Dejan and Kaloyan Ivanov – The Bulgarian Twin Towers
Nicolò Origgi looks at two Bulgarian brothers who are late bloomers as dominant big twins in Europe. Dejan and Kaloyan Ivanov have been knocking around a while but, as they hit their 30s, the twins are looking like new forces altogether According to genetics, twin brothers are a rarity in itself. The chances of them […]
Mitchell Watt – High Wattage
Nicolò Origgi delivers another gem of a player profile here as he looks at a young American plying his trade with the champions of Italy who just happens to share his name with another athlete of note What can a retired long jumper and a springy basketball player have in common besides a fair share […]
Drake & Travis Diener – Cousins in arms
With Drake and Travis Diener linking up this season, Nicolò Origgi looks at the relationship the two players have on the floor and how the cousins might be ready to deliver something special in the year ahead It was the second half of a meaningless preseason game and it had already turned into a blowout […]
Three is the magic number
With Euroleague’s new season coming up and the summer basketball activities all in the books, a combination of factors crossed Nicolò Origgi’s mind. With Ice Cube’s Big 3 league getting a lot of attention in the summer, our creatively minded Italian cooked up quite a recipe. What if we took the idea of the Big […]
Gasper Vidmar – Hard as a rock
Slovenia’s triumph at EuroBasket 2017 featured starring roles for Goran Dragic and Luka Doncic but, as we saw so often, the supporting cast was crucial to their triumph in Istanbul. Nicolò Origgi looks at one man in particular who had to face huge challenges in the biggest games, Gasper Vidmar Slovenia’s astonishing Eurobasket title run […]
Stuck behind the Iron Curtain, again
With the Azzurri having exited EuroBasket 2017 at the quarter final stage, Nicolò Origgi takes a look at the deeper issues that are limiting Italy’s progress and examines the benefits some nations with less fat to wade through have over the fallen powerhouse For the third time in a row, Italy has suffered a quarterfinal […]
Danilo Gallinari’s Italian curse
It was one of the dumbest injuries in recent times and one that could seriously hinder Italy’s hopes at EuroBasket this September. Nicolò Origgi looks at how Danilo Gallinari’s moment of madness was a rare moment of his issues in a blue jersey being of his own making The latest chapter of Danilo Gallinari’s troubled […]
Half miracle, half reality – The best kept upset
With Turkey the primary hosts of EuroBasket 2017, Nicolò Origgi goes down memory lane to a prep game that didn’t go to plan for the 12 Giant Men in 2009. A bunch of lads suited up in Bormio for a country many of them weren’t familiar with but they banded together to produce one of […]
Ben Ortner- Carpe Diem or Nothing
When a big name arrives, someone has to pay the price. For one man on Reyer Venezia’s roster, he’s all too used to not being the go to guy but Nicolò Origgi found plenty of cause for Ben Ortner to take heart from the role he has so often played. As we bid farewell to […]
Cold blood, hot hands
With the Italian, and indeed European season as a whole, nearly over Nicolò Origgi looks at the men teams turn to when the game is on the line. Across Lega Basket, there are a few heads you know will be turned to when it’s time for that final push. They are the closers, the guys […]
The strange case of the Swiss jersey
Switzerland has a unique way of recognising the players who take all the shots and Nicolò Origgi reckons it could be fun if applied elsewhere. Here he looks at the Italian league players who deserve a jersey all of their own Even the most die-hard basketball junkies might not know that in Switzerland each team’s […]
Esteban Batista – The goalie in the middle
With the Italian finals tipping off on Saturday, Nicolò Origgi has found a player he can relate to well. Like Esteban Batista, he’s got some experience between the sticks, and the Reyer Venezia man is looking to climb to the top with the ball in his hands over the next couple of weeks Just as […]