Basketball: domestic leagues

[Milos-BC]

The regional ABA league is beginning today. This is now a "domestic" league for all ex-yu countries, and this is where the spots for the Euroleague will be hunted. There are some wild cards outside this region as well. (last season it was Maccabi Tel Aviv and this season it is : Szolonok)

Here is a list of participants for the 2012:

Partizan
Crvena Zvezda
Radnički Kragujevac
Cedevita
Cibona
Split
Zadar
MZT Skopje
Szolonok
Igokea
Budućnost
Krka
Široki Brijeg
Union Olimpija


1st round:

Partizan - Zadar
Split - Crvena Zvezda
Široki - Igokea
Radnički Kragujevac - Union Olimpija
Budućnost - Cedevita
Cibona - MZT Skopje
Krka - Szolonok

 

[Archer]

Nice idea Milos. I found Maccabi's participation weird last year but later I've got the procedure probably I'll watch the league this year as well.

 

[Milos-BC]

^^ Thanks

I think Maccabi participated because they considered their national league to be too weak and the chairman of ABA league wanted someone to break Partizan's domination in the league, so that is why they entered in the first place

Our domination indeed got broken, so the goal was achieved, and they didn't have to enter this time as well

I will update the info about the 1st round results after the last match between Krka and Szolonok is played today

 

[aletem]

MZT did a huge surprise by beating Cibona away with 72-77 :shock:

 

[Milos-BC]

^^ I agree, and I am really happy that MZT managed to win

Along with Zvezda's defeat from Split, those two are the biggest surprises so far.

And both are positive for me

 

[Milos-BC]

In the first round, harder than expected, but Partizan managed to defeat Zadar with 81:74. We have the youngest team in the league now, but a very, very talented one, and it is not unnatural to play badly on the first match. Zadar, even though in financial problems, was very motivated and it wouldn't be undeserved if they won in the end because they were a better rival during most of the match. I think we will play much better in the next match against Krka, as the guys were under huge pressure, and now after they won the first match, everything should be much easier. I also expect our game to improve a lot.

The table:

#	Team	W	L	T	D
1	Krka	1	0	2	15
2	Partizan mt:s	1	0	2	7
3	Igokea	1	0	2	6
4	Union Olimpija	1	0	2	6
5	Split	1	0	2	6
6	MZT Skopje Aerodrom	1	0	2	5
7	Cedevita	1	0	2	4
8	Budućnost VOLI	0	1	1	-4
9	Cibona	0	1	1	-5
10	Široki WWin	0	1	1	-6
11	Radnički	0	1	1	-6
12	Crvena zvezda BG DIVA	0	1	1	-6
13	Zadar	0	1	1	-7
14	Szolnoki Olaj	0	1	1	-15

 

[Archer]

On the occasion of 2012 NBA Live Tour, Fenerbahce is playing against Boston Celtics today!

 

[Milos-BC]

^^ Congratulations, it is always a huge success when some of the
European clubs get a chance to play against NBA teams Partizan was
invited to have a NBA tour two seasons ago and we played against Lakers,
Miami Heat, Sacramento Kings and several other teams....

As for the regional league, 2nd round has ended and Partizan defeated Krka with
79:60! Our players were phenomenal. I said that it will be much easier
than in the first match against Zadar, even though Krka is a stronger
opponent (after all, they are the champions of Slovenia). The players
didn't feel the pressure of the first match that is often for young
teams like this, and we managed to outclass a fairly strong rival and
secure the second victory on the home ground.

Tomorrow we are playing against Cibona in Zagreb. This will be a derby, and I expect a tough match even though Cibona didn't start well. They will give everything to win against Partizan in Zagreb.


The table after the second round:

#	Team	W	L	T	D
1	Partizan mt:s	2	0	4	26
2	Cedevita	2	0	4	22
3	Union Olimpija	2	0	4	15
4	Igokea	2	0	4	15
5	MZT Skopje Aerodrom	2	0	4	9
6	Zadar	1	1	3	10
7	Split	1	1	3	-3
8	Krka	1	1	3	-4
9	Szolnoki Olaj	1	1	3	-11
10	Cibona	0	2	2	-9
11	Široki WWin	0	2	2	-10
12	Budućnost VOLI	0	2	2	-13
13	Crvena zvezda BG DIVA	0	2	2	-23
14	Radnički	0	2	2	-24

 

[aletem]

MZT won over Siroki and I expected that, but MZT was playing bad. It's a good thing they won.

