Sports Poets Society

https://open.spotify.com/episode/28LNIxSuCETY3JD8iCB369 Aprire il nuovo anno come si è chiuso il vecchio. Ecco il desiderio da esprimere brindando con le prime bollicine al 2024. Milano con il convincente 76-67 sul Baskonia. La Bologna bianconera con la notte magica di Belgrado: il 75-77 sul Partizan davanti ai 20mila della Stark Arena. Un'impresa salutata così da un migliaio di tifosi, al rientro della Virtus all'aeroporto Marconi, nelle immagini di Achille Polonara. Sembrava di essere tornati indietro di un quarto di secolo, coi 1500 corsi ad accogliere i campioni d'Europa di Barcellona '98 sull'AEK Atene. Era la Virtus di coach Ettore Messina, l'ex condottiero ora rivalissimo all'Olimpia, che da Atene - ma al Pireo, sponda-Olympiacos - aprirà il 2 gennaio il girone di ritorno. E con un cavallo di ritorno (dalla Stella Rossa, fino a fine stagione): Shabazz Napier, il play che mancava dopo la rottura con Kevin Pangos. La Virtus invece lo farà il giorno dopo...

https://www.sportingnews.com/in/chicago-bulls/news/the-greatest-game-michael-jordan-ever-played-dream-team-practice-monte-carlos-usa-1992-barcelona-olympics/1620nvvs6ej9s1h1o2w0nf6o23 Juan Estevez 03-05-2020•3 min read Just four days before the start of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Chuck Daly's Dream Team were finishing their preparations in Monte Carlo and it was that July 22, when a final practice was carried out that would end up going down in history. "[It was the] greatest game I’ve ever played in, said Michael Jordan years later, regarding the scrimmage that Wednesday in the Principality of Monaco. What exactly happened? To finalise preparations for the Games, head coach Chuck Daly intended to have a tough practice session at game intensity. For that, he organized a 5 vs 5 duel and to balance the competitiveness he put Michael Jordan on team and Magic Johnson on the other, the two leaders of the team. MORE: Did Isiah Thomas deserve to be part of the Dream Team at the 199...

https://eu.freep.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2023/12/30/detroit-pistons-losing-streak-nba-cade-cunningham-toronto-raptors-game/72068823007/ Best photos as Detroit Pistons aim to avoid NBA history vs. Toronto Raptors at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023. OMARI SANKOFA II   Detroit Free Press - Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023. View |19 Photos Detroit Pistons avoid more NBA history, beat Toronto Raptors at LCA Sixty-three days separated the Detroit Pistons ' second and third wins this season. At least they can enter the new year with their heads held high. The Pistons (3-29) snapped their 28-game losing streak Saturday with a 129-127 win over the Toronto Raptors at Little Caesars Arena. The Pistons had already set the NBA's single-season record for consecutive losses and tied the all-time record set by the Philadelphia 76ers across the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons. Their previous win? A 118-102 thumping Oct. 28 of the Chicago Bulls at LCA. The Pistons finish 2023...

https://www.marca.com/baloncesto/nba/2022/07/23/62dbe262e2704e434b8b459c.html VIDEO https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1103564026460458 SI Staff  -  Jul 24, 2012 You have a tape?" Michael Jordan asks. "Of that game?" "I do," I say. "Man, everybody asks me about that game," he says. "It was the most fun I ever had on a basketball court." It befits the enduring legend of the Dream Team, arguably the most dominant squad ever assembled in any sport, that we're referring not to a real game but to an intrasquad scrimmage in Monaco three days before the start of the 1992 Olympics. The Dreamers played 14 games that summer two decades gone, and their smallest victory margin was 32 points, over a fine Croatia team in the Olympic final. The common matrices of statistical comparison, you see, are simply not relevant in the case of the Dream Team, whose members could be evaluated only when they played each other. The video of that scrimmage, therefore...

Pistons fall short in OT, equal longest-ever losing streak in NBA BY MIKE CURTIS 29 Dec 2023 - The Detroit News Two nights after setting the record for the longest single-season losing streak in NBA history, the lowly-Pistons descended upon Beantown for their greatest challenge of the season. It was their first nationally televised game of the season after the previous two were removed from NBA TV. With the entire country watching, Detroit’s young roster squandered a first-half 19-point lead but showed enough resilience in the fourth quarter to force a veteran Celtics team to a crucial overtime period. When the Pistons needed them most, Bojan Bogdanovic and Jaden Ivey delivered several shots in the clutch to keep their team’s hopes alive, but the Celtics made the plays that ultimately mattered in the final two minutes of the game to deliver a 128-122 loss to the Pistons on Thursday night. Celtics guard Jrue Holiday baited Jaden Ivey into a sixth and disqualifying foul with 2:13 left i...

https://capovelo.com/johan-van-der-velde/ 11 DEC 2023 - In THE GREAT RACE , THE PODIUM Happy birthday to Johan van der Velde, who was born on December 12, 1956 in Rijsbergen, Netherlands. The Dutch rider is best known for winning the maillot blanc in the 1980 Tour de France for being the best young rider under 25, while also placing 12th overall in his debut French Grand Tour. During next year’s Tour, van der Velde won two stages, and again finished 12th in the overall classification. Van der Velde stood out in the peloton for his lean, long-legged appearance, smooth pedaling style and long hair. And, despite riding in support of veteran riders such as Joop Zoetemelk, whom he could pace over mountains at impressive speed, he was also capable of winning on his own. Indeed, van der Velde saw early successes in races like the Tour de Romandie, Tour of Britain, Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré and the Ronde van Nederland, as well as claiming the Dutch National Road Championship title on two oc...

https://eu.detroitnews.com/story/sports/columnists/john-niyo/2023/12/27/niyo-its-bad-boys-pistons-sail-into-uncharted-water-with-27-straight-losses/72030408007/ JOHN NIYO   The Detroit News - December 27, 2023  Nets 118, Pistons 112 The Detroit Pistons host the Brooklyn Nets at Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit, Tuesday night, December 26, 2023. Detroit — There’s a word for what we’re watching with these Pistons. And, ironically, it’s the same word their owner used last week, when Tom Gores was asked what he’d say to the fans who were chanting “Sell the team!” again at the end of another excruciating loss at Little Caesars Arena. It’s ridiculous, is what it is. And it only became more so in the wake of Tuesday night’s 118-112 defeat at the hands of the Brooklyn Nets on the Pistons’ home court. This loss was Detroit’s 27th in a row, setting a new single-season record for the longest skid mark in the NBA. And the emotional toll of it wasn’t merely visible on the court as...