Mega Leks - KK Partizan 80:87 (ABA Liga, round 24)

The team is still like a landscape after battle. 6 (six) players as well as head coach Aleksandar Džikić are still in pieces. The management had a press release today explaining that the players/coach staff are suffering from salmonella infection, many of them had to get hospital treatment and God knows when they’ll be strong and healthy again.
Nevertheless the beginning of the game against Mega Leks wasn’t that bad. We were leading to 2:5, Mega equalized (5:5), the overly strict referees whistled a lot of fouls for both teams. (Less than a minute passed, but Jaramaz already had two fouls...) Mega took the lead for a while (7:5), but it meant no headache for us to jump to 7:12.

We kept our advantage. It wasn’t too big (15:20), but we kept it. For the end of the quarter Mega approached us, even equalized (24:24), but Birčević took back the lead with a buzzer-beater (24:26).

Stefan Pot during the game

We marched through the second quarter and we played quite well. There was only one hiccup, when Mega took the lead again (34:33), but we took it back quickly (34:36) with a great Pot-Majstorović teamwork. There was one thing though that was problematic, Mega made a lot of turnovers/steals. They followed the "player vs. player"-tactics, every Partizan-player got his "escort" in pink jersey. It actually worked for the home team, though for our great luck they missed out most of their attempts. We were leading, we could make it to 39:45, the first half ended with 43:47.

Andrić made an extraordinary job

The third quarter brought some struggling. We were leading, but at this point we did miss those players who were on sick leave. Mega missed out their chances over and over again, while we kept our advantage. We didn’t make it beautiful or spectacular, but all our players put their hearts out to the court. This was what mattered. Nothing else. The quarter ended with 62:68, with Mega scoring a buzzer-beater.

Vrabac also had an excellent performance

We had an amazing start in the last quarter. We almost made our advantage to 10 points (64:73), which changed to 68:75. This again changed to 75:75 while Mega still couldn’t score one single 3-pointer. They took the lead though (77:75), but it didn’t last long again, because Pot equalized, then Birčević took it back for us (77:79). Rebić from Mega was fouled out, we were leading (77:82), the home team seemed to be more and more tensed, so they missed out even more attempts. We reached the 10-point-difference for the end of the game (77:87), and less than a minute was left when Mega finally scored a 3-pointer. Just in time. (80:87)

Mega Leks: Rebić (2), Jaramaz (8), Spasojević (5), Glogovac, Kaba (18), Zagorac (16), Simeunović, Tejić (2), Novak (14), Kapetanović, Marelja (15), Samardžiski

KK Partizan: Robinson (3), Vrabac (12), Tanasković, Veličković, Majstorović (8), Birčević (20), Andrić (20), Pot (15), Gordon, Luković (9)

Highlights:

Current championship standings:
1. CZ 47 points
2. Cedevita 42 points
3. Partizan 42 points
4. Budućnost 41 points
5. Igokea 36 points
6. Cibona 34 points
7. FMP 34 points
8. Union Olimpija 34 points
9. Mega Leks 33 points
10. Karpoš 33 points
11. Mornar Bar 32 points
12. MZT Skopje 32 points
13. Krka 31 points
14. Zadar 30 points

(photos: aba-liga.com)

FK Partizan - Borac 2:1 (superliga, round 23)

Dear everyone,
no beautifying, no cosmetics, no retouch, just the raw honesty: This. Was. One. Fucking. Goddamn. Great. Game.
It was exciting, it had a great pace and most of all, we played very well.
Fans hung this banner before the game supporting Everton after that racist incident. Svi smo mi, Evi - we are all Evi (Everton).

