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/
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.
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)
Don’t ever ask.
Well, anyway, it doesn’t matter actually. Even if you asked, I couldn’t answer.
The atmosphere was great. A field music band walked around inside the hall playing the popular march song. It was fantastic to see and hear as thousands of fans were singing Grobarski marš on the top of their voice.
Then the band played the Serbian national anthem, too.
(photo: Twitter)
We had a great start. We jumped to 2:10, Marinković himself scored 8 points, while Koprivica performed such an excellent dunk which can be performed only by professionals.
(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)
The problem was that Mega Leks reduced the difference. Had they only reduced it, but they even took the lead (12:11). They even jumped to 16:11. They were very aggressive, for the whole time during the game. They played full court press as well as player-to-player fight, as if every Partizan-player would have got a personal backpack. Cvetković kept the spirit in the team, once we even equalized with Wilson’s free throw (21:21). The quarter finished with 24:23, Wilson made a great buzzer beater.
Time-out in the first quarter
(photo: Twitter)
For the second quarter things got back on track. Milutinović started with a fantastic 3-pointer (after a spectacular, quick passing of the ball around the paint, 24:26), Murić followed his example (27:29), Williams stole the ball with a great movement from a Mega-player, he even threw it to the backboard, but it rebounded. But Milutinović appeared out of the blue and pushed the ball back to the ring. A Mega-player picked it out, but the referees validated the basket (27:31).
Then came Edo Murić.
From another planet. With a brutal 3-pointer.
We kept our advance. Though Vitkovac soon got his third personal foul, Luwawu very aggressively attacked every Partizan-player, Jones got another foul, after a Mega-player played the dying swan
the slow motion replay clearly showed that Jones just barely touched the other player, yet the dude acted as if he got a 16-ton anvil right onto his head. And yes, the referee believed him
aaaand they got a gift free throw (33:36). Players were wrestling and fighting on the court, at one of these a Partizan-player (I didn’t see clearly who it actually was) threw the ball to Wilson while laying on the ground. Wilson ran up and scored (33:40).
And Edo Murić.
Edo Murić had a fantastic performance tonight. He scored from any angle, any distance. He made us jump up to 38:45. Finally the referees quickly fouled him, Mega got another gift free throw (43:45).
A bonus shot by Murić at the end of the first half
(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)
The result of the half-time was 46:48, we got a free throw (Cvetković scored), one was for Mega, because why not.
The third quarter started with Murić’s gigantic block. Mega Leks turned into even more aggressive, they were very heavy on this full court press. Wilson scored a 3-pointer (46:51), Mega reduced the difference to 49:51. Here came a Koprivica-Jones teamwork (49:53), Mega was again in our back (52:53).
They were awful. One of their trick was full court press, the other is the 3-pointr attack. All of them scored a row of 3-pointers. Seriously, these guys surely swore on their own life not to leave the Niš sports hall until they kill us. As if they would have been playing all-or-nothing.
We kept ourselves, though sometimes we were fouled for unbelievable things (Marinković tripped over a Mega-player laying on the floor, whoops, a foul for Marinković). There was a huge fight on the court, but we were still a bit ahead of Mega. Then, at the very end the standing was 63:64, when Mega scored a buzzer-beater 3-pointer. 66:64 to face the final part of the game.
Williams and Marinković block a Mega-player
(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)
For the fourth quarter things started to get out of hand. Mega-players were like a bunch of pitbulls, playing the most aggressive possible full court press with player-to-player fights and tension.
And then Cvetković scored such a 3-pointer that the walls of the sports hall got demolished immediately.
We took back the lead and made it to 66:71. Fans were singing and chanting on the top of their lungs, the team was burning on a thousand degrees, finally referees whistled off a Partizan-attack, giving a foul to Williams, sending everyone to the other side of the court to Partizan’s backboard (gift free throw to Mega - 67:71). Marinković was fouled out, Mega equalized (73:73). Murić scored another XXL-sized 3-pointer (73:76), Williams performed a giant block, and then he got the grip and scored (73:78).
But Mega equalized again (78:78).
55 seconds before the end they took back the lead (80:78).
Partizan got very nervous, referees whistled off all our mistakes. In the last 38 seconds they whistled 4 times, that means 4 free throws. Out of these 4 free throws only 1 went to Partizan, the rest was all for Mega. We tried a lot of 3-pointers, but all rebounded. The only score we could make was Cvetković’s free throw (83:80) 11 seconds before the end.