On the occasion of 2012 NBA Live Tour, Fenerbahce is playing against Boston Celtics today!

Bo McCaleb is playing well even for Fener. He is a great add to the team!

 

[Milos-BC]

^^ MZT is the biggest positive surprise of the league so far imo

And Igokea too.

 

[aletem]

^^ MZT is the biggest positive surprise of the league so far imo

And Igokea too.

Gecevski and one of the Stojanovski twins are playing for MZT. They were in the national team in Lithuania. Gecevski retired from the NT this year, but will play for MZT. He is an old wolf. He is a good player though. This is the strongest MZT ever I think. Their best result was a win against Real Madrid more than 10 years ago.
When I was 9-10, I used to go and watch MZT, since the hall was close and I always cheered for them.

 

[Archer]

Boston Celtics 91 - 97 Fenerbahçe Ülker

Omg it was an awesome night, that's it! I have to admit that Boston was too jaded though

Bo McCaleb is playing well even for Fener. He is a great add to the team!

He is the best of the team now

 

[Milos-BC]

Gecevski and one of the Stojanovski twins are playing for MZT. They were in the national team in Lithuania. Gecevski retired from the NT this year, but will play for MZT. He is an old wolf. He is a good player though. This is the strongest MZT ever I think. Their best result was a win against Real Madrid more than 10 years ago.
When I was 9-10, I used to go and watch MZT, since the hall was close and I always cheered for them.

Oh, I didn't know that Gecevski is also in the team Awesome! Of course, I know both players (all 3 if we count both twins ). I didn't watch any match of MZT yet, but I will definetly try to catch in on the first occasion possible. Arena Sport broadcasted the match against Cibona on their 2nd channel and only people who have IP TV have Arena 2 Most people don't even have Arena 1. Lucikly, my cable operator has them Arena 1 is broadcasting our soccer league too, ABA league, Champions League matches, water polo league, etc......it is a growing channel in the region and they are getting better and better.

Nothing is an accident, and the victory you achieved against Cibona in the first round is the proof that the team had a great selection for this season (Cibona defeated us today). I think you are going to play against Crvena Zvezda very soon (though....it's not Zvezda really, that is FMP who changed the name into Crvena Zvezda Beograd Diva. The original and real Zvezda is frozen and doesn't exist in basketball currently. Nebojsa Covic manipulated Zvezda's fans to support his private club where his son of mediocre basketball quality Filip must play all the time. Hey, I just figured out: FMP = Filip Must Play 3), and, if not sooner, that is when I will definetly have a chance to watch MZT live

Hopefully you beat that Frankenstein of a club when you meet them


@Archer: Congrats on the victory! I am not surprised that McCaleb is once again one of the best players of the team. He is one of the best international players available on the European market as well as the best play maker in Europe.

When he signed for Partizan 3 years ago, he was basically anonymous. But under Dule Vujosevic's command he exploded in our team, and he was also one of the most important factors for our final four of Euroleague in 2010. He did this with Macedonia as well, and I believe that he will bring a lot of happiness to Fener as well.

I am really happy that his career is going upwards. If I would have to make a list of the best foreign players that played in Partizan, McCaleb would've been an absolute #1.

 

[aletem]

MZT lost from Buducnost wit 81:71. I thought Cibona was better than Buducnost, but I guess it is really hard for us to play against the Montenegrins. Anyway, it's not a loss with 20+ points, so it is okay.

 

[Milos-BC]

It is interesting how there is no team with all victories yet, and also no team with all defeats either The league is very, very equal so far....

Btw, Buducnost is very hard to beat on their field. Almost impossible. I don't remember when Partizan and Zvezda won there last time....



I will update the standings after the last match of this round between Radnicki Kragujevac and Igokea ends.

 

[Farahim]

Boston Celtics 91 - 97 Fenerbahçe Ülker

Omg it was an awesome night, that's it! I have to admit that Boston was too jaded though



He is the best of the team now

 

[Milos-BC]

Partizan lost the 3rd match from Cibona with 80-72. We didn't play well in this match, although it is normal to offer play like this as well. This is a young team and the oscillations are normal. Cibona was very motivated to redeem themselves after two defeats in a row, and they have a very good team, so this outcome is not surprising. Our team has a lot of potential, but as we got rid of some very good and experienced and good players like Pera Pozic and Dule Kecman and started to create the team from 0, it will need some time.......they have my full support anyway.

Hopefully, this won't make our players lose their confidence in matches against Besiktas in the Euroleague on Friday and Siroki Brijeg in the round of the league on Sunday.

The table:

#	Team	W	L	T	D
1	Igokea	3	0	6	20
2	Cedevita	2	1	5	19
3	Partizan mt:s	2	1	5	18
4	Krka	2	1	5	12
5	Union Olimpija	2	1	5	4
6	Split	2	1	5	0
7	MZT Skopje Aerodrom	2	1	5	-1
8	Cibona	1	2	4	-1
9	Budućnost VOLI	1	2	4	-3
10	Zadar	1	2	4	-6
11	Široki WWin	1	2	4	-9
12	Szolnoki Olaj	1	2	4	-12
13	Crvena zvezda BG DIVA	1	2	4	-12
14	Radnički	0	3	3	-29

 

[Milos-BC]

Partizan defeated Siroki Brijeg with 65:62. A very important victory for our team after the loss against Cibona. We are now having a tough schedule as we are playing against Buducnost in Moraca (it will be very hard to beat them in after a huge emotional match against CSKA in the Euroleague, and they are almost unbeatable on their field), then we are playing against Radnicki Kragujevac at home (another tough match. Our matches against Radnicki are always very tough and very equal), Split as guests, and than we have a derby against Crvena Zvezda on our own field.......

But I believe in this team very much, so I have no doubt that we will prepare ourselves.

The table:

#	Team	W	L	T	D
1	Igokea	4	0	8	35
2	Cedevita	3	1	7	21
3	Partizan mt:s	3	1	7	21
4	Union Olimpija	3	1	7	16
5	Krka	3	1	7	14
6	Budućnost VOLI	2	2	6	22
7	MZT Skopje Aerodrom	2	2	6	-9
8	Split	2	2	6	-15
9	Cibona	1	3	5	-3
10	Široki WWin	1	3	5	-12
11	Crvena zvezda BG DIVA	1	3	5	-14
12	Zadar	1	3	5	-18
13	Radnički	1	3	5	-21
14	Szolnoki Olaj	1	3	5	-37

 

[Milos-BC]

Much easier than expected, but Partizan managed to defeat Budućnost in Podgorica with 82-61. Even though there were heavy incidents before the beginning of the match, a reaction of Partizan's players was much better, and we managed to nail them in the end. I expected a defeat, to be honest, as we were losing in Morača with even stronger rosters, but the way we played on Sunday was simply amazing. Our young and perspective team is improving very quickly, and now we are on a level that we had a shot for the victory against the huge CSKA Moscow and that we nailed and outplayed a very solid Budućnost on their own field. If we continue like this, we can beat absolutely everyone!

And our coach Dule Vujošević got another technical from the referee 50 seconds after the prevous punishment expired 3 Dule The King

The table:

#	Team	W	L	T	D
1	Igokea	5	0	10	36
2	Partizan mt:s	4	1	9	40
3	Cedevita	4	1	9	25
4	Union Olimpija	3	2	8	12
5	Krka	3	2	8	9
6	Split	3	2	8	-7
7	Cibona	2	3	7	6
8	Radnički	2	3	7	4
9	Budućnost VOLI	2	3	7	3
10	Široki WWin	2	3	7	-7
11	MZT Skopje Aerodrom	2	3	7	-17
12	Crvena zvezda BG DIVA	1	4	6	-15
13	Zadar	1	4	6	-27
14	Szolnoki Olaj	1	4	6	-62

After a Euroleague match against Liletuvos Rytas tomorrow, we are playing a local derby match against Radnički Kragujevac. Muta's boys always give 200% of themselves against Partizan, so it will be a very tough match, but I expect a victory.

I also hope that MZT will thrash Crvena Zvezda (as Zvezda is in total knock-down currently), so that they sink even lower Oh, I am so evil :twisted:

 

[aletem]

We'll see if MZT is going to win. The coach after the third consecutive defeat, decided to resign (which I thought it was good, since the squad is pretty good and there aren't great results... except for the win against Cibona away). MZT will likely win over Igokea and Szolnoki and perhaps against Krka at home.