In the first half we controlled the game. Borac got stuck in their half playing bunker football. They crossed the half-line first time around the 13th minute. (But even that didn’t last long.) The first 20 minutes didn’t bring any considerable attempt, "only" very heavy Partizan-domination. Borac sometimes tried with a counter-attack, with no success. Practically all their players tried to make traffic around their penalty area for Partizan-players.
Not as if that would have helped.
In the 26th minute Vulićević crossed from the right. Kosović, who celebrated his 22nd birthday yesterday, arrived at the best time, shot and scored. GOAAALLLL! 1:0

(photo: mozzartsport.com)

Borac tried over and over again with counter-attacks, but they all died off, they didn’t even reach our penalty area. Meanwhile in the 32nd minute Janković had a great solo running up. He shot, the goalkeeper saved.
In the 34th minute we got a penalty kick. Someone among Borac’s players (probably Ignjatijević) pushed Janković down to the ground. The referee immediately whistled it off and pointed at the white spot. Leonardo stood behind the ball...

...and made it perfect. 2:0

Janković again tried with a shot in the 33rd minute, but again the goalkeeper saved it. A minute later after a huge fault of Borac’s defense line Leonardo grabbed the ball, but finally defenders could tackle him.
Borac’s first attempt to mention was in the 41st minute.  After a corner kick (this was Borac’s first corner kick...) Tiago shot, Kljajić saved, then right there Stefan Mihajlović had another shot, Kljajić saved this one as well.

Tawamba was active, if only he could score

In the second half Borac opened and attacked more, played braver, the game become much more open - another thing is that Partizan still controlled the game. There was a penalty-suspicious case in the 54th minute, again Janković was pushed to the ground, but the referee didn’t whistle it off.
In the 60th minute Leonardo dribbled through the penalty area, he shot, the defenders blocked, it ended with a corner-kick. Three minutes later Tawamba got a pass from Leonardo, he made a cannon shot, pity it was too high.
Borac got a penalty kick in the 65th minute. Janković kicked Tiago to the ground inside the penalty area. Stefan Mihajlović stood behind the ball, he scored, 2:1.

Two minutes later Tiago thought to push the limits. He shot, but it was too wide.
We got a free kick in the 73rd minute, about 17-18 metres from the box. Leonardo shot, the goalkeeper had a big save. Nemanja Mihajlović had a great solo in the 77th minute on the left side. He dribbled to the penalty area and passed to Janković, he shot, too high. A minute later again Neca ran up on the left, this time he himself shot, the goalkeeper saved.

Borac had only one attempt, Punoševac had a shot in the 84th minute, it was too high.

Svi kao jedan - All for one

There was a small celebration in the locker room. The team greeted Nebojša Kosović for his birthday -  Kosović scored himself a birthday gift goal, but after the match he got a cake from the Captain.

Facts:

Venue: Partizan Stadion, Belgrade

Number of spectators: 2500

Official: Ilija Brdar (assistants: Svetozar Živin, Jovica Milin - 4th official: Róbert Kis-Csepegi)

FK Partizan: Kljajić, Vulićević, Milenković, Ostojić, Miletić, Kosović, Jevtović, Janković (S. Ilić, 89.), N. Mihajlović (Đuričkovć, 85.), Leonardo, Tawamba (Jovanović, 90.)
Head coach: Marko Nikolić

Borac: Mišić, Ignjatijević, Marković, Drašković, Kostić (Zoćević, 67.), Marčić (Delić, 46.), Marinković, Tiago, S. Mihajlović, Jovanović (Punoševac, 76.), Živanović
Head coach: Mladen Dodić

Goal scorers: Kosović (26.), Leonardo (34. - pen.), S. Mihajlović (65. - pen.)

Yellow card: Marković (55.), Punoševac (90+2.)

Highlights:

League table will be brought tomorrow.

(unmarked photos: partizan.rs)

KK Partizan - PAOK 78:82 (Champions League, play-off, return match)

This is very very painful now. It was just at an arm’s length and we put our souls to the court.
Before the game the team greeted Miša Tumbas, who celebrated his 63rd birthday now.

(photo: mondo.rs)

The football team also came to support the basketball boys.

(photos: sportske.net)

(photo: mondo.rs)

Marko Nikolić got THIS huge welcome.

The atmosphere was fantastic. Fans again chanted together "PAOK-Partizan", the entire sports hall was one giant black-and-white cavalcade.

