one place where you could be guaranteed a great basketball experience, whether or not the game fulfilled the drama criteria.

The place that guarantees a great basketball experience is Pionir Arena in Belgrade. And the circumstance that could make it unforgettable is a visit to Pionir by one of the Euroleague superpowers. On those game nights, hours before tipoff, Belgrade buzzes with anticipation. The singing starts on the way to the game and builds until the choir is 7,000 strong, raising their voices as one. Everybody wears black and white. Nobody sits down. Everybody waves something to show their team pride. And the serenade continues until long after the game ends, win or lose. The Pionior home team, Partizan mt:s Belgrade, has a knack for knocking off the biggest clubs.

Of the 59 games that Partizan has won over the last six Euroleague seasons, 18 have been against teams named Maccabi (5 times), Panathinaikos (4 times), Barcelona, Real Madrid and Caja Laboral (2 times each), Montepaschi, Olympiacos and CSKA (once each).

For three seasons between 2007-08 and 2009-10, Partizan beat two of the eventual Final Four teams from each season!

Without even mentioning that its two Final Four games in 2010 went to overtime with Olympiacos and CSKA, you get the idea that Partizan likes to play the big boys.

Just like there's no guarantee of a Game 7 when a playoff series starts, there is no guarantee that Week 9 of the current regular season, when Barcelona visits Pionir, is going to arrive with dramatic tension. Yes, the great basketball experience is guaranteed. The singing never stops. But not even Partizan fans would expect their team, most of whose players were born in the 1990s, to be a contender every season. Hope so, yes, but expect so, no.

Which is why you would want to catch a big team visiting Pionir now, early in the season, when anything is possible. And if you had to pick an opponent, tonight's Game of the Week visitor, CSKA, is a good one. It has been 10 years since CSKA lost at Pionir, back in 2002-03, on its way to the first of eight Final Fours in a row. CSKA fits the description of the kind of team Pionir loves to beat. And it's been awhile.

And if you had to choose one night, wouldn't it be the night that the pride of Pionir, the coach who orchestrated most of those upsets, Dule Vujosevic, returns to the head of the bench for the Euroleague home opener? Vujosevic more than anyone has gifted Partizan and its fans with the belief that no matter how young the roster, with dedication to basketball and 7,000 sixth men called the grobari, magic can happen under the Pionir roof.

At the start of the season, when anything is possible, where every fan believes in upsets and every seat is great, for a David-and-Goliath matchup like tonight's Game of the Week between Partizan and CSKA... They can take my last ticket at Hala Pionir.

 

[aletem]

MZT won against Split! The better news is that Ales Pipan is going to be the new coach of the Macedonian basketball team!! Let's see how that will pay-off. He said that on all games the team will go for a victory (a winning attitude ), but he also said that it is a very difficult group and all games will be equally tough.

 

[Milos-BC]

It would be epic if you manage to beat that state project tomorrow as well It will be hard, but if they underestimate you.....

They have signed Samardziski yesterday. Now they have 4 centers in rotation (Katic, Savovic, Brown and Samardziski). I don't know if he will make his debut for them tomorrow....

 

[aletem]

Samardziski is not making a debut tomorrow, thankfully!

 

[Milos-BC]

Time to raise the topic from the dead

In 6 days, F4 of the ABA league will take place

The pairs are:

1. Crvena Zvezda Telekom - Radnički Kragujevac

and

2. Igokea - Partizan



Even though we didn't have a brilliant performance in the regular part of the league, we are in a top form currently and I believe we can win the trophy in the end! Igokea has shown that they are the best club in the region and it will not be easy, especially since F4 is hosted by them, but I am very confident in our victory.

As for the first match, even though Crvena Zvezda and Radnički invested a lot of money into their rosters, both of them are in a terrible shape currently and they are losing from all sorts of teams in the Serbian league atm . Zvezda has a better team, and I believe that they are closer to the final, but if at least two players of Radnički start scoring a lot of 3 p shots (and this is the basic concept of their play actually), if Ćapin and Terrico White get crazy on the field, anything can happen. Radnički will also be straightened by the return of Brian Amening to the team.