Only 9 seconds were left. Mega got a free throw - and they missed it out! What is more, Luwawu got fouled out. We ran up, Milutinović wanted to score the 3-pointer of the year - but someone blocked it. As a coup de grace Jones got a foul 5 seconds before the end. Of course Mega got another gift free throw.
They scored.
85:80
That was all.
(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)
At the end of the match the medals and the cup was given to the players by Dragan Đilas, president of the Serbian Basketball Association. What he got from Grave Diggers, that hissing, booing and whistles, well, he’ll surely not forget it for a while.
This video says it all.
Nobody cares about Mega Leks jumping around and celebrating. The entire hall screams "Partizan ole ole ole" - as if Mega wasn’t even there, as if Partizan had won the Cup.
What a victory, oh my God.
In the afternoon of the match day there was already a great police presence around the sports hall of Niš.
(photos: Twitter)
Two hours before the start the sports hall was almost full.
(photo: Twitter)
Then, as the time was coming soon, the squad appeared on the court to warm up.
(photo: Twitter)
They got a very warm welcome from the fans.
While on the stand there was someone whom we haven’t seen for long.
(photo: hotsport.rs)
Yes, it was Predrag "Saša" Danilović personally, who came to see Partizan.
On Partizan’s bench the injured players gathered.
Vrabac, Magdevski, Andrić, Đumić
(photo: Twitter)
To hell with the goddamned Copa Del Rey. I’m fucking not interested in the Spanish royal cup right before the eternal derby, dear ArenaSport.
The start was tough, what else it could be. In the first half there was a long row of fouls on both sides. The first part of the first quarter wasn’t even gone when Koprivica got his third personal foul. After 7:7 Zvezda took the lead (7:10) and they kept it (8:11). We missed out a lot of chances - in fact both teams missed out too many chances, they were all very nervous. They were so nervous that Miller got a technical foul here, in the first quarter. At 8:13 Williams scored from free throw (10:13), then Cvetković sped up and he himself alone (!!!) brought us up to 17:13!!!
(photo: hotsport.rs)
Punch line for the end of the first quarter: Zirbes missed out a free throw.
The atmosphere was great.
The beginning of the second quarter was mostly about wrestling. Players were rolling on the floor struggling with each other, fighting over the ball, finally we could grab it and ran up to Zvezda’s paint.
What started at this point was something amazing, unbelievable and fantastic. Wilson made us jump to 24:13 (he got two free throws and in between he scored a wonderful 3-pointer). Cvetković was burning on 1 million Celsius and made such an assist to Vitkovac that will surely be remembered for long.
Zvezda tried with full court press, they could reduce the difference a bit to 26:19. Players were literally fighting sometimes, referees couldn’t always follow the stream of events, they just whistled and gave fouls to random players.
It was especially funny because it was mostly the XXL-sized, tattoed Zirbes had to throw those free throws they got. Yet the German was totally out of shape, at least in the first half. He missed out almost all free throws, he could barely score a point here and there.
Jones got a rebound, he scored (28:19). Zvezda was struggling. They could score almost only from free throws
well, if not Zirbes threw them...
they were cramping, struggling. They struggled so hard they almost got piles, but they could come up to only 6 points of difference (28:22), but Murić cut their possible high hopes short with an elegant and cheeky 3-pointer (31:22).
After this Miller got the ball and ran up. He jumped, he sailed through the air like a helicopter, he clearly wanted to do a giant dunk. He rose his hand, he focused all his power into his palm that was holding the ball...
...and the ball rebounded from the ring with a fantastic trajectory.
At this point I fell on the floor from laugh and made such noises like a retarded seal.
We ran up for a counter-attack, Jones scored with a rakish movement. Our advantage was 11 points (33:22).
(photo: hotsport.rs)
At the end of the quarter the referees just had to give the 4th foul to Williams, because why not. Zvezda struggled hard enough to earn 3 more points (this time they could score from free throw), then we could have some rest.
Grave Diggers some time in the second quarter
In the third quarter Zvezda barely walked out to the court when Koprivica settled back the 10-point difference (35:25).
Jones scored (37:25), Murić brought a genious 3-pointer (40:25). Zvezda struggled ahead, sometimes they could score (40:29), but Jones always interrupted them, keeping the red hopes low instead of high, to keep them away from any possible emotional disturbance.
What a great pedagugoe Kevin Jones is.
