An early look at Olympic Qualifying odds
France, Serbia, and Italy lead in the early running but there’s plenty of time for that to change Considering France are already second favourites to win the Olympics outright on some books it’s hardly a surprise to see them performing well in the early going on Olympic Qualifying betting in Manila. At 1/1 Les Bleus […]
Will CSKA Moscow defend their EuroLeague title next season?
In one of the greatest and closest EuroLeague finals of all-time, CSKA Moscow came up trumps against Fenerbahce as the Russian side lifted the trophy for the seventh time. CSKA needed overtime in the showpiece event to pip the Turkish outfit to the title and send their avid supporters wild. On the day, they were […]
Did I tell you about that time Ireland played a game or two?
The long wait is over. The opponents, the locations, and the competitive nature of the games really didn’t matter. The important thing was that Ireland is back on the map, writes Emmet Ryan “Do they play basketball in Ireland?” “Is basketball big in Ireland?” “I didn’t know they had basketball in Ireland.” It’s always friendly, […]
Panathinaikos and the case for Perry Jones III
Konstantinos Panas of Ola Prasina examines how former Baylor Bear star and OKC Thunder bust Perry Jones III might be the best option to fill a need for Panathinaikos at power forward Suggesting a power forward for a team with needs as complex as those of the Greens wasn’t easy. I imagined a pure forward, […]
For your consideration…BallinEurope
It’s awards season so BiE has put together a special blog post outlining its case to win two trophies at this year’s Blog Awards Ireland Greetings and salutations everybody. Right, where to start. Well this post is really for those new folk coming here wanting to see what we are all about while they judge […]
Podcast: Triple sport superstar Louise Galvin shares her story
In episode two of BallinEurope’s podcast, The Creatively Titled Basketball Show, Louise Galvin joins Emmet Ryan to talk about her career making it to the top in three sports Louise Galvin has won everything there is to win in Irish women’s basketball but that’s only the beginning of her story, which she shares with us […]
Europe is a country or why Bender can’t avoid the Porzingis narrative
With the NBA Draft ahead on Thursday, a bunch of Europe’s top young talent will find out who will acquire their rights for the biggest show in the sport. Emmet Ryan writes about how distance makes the continent seem smaller Tel Aviv is farther from Sevilla than Oakland is from Cleveland. This year’s en vogue […]
Did nobody check the calendar?
Bold, foolhardy, or just plain foolish? Emmet Ryan is perplexed by the decisions of leagues in Italy and Spain to go up against Euro 2016 with two of their biggest games of the season While Olimpia Milano claimed the Serie A title with a comeback win in Game 6 against Reggio Emilia, the Italian national […]
Let’s do more than lunch – How collaboration can spur European basketball
In part four of our long-form series on the civil war in European basketball, Emmet Ryan looks at the benefits real collaboration between FIBA and Euroleague would bring and examines the obstacles the war has created Check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 It turns out 2 June was THE day in European […]
Emphatic Fenerbahce finish on a high
Fenerbahce needed to win the BSL title badly after their heartbreak in Berlin. Emmet Ryan writes that the manner of their triumph was the perfect climax to a big season Let’s all take in some context here. 14 months ago Fenerbahce had never even made it to a Final Four in Euroleague while no Turkish […]
Podcast: Kamil Novak and Turgay Demirel speak to BiE’s new show
Our new podcast begins with a bang as two of European basketball’s biggest power brokers came to Dublin to speak with BiE BallinEurope enters the world of podcasting, or rather re-enters given our numerous collaborations over the years, with The Creatively Titled Basketball Show (CTBS). Hosted by BiE editor Emmet Ryan, the first episode has […]
Majestic Miller turns Bamberg into Sweep City
Darius Miller was unsurprisingly named Finals MVP as Brose Baskets Bamberg completed a 3-0 sweep of Ulm to record a perfect 9-0 record in the playoffs and claim the German title, writes Emmet Ryan It was always expected. Once Ulm failed to record a home win on Wednesday, it was going to require something extraordinary […]