George Dikeoulakos, other coaches and players leaving Targoviste for good after tonight’s game [UPDATED]

Posted by: Jānis Kacēns 2012-12-19 12:02 in Coaches/Players News, Domestic leagues, EuroLeague Women, Featured

After a very competitive start to their EuroLeague Women campaign CSM Targoviste will see most of their influential players and coaches not return after the Christmas break.

WePlayBall.gr has confirmed anonymous comment’s we’ve received that Targoviste will see their budget slashed drastically in 2013. With that they say goodbye Greek coach George Dikeoulakos and his compatriots on the coaching staff.

According to the said article most of their influential players will also be leaving the team. While not naming any names the ones that have been mentioned, anonymously, elsewhere are Ivanka Matic, Elina Babkina, Natalie Novosel, Milka Bjelica. Monique Currie had signed only until the end of this year so she wasn’t supposed to return either way.

Everyone should be available to play in tonight’s game against Fenerbahce.

We’ll update this when a full list of players leaving the team is released.

Updated:

According to Elina Babkina, leaving the team will be Novosel, Bjelica, Nnamaka and herself (and Currie who’s contract ran out). Miljkovic, Robbins and Tikhonenko have agreed to a 50% pay cut. Matic is yet to decide.

Tagged with: CSM Targoviste George Dikeoulakos Romania

Pepe

So it seem that “Potential” was right.
Cus

Sad for everyone…
Team was doing very well! Were making whole Romania proud. I hope things will get better!
Ionut

Nnamaka also will not come back and Milcovic. Robbins and Tihonenco accaept to play with less money. Most of Romanian players didn’t accept to cut their salaries but I guess they don’t have other option than to accaept. I hope all the best to everybody because all of them deserve something better and Boriga also is trying hard for everything. Elections didn’t work well for him. I hope to change something and some of these players stay.
Potential

Thats a real shame, because I for one, was looking forward to seeing this happen.

http://www.tumblr.com/blog/myfight2playbball

I don’t see 5 losses in the first 8 games, soon to be 6 losses in 9- as a good start in ELW.

Romania has enough teams that look strong enough that they should combine efforts and finances and put together a serious EL contender.

I also find it odd that this was announced before the last game, its poor for PR. Should have waited for after the game, early this week sometime.

Also, if players are playing for love of the game, they’ll stay on until another job comes up- and take the smaller salary. If they’ve been paid up until now, they owe it to the club and fans to make an effort until something better comes along. Not so many jobs out there, so they could get through a month or so anyway.
Potential

That link doesn’t work for me, this one did.

http://myfight2playbball.tumblr.com/
- JanisK
  
  That’s because you took that link from your tumblr’s dashboard Mrs “MyFigth2PlayBball”. Only the owner of that account gets that link. Busted.
  - Potential
    
    Thats what was sent to me. From Latvia. Buster.
    - Pepe
      
      This girl on that blog have some sick obssesion about Babkina. Just finished reading stuff there and while reading that she was asking teams in Romania to take her just to show she is better than Babkina is….i just cant find a right word for that…sick, weird or something like that.
      - JanisK
        
        Now you know where most of the hate comments about Babkina and Dikeoulakos in the comment section comes from.
        
        Pepe
        
        Yep. Unfortunatly, most of the comments sections become “Lets hate George and Babkina”. This player (honestly, I never heard about her) made some good points but how far she went with this is just too sick even for my “hater” taste :)
        For the good of George and Babkina, I wish them to go to different clubs in the future.Now, when their story is finished in Targoviste, I hope we will speak more about real basketball…
        
        Potential
        
        Couldn’t agree more about ‘real’ basketball, the kind that aren’t influenced and controlled by love and emotions and relationships. If you’re a player at a certain level, you need to work up to a better one, not use people and hurt your team and others on the way. Any comments I’ve made are based on facts and not about anything emotional, just facts about basketball, about how teams and team mates function or fail when a love/sex relationship is entered into the fray. Its hard enough to win when you do everything right, much less to try and cheat your team by propelling your so-so player to stardom so she stays with you.
        