(photo: basketballcl.com)

Then kickstart...
...and PAOK jumped to 2:11. Then to 6:18. No idea how. It was awful to see.
Then came Andrić and it was 13:18.
Again no idea how. It just happened. There were a few moments at the game like this, that events had a 180-degree turn within the blink of an eye. Nevertheless 8 seconds before the end of the first quarter Veličković adjusted the standing to 16:18, which means an actual 10:0-series by us. It definitely looked much better than 6:18.

Stefan Pot played with these "duct tapes"

(photo: basketballcl.com)

The second quarter was amazing.
For a while.
We equalized (18:18). We took the lead with Pot’s free throw (20:18). There were quite a number of free throws at this point, but independent of them we could maintain our pace (25:20). The Greek team still wanted to have their word, they equalized (27:27), then took back the lead (28:30). PAOK pressured hard, we just tried to find our breath. We constantly lost the ball, Greeks stole it or made turnovers, so that we had almost no chances for any field goal. Our drawback grew to 10 points (30:40), the first half ended with 32:47.

Half of Partizan’s squad struggled with vomitting, diarrhoea and high fever. The other half was still exhausted after last week-end’s cup final. They still fought as much as they could.
Yes. Now you stand up and salute for them.

Mihajlo Andrić, one of the match’s heroes

(photo: mondo.rs)

The third quarter was the toughest. PAOK’s advantage was more than 10 points for the whole time. We struggled with clenched teeth, we fell apart, we played enervated. Here it seemed all was lost and all we could do was to die with chins up. Though Veličković scored a buzzer-beater at the end of the quarter, this was great to see despite all. We faced death the last part with 50:64.
Dear everyone,
What we did in the last quarter... it was unbelievable.
We opened it with Robinson’s 3-pointer (53:64). We started to reduce our difference step by step. The standing was 59:68, here PAOK realized they might have got into trouble if they hadn’t found out something. So they jumped to 59:76. Again it looked so that all is lost. The standing was 63:78, Birčević was knocked out by a PAOK-player, Andrić almost knocked out the Greek one in exchange... A bit more than 1 minute was left, the standing was 70:80, when PAOK’s coach asked for time-out.
Then we returned to the court.
Veličković scored (72:80). 1 minute and 8 seconds are left. Pionir Hall is like an erupting volcano. Greeks attack, but referees whistle it off, offensive foul. It’s our turn. Great battle on the court. Clanton gets fouled out, we get a free throw (73:82). 44 seconds are left, Andrić scores a huge 3-pointer (76:82). The entire hall is on their feet, everyone is shouting on the top of their lungs. Players wrestle for the ball, the referees whistle it off. It’s PAOK’s turn now. But Veličković makes a turnover and scores (78:82). PAOK’s coach again asks for time-out. It’s 3 million degrees Celsius in Pionir Hall. The whole Partizan is one big heart now. 25 seconds are left. Veličković gets fouled out. Only 23 seconds are left. PAOK gets a free throw... and they miss it out! Both!
But time’s up.
We couldn’t make it.
That was all.

Nenad Čanak made a great job not just now, but also last week-end during the cup final, substituting Aleksandar Džikić, who is also struggling with the virus

(photos: hotsport.rs)

KK Partizan: Robinson (7), Ratkovica (2), Vrabac (8), Tanasković, Veličković (19), Majstorović (2), Birčević (11), Andrić (11), Pot (11), Gordon, Luković (7)

PAOK: Chrysikopoulos (2), Koniaris, Tsochlas, Margaritis (12), McFadden (26), Miljenović (2), Glyniadakis (1), Karamanolis, Sibert (16), Papadopoulos, Peniers (15), Clanton (8)

Highlights:

