Fan blog of Partizan Sports Society (JSD Partizan) in Belgrade, Serbia. Football, basketball, volleyball, handball, ice hockey, water polo, news, players, all that are a matter of curiousity.
A subjective blog. English is not my mother tongue.
English version of http://jsdpartizanfan.blogspot.com/
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)
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)
Again a game that slipped out of our hands.
We had a great start though. It was even excellent. We were leading, the team was bursting from energy.
Then it was 14:7. We had a strong start, we played well and spectacular. Cedevita tried to find their breath. They could still equalize (14:14), they even took the lead (17:20), but Veličković took it back twice and we finished the first quarter with a one-point advantage with his scores (23:22).
The second quarter was even better.
Our advantage was growing. 27:23, then 32:23... at a point Cedevita’s head coach had a meltdown, he got a technical foul. It made him freaked out, he yelled with the referees, finally he had to leave the court. The assistant coach took his duty, and I was sure he was waiting for this very moment. Gianmarco Pozzecco made an unbelievable show at the bench. If I didn’t have such a terrible mood after this defeat, I’d say things like Pozzecco for president or this guy and all his gestures must be spread all over the internet as gifs. Here is a compilation with him, you can click and take a look. (If you don’t have a too bad mood, it may even be entertaining.)
At the end of the video you can see and hear it well: Partizan-fans gave a loud applause to him and his team.
Meanwhile we were leading with more than 10 points.
Everything worked well, we did whatever we wanted. Then two and a half minutes before the end Ratkovica was fouled, that was the point when we somehow halted. Cedevita started to reduce their difference, they equalized from 49:42. We could still keep our advantage with a free throw (51:49), that was the half-time result.
Koprivica and Hatcher
Then came the third quarter.
At first we kept ourselves. Nothing seemed to be suspicious. (61:56) Then Cedevita equalized (61:61) and took the lead (61:63). We equalized, but Cedevita again took the lead (63:68). From this point on there was no return... They jumped to 65:73, meanwhile Veličković got a technical foul for yelling off the referee’s head. At the end of the quarter we got a free throw, Hatcher scored one, missed out the other. We were heading to the final quarter with 66:73.
Adin Vrabac
Let’s not talk about the last quarter...
We failed. We were nervous. We fell apart. The opponent took advantage of it all. Their point guard, Jackson was like as if he was sent directly from hell to Pionir Hall. He was very quick, tricked himself through Partizan’s defense and threw a million baskets. The other players of Cedevita could have walked off the court to the snack bar for a beer, Jackson did whatever he wanted. They were leading to 73:83, then we started to reduce the difference slowly and struggling. Two and a half minutes before the end it was 84:87, but we couldn’t make it any closer. Jackson was fouled out at the end, but only 50 seconds were left, it did neither good nor harm.
And a message for those fans morons who yelled at Aleksandar Džikić after the game: suck a horse.
Be happy and celebrate, dear everyone, because Charles Jenkins has returned to Belgrade. Not as if anyone would have missed him. What a joy it was when he left for Milan. It seems even in Milan nobody misses him. By the way, is there anyone who could tell why this moron has Serbian citizenship?... And if he has, then why do I not have any?...
Birčević is seemingly in shock to meet Jenkins again
The first quarter was relatively good. The battle was equal, nip-and-tuck game with no major differences. Though Hatcher got a technical foul after 5 minutes (he fought with Jenkins, his technical foul is forgiven). Then Koprivica was fouled twice within 10 seconds, this one was a bit more tough. (What is more, around the end of the quarter he got his third foul...) Gudurić also got a technical foul, then - less than 30 seconds were left - another Zvezda-player got a technical as well. We were leading to 20:23, only five seconds were left, Zvezda scored a basket, but it was double dribble, the referees invalidated it. Fans were raging, they were booing and hissing (the tribunes were all in red-and-white, only a handful of Partizan-fans were allowed, and they were surrounded by gendarmerie), but who cared for the whining of Zvezda-fans. We were leading.
Vanja Marinković
It started in the second quarter, namely that process which is usual at such derbies. Referees whistle off everything, giving fouls to Partizan-players. Zvezda gets a million free throws, of course they take the lead. We kept the pace at the beginning (22:26), but two minutes later Zvezda took the lead after those gift free throws. (27:26).
I have to admit though, we had too many missed-out chances. Really. It was a pain to watch. Especially the missed-out 3-pointers. We paid the price for these.
