Codi Miller-McIntyre helped Joventut more than the referees did
Partizan Belgrade had to have an easy game yesterday at home against Joventut Badalona. The Spanish team travelled without Ante Tomic, Pau Ribas, Nenad Dimitrijevic and Arturs Zagars and had no chance to win. But the referees hunted Partizan whistling many imaginary fouls with the worst of them in the last seconds of the game when Nemanja Dangubic didn’t touch his opponent.
Anyway, no matter what the referees were doing Partizan controlled the game and had an important margin of 14 points before the last stanza when the chaos starts. The fouls fiesta continued and Partizan accumulated 5 in the first 2 minutes of the quarter, which allowed Joventut to have a good comeback in the game.
But even the referees can’t do miracles. They help but cannot guarantee the victory because the difference between Partizan and Joventut was big. At the moment you need another guy and this is the American player of Partizan, Codi Miller-McIntyre. Codi had the code of failure in clutch moments. He is like Jordan, Kobe or LeBron with the difference that he doesn’t help the team in clutch moments, but he helps the opponents. He is a clutch player but against his own team.
Entering in the last minute of the game, Codi made an incredible turnover, unprovoked by the Joventut defense. He just lost the ball. Then, with 13 seconds left, 4 points for Partizan and the ball just rebounded after Joventut missed shot, Codi sent a stupid pass of 30 meters directly in out on the other side of the court.
Instead of keeping the ball waiting for the foul, that would convert in free throws for him or passing the ball to other teammates, Codi made a pass like in American football, that nobody can reach. With this stupid move, Joventut came at 2 points margin on the next possession and they had a chance to took the game into overtime. Partizan could actually lose a game that seemed impossible to lose.
Image: Eurocup
Gratian Cormos is a life coach, book writer and mentor living in the city of Barcelona, Spain.
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