The echoes of the Rad - FK Partizan football game

I still want to throw up after Sunday's Rad - Partizan football game. I've been watching football for decades, I have seen quite a number of scandalous fan atrocities, vulgar yellings and disgusting banners. I know how very primitive football fans can be and sometimes I think there's nothing new under the sky for me.
How wrong I am.
I have to add, I know well that Everton is not an easy person to handle. It happened not just once that he had a fight during games, phyiscally and verbally. But the brutal primitiveness of Rad-fans blew my fuses. Seeing this big, hard-as-rock player coming off the pitch crying was just too much.
The story was picked up by world press. The Sun, Mirror, Deutsche Welle, Welt, Spiegel, BBC, Dutch RTL, O Globo and even Associated Press reported about it, and now everyone is discussing int from Great Britain through Germany, Austria to Brazil, Paraguay and India.
After all these Rad had a totally pointless press release, where they push all the responsibility to Everton, additionally they were freaked out by the "media hype" that surrounds them.
There is only one reasonable answer to this.
Go and fuck yourselves.
Taking responsibility? Disavowal of racism? Or maybe something like "we are sorry for what happened"? No way! Just running away and ostrich policy.
So this means that you at Rad's leadership agree with those racist insults and you are also a bunch of fascist, neo-Nazi asshole, just like those morons at United Force.
(Meanwhile the players of Rad also had a press release. This one is a bit better than the one by the management, because at least they express their apologies and they even disavow from racism, but they still made martyrs of themselves a bit. Their press release is still a thousand times better than the other one shat forced out by the team leadership.)
Partizan also had a press release, the team disavow itself from all sorts of racism and express their support for Everton.
The Serbian Football Association meanwhile locked up Rad's stadium "until further action", so everyone from United Force can go ditching to make themselves useful.

I seriously hope they will get punished so much that they can tell it even to their grandkids.

Solution? I don't know how this situation could be solved. Obviously first and foremost all racist slurs must be punished very seriously, even with jail. Applying judicial circumstances are essential. And certain fan circles must not be allowed to be more equal than anyone else.
Until then we should take care of each other.

The two images that circulated the whole world for now: Everton in tears...

...and Kljajić comforting him.

Crvena Zvezda - KK Partizan 74:64 (Korać Cup, final)

Don’t ask, okay?
Because I don’t know.
In fact I do. I just can’t do anything against it. As long as this system exists, nothing will change.
The first quarter was tough, Zvezda was leading at the beginning, but we still jumped from 12:6 to 12:16. The referee (Belošević, I’ll never ever forget this name, how many times he screwed us in the Serbian league as well as in ABA Liga, my God) whistled foul for such things even here that made my hair raise. Though at this point he fouled both teams more or less equally. He took on his evil face at the end of the game, but more about that later. Zvezda equalized for the end of the first quarter with clenched teeth. 23:23.
We took the lead in the second quarter (23:25, Vrabac) and kept it. It was an exciting, spectacular game, at a point Zvezda took back the lead (33:32) and we started the good old "ping pong game", one basket here, one basket there. There was tension, there was action, the two fan groups yelled vulgar chants to each other. The first half finished with 36:34, but at this point the end was very far.

The third quarter brought a bit more struggle. Zvezda was leading, but only with 1-2 points (42:40). The referee was dancing on the remaining nerves of Partizan (and their fans). It was still a ping-pong game, with a lot of mistakes on both sides and rebounds. At 47:47 Jenkins was fouled out. Zvezda played more and more rough, for some reason they seem to love this player-to-player fight.
Here at the end of the quarter Zvezda made a jump. They could even squeeze out a buzzer-beater 3-pointer at the very end. The standing was 52:47, the game stopped, because Zvezda-fans threw a firecracker that hit someone in the first row.

Certain sports media sites tried to put the blame on Partizan-fans, even if quite a number of photos proved that Zvezda-fans occupied that tribune of the sports hall. It was them, too, who tried to set the hall on fire during the game.
And Sportski žurnal can go and fuck itself.

The fourth quarter was a nightmare.
I really don’t know what happened. Zvezda gathered full speed. They might have licked uranium rods from under the bench, or something. They looked like a team on doping. We blinked twice and they were ahead with 10 (!!!) points. The standing was 57:47 and somehow everything conspired against us. Zvezda, the referees, the fans, even that goddamned ball that just had to rebound every goddamn time. We struggled, it was very hard. Zvezda increased the difference (62:49). The atmosphere was very tensed, the two teams almost got into a fight. Nothing worked, all our attempts rebounded, the referees whistled on us every single foul. At 72:59, when there were less than 2 and a half minutes left, it was clear that all we could do was to die with our chins up.
That was all we could do.