Finally we could score (31:28), then we reduced to 34:31. Only two minutes were left, when Zvezda made it to 10 points (44:34), while we were just struggling. We got a long row of fouls, but when Veličković was pushed to the floor, that was not whistled off... The referee just waved to Partizan’s team captain to stand up, come on, come on... Hatcher made a buzzer-beater 3-pointer, with his score we finished the first half with 48:39.
At first it seems like a romantic ’I wanna hold your hand’-scene between Vrabac and Jović, but in real they want to strangle each other
The third quarter was the sequel of the first two. We were fouled at almost every Zvezda-attack, Zvezda got a gift free throw every time, while we were struggling to score. The enemy was leading to 54:39. Foul came after foul, as if the world was against us. 56:43... Aleksandar Džikić asked for time-out in the middle of the quarter. Seriously, once he will get an apoplectic seizure during a time-out for yelling so much and so hard with the players.
I’m not familiar with such things, also it’s easy to play the smartass from here, at the sideline, but can anyone tell why must half the time-out be wasted with Džikić yelling at the players, sometimes in a too rough way? Isn’t a time-out rather for tactical discussion, while keeping the yelling part for the locker room?
It didn’t get any better for us. 61:46... We made every possible mistake. Or scenes like two Zvezda-players were hanging on Luković, the referee didn’t bat an eyelid. But when Luković hung on a Zvezda-player at the other side of the court, he was fouled immediately. At the end of the quarter the difference was 20 points (67:46), Average Fan was watching the endless row of fouls with just a dry smile. The quarter finished with 70:53.
Andrić and Majstorović wrestling with Mitrović for the ball. Can anyone tell why Andrić entered the game only in the middle of the third half?
And then, at the beginning of the fourth quarter, when the standing was 72:53, the head coach of Zvezda got the crust to make a tantrum when Zvezda got an offensive foul. (What a tantrum that was, my good God.)
The standing was 73:59, it was around the middle of the quarter, when Majstorović stayed laying on the ground with a painful face. The slow motion replay showed him clashing with someone and getting injured on the ingunial.
He could stand on his feet only with the help of the team doctor
He limped to the bench with Andrić’s support
What has to be noticed though: as Majstorović was limping off the court, he got an applause from Zvezda-fans. This was nice of you, guys. Thanks. Really.
Faith in humanity restored
The game continued and it was the same... (fault >> gift free throw to them, missed-out chances here). 77:61... 82:66... Finally, at 83:70 Vrabac scored, 24 seconds before the end. This way we could avoid the 10-point difference. But let’s just rather forget this game. Update: it seems Majstorović needs at least a month of rest to recover from his injury
Question no. 1.: Whose very stupid idea was to put this game - actually a derby - to Sunday noon?
Question no. 2.: Who was/were that/those idiot(s) who agreed with it?
FYI: at Sunday noon I’m still at my morning coffee, after I had my English-style breakfast in a leisure style. Even this time I was still not fully awake, when the boys started to wrestle with Čoki and co. on the court. (Even the commentator greeted the viewers with "Dobro jutro" - Good morning.)
This game was mostly a wrestling game, though it contained basketball as well in tracks. At the beginning of the first quarter already 3 fouls were whistled, yet the standing was still 6:6 after 5 minutes. (While Čoki jr. got his second foul.) Meanwhile we took the lead with a minimal advantage, but we kept it (10:11, 9th minute). Only 7 seconds were left, we took the lead again after an equal with Veličković’s 3-pointer (12:15), but at the very end, right at the buzz the referees just had to whistle a foul on us, and the opponent got a triple free throw. They scored, all of them, of course. 15:15, what a comedy.
Majstorović vs. Čović junior. The difference is not only their height, or "Gimme the ball or else I’ll call MY DAD!"
(photo: aba-liga.com)
The second quarter was the same with barely any scores, but much more fighting. FMP was leading for almost the whole time. Once we equalized around the middle of the quarter (22:22), but they took back the lead almost immediately. Both teams played with too many fouls and mistakes, with only one basket in a minute. If there were two baskets within a minute, then excitement was about to explode... We finished the first half with 32:31, but Uroš Luković definitely brought his best.
Čoki sr. (on the left) and Mme Vesna were there to watch the Baby Boy
(photo: hotsport.rs)
In the third quarter we brought ourselves back to life. At first it was a pingpong-game (one basket at this side, one at the other), then at 36:35 we started a huge series with Luković’s basket and didn’t finish until 36:51. FMP could score from free throw 10 seconds before the end (38:51), but we also got one, right at the very end, the same way as the opponent got it in the first part - it was almost the end buzz, but the referees whistled a foul and we scored from free throw (38:53).
