2012 Olympic Games 87
2012 Olympic Qualifying Tournament Preview: Team Russia
With the lengthily-named 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men tipping off in Venezuela on Monday, BallinEurope takes some time this week to catch up on the four European squads in the running for a trip to London and reckon on a brief assessment of each’s chances in the competition. First up is Russia, […]
Current rosters for 2012 European, USA Olympic teams [Updated]
Last Friday, FIBA released its first “power ladder” (a.k.a. “power rankings”) for 2012 Olympic basketball; BallinEurope therefore thought to post a list of the seven Continental team rosters – plus, as a measuring stick, the pool for Team USA – as they currently stand.
Bonus stat: Professional clubs sending most players to 2012 Olympics
From among the preliminary rosters of European team still remaining in contention for the 2012 Olympic Games, who do you suppose are the most represented professional clubs? While most wouldn’t be surprised to hear that Euroleague finalists CSKA Moscow and Olympiacos lead the way with seven and six players, respectively, check out the interesting roster […]
Miami Heat 121, Oklahoma City Thunder 106: Now onto the Olympics, future
Okay, okay, BallinEurope’s gonna do the traditional thing … congratulations out to the Miami Heat and its clear MVP Lebron James for their 2012 NBA Championship win. James’ triple-double in the decisive game five appropriately capped a playoff run during which he fought off criticism and doomsayers as much as the Oklahoma City Thunder. As […]
Thirteen named by Scariolo for Team Spain roster
Be afraid, be very afraid … Sergio Scariolo has released a list of 13 players from which he’ll craft his Team Spain for the 2012 Olympic Games. To no one’s surprise, the prospective gold-medal game side will choose from a baker’s dozen which includes five who played NBA ball, six Euroleaguers and two guys from […]
Joakim Noah: “Not quite ready” for Olympics, but “time is on our side”
In his first media appearance since the Chicago Bulls were eliminated from the NBA playoffs by the Philadelphia 76ers, Joakim Noah assessed his chances of suiting up for Team France in the 2012 Olympics. “Still a little sore” from his most recent ankle injury, Noah stated from Los Angeles that “I’m not quite ready. I […]
British Basketball announces 21-man national team roster, dubbed “strongest Team Britain ever”
Head coach Chris Finch and the British Basketball Federation today released a preliminary roster of 21 players to compete for spots on the host team’s 2012 Olympic team. Given the fairly short modern history of FIBA-level basketball on the ‘Isles, the claim from the federation that this is the “strongest-ever preliminary GB men’s squad” isn’t […]
On the road to London: Describing Team France’s five-year plan
While much of the Continent enjoys Easter Monday and North America heads back to work, BallinEurope takes the occasion today to clear out a few items from the backburner. First up, here’s part four of the “On the Road to London” mini-documentary series on Team France’s leadup to the 2012 Olympic Games. This episode dedicated […]
A “classic Italian mess”: National basketball federation suspends 15 referees for wearing the wrong uniform
A bit of a weird one from Italy for you this morning … BallinEurope contributing writer Enrico Cellini reports on a symbolic protest within his country’s national basketball league which subsequently saw nearly half the Serie A referees – including the well-esteemed Fabio Facchini, one of two Italians who will be calling games at the […]
Marco Bellinelli: “Chris Paul is the best PG”, “I want to stay in the NBA”
The Italian-language version of MSN news is today running an exclusive interview with Marco Belinelli, the New Orleans Hornet whom the outlet calls “the most American-style” of all three of Italy’s NBAers. Belinelli weighs in on all things NBA; some choice quotes include the following. “Obviously, [Chris Paul] is the best [point guard] in the […]
Kemzura releases extended Team Lithuania roster: No to Lavrinovic brothers, yes to Kleiza
National head coach Kestutis Kemzura has released his list of 18 candidates who could be suiting up for Team Lithuania in the 2012 Olympic qualifiers and beyond. On paper at least, the selection looks pretty good – particularly compared to the Eurobasket 2011 version of the team which included a single true no. 3 after […]
Why Andrei Kirilenko and CSKA Moscow must win the Euroleague
Regular readers of BallinEurope may recall a similarly entitled writeup on Montepaschi Siena on these pages from a long time ago – actually two weeks, but already it *feels* like quite a spell. Contributing writer Enrico Cellini was as surprised as any of us when Olympiacos began Siena’s ejection from the tournament, Facebook-messaging BiE with […]