Crvena Zvezda: Wolters, Thompson (15), Mitrović (12), Lazić (1), Dobrić (1), Simonović (18), Rakićević, Jenkins, Gudurić (18), Jović (5), Kuzmić (2), Bjelica (2)

KK Partizan: Ratkovica (2), Vrabac (12), Tanasković, Veličković (9), Majstorović (2), Birčević (11), Andrić (8), Pot (6), Gordon (8), Luković (6)

photos: kss.rs

Rad - FK Partizan 0:1 (superliga, round 22)

It was supposed to be a great day, the football season started after a long winter break, but the joy was destroyed.

First it was painful and sad to see Nikola Drinčić wearing the jersey of Rad. His team is Partizan. Period.
The second one comes later.

Drinčić (16) greets Ostojić after the game

The beginning of the match brought a combative, enjoyable football. Partizan was the brave one, we attacked first - in the 4th minute Miletić crossed from the left, Leonardo pushed it ahead, Đurđević shot, it was too wide. Rad had their first attempt in the 11th minute, which ended with a corner kick. After a big goalmouth scramble our defenders kicked the ball downfield.
The two opponents carefully tried each other, the first really dangerous attempt was in the 13th minute. Rad attacked, the ball dropped to Miletić, who, for some reason (Partizan’s penalty area was abounded with Rad-players) decided to head the ball home. Lukovac was around, he grabbed the dropping ball - and shot it right into Kljajić.
The pace of the game slowed down. Partizan possessed the ball, but we kept on passing it backwards, not as if Rad had any useful idea what to do. Though in the 33rd minute Maraš, a defender of Rad almost scored an own goal - he pushed a Partizan-cross with the head, but he made it in such a twisted way that he almost forwarded it to his own box. Goalkeeper Filipović could touch the ball, but it was merely Rad’s luck that they survived it without an epic fail. Three minutes later Drinčić passed to Radojević, who ran up, shot but it was too high.
The pace of the game definitely slowed down. Partizan kept on passing the ball backwards, Rad didn’t mind it. One minute before the end of the first half Stevanović had one distant shot, but it was just a routine jump for the goalkeeper.

Drinčić and Jevtović

Partizan geared it up in the second half. In the meantime it started to snow in Belgrade, but it didn’t keep Milenković back from making a shoot on target. Nor Leonardo or Stevanović. And then came Uroš Đurđević and decided to take the reins. 55th minute, corner kick for Partizan. Janković made the kick, great goalmouth scramble, the ball dropped to Đurđević, who was standing at the lower right corner of the penalty area. He shot, the ball rolled and dropped through the area among the defenders and landed in the box. 0:1

It was a wake-up call for both teams. In the 59th minute Denić shot from 20 metres, but it was way too wide.
Meanwhile Rad-fans started their own little show. They had a banner with the names of those Partizan-players who used to play for Rad (Đurđević, Kljajić, Mihajlović, Ćirković) and made it clear that for them these players mentioned above are "Rad B".

FYI, idiots: this "Rad B" kicked the shit out of you today.

Partizan-fans had their quick response though, within minutes they were chanting "cigani, cigani".
In the 65th minute Mihajlović had a distant (and too high) shot. Then in the 75th minute Drinčić had a shoot on target after a free kick. Kljajić had a great save (other sources say Drinčić hit the goalpost). Immediate counter-attack by Partizan, Leonardo possessed the ball and sent a long pass to Đurđević. Đurđević ran up, leaving everyone behind him (only one defender was running a few steps behind him), even the goalkeeper ran out of the goalmouth. Đurđević dribbled the goalkeeper and ran ahead all alone towards the empty box. He shot - and hit the goalpost.
In the last 10-15 minutes Rad pressured hard and attacked a lot, they wanted to equalize. They couldn’t.
After the final whistle hell broke loose. Rad-fans had racist insults towards Everton from the beginning of the second half. When the match ended, Everton ran to the tribune with all those from United Force and made them clear what he thinks of them and what they should do with themselves.