After this a smaller war started under Zvezda’s backboard. Players were fighting, wrestling, the ball dropped all around, three Zvezda-players jumped on a Partizan-player, finally the ball reached Murić. Murić looked around then he threw a GIANT 3-pointer "from another planet" that the plaster fell off from the ceiling (45:29).
Zvezda got a row of free throws (45:32) - they couldn’t really score any field goal... Grave Diggers started to chant their little song about Vesna Čović, again
no, I won’t write it here, it’s too obscene
but the referees found it too harsh, so much that the speaker had to announce that if fans continue to "support their team in such an unsportsmanlike way", there will be nasty consequences.
Interesting, when back then opponent fans yelled life-threatening, obscene words to Duško Vujošević or when they called Bogdan Bogdanović "ustaša", nobody stopped the game and nobody told red fans to shut the fuck up. Double standards, my a.....
After this Grave Diggers chanted their song even louder about what Vesna Čović should do and especially how. At 45:34 Wilson scored a 3-pointer (48:34), and finally Zvezda could score a field goal after a long time. (48:37)
Then came Milutinović’s great moment.
The standing was 50:37, Cvetković ran up with the ball, dribbling. He broke through the red defense line, a defender pushed him to the ground. Cvetković threw the ball while he himself was falling, but the ball rebounded. Milutinović was sneaking under the backboard, he jumped, grabbed the rebounding ball and ruthlessly pushed it into the ring.
At the end of the quarter Zvezda got a friendly clout on their head in the form of a gift free throw from the referees. We finished the third part with 52:39.
In the beginning of the fourth quarter Jones had his moments, changing the standing from 52:41 to 56:41. Zvezda was struggling (56:47), while the Wilson-Murić duo easily scored 4 more points for us (60:47).
(photo: hotsport.rs)
Wilson scored again, what made it funny was that a red hand touched the ball while flying towards the ring - had it not touch the ball, Wilson would have missed it out (62:47). Zvezda could score only from free throw (62:51). Williams was fouled out, Zvezda reduced their difference, it started to be a bit uncomfortable (65:59) after they got again a lot of free throws. There was less than a minute to go, when Wilson had a fantastic basket (67:59)
I swear I saw it to be a 3-pointer, well, the referee didn’t
Cvetković scored from free throw (68:59). There were only 7 seconds left, but the referees just had to foul out Wilson and give a last free throw to Zvezda (68:60). But they couldn’t take the victory from us.
It was time for a very well-earned celebration.
(photos: Twitter)
And finally, the extra punch line for the end: after the match the totally absent-minded Quincey Miller got on Partizan’s bus (for the great amusement of the Grave Diggers waiting there).
KK Partizan: Cvetković (6), Aranitović, Jones (19), Murić (11), Marinković (5), Tanasković, Vitkovac (3), Koprivica (2), Milutinović (4), Williams (2), Jovanović, Wilson (16)
Dear Grave Diggers,
Gosh, what a game it was. Even now, way after the final buzz I’m still twitching every now and then, as I’m trying to put my thoughts (and my notes) in order about this match.
Here is a photo about the team warming up, while I pick myself together
(photo: Twitter)
Vrabac and Magdevski couldn’t take part, as they both got injured earlier this week, but they still went to Niš with the team to support them
(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)
Everything was against us. The chances, the circumstances, the referees... But we won and qualified to the semifinal.
The game started immediately with a free throw. Noooo, not for us, no way... for FMP. Don’t ever ask why. Because. Because Filip Čović, the little baby boy of basketball-godfather/KKCZ-boss Nebojša Cović plays in FMP, and if anyone just gave him a bad look, the referees immediately gave a foul to the culprit. It did happen this way. No joke.
Nevertheless FMP missed out the free throw, while Marinković quickly scored a 3-pointer (3:0). FMP equalized, while all Grave Diggers who were present were chanting a well-known, but rather obscene song to mock the guest team. At this point referees gave the second foul to Murić
less than 2 minutes passed from the game. It was not Murić’s day, referees did everything to kill him slowly
but despite the opponent powers we were leading to 7:3. We kept our advantege, FMP could maybe approach us (9:5), but whenever they just tried with this, someone from Partizan immediately threw a row of baskets (11:7 - Williams, 16:9 - Marinković with a fantastic 3-pointer). In the meantime Murić got his 3rd foul, because why not
it was nerve-racking and the end was more than far away
and Čović jr. surely took some doping before the match, he scored a 3-pointer, FMP equalized (19:19)
This guy was awful. He kept on scoring 3-pointers with a nasty grimace on his round face. He could do it, he was allowed, referees were on his and his team’s side.