        I’m far from alone in what I think about Diks and Babs, so think past that “Yo, he just a hater” idea. These 2 have caused a lot of problems by pulling this fraud on teams for several years, which was hidden and now out. Your desire to see them separated, Pepe? I doubt it, since Diks left his wife and kids for her. Its a big investment to not have her by his side, so now the question is, which team, what GM, will stand up and say its OK to bring this circus to my team and keep it going?
        
        Maybe they’ll end up back in Latvia? Maybe in a place like Sweden or Denmark? No quality organization with a decent budget will fall for it.
        
        Would you?
        
        Pepe
        
        From the moment i saw they both signed in Targoviste, I assumed what would happen. Im following women basketball for around 20 years and there is one fact: there is less and less good coaches in women basketball.I think George is one of those good ones (im not talking what kind of man he is).Look for example this: after almost every time out he took in Targoviste, they made something after that.Basket or foul.How many mistakes coach of Orrenburg made today,I cant even remember. Same goes for this Spanish coach in Fener.So, for the women basketball, i hope he goes somewhere without Babkina.
        
        As for her, I think she can be a solid back up in some lower level team in ELW. Because, I believe that if she would feel that she is not protected but she must produce, she would grow up and start playing normal basketball.The problem is that we dont have good young gurds (PG’s) coming out, How many young (25 and under) do we have in Europe? That have infulance in their teams…just now i can think of maybe 4…so I think she still have a chance to become a decent PG/SG even she is not a kind of a player I like (style of basketball and her body).
        
        Potential
        
        Not to argue, but she’s not that good, unless playing with more superior players.
        
        Think of it like this- you have a team that has a 194CM center, or in Tamanes case, she’s listed at 200, but seems like 200+ when you stand next to her, as does her sister. When you throw a bad pass, its easier to get her to reach and catch it, whereas if she’s playing with a 187CM center player, its not as easy to get them a decent inside pass, so her TO’s are up by at least 50% with that type team, probably more like 100%. Thats one aspect, but go into her games and see how she messes up and is covered by Diks, and you’ll see that he’s the only coach who’d allow these things and such low level of play at a high level.
        
        The coach in Lotos was quoted as saying after a game- “We now see that we have absolutely no point guard for our team.”
        
        Coaches on LV’s NT never played her much, if at all. She didn’t go to France and come back better, she wasn’t better in Lotos, the only difference for her, was Diks.
        
        In the 2011 NT campaign, one good witness who saw the poor play of Babs in practices and who saw how she was protected and pushed up was NT director Maris Jucmanis. Babs was getting kicked around in practice by not only Dillone, but Karkline as well. She was not much better than the kids from the USA schools who were cut, but Babs stayed, was protected, and pushed into a tournament leading TO record. If Janis wants his mobile number, I’ll happily provide it so he can clarify what I’m saying is factual.
        
        When you want to say that she can play the 2, I again respectfully disagree, because her shot is poor in form, and its too low, plus she can’t create any space or effectively drive- when she does, she’s too small and gets hammered and blocked. No left hand ability at all.
        
        I think people are misled on her size- she’s been listed all over the tape measure- from 173 to 176, but looking at her next to players who I know the true height of, she’s 171/172 WITH her shoes on.
        
        Time will tell, but one thing my bet is on, is that they are inseparable. They’ll need to drop down in both pay and level for someone to be excited about having him come and coach a team.
      - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=637052005 Cynthia Piscatelli
        
        I have to agree that girl is one sick bitch..lol we read her blogs and we were hysterical. She has made this her life goal.. very very sad to have those issues in her head.. Jealousy is a very ugly thing and certainly has brought the ugly out in her..lol
        
        Luize
        
        Doesnt look like jealousy, looks like shes pissed that she was kicked out for telling the federation about a love affair and how it had negative affects on not just her, but the whole Latvia team. They lost, while Babs had tons of turns, and lost their shot at the Olympics. Love affair still affecting teams. We’ll see who hires them together next. I read it all through, thats my take.
    - JanisK
      