Honestly? I have no idea what I would have done if I were Everton. Maybe I would have also told the whole tribune to fuck themselves.
Other than this, those racist Rad-fan idiots can really fuck themselves.

And after all these the referee gave Everton a yellow card, but the toughest was still left. Four Rad-players - Ćulum, Denić, Ljubinković and Maraš - attacked Everton and started to fight with him. It ended in a scuffle, the bench of both teams joined as well, finally the gendarmerie had to redd the two teams. Everton left the pitch in tears.

Highlights:

Facts:

Venue: Stadium Kralj Petar I, Belgrade
Number of spectators: 2000
Official: Srđan Jovanović (assistants: Uroš Stojković, Dragan Bogićević - 4th official: Marko Popović)

Rad: Filipović - Ljubinković, Maraš, Pajović, Radivojević - Drinčić, Ćulum (Dimitrijević, 60.) - Lutovac, Denić, Rodić (Petković, 72.) - Đenić (Milošev, 60.)
Head coach: Nebojša Petrović

FK Partizan: Kljajić - Vulićević, Milenković, Ostojić, Miletić - Janković (Mihajlović, 61.), Everton, Jevtović, Stevanović (S. Ilić, 85.) - Đurđević, Leonardo (Tawamba, 89.)
Head coach: Marko Nikolić

Goal scorer: Đurđević (55.)
Yellow cards: Ostojić (20.), Milenković (57.), Pajović (68.), Maraš (81.), Đurđević (89.), Everton (90.)

Current championship standings:
1. CZ 57 points
2. Partizan 51 points
3. Vojvodina 48 points
4. Mladost 37 points
5. Napredak 36 points
6. Javor 32 points
7. Radnički Niš 30 points
8. Spartak 30 points
9. FK Voždovac 28 points
10. Rad 24 points
11. Čukarički 23 points
12. Metalac 22 points*
13. Radnik 20 points*
14. OFK Bačka 18 points
15. Borac 18 points
16. Novi Pazar 12 points

*The game between Metalac and Radnik was postponed due to weather conditions.

(photos: partizan.rs)

Mega Leks - KK Partizan 65:77 (Korać Cup, semifinal)

Compared to last year’s Korać Cup final, when Mega Leks tore us into two, this time we had a disorganised, indisposed opponent.

In the quarterfinal we played with KK Dunav. That was an easy 80:60, Dunav seemed to be a likable, hard-working team. I wrote no blogpost about that game, a virus knocked me out so heavily that I was about to pop out last night.

The first quarter was smooth. We were leading to 3:10. Then to 5:15, even to 5:17. Then Mega started to come up slowly, step by step. They made a 9:3 series (only Veličković scored from us, it was a 3-pointer), the standing was 14:20 for the end of the quarter.

Mega jumped to 17:20 in the second quarter, from then on they were right behind us, squeezing our throats. We could make it ahead with only 2-3 points, at once they even equalized (24:24). In the second part of the quarter we tried to slip out of their grip (31:36), but they immediately jumped back and we could feel their breath on the back of our necks again. Both teams made a lot of mistakes, 3-pointers were especially miserably missed out on both sides. At this point it seemed, we’d have a hard, tough, sweaty game with Team Sremska Mitrovica. The half-time result was 36:39.

The machine started to work - creaking, crunching, grinding, but it did start. Our advantage grew back to 10 points (38:48). Mega Leks was not on the top of their performance, to say the least, and as the game passed, it was visible even with half an eye.

We played with the style that has been characteristic for us in the past months, a totally puritan, no-frills, no-tricks, plain performance, though it seemed that this plainness was enough right then, against this Mega Leks.

The quarter finished with 49:62, Veličković scored a 3-pointer buzzer-beater at the end.