Majstorović and Vrabac surround Ljubičić
(photo: aba-liga.com)
FMP decided to play it hard for the last quarter, while probably the referees also woke up and started to whistle a row of fouls on us, whether it was really a foul or not. The opponent jumped to 51:55, but we still didn’t let the advantage out of our hands. The 7th minute brought a fighting scene, Ratkovica and Šešlija clashed, literally. (Both of them were fouled, but only FMP got a free throw...) Too many mistakes and missed-out chances came in the last minutes, and even if one of the teams could score, that was almost surely from free throw. Field goals were totally missing.
And we were those who took advantage of free throws.
Of course.
*halo switched on*
Brand new team, brand new hopes, Mihajlo Andrić has returned at long last after a very long pause and Novica Veličković stayed at Partizan.
Then the game started and it was a struggle. The home team was leading to 8:2, we missed out a lot of chances, or rather the Montenegrin team blocked the hell out of us.
12:2, then 14:4. KK Partizan was out of order... Hatcher got a technical, Andrić was fouled for the second time in the 7th minute. Even Veličković entering the court didn’t help. He scored though (14:6), but we still kept on collecting fouls. The quarter ended with 18:10.
Adin Vrabac
Just when the second quarter started, Ellis blocked Veličković twice in a row. This video here is just a teaser, they made it the same way once again.
We struggled. Mornar played it aggressive, in fact that was all. As for us, well... we didn’t. We played as if we were asleep, we tried to stop them with clenched teeth, no success (22:10). Then finally Marinković scored a 3-pointer (22:17), that woke up the team, a bit. Hatcher and Robinson equalized (24:24), we even took the lead with Hatcher’s free throw (24:26). We came back to life a bit, but it didn’t last long. Just 16 seconds before the end buzz Mornar took back the lead (28:27), that was the half-time result as well.
Stefan Pot with the ball
That very annoying something that was typical for the rest of the game started in the third quarter, this "ping-pong"-game, when one team leads, then within a few seconds the other takes the lead, and just a bit later the first team takes it back - and so on. The difference was max. 3-4 points always. There was struggling, there was fight, but there was barely any score. Both teams had very strong defense, but at the same time none of them had a convincing performance. Mornar was leading to 43:42 before the final quarter.
Andrić and Luković (55) try to block Mornar’s player. Robinson (5) is watching from the left, Vrabac (7) is wrestling with Waller
It was the same in the last part. Fight, struggle, sweat, then at 57:56 Ratkovica clashed so hard with the opponent under the backboard that he fell on the court and remained there. (Finally he could stand up and teetered off to the bench.) Then at the end Veličković settled the final score.
Highlights:
KK Mornar Bar: Jones (14), Krstić (3), B. Radunović (8), Vujošević, Čalić (2), Mijović (6), M. Radunović, Pantić, Dickerson (4), Ellis (5), Hadžibegović, Waller (15)
League table will be brought tomorrow, there is one game left from this round.
Update: standings after 1 round
1. Budućnost 4 points*
2. Zadar 3 points*
3. CZ 2 points
4. Krka 2 points
5. Cibona 2 points
6. Mega Leks 2 points 7. Partizan 2 points
8. Union Olimpija 1 point
9. Mornar Bar 1 point
10. FMP 1 point
11. Cedevita 1 point
12. Igokea 1 point
13. Karpoš 1 point
14. MZT Skopje 1 point
We won.
We should mention though that we could make it with greater-than-life luck and we could take advantage of Zvezda’s boosting self-confidence thinking that this night they would celebrate. If I can be brutally honest: this game was rather lost by Zvezda than won by us.
But sports are not about "rather"-s and luck, but about points and/or goals. At the end it’s only the result that matters.
Warning: I might anger some people with this blogpost, but despite the end result I won’t be gentle and forgiving to anyone.
We had a horrible start. There’s nothing to attenuate on it. I have never seen such a terrible, crappy game start by this team (I’ve been watching them for 3+ years now). We could score ONLY FIVE (5) POINTS in the entire quarter. Not more, not less. Five.
They were all scored by Jones.
Kevin Jones
(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)
We shat into the pants. There were five scared field mice on the court running circles. It was a shame. No excuse.
The quarter ended with 13:5. Okay, Zvezda didn’t push themselves either, but as I said earlier, they were too sure about their victory.