      Oh, so it’s only a coincidence you’re commenting and visiting this site from exactly the place where Mrs “MyFigth2PlayBball” has mentioned as her place she lives? Got it.
      The coincidences in these parts of the woods….
      - Potential
        
        Before you jump to conclusions about anything, let me assure you, that you’re 100% wrong in what you assume, and that I never visit any sites on the web without using my proxy, after I was jacked and my bank info compromised. Especially one with an East EU ip.
JanisK

Back to basketball – I could see Marginean helping at least a dozen ELW teams. Is she staying?
- Pepe
  
  I think yes.
  - Potential
    
    Agreed on Marginean with both you guys, but not that she’s a starter.
Potential

*7Babkina, E.223/742.93/650.00/10.03/475.0101340003-289

Well, so much for the last EL game in Babucis career. She played 22 minutes and started- and had a plus/minus of negative 28.
Ionut

How more sick it can be? That girl is really sick. You create a blog for them? I feel sick myself just being on the same forum with you. Persons like you should be away from basketball, actually basketball ejected you, you are nowhere. I think the only thing left is to isolate that girl from every discussion. It’s a shame. Instead of talking with Pepe who looks like knowing of basketball for so many nice games and teams, we just talk about Dikeulakos and Bbkina and let her throw shits. They are just one coach and one player out of hundreds, who also do their jobs, and until now they do it both with success without hurming anyone. Personally I met both of them, they are really professionals and Babkina doesn’t look protected at all. Actually I think that Babkina is the one who suffer more of the yelling of the coach, he yell at her more than anyone else. But again…that sick girl put us in a situation to talk just for them out of so many nice games happeining. Why we follow that sick girl who cannot play anywhere on that discussion? And I think Janis just prooved that she is also behind the nickname.
Really sick! Really shame ! I am sorry but I will not continue on that…
- Florina
  
  Florin! You need to chill out man! This is over! They lost their jobs, they lost their place in the last Euroleague team that could have possibly offered them a place to stay together! Now they’ll have to search for a new love nest with no money coming in! I think you should be a stand up fan and take them into your own home! Come on, Florin! RahRahRah! Take one in the backside for CSM Targoviste! LMAO!!!
- Pepe
  
  Thanks.You are my best friend on this web page now :) Most of people here thinks Im hater but I think what I say is mostly true and im very much neutral in all the topics.
  
  Anyway,it will be interesting to see how will stay and who will leave. Just now, im sure that Diks, Babkina and Bjelica are leaving. Heard that Currie will stay till end of Elw.If Miljkovic will go, i dont know who will be PG for them. Targoviste have two key games if they want to advance: Sopron at home and Arras away.If they win Sopron at home, than for sure they are in next round. Im not sure how it will work if sopron and targoviste will have same number of wins so maybe Janis knows and can explain.Is it who win by more points in those two games or the complete difference in scoring?I wish luck to Targoviste but i dont think we will see them next year in elw knowing what happened after their fiasko in fiba cup few years ago.
Potential

One point that Pepe said that can be expanded upon, is about the quality of coaches in womens basketball in Europe as a whole.

What makes a man want to coach a womans basketball team?

My honest opinion is its a desperate move to have a job, because any decent coach in basketball will be a mens coach, not a womens coach, so women are stuck with the worst of what they can find.

One example was Vetra from UMMC, who was a decent coach at a low level in mens basketball coming from Barons in the Latvian league, and who was given the top jobs in Russia and ELW for CSKA and UMMC just by saying OK to it.

In the US, women are coaching womens basketball almost 99% of the time. Why not in Europe?
- Pepe
  
  Well,how many women coaches in Europe you know? I will take Vetra as the example: just compare the money he made in UMMC and money in Latvian men team and you will find the answer. There is many coaches and some times it happen that coach stay without job in men basketball so he switch to women basketball. Same was the case with your friend Diks :) As I know, coach of Schio came from men basketball and he is in my oppinion, one of the top coaches just now. But as I know, the only coaches currently in ELW that came from men basketball are coaches of Schio(2nd year with women), Gala(first year with women), Polkowice (he was with Gdynia 2 years that in men basketball for 2-3 years)…about Tarsus and Avenida I dont know…so its not so much coaches on highest level of european women basketball that came from men basketball…the better question is: now many of them are high level coaches?
  - Potential
    
    Agree about coach from Schio, but don’t know anything about the others, but I take your word on their experience and qualifications.
    