Williams took back the lead (21:19), he even gave his own little extra (24:19), finally we finished the first quarter with 24:21.
Murić, when he is not troubled by the referees
(photo: mondo.rs)
In the beginning of the second quarter FMP dangerously approached us, they even took the lead for a short while (29:30). It didn’t last long, Cvetković quickly scored a 3-pointer (32:30). Jones took the team on his back and jumped with us to 36:30. What is more, after an FMP-attempt we made a fantastic counter-attack. Vitkovac was literally bulldozed by the guests, but even that couldn’t stop us (38:30). FMP’s coach asked for time-out, referees gave us a long row of fouls (Cvetković soon reached his 3rd personal foul, Marinković his 2nd), Average Fan lost thread at this point. Nevertheless FMP got a free throw, but they missed it out.
Karma is a bitch.
Jones increased our difference (40:33), but Čović & Co. made it to 40:39. Aleksandar Džikić asked for time-out.
(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)
After this short rest Vitkovac scored a fantastic 3-pointer (43:39). Jones followed him, he even got a bonus shot (46:39), but then, at this point the only thing I could see was that Cvetković clashes with Čović. Partizan’s point guard fell on the ground, he slid out of the court - and he got a technical foul.
I got to know only later what happened.
(photo: Twitter)
You can see that Čović (no. 3) stomps on Cvetković’s foot.
You get it, right? When Čović makes a foul, then Čović doesn’t make any foul. Cvetković made that foul. Or Murić. Or Vitkovac. Or the cleaning staff. Anyone but Čoki jr. As the saying in my mother tongue says: everyone’s stupid, only he is helicopter.
But fans are not stupid. It was obvious that referees openly served the favour of FMP. What Filip Čović got here from the Grave Diggers, well, he will surely not forget it for a while. Thousands of raging Partizan-fans were shouting obscene rhymes about the entire family-tree of Čović in the most different possible contexts.
And so typical that it made referees so upset that they paused the game for a short while, because of the "unsportsmanlike behaviour of Partizan-fans".
Yeah, sure. But Čoki jr. being a holy cow is not unsportsmanlike, is it?
FMP nevertheless got another free throw. Čović scored (46:40).
But here came Darrell Williams.
First he scored from free throw (47:40), then he scored a field goal, too, because it’s better to be safe than sorry (49:40).
It was high time for the half-time pause.
Williams scores from free throw...
(photo: Twitter)
...then he throws another basket...
(photo: rts.rs)
...yessss!
(photo: mozzartsport.com)
Partizan-players were on the way to the locker-room, when the cameras showed FMP’s Bursać, who was saying something to the referee with big gestures, being seemingly upset. The referee was listening for a while with poker face, then he whistled and gave a technical foul to the shocked Bursać.
Average Fan discreetly fell on the floor from laugh. Karma is a bitch.
So, we started the third quarter with a free throw, and earned the two-digit difference (50:40). Marinković increased it (52:40), so did Jones with a great hook (54:40). Referees kept on trying, someone from us accidentally touched Čović, that resulted a foul for Partizan’s side. Jones took the most noble revenge for the corrupted judgement of the referees (56:42), what is more, after a foul that was committed clearly against him, referees had to give us a free throw. Jones scored (58:42). At 58:45 Wilson got a free throw (59:45), then there was silence for a while. The two teams were wrestling and strangling each other without much result. This silence was broken by FMP (59:47), but at 60:49 Koprivica made us a 13-point advantage with a fantastic alley-oop (assisted by Wilson). For the rest of the quarter we kept the 10-point difference, more or less - FMP broke it only once (65:57), but Aranitović settled back the World Peace with a marvellous hook just before the buzz. 67:57, a short break and we can enter the final part of the game.
Wilson Airlines
(photo: mondo.rs)
The last quarter was a nightmare. At 70:63 we attacked, FMP blocked Wilson. Referees gave a foul to Wilson (don’t ask why...). Vitkovac protested against the referees’ judgement, he claimed that Wilson made no foul.
The referees gave a technical foul to Vitkovac after this.
Just because they could.
You could get a week-long constipation, you idiots.
But FMP missed out the free throw they got for the technical foul.
Bwahahahahaha.