The second quarter started with the fight of Veličković and Miller.
(photo: hotsport.rs)
Referees solved it by giving technical foul to both.
This time the main official of the game was a different referee, not that one from the previous two games. If I wanted to crack a weak joke, I’d say maybe that was the reason why we could win now. What’s sure is that this time (at least at the beginning of the game) there were definitely much less fouls and openly biased judgements by the referees. Though later they made it up for the large-scale production, so to speak.
We picked ourseves together a bit (15:10). We took advantage of Zvezda missing out many attempts. Veličković was on the top. He scored a lot of 3-pointers, we can thank mainly to him that we reduced the difference to 24:22 and we could even keep it. Once we even took the lead. Murić first equalized (26:26), then he got a free throw as well and scored one (26:27). It didn’t last long though (28:27). Both teams struggled with no result. Finally referees commiserated Zvezda and gave them a free throw at the end of the quarter. We finished the first half with a two-point drawback (29:27).
Zvezda-players were not too friendly with Murić
(photo: hotsport.rs)
In the third quarter Williams joined us
where the hell was he in the first half?...
and we immediately sped up.
Darrell Williams
(photo: hotsport.rs)
We equalized (29:29), we took the lead (29:31) and kept it (37:39). Williams made a fantastic series and he didn’t stop (39:41). Zvezda equalized (43:43), for a short while they took back the lead (45:43), then we were leading again with Murić’s 3-pointer. This was when Zvezda’s overconfidence striked back. We didn’t just lead (47:50), but what Vrabac did at the end buzz, that was unbelievable.
He threw the ball at the half-court...
...the ball perfectly fell into the ring. Time to celebrate
(photos: hotsport.rs)
There’s a video about this scene:
The quarter ended with 47:53.
Yes, we were leading. Still there was something that made me sad, or at least turned off my mood enough that I could't be happy with the standing. Namely I saw nobody with enough pulling power for the whole team. Neither this time, nor during the past 5-6 games. Okay, Veličković and his great routine helped us getting out of the bottom, but he had to do it all alone, because the others did not help or assist him. Okay, a few players had some good moments, e.g. this great 3-pointer by Vrabac, or Williams’s performance in the 3rd quarter. But on one hand none of these had a balanced performance, on the other the rest of the team was just a grey mass. Wilson was invisible, Murić excelled mostly with his faults during the past games. As for the rest, the only reason I remember them is because I see a few of their names in my notes near the scores. None of them had any remarkable moments. And this is unadmittable, because this is PARTIZAN and not just a nameless team from the countryside.
Then came the last quarter where we demonstrated how to gain a 15-point advantage, then we demonstrated right there how to lose it until almost the last point.
At first we were leading, almost confidently (50:59). We reached the two-digit difference (52:62). Hey, people, it’s the last quarter and we are leading with 10 points! What is more, with Jones’s 3-pointer it was 52:65. Aranitović showed himself, too (52:67). 15 points, in the last quarter!!!
Oh, wait...
It was reduced immediately to 10 points (57:67). Murić scored a 3-pointer (57:70) three minutes before the end. At 62:72 Veličković was fouled out, while Zvezda sped up (65:72). Full court press, combat fights, Vrabac was fouled in an impossible situation. Even ArenaSport’s commentators didn’t believe their eyes... Only 50 seconds were left, the standing was 70:73. Zvezda was struggling hard, while we desperately tried to defend the result. Wilson raised our advantage a bit from free throw (70:75), Zvezda scored 9 seconds before the end (72:75). In the most critical moment Wilson dropped the ball out of his hand. For our XXXXL-sized luck there were only 2-3 seconds left and Zvezda had no time to change the standing.
Here’s a video about this circus:
Then it ended. The standing is 2:1 now for the neighbourhood. The next game will be on Thursday, at 21:00 on ArenaSport 1.
We won. We qualified to the final. We sweated blood, all odds were against us, but finally justice has won.
A few hours before the game some rumours started to circle around the net reporting that FMP (allegedly) had decided to leave the court if Partizan-fans start to mock again Vesna Čović, as they did at the previous home game. This way they would made scandal and perhaps they could squeeze out of the basketball association to suspend us from the championship.
Последња информација: Ови смрдљивци из Железника добили су дефинитивне инструкције да напусте терен након првог скандира...
Posted by Partizan is life on Wednesday, June 1, 2016
After this Partizan-fans got an unexpected and unpleasant surprise at the entrance of Pionir Hall: a group of raging Crvena Zvezda-fans.