    A roster in womens ball has more to do with winning in most cases, even more than with mens, but its still a point to consider.
    
    One guy I saw who I put in the top was Ish Cantu in Ros. This guy was awesome, he motivated his players well, they were trained well, and his floor tactics were perfect, subs at the right times and pushed hard all 40 minutes. He was in a Leb team in Spain before taking that job- Gandia Basquet, south of Valencia- and was a good coach there, but he really looked great with Ros.
    
    The lady who’s coaching Girona is also commendable. Thats rare, because in Spain, on both mens and womens sides, I see some of the worst coaching in basketball. Dusko Ivanovic was a star in Baskonia, and was let go a couple weeks ago, but I’d blame his roster, Xabo Pascual is a joke of a coach, and signed a nice extension, and has Barca losing against bottom and mid level local league teams. Who knows about all this craziness…
    
    Andres Bou should also give up in Cadi.
    
    I think Hejkova was really good in Ros, but Carme was insane and showed it. Hejkova would have won as well the same, the guy who took her place looked like he was in over his head.
    
    in the WNBA, I know and like Lin Dunn, and Marynell Meadors, and wish she’d have gone out in a different manner. Bill Laimbeer should go crawl into a cave and be embarrassed to be coaching women.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1324066140 Francisco J. Cortés Pérez

A good coach is a good coach in men and in women´s basketball. I remember Miki Vukovic. Miki Vukovic won Three ELW, two with Dorna Godella, one with Tuzla and some international medals with Yugoslavia Women National Team. Before Dorna, Vukovic coached Pamesa Valencia (men basketball). When Vukovic joined Valencia, Valencia was in Spanish Second League. The team achieved First League, won Spanish Cup, and the first year that they played european competition, arrived at the Final in 1999. Maybe Pierre Vincent could be quite similar.
- Potential
  
  If my memory is correct he was there in Pamesa in late 1990′s? Pamesa has since had a lot of Yugo coaches, so they knew then he was better than most of the Spanish coaches. Some of them are so bad in mens and womens in Spain that I’m shocked to see them get a paycheck. Sito Alonso is one that I think is horrible, being in his practices is like being in a low level USA practice. He’s a strange person as well, he likes to put “spies” in the locker room and then punish the players who show any type of contempt for him when the reports come back.
  
  I remember another coach from Tuzla that I worked with previously who worked both mens and women sides- Anatoly Mishkin (князь) “The Prince” who was a highly decorated player in the Soviet national teams and has a great personality, and a decent coach. Rumors are that he may be taking the CCCP job. He was the CCCP womens head coach when I first met him in the mid 1990′s.
  
  The case of Ish Cantu shows that its not what you know, but who you know. This guy should have been in a better and more serious position. I watched him run all over Vetra’s team with UMMC. Gundars was lost in how to cope with Ish’s floor plan. Palau was the PG and executed it perfectly. The same season they killed TTT by about 80 points in Valencia.
  
  Nevin Spahija who was in Valencia is another good coach, but has trouble with his style sometimes, which hurts a lot of great coaches. Nevin is without a job right now, but should be hired and working, he’s really talented. Another good one who’s head and heart are in the right place is Kestas Kemzura- his low level roster just forced him to leave Asseco Prokom. He has spots of being unemployed, while his countrymen Batuuts and Kurtinaitis stay employed and have some strange ideas about coaching players- my opinion is their players win or lose, not them, as I see huge mistakes when they practice and play.
  
  I still say that more women should be coaching in womens basketball in Europe, and send these low level men to work in a different occupation. If they’re smart, do their homework, and get the confidence of a forward thinking GM, I think it will mean a big change. I hope for that, especially in the case of former players.
  
  Will be interesting to see what happens with Jan Tabak in Taugres after this season. If he gets paid…
  
  Sito should be coaching 14 year old girls… :)