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)

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)

KK Partizan - Crvena Zvezda 86:81 (ABA Liga, round 21)

I seriously couldn’t pick a better return than this derby.
What a great game it was. Just GREAT. Big fight, huge battle, no idle moments. Marinković flashed right at the beginning with a 3-pointer.

Then Birčević also had his moment.

The referees were awful. I was ashamed seeing them. Majstorović had 3 fouls (!!!) for the middle of the first quarter. We were leading though. Our advantage was always 2-3 points, but we kept the lead in our hands. Zvezda sometimes equalized, but they could never step ahead of us. The referees fouled us a million times, Zvezda got the usual gift free throws, in fact they could score almost only from free throws. Their attempts for field goal failed. The first quarter ended with 21:17, Andrić scored a fantastic 3-pointer 1 second before the buzz.

Jamont Gordon

The gate for technical fouls opened in the second quarter. The first lucky winner was Zvezda’s head coach right in the beginning, meanwhile on the court the referees fouled us even when our players just took a breath - but when Luković was pushed around the paint, that was no foul... The second part brought an intense, great game with a lot of battles. Fans were chanting the most vulgar rhythms, but if a team’s president is a mafioso, they have to bear the consequences. The standing was 46:46 in the half-time.

Stefan Birčević

Zvezda took the lead in the third quarter. Their advantage wasn’t much, only 2-3 points, yet we always equalized. And again we got A LOT OF FOULS. Just too many. Simple foul, unsportsmanlike foul, while Simonović was the next lucky winner of a technical one. (I’m not sure, if it was at this point or later/earlier, but he had to leave the court as well.) Zvezda took back the lead one and a half minutes before the end buzz and they kept it. The third part brought the standing of 67:72.

Novica Veličković and Miloš Koprivica try to stop Gudurić

The fourth quarter was the same like the previous three as the referees kept on fouling us. Zvezda was still leading (69:73), but then came Veličković and Hatcher, and they were not leading anymore (73:73). Marinković came and it was again us who were leading. (76:73)

From then on we didn’t let control out of our hands. Zvezda had a lot of mistakes, the ball always rebounded from the ring, when they had an attempt. Lazić got fouled out after pushing Hatcher to the court. Luka Mitrović was the next winner of a technical foul... chaos emerged in the lines of the opponent. We were leading. The standing was 83:78, less than one and a half minutes were left, when Hatcher got the ball. He was quite a few steps out of the 3-point-line, but Hatch threw the ball.
Because Hatcher is a ballsy Partizan-kid.
Did he score?
HE DID!!!

Zvezda squeezed out 3 more points for themselves, Mitrović was fouled out, but all these didn’t matter at all.
Nothing mattered.
We won.

William Hatcher, one of the heroes of the day

Highlights:

KK Partizan: Ratkovica (11), Vrabac (2), Marinković (13), Veličković (11), Majstorović (4), Birčević (16), Koprivica (3), Andrić (3), Hatcher (20), Pot, Gordon (3), Luković

CZ: Wolters (9), Thompson (3), Mitrović (14), Lazić (4), Simanić, Dobrić, Simonović (5), Jenkins (10), Gudurić (9), Jović (8), Kuzmić (8), Bjelica (11)

League table will be brought later.

(photos: aba-liga.com)

AEK Athens - KK Partizan 91:81 (Champions League, round 6)

We made an ass of ourselves.
There's nothing to extenuate. AEK had an excellent training match with us. The only problem is that it was in fact a Champions League-game.
Oh well. I hope we could bring at least a few enjoyable moments to AEK.

The only funny moment was when it was still the beginning of the game and the commentator's mother tongue was English. He had troubles with all these Serbian names. But other than this there was no reason at all to be happy. AEK was leading in the first quarter. Once we could take it (8:9, Koprivica), then Hatcher tried to keep the pace (10:11), but it was gone soon. The difference was obvious already at this point. AEK played in a much more determined style, while we...
Eh. Let’s rather not talk about it. The first quarter ended with 22:14, Ratkovica missed out a chance in the very last moment.

AEK reached the 10-point difference immediately in the second quarter (24:14). There was a point when absolutely no goal was scored for two entire minutes. There were only missed-out and/or screwed-up chances. Certain players (Vrabac, Luković) were gone missing. Others, like Robinson or Koprivica broke the rest of my nerves.