Nobody called them (maybe uncle Čoki did, but he doesn’t count)
(photos: Twitter)
A couple of beloved friends were present at the game.
International tae-kwon-do champion Milica Mandić...
...and Joffrey Lauvergne, who got a warm welcome from fans
(photos: Twitter)
Meanwhile the team warmed up.
(photos: Twitter)
During the national anthem I just had to make this screenshot. Filip Čović in life size.
Mr. Minority
(screenshot/ArenaSport 1)
Referees made us clear at the beginning that they dislike us. FMP brought their usual aggressive foul court press tactics again, but this time we didn’t keep ourself back from this man-to-man fight, but bravely entered. The only problem was that we were fouled for these fights and not the opponent.
It still looked so that things work fine. We were leading to 10:4, FMP’s head coach nervously asked for time-out. While the fans...
Hats off to Partizan-fans, they really didn’t chant that ominous "Čović Vesna, j..... se k’o besna"-rhyme.
Instead they chanted everything else.
After all, this was not forbidden...
In the meantime we reached the two-digit difference (16:6). Wilson and Jones were in excellent shape. Vitkovac threw a hook from an impossible angle (21:9) while a defender was hanging on his neck. Murić had a giant block, for which he was fouled, but when he was brutally blocked at the other side, the referees just waved "go on". However we finished the first part with 24:10.
Partizan-fans in the first quarter
(photo: Twitter)
For the second quarter it was clear that FMP can play the big boss only when they are at home, when only their own fans are around, and the only reason referees don’t wear FMP-shirts is because it would be too obvious. At an away court, against a (much more) professional team FMP is still an average countryside group of players. Partizan was leading with 15 points (29:14), and fans could still find a way to mock Mme Čović. The two sides of the tribune chanted in turns saying
Iiiiiiima jeeeeeedan tim...
...VESNA!
Ceo sam život s njiiiiiim...
...VESNA!
And so on.
It was genious. No curse words, no vulgarities, but it was still clear-cut.
We were leading to 35:16. As soon as a Partizan-player tried to throw the ball into the ring (especially if it was to be a hook), at least 4 FMP-players jumped on him. Our advantage was still confident, we were leading to 41:26 in the half-time. Vrabac scored a fantastic 3-pointer just 5 seconds before the end buzz.
Edo Murić, while he was still on the court
(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)
The beginning of the third quarter looked smooth. We were leading to 46:30, then to 54:36 (with the amazing teamwork of Jones and Marinković), but the referees whistled off impossible things as foul. Of course only for us, to be able to give gift free throws to FMP. Despite their efforts we could rise upt to 20 points of difference (57:37). Vrabac had a giant block, the slow motion replay even showed FMP’s player fumbling it away, but still Vrabac was fouled. Then Veličković got a bonus shot at 62:46. He threw the ball, it seemed to rebound, but still could have fallen into the ring, if an FMP-player hadn’t slapped it off, ending it as a defensive rebound - the referee didn’t whistle. We could still keep our advantage (66:50), though the guest team had a more and more aggressive game. The third part ended with 69:52, but the worst was yet to come.
Vrabac and Wilson help Williams to get back to his feet
(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)
At the beginning of the last quarter Murić and Čović clashed. All that was visible was that Murić tried to tackle Čović, then Čović pushed his elbow into Murić’s face and then hell broke loose.
Finally referees resolved the situation by giving technical foul to both players. This was the second technical for both, they had to leave the court.
How wonderful it was. (Not.) The fail of logics and moral.
Both teams got their free throws. Partizan scored (73:61), FMP missed it out. Therefore the referees gave them a gift free throw (fouling us again with an impossible reason). That was fine. Good boys. (75:63)
At this point both teams released the beast. Even though FMP's poison-fang was pulled out by sending off Čović, they didn’t get any more sportsmanlike or technically skilled. They played the same man-to-man-fight tactics with full court press, maybe with one less moron on the court. They still got the support from the referees they needed, so the absence of the Boss’s Son wasn’t that prominent. They reduced the difference to 79:73.
Here came the time for Veličković.
Veličković took the team on his back and started to score 3-pointers. FMP-players immediately jumped on him (at least 3 of them at once). Only a few seconds were left from the game, it was in fact wrestling and not basketball on the court. Finally the referee took a deep breath and fouled FMP. Marinković scored from the free throw (87:75), but at the very end FMP just had to get a bonus shot after a score as well as a free throw. After 40 minutes of circus the buzz ended the game and we could celebrate our qualifying to the final. Aunt Vesna is done, now come uncle Čoki and his pitbulls.
(photos: Facebook/KK Partizan)
KK Partizan: Cvetković (2), Aranitović, Jones (16), Murić (8), Marinković (8), Veličković (20), Vitkovac (8), Đumić, Milutinović (1), Williams (5), Vrabac (3), Wilson (16)
That’s how you make a pre-game show in style (possibly while you continuously rub under the eternal opponent’s nose that you’re much better than them).
Ingredients: 2 champion teams, 2 championship cups, 2 old friends, 1 devoted crowd and the forever Miša Tumbas.
Before the game the water polo team got the celebration they totally deserve after they won the championship. The boys came, they brought the championship cup and carried it around Pionir Hall while the crowd celebrated them.
Then the French Legion arrived.
Yes, it’s them. Léo Westermann and Joffrey Lauvergne
Children were waiting for them
(photos: Facebook/KK Partizan)
They got huge applause
(photos: Twitter)
If only Boris Dallo had been there, too... then the Three Musketeers could have had a reunion.
After them KK Partizan’s U21 team arrived. They won the junior championship a few days ago, knocking out Crvena Zvezda in the final to 51:48.
(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan
For the family photo album: the team, the championship cup... and MIŠA TUMBAS
(photo: Twitter)
Meanwhile the teams lined up for the national anthem.
(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)
(photo: Twitter)
The first half of the game was awful. A million missed-out chances, clenched teeth, sweat and struggle, while FMP took the lead in the beginning. They switched from 4:2 to 4:6, then jumped to 8:14. They could even allow themselves to miss out a free throw. The first quarter finished with 12:16.
The water polo team was watching the game near the court
(photo: Twitter)
The struggle continued in the second quarter. Even though we equalized with two 3-pointers (20:20) we still missed out more than we could score from. At the half of the quarter we took the lead (24:20), it was still not our best form.
This was the point when the fans started their usual sarcastic and vulgar chants about Vesna Čović and her doings.
Did I see well that Joffrey Lauvergne was grinning there?
It was 26:20, the fans started to throw their chants on FMP/Crvena Zvezda-fan politicians. The referee paused the game saying "Partizan-fans are having an unsportsmanlike behaviour".
This always make me laugh hard. Yea, sure. Those terrible Partizan-fans are always unsportsmanlike. But when (ahem) other teams’ fans (ahem) yelled life-threatening chants to Saša Pavlović and Duško Vujošević, that wasn’t unsportsmanlike. Fair play, my a.....
This made fans chant even louder. Finally Aleksander Džikić had to be asked to calm down the raging fans. (In the meantime ArenaSport 1’s commentators laughed hard and loud in live broadcast.)
— Marko Ljubomirović (@LjubomirovicRTS) May 28, 2016
Sometimes it can surely be hard to be Filip Čović. It’s not just that he is a mediocre player, but at the same time his father is the local almighty basketball godfather, who took mum into the business, too. And fans love to rub it into his face every time, with the most possible obscene qualifiers.
This intermezzo broke FMP’s pace. We jumped to 31:22, soon making the two-digit difference as well (35:24). The half-time ended with 37:27, after Wilson made a huge buzzer-beater.
Adin Vrabac some time during the game
(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)
FMP collapsed for the second half. They made the impression of an average countryside team (even though they are from Belgrade) with whom the Belgrade champions play the way they just want. It started with 41:27, then it was 46:30. Referees tried their best to help them, whistling off all our actions as fouls, but the guest couldn’t use it for their own advantage. Partizan were about to reach the 20-point-difference (51:32), which we made with Veličković’s free throw (56:36). We got ready for the final part with 63:41.
Nikola Peković and Wilson communicate
(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)
In the last quarter we did whatever we wanted, FMP just assisted us. Okay, they could make it to avoid the 20-point-difference.
They were defeated "only" with 19 points.
Next round will be on Monday from 21:00.
(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)
The little boy on the picture at the beginning of this blogpost holding the banner "Žo, pamtimo te, čekamo te" could meet Joffrey Lauvergne now
Post-game moments: Joffrey Lauvergne and Miša Tumbas
(photos: Twitter)
KK Partizan: Cvetković, Aranitović, Jones (9), Murić (14), Marinković (2), Veličković (9), Vitkovac (9), Đumić, Milutinović (4), Williams (13), Vrabac (10), Wilson (12)