 

[Milos-BC]

We defeated Igokea in the semi-final, and as Crvena Zvezda defeated Radnički , we are playing against them in the final of ABA League in 30 minutes

Some details from the match with Igokea:

We were a bit nervous but that is normal for a match like this. Also, thanks to the great defense of Igokea we had a lot of problems in the racket, so we had to rely on the shooting abilities of our backs (like Bertans). A huge and important victory, and now in the final I believe we will give our best to win the trophy

We are in a better form than Crvena Zvezda, we have a better coach and we play much better defense, and also we improved a lot as a team, while they have a long bench and a good number of experienced players. The chances are 50:50.

I hope for the best It is already a huge success to eliminate the most dominant team in the regular part of the league on the field with a young team like ours and secure the Euroleague with it. If we manage to win tonight, it will be even a bigger success

 

[Milos-BC]

Champions title of ABA league for Partizan

Black and white domination xhbangxhbangxhbang

 

[Milos-BC]

Today, the play-offs of the league have started.

The first semi-final duel is: Partizan - Vojvodina

The second one: Crvena Zvezda - Mega Vizura


I expect an easy job with Vojvodina, and if we play like we should, everything will be solved in two matches.

 

[Milos-BC]

With this evening's duel between MZT Skoplje and Olimpija Ljubljana (and where MZT nailed Olimpija), a new season of regional ABA League as begun! I couldn't wait honestly


Partizan will play in the first round against the biggest positive surprise of last season - Igokea . Igokea changed the roster quite a lot compared to last season, but they have the same coach and I am sure that the physiology of their play will stay the same and that is an accent on aggressive defense that brings a lot of points in the transition and the counter-attacks. It will not be easy to beat them, especially because it is the first match and first matches are always the hardest ones in both tactical and psychological way, but anyway, we know our goals and that is a victory in every duel.

We have a stronger and more experienced team than last season and may this duel with Igokea be an announcement of another successful season for our basketball club

 

[aletem]

MZT won over Buducnost with 78:71 and they broke the basketball walls of Montenegro. This is good, considering the shameful defeat against Szolnok away in the second round!

 

[Scooby]

I am thinking that MZT can make great result on this season, they have much better team than last year. For me MZT is dark horse. And of course the biggest favourites for title are Partizan, Zvezda and Cedevita.

Can't believe that Olimpija is soooooo desperate on the start of the season

 

[Milos-BC]

I also think that MZT is a potential surprise of the ABA league and I see them as dark horses. They have a great team and also a great coach (Vlada Vukoicic). The results so far show that this season of ABA League will be very equal as only Cedevita has 100% victory record so far.

And after winning the first matches against Igokea and Mega Vizura in a great and confident way we lost from Krka in It is interesting to note that we never beated Krka there. Actually, only once, last year, but in a very hard way. Generally, I am not disappointed because of the loss, but the approach was very weak and that is unacceptable for a club like Partizan. We looked like a team with no concept at all, and there was no agression on the field + no desire to win. I don't know what was the problem but it musn't repeat again. We can't let a team that is very deficit in rebounds to control them during the whole match and outplay us in this segment.


Tomorrow we will face Barcelona in Spain in the Euroleague and I expect a better approach there just like in the next round against Zadar. And then we have another tough match where we will play as guests against.........MZT Skoplje

 

[Milos-BC]

Partizan beated Zadar with 80:65 last week! Total control of the match and a great and aggressive defense that is Dule's trademark gave us the situation to beat Zadar much easier than I expected, as the matches of these two teams have always been tough and tight regardless of where they are played.


Today we are playing in against a very tough rival and it will be hard to get a victory, but Partizan's goal is to win every match no matter who is on the other side. I expect a great atmosphere made by the MZT fans and a terrain where it will not be easy to play. Hopefully the players will not fly too high after our demolition of Nanterre with +30 two days ago and that they can repeat the same approach from the Pionir hall.

We must stop MZT's strongest weapon - shot for 3 points and maintain the control in the rebounds. Aggresive defense and control of the rhythm are the key to victory against MZT Skoplje today.