It’s a historical moment. Until now I tried to avoid criticising our basketball players by name. But there are certain limits, and if they are crossed, the meltdown is inevitable. While in the meantime I can’t not think of those times when the team was still not corrupted and debauched, when Duško Vujošević was still at his place, when there were always five roaring lions on the court wearing Partizan-jerseys and tore the opponent to pieces as much that they all had to stop and think about the meaning of life. Now we have a bunch of dull, soulless "players" who would be run off even by a team of laboratory rats. Seriously... It seems this level is enough for ABA Liga, but when we are about to step to international levels, we get knocked out.

AEK was leading, sometimes with 10 points, sometimes with even more. Our performance was lvl catastrophe. The half-time result was 42:33. We could gain a few points after 40:29, but AEK scored one just 30 seconds before the end buzz. Better to be safe than sorry.

As for the third quarter, this was one mentionable moment:

It was still 60:50 for the home team two and a half minutes before the end. We could gain a bit of speed though for the last 1-2 minutes so much that we jumped to 64:62. No, we couldn’t take the lead, but it was still a big deal that Hatcher scored a 3-pointer only 4 seconds before the buzz and this way our drawback was only 2 points.
Only.
You get what I mean.
These games are good for learing to be happy with small things.

Then for the last quarter it was clear that this speedy performance by us in the last minutes of the previous part was just a momentary flash. AEK gained back its 10-point advantage (74:64) and from then on they were always 9 points ahead. We couldn’t work it out. We were at a loss even at putting ourselves together. What is more, Aleksandar Džikić got a technical foul when he yelled off the referee at 82:73. But even this didn’t do any good, nor harm. AEK did whatever they just wanted. Their players had a party, we were just watching them playing.

Highlights:

AEK Athens: Ukić (7), Sakota (19), Vasileiadis (16), Milošević (10), Dixon (15), Larentzakis (2), Falker, Ivanović (3), Mavroeidis (10), Skoulidas, Williams (9), Tsalmpouris

KK Partizan: Robinson (7), Ratkovica (10), Vrabac (2), Marinković (13), Tanasković, Birčević (12), Koprivica (5), Andrić (5), Hatcher (18), Pot, Karahodžić (3), Luković (6)

Current standing of Group E:
1. Besiktas 12 points
2. AEK 10 points
3. Ludwigsburg 10 points
4. Partizan 9 points
5. Dinamo Sassari 8 points
6. Zielona Gora 8 points
7. Proximus Spirou 8 points
8. Szolnoki Olaj 7 points

(photos: Facebook/KK Partizan)

Szolnoki Olaj - KK Partizan 55:70 (Champions League, round 4)

It was a smooth game despite we played still/again very badly and we won’t put this game on display either.
We were leading in the first quarter, the standing was 5:14 in the 5th minute. On appearance it was a self-confident leading, but in fact we weren’t in top form. Though Szolnok was struggling more. We missed out too many 3-pointers, while Szolnok players made double dribbles in critical moments. Around the end we were leading to 8:16, then it was 13:20 when there were only 44 seconds left. Finally Dávid Vojvoda scored a 3-pointer at the very end, the first quarter finished with 16:20.

Birčević was one of the best players of the game

The second quarter was the sequel (again) of the first. Rebounding 3-pointers, missed-out free throws

Koprivica, bro, sometimes I really wonder what is the purpose of your presence on the court...

fouls caused by fumbling or carelessness (I look at you now, Hatcher...), missed-out attempts. Szolnok equalized after two and a half minutes (20:20)

no wonder, after that amount of fumbling we made

Robinson scored a 3-pointer after more than a minute, we took back the lead (20:23). I have to admit though, we did a great job in rebounding. Really. Especially with defensive rebounding.
Then we couldn’t force the ball into the ring standing just two steps away from the backboard. (Szolnok did the same, too, a bit later.)
Three minutes were left, Szolnok took the lead with a 3-pointer (28:27). Aleksandar Džikić asked for time-out, then he got a technical foul for something I couldn’t see. Free throw for Szolnok (29:27). No problem, Ratkovica equalized (29:29). Birčević took back the lead from free throw (29:30) and we kept it in our hands for the rest of the game. The first half ended with 32:33, both teams played beyond criticism in the second quarter of a struggling, painful, very bad game.

The third quarted didn’t differ from the previous two. Szolnok was struggling and we didn’t demonstrate our good side either. We were leading, two minutes before the end Szolnok jumped to 43:45. They were close, right behind us (46:47), but they again made a lot of double dribbles, meanwhile we could stabilize ourselves a bit (46:51). Only 4 seconds were left, when Kinney fell on the court. The referee passed the ball to us, and Andrić scored a buzzer beater. (46:53)

A small group of Grave Diggers were there to support the team

For the last quarter the home team ran out of breath. We increased our advantage to 10 points (48:58), but we copied the "tactics" (LOL) of previous games, when we scored only one basket in every minute. (It was still enough for the victory now though.) Szolnok collapsed, our advantage was more than 10 points three and a half minutes before the end. (52:64) Nothing exciting happened for the rest of the game, we played a bit more on the loose and won. We could celebrate.

Highlights:

Szolnoki Olaj: Kinney (5), Barnies (1), Wright (9), Hajdú, Eilingsfeld (5), Wittmann (2), Vojvoda (21), Tóth, Rudner, Borisov (12), Popović

KK Partizan: Robinson (5), Ratkovica (6), Vrabac (4), Marinković (7), Tanasković, Birčević (17), Koprivica (2), Andrić (4), Hatcher (11), Pot, Karahodžić, Luković (14)

Current standing of Group E:
1. Besiktas 8 points
2. AEK 7 points
3. KK Partizan 7 points
4. Ludwigsburg 6 points
5. Sassari 6 points
6. Zielona Gora 5 points
7. Szolnoki Olaj 5 points
8. Spirou Charleroi 4 points

(photos: Facebook/KK Partizan)

Crvena Zvezda - KK Partizan 83:72 (ABA Liga, round 8)

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

Highlights:

Crvena Zvezda: Wolters (6), Dangubić (6), Mitrović (12), Lazić (11), Simanić, Dobrić, Simonović (8), Jenkins (19), Gudurić (4), Jović, Kuzmić (8), Bjelica (9)

KK Partizan: Robinson (2), Ratkovica (11), Vrabac (6), Marinković (9), Veličković (11), Majstorović (3), Birčević (10), Koprivica (4), Andrić, Hatcher (16), Karahodžić, Luković

Current standing of the league:
1. CZ 16 pointa
2. Budućnost 16 points
3. Cibona 14 points
4. KK Partizan 14 points
5. Cedevita 13 points
6. Igokea 12 points
7. FMP 11 points
8. Krka 11 points
9. Zadar 11 points
10. Mornar Bar 10 points
11. Mega Leks 10 points
12. MZT Skopje 10 points
13. Union Olimpija 9 points
14. Karpoš 8 points

(photos: Facebook/KK Partizan)

KK Partizan - Zielona Gora 58:56 (Champions League, round 3)

This game was like a capital constipation. Even against Budućnost it was less strain and struggle, though even that game was like a nodus haemorrhoidalis. But this one against the Poles... I bet right now the entire team stands in line at the team doctor’s waiting room and every player gets the most brutal laxative on prescription.
Let’s see what happened.
We needed almost 3 minutes for a 3:0 standing, and even this was brought in two parts. First a field goal by Birčević, then a one-from-two free throw by Karahodžić. The Polish team equalized in the 3rd minute (3:3). At 5 and a half minutes Zielona Gora was leading to 5:9. We lost the ball in such ways that was hair-raising. It means no comfort either that Poles were not better than us at all. They struggled and fumbled the same way as we did, it’s a shame we couldn’t turn it for our advantage.
We jumped to 10:11, then we equalized (11:11) around the 7th minute. Then came a Polish 3-pointer, Veličković equalized (14:14). 50 seconds were left until the end buzz, another 3-pointer by Zielona. Robinson equalized, the first quarter finished with 17:17.

Hatcher in a Polish sandwich

The second quarter was a bit more exciting. Zielona Gora was leading again (19:22), but then we quickly took the lead and even kept it unti the half-time. We played with self-confidence, Average Fan naively thought it could still turn out as a great match after that struggle in the beginning. In the 7th minute we were leading to 33:25, and then the Polish team started to come up, step by step. It was all unnoticed, they scored one basket in each minute. No joke. One minute, one basket. And we scored NONE, unbelievable. The half-time was 35:32, it was high time for a break.

