2006 FIBA World Championship 12
Diamantidis goes down like a champion
The end came for Dimitris Diamantidis last night in the OAKA. Emmet Ryan writes how the way in which his career was a perfect send off for the Panathinaikos legend Going out on top is wildly over-rated. With champions, people who have consistently got the big one over the course of their career, it leaves […]
Greatest of all-time: Yugoslavia or Spain?
An interesting exchange of tweets went down last Friday (yes, minus points for untimeliness, but on another job BallinEurope thought deep into the matter all weekend) between HoopsHype/ESPN Deportes writer Jorge Sierra and Team Australia/Milwaukee Bucks big man Andrew Bogut. Things started innocuously enough, with Sierra plugging a Spanish-language piece he’d written for Deportes: “An […]
France vs. Spain friendly: Parker to play 100th for France, Noah gets first warmup
Happy 100th, Tony Parker! As in the 100th appearance he’ll be making for the French national team tonight in a friendly between Les Bleus and Team Spain in Almeria. Parker has been synonymous with both Team France and the FIBA Eurobasket tournament itself; barring injury, the San Antonio Spur’s appearance in Lithuania for this year’s […]
Plotlines to look for in tonight’s Greece vs. USA game
Unbelievable though it seems, tonight’s 2010 FIBA World Championship warmup game in Athens represents one of the last such games before the big tournament goes down. And though coach Jonas Kazlauskas has played down the importance of the game, stating that what happens tonight will have “nothing to do with” the Turkey tournament. (“Είναι ένα […]
A random revelation on the Miami Thrice
BallinEurope may be a bit slow on the uptake with this one, but it appears most everyone else fascinated with the newly-created Lebron James/Dwyane Wade/Chris Bosh threesome over in Miami Heat land has missed it, too. It’s now pretty much taken for granted that “The Decision” – or rather more appropriately “The Amalgamation” – was […]
Team Greece's FIBA World Championship preliminary roster announced: No Papaloukas, still scary
The preliminary Team Greece roster of 17 players has been announced and, despite the notable exclusion of Theo Papaloukas, the 2006 FIBA World Championship silver medalists are bringing quite the squad to the 2010 edition of the competition. EΣAKE’s two most celebrated franchises are naturally well-represented, with six Panathinaikos players and five from Olympiacos making […]
Homage to the Killer: BallinEurope’s video tribute to Arvydas Macijauskas
Reader AM recently noted his disappointment with BiE lately due to this website’s non-reportage on the recent premature retirement of 30-year-old Arvydas Macijauskas on Wednesday. At the time BiE heard the news, the story had already been well reported on dozens of other websites and so passed on writing something up. However, AM is right […]
Everything you've always wanted to know about Barcelona vs. Unicaja (in English)
On Saturday, perhaps the marquee matchup on the ACB slate – if for historical significance only – will be the FC Barcelona vs. Unicaja match. The league’s official website has quite the extensive collection of facts ‘n’ figures about this match and the 15-year record of meetings between these two clubs, of which BallinEurope attempted […]
Khryapa snaps Diamantidis’ streak, snags EL Best Defender; Rubio finishes second (Videos? You bet!)
A slightly belated congratulations this morning go out to CSKA Moscow’s Viktor Khryapa, who became the Euroleague’s answer to Dwight Howard in taking the “Euroleague Best Defender” trophy and snapping Panathinaikos’ Dimitris Diamantidis’ five-year stranglehold on the award. Meanwhile, NBA fans need take note: Finishing second was FC Barcelona wunderkind Ricky Rubio in what was […]
On the differences between American and European basketball
One question that BallinEurope receives in the virtual inbox from time to time was asked again this week by reader Richard: [H]ave you made an article about a comparison between the NBA and Euroleague? If you haven’t, can you make one? But if you already made it, can you give me the link? Thanks. Hey, […]
Europe's top national teams of the 2000s
After taking a look at the European players of the decade and top professional teams of the decade, BallinEurope today turns attention to the national level. Which teams from the 2000s will we still recall fondly in years to come? Below are listed eight key national squads from the passing ten-year span, the unforgettable basketball […]
Stefano Mancinelli packing up for the 'States
In the wake of the “chaos in Bologna” that has seen financial difficulties and league rules sink Fortitudo Bologna into Italy’s LegaDue, at least one player may realize his hoop dreams. Along with the relegation, Fortitudo released all players from their contracts with the team, leaving potential ocean-jumpers like Stefano Mancinelli. Rumor has it that […]