In the last quarter we almost achieved the 20-point difference (54:73), meanwhile two players were fouled out - Tejić from Mega, and Gordon from us. It was around the middle of the quarter when Mega realized they should actually play - they jumped to 60:73, but there was less than 3 minutes left from the game. We made 4 more points (Veličković + Ratkovica), and tomorrow at 21:00 we play the final with the Čović Works (aka Crvena Zvezda)

KK Partizan: Ratkovica (11), Vrabac (5), Tanasković, Veličković (19), Majstorović (6), Birčević (8), Andrić (3), Pot (4), Gordon (10), Luković (11)

Mega Leks: Mushidi (2), Rebić (6), Jaramaz (23), Spasojević, Kaba (12), Zagorac (4), Simeunović, Tejić (6), Novak (10), Kapetanović, Marelja, Samardžiski (2)

(photos: kss.rs)

Cedevita - KK Partizan 79:67 (ABA Liga, round 22)

Auuuu.
This short word (emotional expression?) includes the whole game. It was tough, it was a struggle, we didn't play well, we got defeated.
The first quarter wasn’t that bad, though it was clear even then that this Zagreb night won’t be a night to remember. We quickly scored 7 points at the beginning, we were leading to 5:7, then nothing happened for two and a half minutes. Really nothing. Well, all right, there were too many missed-out attempts on both sides. Finally Cedevita equalized in the 4th minute (7:7) and from then on it was a nip-and-tuck game in the first part. A basket here, a basket there. Only one in a minute though. After five and a half minutes the standing was 9:7, after a bit more than six minutes Marinković scored a 3-pointer, 9:10. About a minute later 11:10. You get the point. It wasn’t spectacular, it wasn’t exciting, it was slow. We still won the first quarter though, the standing was 16:16, half a minute was left when Andrić scored (16:18).

Birčević, Koprivica and Hatcher try to stop Žganec

In the second quarter Cedevita decided to step over this fumbling and took control in their hands. They jumped to 24:18, though the slow and struggling pace of the game didn't speed up. Croatians were leading, we made a lot of mistakes (I don’t remember when I had seen last time so many offensive rebounds). For our great luck Cedevita was the same effective with pushing the ball to the ring as us, yet still somehow they managed to do it a bit better than us. The standing was 30:22, then 32:25, the pace was again 1 basket/minute for both teams. For the end of the quarter Croatians were ahead with 10 points (36:26). We could nevertheless pick ourselves together for the last minutes and made a 37:30 half-time standing.

All the game’s struggles in one photo: Birčević fighting for the ball with Džanan Musa

We usually drop back a bit in the third quarter every time. This time it looked like this: the struggling pace was still on, together with the million missed out attempts and Cedevita leading to 48:32. There wasn’t any special trick in their game, they had the same struggling pace like us, they made a lot of mistakes like us, just, God knows, maybe mentally they were a bit more collected and they could push through their will despite the fumbling. The difference was almost 20 points (55:36), though finally we could avoid this shame. Birčević (he was the best in this game) and Marinković clenched their teeth and pushed us up to 57:43. A few seconds were left when the Croatians could still force a basket in. (59:43)

A Cedevita-player surrounded by Vrabac and Birčević

In the last quarter we made the difference a bit less (62:50) there was even some slight hope that maybe if we can speed up, we could make it really tough for Cedevita... I think you won’t take it as a spoiler if I say we couldn’t. The Croatian team could hold the 10+ diffeerence, while we struggled to score. Majstorović was fouled out, but it did neither good, nor harm. Croatians were leading to 75:58, we reduced it to 75:63, but at this point there was less than one and a half minutes left from the game. Hatcher scored (77:65), one more Croatian basket slid in 8 seconds before the end, finally Birčević scored a buzzer-beater (79:67).

Cedevita: James (8), Krušlin (6), Boatright (21), Katić (3), Žganec (10), Musa (2), Bilan (14), Shurna, Begić (1), Rogić, Tomas (3), Arapović (11)

KK Partizan: Ratkovica (6), Vrabac, Marinković (12), Veličković (6), Majstorović (4), Birčević (18), Koprivica (5), Andrić (4), Hatcher (8), Pot, Gordon (2), Luković (2)

Highlights:

Current standings:
1. CZ 43 points
2. Cedevita 38 points
3. Budućnost 38 points
4. Partizan 38 points
5. Cibona 33 points
6. Igokea 32 points
7. Union Olimpija 31 points
8. FMP 31 points
9. Karpoš 31 points
10. Mega Leks 30 points
11. MZT Skopje 30 points
12. Mornar Bar 29 points
13. Krka 29 points
14. Zadar 29 points

Independent of the results of the games left Partizan has qualified to the play-offs of ABA Liga.

