Euroleague and NBA officials today announced the dates and teams for this year’s Euroleague American Tour and damn if these matchups aren’t fascinating enough to make you wish the games were for real…
The four preseason games will see Olympiacos Piraeus facing off against the San Antonio Spurs (October 9) and Cleveland Cavaliers (October 12); Partizan Belgrade heads further west to take on the Denver Nuggets (October 3) and Phoenix Suns (October 6).
Though not officially part of the Euroleague American Tour, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv takes on the New York Knicks on October 18 in New York and the Los Angeles Clippers on October 20 – Betcha Maccabi wishes those games counted, eh?
Over here, meanwhile, NBA Europe Live 2009 games will be going on, as the Utah Jazz and Chicago Bulls play in London on October 6, with the former coming to take on Real Madrid in Spain two days later.
Regardless of how many A-listers play in these games for the American squads, the sheer amount of international talent on both sides of the floor will truly put the “exhibition” in “exhibition game.” One can only wonder how the Reds might handle the Shaq-LeBron machine for real.
On the other hand, BallinEurope can certainly call out Denver and Phoenix management teams. Hey, if your guys were real men, you wouldn’t be afraid to subject them to this:
