Never underestimate the pride of a champion

May 25, 2012

Vladimir Stankovic, Euroleague.net

Veteran sportswriter and Euroleague.net collaborator Vladimir Stankovic has been following the best basketball on the continent longer than almost anyone journalist, writing for decades about the sport in major publications in both Serbia and Spain. For the new 2009-10 season, he offers a series of opinion blogs about what's happening on and off the court in the Euroleague.

Olympiacos, Regal FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Maccabi Electra, CSKA Moscow and Asseco Prokom are already in the Quarterfinal Playoffs. Congratulations to all of them, but my first lines today I want to dedicate to the outgoing champs, Panathinaikos. They arrived in Belgrade this week already out of the race for the playoffs with a 0-4 record, but were willing to show it all had been an accident, just a bunch of circumstances that sometimes fall into place. In the Greek League against Olympiacos last weekend, the Greens already showed that they are going up again, especially in the backcourt. And in Belgrade, even without Nikola Pekovic, they defeated his former team, Partizan. And it was no contest. Drew Nicholas made 6 of 6 from the arc, Stratos Perperoglou added 4 of 6 from that distance. Mike Batiste blocked Aleks Maric three times and also doubled him in scoring (12 against 6). Partizan won in rebounds (32-29) but Panathinaikos won every other aspect of the game and, as Partizan boss Dusko Vujosevic aknowledged after the game, the better team won.

I do not have any doubts that Panathinaikos is a better team than Partizan, but in sports, the best teams do not always win or qualify. The quality and virtues of a champion are put to the test every time the team steps on the court, even more than a regular team, and Panathinaikos was unfortunate to have two bad games in the worst moment. They will pay the price for that, but the will also fall with pride. Panathinaikos coach Zeljko Obradovic, who received a standing ovation from the crowd at Pionir Arena, who will always remember his coaching their team to its only European title in 1992, was asked before the game if "his Partizan" would get any kind of free pass. After the game, he was also asked whether Panathinaikos vs. Maroussi in Week 6 would have some influence on the fate of Partizan, which is contesting a playoff spot with Marouss. Obradovic replied angrily both times: "I played for 15 years and have coached for 19. And I have never, ever in my life, received any gifts from anybody nor have I given them!"

Pionir is unique

I have been writing basketball for about 40 years now, but I can hardly remember anything similar to what I saw in Belgrade on Thursday at Pionir Arena. I know the Partizan fans well, but I have to admit that they outdid themselves this time! Supporting the team even when it is clear that a loss cannot be avoided is something quite normal. But what happened afterwards was something unbelievable, a social phenomenon. More than 20 minutes after the game ended, 90 percent of the fans were still in the stands chanting their songs. The players had to come back an stay on the court chanting alongside the crowd. Then it was Vujosevic's turn to come back and thank these fans who everyday show their everlasting love for their club. Danko Cvjeticanin, who played for Partizan before signing for Cibona to win two titles, was the guest commentator for Serbian television. Enjoying the atmosphere he said: "Belgrade should include these fans in the list of touristic attractions. They are a brand in themselves!" Those of you who have not seen what I am talking about, you better check Euroleague.TV or Youtube soon. It's worth it.

Several former champs of Yugoslavia gathered up on Thursday at Pionir for the big game. Petar Skansi, world champ in 1970, was in the courtside seats with legend Drazen Dalipagic, world champ in 1978. With a microphone in his hand, Slovenian TV commentator Peter Vilfan, also 1978 champ and Partizan player, was doing his duties. More names included Sasha Djordjevic, another Partizan legend and world champ in 1998. Everyone was impressed with the atmosphere at the arena that night. So were the Greek journalists and the L'Equipe reporter Liliane Trevisan said that, in all honesty, she had never seen anything like that. It was a great win for basketball.

A great round of competition

With the victories in Week 5 by Panathinaikos and Cibona, no winless teams are left in this Top 16. The zeros in the win column of the Greek and Croatian champs were more an accident than reality. In fact, Cibona still holds some mathematical options to advance to the Playoffs. What after twoo weeks was hinted at us, has been confirmed after five games. We have had a great Top 16. Balanced, with surprises, with overtimes, with tension and everything in an excellent sporting atmosphere, without incidents and with rather good refereeing.

Among the eight teams that will go on, apart from perennial favorites, we will find, at least, two modest clubs, if we speak in terms of their budget. One will be Asseco Prokom, whose passage to the playoffs is a historic feat for Polish basketball. The other will be either Partizan or Maroussi. There could even be a third one, Cibona, if they win in Vitoria and Khimki loses at home to Olympiacos. It's more proof that good work with young players and smart choices of foreigners under the famous Spanish 'BBB' formula ("Bueno, Bonito y Barato" = "Good, Beautiful and Cheap") can work, sometimes even better than high budgets. The Euroleague of and for everyone. The one we all want.

The numbers

Another week with no outstanding milestones. All-time Euroleague scoring leader Marcus Brown of Zalgiris had 23 points against Asseco Prokom and is only 9 points short of beating the 2,700 mark. Nikola Vujcic of Olympiacos only allowed Barcelona's Juan Carlos Navarro one week to enjoy his status as second best on the scoring list. They now share that honor with 2,320 points each. Barca's Jaka Lakovic needs only four more assists to reach 500. Vujcic is just 15 rebounds short of reaching the 1,000 mark, while his teammmate Theo Papaloukas needs only 19 more steals to become the first player ever to reach 300, and CSKA Moscow's Trajan Langdon needs only one to reach 200. With his block against Maroussi, Barcelona's Fran Vazquez reached 130. With his 10 assists against Efes Pilsen, Real Madrid's Pablo Prigioni confirmed his second place in the ranking with 670, still far away from the leader, Papaloukas, with 818.

POSTED BY

Vladimir Stankovic, Euroleague.net

DATE:

Saturday, March 06, 2010