It was followed by a bitter fight. FMP was cramped, but it was so useless, the lovely referees helped them anyway. They got a gift bonus shot for their score (70:66), then it was already 70:69. Wilson sped up, he wanted to score with a hook, the opponent pushed the ball back through the ring. The referees took a deep breath and validated this score for us (72:69). Cvetković scored from free throw (74:71), Jones also had a goal (76:71).
(photo: Twitter)
Less than 2 minutes were left, FMP got a free throw. 79:78. Murić came, risking his 5th foul (81:78). FMP was right behind us again (81:80). Wilson made the Steal of the Century, then the 3-Pointer of the Century (84:80). FMP’s coach asked for time-out. His team entered the court then with a 3-pointer (84:83). Only 13 seconds were left, when Čović bulldozed Wilson. Free throw for Partizan. Wilson scores (85:83). FMP tries with a last, desperate attack. Đoković gets the ball. He is about to throw the 3-pointer of his life... and his hand trembles in the last moment. He misses it out. End buzz. The end. We won. We qualified to the semifinal, where we’ll clash with the winner of the Crvena Zvezda - Smederevo game.
Here you can watch the last approx. 1,5 minutes of the game.
KK Partizan: Cvetković (11), Aranitović (9), Jones (21), Murić (2), Marinković (8), Tanasković, Vitkovac (2), Koprivica (4), Milutinović, Williams (13), Jovanović, Wilson (15)
If the football shame against Voždovac wasn’t enough, then the basketball game the same night made the ultimate blow on Average Fan’s solar plexus. Especially that the entire red-white striped company brought their usual IQ 60 moron style, and needless to say, Blažić was their top gun.
Still before the match: national anthem
(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)
At first we made it to 7:4, Pavlović turned the standing from 0:2, assisted by Milosavljević. Đumić added his own part, too, meanwhile he broke a record by getting 2 personal fouls within 2 minutes. But Zvezda switched the standing back to their side (7:8). Even from this point on until the very last end buzz they represented an enormous level of malice, carefully keeping still everything within the boundaries of orderliness. Or, better said, no regulations could prove they made fouls with their clearly hostile actions. Plus they had the amazingly fast Williams as well as Boban Marjanović, the Humane Mountain with his 2 metres and 22 centimetres of height and impossibly long arms. With those arms he could score practically from anywhere. He was also unable to get deactivated. If someone could still do it, that cost at least two personal fouls at once.
Yet it was a huge sight when dauntless Partizan-players still tried and clawed themselves on the larger-than-life Marjanović. The Zvezda-player fell to the floor with his size 52 feet up to the skies. If this match hadn’t been this tragic, I’d have died of laughing.
In the first quarter we kept the pace until 14:14. Until that point it was a very good, exciting match. Then red team rushed away, for the reasons mentioned above. We ended the quarter with 18:26.
In the second part there was wrestling, too, for the ball.
(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)
Even though Zvezda was still on the lead (20:28), referees thought it was time for them to join the game.
Not on our side, needless to say.
It's sad to say it out loud, but unfortunately Zvezda brutally kept the match under their control. They were aggressive, rough, violent, but still avoiding the look of violating regulations. Meanwhile the difference was 10 points (23:33), fouls happened on both sides. We couldn't reduce the difference (28:39), Mačvan got injured, his elbow had to be bound. (Afterwards he came back to the ground with bound elbow, to play for his team. A real hero.)
The atmosphere was on top, as always. Grave Diggers were holding torches in their hands, throwing the wittiest sparks of their beautiful mother tongue to Zvezda and their fans.
It was so heavy that some time during the match referees had to stop the game and Milosavljević had to ask them to cheer in a sportsmanlike attitude, without mentioning parents, family trees and sexual organs.
Captain, we love you, but still we have to achieve that this little worm should never ever do it again.
Or, if he still dares to do it, then he should get a punishment that makes him stammer for 2 weeks.
(photo: Twitter)
As you can see, Slovenia’s shame, Jaka Blažić made himself visible again not with his commitment, fair play or clear style, but having manifestations that would have made even the biggest, most notorius morons blush. And it was not the first time he made it. I’d really like to know, does he get any kind of punishment after such unsportsmanlike behaviour from his marvellous (NOT) team? Or uncle Čović just ruffles his hair, says something like "there there you naughty boy" and all is done? (Or, what is even more beautiful and the most probably, the whole team including Čović shed tears from laugh watching this and they even encourage this rat to do more.)
The half-time result was 34:43, after a spectacular teamwork was crowned by Saša Pavlović and his giant 3-pointer.