(photos: aba-liga.com)

PAOK - KK Partizan 74:76 (Champions League, play-off)

It was so good.
Not only because we won, but also because I haven’t seen such a great atmosphere at any game. Neither at basketball, nor at football or any other.
The fans - both Greek and Serbian - were chanting BOTH teams while holding each other by the shoulder. Together. Greek and Serbian flags were waving and the sports hall echoed the chanting "PAOK PARTIZAN".

THANK YOU PAOK! See you in Belgrade! #BasketballCL
Posted by KK Partizan on Wednesday, February 8, 2017

There are photos, too, the tribune looked like this:

(photo: basketballcl.com)

(photos: Facebook/KK Partizan)

Many greetings and high five to the Greeks for being such amazing hosts. Thank you so much. It was great to see this.

This similar, friendly atmosphere was present on the court, too. The two teams had a game in the spirit of true fair play. No battles, no fights, no brutal clashes, vivisection, brutality, but tricks and dribbles. It was really a joy to wach.
Of course there was basketball, too. In the first quarter we made amazing things. We made a 10-point advantage with an easy, determinate game (10:20, 12:22). The Greek players just watched us with a slight resignation as Hatcher or Ratkovica did magic with the ball. At this point it looked like a smooth beer-game. The quarter ended with 14:22.

A basket by William Hatcher

(He made 27 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds at this game, finishing as MVP)

(photo: basketballcl.com)

In the second quarter we slowed down a bit. Referees whistled off our actions time after time, the pace of the first quarter dropped. The Greek team started to slowly reduce the difference, from 16:24 it became 23:27. The atmosphere on the tribunes was like a fiesta.

Our 10-point advantage was back (25:35), then we jumped to 27:40. Fiesta on the tribunes, fiesta on the court, the half-time result was 32:40.

PAOK-arena from above

(photo: basketballcl.com)

For the third part our pace dropped even more. In the middle of the quarter PAOK jumped to 39:44, they were closer and closer - so close that for the end they took the lead (53:51). We equalized (53:53), but right at the end buzz they scored a 3-pointer. We were heading into the final part with 56:53.

A shy question: could we maybe find out something for this? I mean e.g. for a bit more balanced performance, to avoid this drop in the pace for the third quarter.

Time-out

(photo: basketballcl.com)

Luković equalized right at the beginning of the fourth quarter, then we took back the lead (56:58). We could keep a minimal advantage, but PAOK was still, continuously behind us, always with only 2-3 points. Fouls happened too often, Margaritis seemed to have an especially bad day, he had an offensive foul at least 3 times in a row. The last part of the game brought an very good, exciting and enjoyable game. Less than a minute was left, we were leading to 68:71, when the hall’s scoreboard decided to go on strike. The game halted, fans were singing, players were talking to each other in a very friendly manner, it was all very jovial. Finally the scoreboard came back to life, we could play the last 48 seconds. This very last part still kept some excitement, only 24 seconds were left, PAOK reduced the difference to 2 points (71:73), Ratkovica quickly made us feel safe 5 seconds before the end (71:76), the Greek team squeezed in a 3-pointer in the very last seconds (74:76). It was time to celebrate, together as well as separated.

(photos: basketballcl.com)

Return game will be on 22nd February in Belgrade.

PAOK: Chrysikopulos (8), Koniaris (3), Tsochlas (2), Margaritis (7), McFadden (20), Miljenović (5), Glyniadakis, Karamanolis, Sibert (18), Papadopulos, Peiners (7), Clanton (4)

KK Partizan: Robinson (2), Ratkovica (10), Vrabac, Marinković (10), Majstorović, Birčević (10), Koprivica (2), Andrić (8), Hatcher (27), Pot, Karahodžić (2), Luković (5)

Highlights: