Rokas Jokubaitis, during Maccabi’s trip to Monaco /Euroleague
Last week, the Euroleague left us with one of many he blew y amazing about this transfer window, such as the arrival of Jordan Lloyd to Monaco. The American international, who wore the shirt of the Monegasque team from 2022 until last season, decided, this summer, to continue his career at Maccabi, becoming one of the leaders of the team after the departure of four key players last year. (Wade Baldwin, Lorenzo Brown, Bonzie Colson and Josh Nebo).
What makes things even more surprising is that Loyd and his former team visited Monaco last Wednesday. The manager did well, with 16 points. The next day, after his big game, Sasa Obradovic gave the green light to join him again. Mike James and Elie Okobo. Such a move is not remembered in recent years. sign the next day the player who messed you up last night, and many more, when last summer, the Monegasque club decided to retire.
The operation has been completed, since the actor, as explained on his social media, He asked to disassociate himself from Maccabi for fear of the ongoing war in which Israel is one of the parties involved. It is not the job of this columnist to analyze military conflicts, and on this forum we talk about basketball. But it is clear that signing the Maccabean team is not a good option today.
So, I was surprised by the decision he made Rokas Jokubaitis change Barcelona to Tel Aviv and Belgrade. The departure of ‘Joku’, no matter how Joan Peñarroya said on the day of his presentation that he was counting on the player, was obvious. An open secret that was not comforted by the player himself in an interview with SPORT before the last Copa del Rey, in preparing for this summer’s games and committing to Juan Nunez, it is a reason to try to find a place in the New York Knicks, after the last participation ‘Summer League’ cha NBA.
Rokas Jokubaitis started with the Knicks in the NBA summer league / Curtains
I don’t know if Jokubaitis had Maccabi’s decision to continue playing in the Euroleague this season. I highly doubt it, and it’s hard for me to believe that Zalgiris, or even Sarunas Jasikevicius and his Fenerbahçe, They are not interested in their situation. Who knows if, maybe, a year in the NBA development league would be good for him to restart his career. But the decision to sign the Israeli team, with which he is falling, and with what is seen every day in the News, does not seem very wise. In addition, the ‘skinny dog, it’s all fleas’, and in one of the last training sessions with his teammates, he made a competition. breaking his finger which will keep in dry dock for several weeks.
Maccabi is spending another year in ‘exile’ from Belgrade to play matches Euroleague. The Euroleague, by the way, has saved the vote this past summer by running a black screen and looking for another way with Israeli teams in its competition. In Moscow and St. Petersburg should not understand anything, and they are right.
I believe Jokubaitis does very well at Maccabi and can emulate his idol Jasikevicius, with the success he achieved during his days in Tel Aviv. I appreciate him a lot, because he was the first Barça basketball player I was able to talk to since I joined SPORT. But in life, not everything is about money or the promise of high social status. I hope he takes care of himself, that he takes care of him, and that soon, we can enjoy his basketball again without worrying about his safety.
Bad for attack
‘Anger’ by Joel Parra
Joel Parra has already overcome the first week of recovery after his right foot that happened in the game with Hiopos Lleida. He has two more left, if all goes according to plan, but the truth is that this injury has stopped a happy beginning of the season, in which he managed to score 16 points against Granada and Lleida himself. The same player has already said that last summer, after being left out of the Olympic team, he made a ‘set’ in other actionss which did not allow him to have a good first year as a Barça player. For the good of Barça, which closed last week with a well-deserved win against Alba Berlin, and respectable in Tenerife, I hope that Parra will return to the level he showed before the incident. In preparation for the match against the German team, He was seen wearing one of those orthopedic shoes that support and aid in recovery. I hope I can fight in Istanbul against Anadolu Efes on October 29.
The President of Manresa goes to SPORT
In the next few days, we will bring an interview with Josep Maria Herms, President of Baxi Manresa, and who recently visited the SPORT editorial office to watch the first game of the season, which has started very well for the Bages team. In Herms, I saw a man of great knowledge director of the financial cluband that, even from the departure of Pedro Martinez, continues with that print that has brought so much joy and hopefully, is Diego Ocampo advance is repeated. And it’s a Xavi Pujol, the leader of the game, who is one of the best in all of European basketball. An interesting and interesting story that we will discuss again the future of New Gorge, and the need to expand or build a new pavilion that fits Manresa’s needs.