Classic David and Goliath scene: Pavlović vs. Marjanović
(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)
For the third quarter we sped up and made it to 41:45. A lot of chances were missed, as a result Zvezda increased the difference to 42:50. In the meantime Milosavljević was pushed down to the floor. Nothing happened, the referees didn’t whistle. But when Andrić just gave an angry look to one of the American players of Zvezda, the red team immediately got a free throw... At 44:56 Mačvan got fed up and he alone reduced the difference to 50:56 for the end of the quarter with an unbelievable performance.
(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)
So did he in the last quarter. First he threw a basket (52:56), then after Đumić’s shot (54:58) he jumped in front of the fans, waving them to scream and cheer louder. Then Tepić was pushed down to the ground, and of course (?) Zvezda got a free throw... At 57:65 Pavlović was fouled out, after very selflessly blocking Marjanović with a bodycheck. We could earn points only from free throws, not because we are dumb, but because there were so many personal fouls. At 62:69 Milutinov was also fouled out, then at 62:70 Murić stole the ball from Blažić. Partizan’s Slovenian was pushed so heavily on the floor then (may we take it as a reaction for the steal?...), that he didn’t just fell, but couldn’t stand up. (The slow motion replay showed his left ankle making an irrational angle after a Zvezda-player pushed him.) Murić needed help even to walk off the floor (Pavlović and Milutinović were supporting him from both sides). Milosavljević pushed us to 65:70, then Zvezda made a 6-point series (65:76). The last basket was scored by Tepić, settling the final result (67:76).
(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)
After the match Grave Diggers greeted the players as always, as ALWAYS, as if they would have won the championship. You can see the audience is taking a leave, but they still chant and sing.
Giga respect.
At the post-match press conference Dragan Milosavljević gave an example of modesty and sportsmanlike behaviour.
- Congratulations to Zvezda for their victory and their great play. We didn't play well, we were out of ideas. I am responsible for this defeat, I didn't play well both in the defense and the attacking.
And now you stand up and salute for him.
It was smooth, though at first it seemed we won’t be too proud of this match.
Still before the start: Kouzeloglou warming up
(photo: Twitter)
In the beginning it was easy. 7:0, then Tepić placed the ball into the ring with such a sophisticated, noble movement as if he would have been wearing tuxedo instead of Partizan’s jersey (9:2). But Vojvodina equalized (9:9) after we missed a lot of chances. Vojvodina wanted to take not just the lead but the control over the match as well.
They couldn’t.
We picked our defense line together - Saša Pavlović demonstrated it. He made the Block of the Month, then, still possessing the ball he ran up, dribbled himself through the opponent and threw the ball into the basket (14:9). The top of it all was Boris Dallo. There are no words for this. Just watch.
It was Dallo’s night, the young French did a marvellous job. It was still Marinković time, who increased the difference for us with an easy and bold movement (21:13). Then came a period, when nothing wanted to work for both teams. Vojvodina missed out a lot of chances, even 3-pointers, while they made a lot of fouls - but we missed the free throws from these fouls. Nevertheless, after a great Tepić-Mačvan teamwork the difference increased to 10+ (26:15) and this was the point when things started to work for our favour, slowly but surely. At the half-time the result was 33:17.
(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)
Then we came back from the pause and Milosavljević grabbed the whole team, put them under his armpit, ploughed up the floor and scored 3 (three) 3-pointers, increasing the difference to 20 points (44:24). Dallo also brought his best (47:26). Vojvodina’s trainer continously asked for time-out, but he couldn‘t put his team back to shape. Pavlović flashed, the standing increased to 59:31. And the end of the match was still far away.
(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)
Vojvodina collapsed. As for us, it was gala, for the audience. Dallo and Đumić pleased the fans (65:36), and in the last quarter we could make the 30 point difference with Murić’s free throw. (67:36) At this point Vojvodina was not an opponent anymore, still, Partizan didn’t slow down the pace. Bezbradica had his time, throwing baskets, blocking, then Kouzeloglou also got the chance for the last minutes to score against Vojvodina. Next match is coming on Saturday, tomorrow we’ll get to know who’ll be our opponent.
Đumić, Mačvan and Murić
(photos: Facebook/KK Partizan)
(photo: Twitter)
Some other basketball-related news is that Joffrey Lauvergne signed to NBA team Denver Nuggets. Lauvergne confirmed it on Twitter, but the best came afterwards: the French player thanked Partizan, Duško Vujošević and Grave Diggers in Serbian for their support.