Not sure if Birčević is about to cock a snook at the referee or is trying to convince him that he didn’t drink 10 beers before the game

The third quarter was a nighmare.
We scored 6 points. SIX POINTS. Not more, not less.
Six points.
Our first score came after two and a half minutes (37:32, Veličković). A minute later Ratkovica scored the next (39:32). The head coach of Zielona Gora got fed up and asked for time-out. All right. We walked back to the court. The Poles scored their first basket after four and a half minutes in the second half, just the problem is that they could still score more than we did. They equalized in the 6th minute (39:39). Marinković scored our 6th point (41:39) and then we called it a day. At least for this quarter. During the remaining 4 minutes Poles came up to 41:45, because we missed out a terrible amount of chances, and lost the ball just too often (offering free steal or turnover to the guests).

Vanja Marinković’s facial expression mirrors the entire game

The fourth quarter brought no good either. Both teams struggled, with a LOT OF missed-out attempts on both sides, especially 3-pointers.

Duško Vujošević would have torn the whole team’s head off at this point and kicked out everyone from Pionir Hall, one after the other. (I don’t care that it’s officially not Pionir Hall anymore, for me it will always and forever stay as Pionir Hall.)

We jumped to 44:45, then Birčević was especially alert, stole a wandering ball, ran up, scored and took the lead (46:45).

By the way, we were excellent in blocking. If basketball had been played for blocks, we would be champions, for sure.

In the 6th minute we equalized (48:48), but Poles again took the lead and it all looked especially sad. Barely 2 minutes were left, they were leading to 50:54, but then entered Novica Veličković and equalized (54:54).

He was the only one tonight whose performance is worth to mention

What is more, Ratkovica took back the lead from free throw (56:54).
Less than 30 seconds were left, Zielona Gora equalized (56:56). Partizan attacks. 11 seconds are left. Novica Veličković scores (58:56). One very last attack by Zielona Gora. Only one second is left... and Florence slips out through the sideline in the critical moment, when he was just about to throw the ball. The referee whistles it off. We get the ball, and the game is over.
Over and out.
PS: Does anyone know why Andrić didn’t play even a minute?

We won, but we have nothing to be proud of

Highlights:

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KK Partizan: Robinson (6), Ratkovica (7), Vrabac (2), Marinković (7), Veličković (15), Majstorović (4), Birčević (7), Koprivica, Andrić, Hatcher (6), Karahodžić (1), Luković (3)

Zielona Gora: Florence (16), Vaughn, Moore (4), Zajcev (6), Der, Majchrzak, Kelati (3), Gruszecki (8), Hrycaniuk (2), Zamojski (3), Đurišić (6), Koszarek (8)

Group E standings:
1. Besiktas 6 points
2. AEK 5 points
3. Partizan 5 points
4. Zielona Gora 4 points
5. Dinamo Sassari 3 points
6. Szolnoki Olaj 3 points
7. Ludwigsburg 2 points
8. Proximus Spirou 2 points

(photos: Facebook/KK Partizan)

MZT Skopje - KK Partizan 62:93 (ABA Liga, round 2)

With an awfully lagging net and sometimes unwatchable stream, but Partizan won again - as Fellow Fan was kind enough to inform me, by "smashing them". Looking at the final result it’s no doubt at all.

That day was also the 71st anniversary of founding Partizan sports society. Grave Diggers did their best to celebrate it.

The steam engine started to roll in the first quarter at 9:11. We jumped to 9:20 scoring a lot of 3-pointers. Then 14:27. Easy, smooth, absolutely non-problematic first part, finished with 16:29.

Hatcher had a fantastic performance, he was the MVP of the game

That's how it was going for the rest of the game as well. In the second quarter our advantage was more than 20 points (20:43). Even ArenaSport's commentator was shocked. We had the chance to make some spectacular tricks, too, like Ratkovica here.

Half-time result: 25:48.

Birčević too was in excellent shape

The second half was merely about whether we can keep the 20-point difference or we can improve it to 30. We did. We were leading to 50:85 in the last quarter. At the very end we took it too easily and missed out a few chances, Skopje reduced the difference from 52:90 to 62:93. But 30 points are 30 points.

Highlights:

MZT Skopje: Cvetkovski, Thames (20), Thomas, Mekić, Massey (15), Kloof (4), Simonovski (5), Lučić (9), Mladenovski (1), Scott (8), Lalić

KK Partizan: Robinson, Ratkovica (5), Vrabac, Marinković (16), Veličković (5), Majstorović (11), Birčević (19), Koprivica, Andrić (8), Hatcher (21), Pot, Luković (8)

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

(photos: aba-liga.com)