Adriatic League 73
Official BallinEurope Euroleague Power Rankings: Week Three
As we head into week three of EL play, things haven’t quite normalized to preseason expectations, but BallinEurope’s Official Euroleague Power Rankings are looking a tad more normal. Well, except CSKA Moscow’s placement, that is. Rankings are based on current Euroleague record, plus play in other leagues and intangibles (like, for instance, this writer’s preconceived […]
Euroleague week three talking points (part I)
Seven Euroleague games go off tonight as the season rounds into form a bit. The marquee match tonight has got to be the Khimki-Baskonia showdown to establish early supremacy in that tough Group A; Olympiacos-Unicaja will surely be worth the viewing as well, although the way the Reds have dominated on their home floor lately […]
Official BallinEurope Euroleague Power Rankings: Final preseason edition
The 2010-11 Euroleague season tips off tomorrow? Right, then. Presenting the last preseason – and thus last totally subjective, because we’ll be able to base these things on, you know, wins and losses beginning next week – BallinEurope Official Euroleague Power Rankings™. (Plus lots of video clips.) Enjoy! 1. (↔) FC Barcelona – Yeah, as […]
Bo knows Italy: All-Euroleague second-teamer McCalebb gets with Montepaschi Siena
Montepaschi Siena announced the signing of Bo McCalebb, Partizan Belgrade’s starting point guard for their run to the Euroleague Final Four, Adriatic League title and Serbian Superleague championship, on Sunday. Quite a signing for MPS, then, who lost their long-time point guard Terrell McIntyre to Unicaja Malaga in this offseason. Official Euroleague writeup follows the […]
The 35 Greatest Basketball YouTubes of All-Time: Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5
BallinEurope nears the end of The 35 Greatest Basketball YouTubes of All-Time with truly the cream of the crop from YouTube contributors. Today, we’ve got adrenaline-inducing excitement, record-breaking achievement, history-making tournament action, and the addiction of 2001. And apologies in advance to a certain fan demographic for no. 3 on this list; y’all can console […]
From A.I. to Zalgiris: The top stories in 2009-10 European basketball
As BallinEurope closes the book on the 2009-10 basketball season, it’s time to take stock of the year that was with the clarity of history. Without further ado, let’s retrospect on the top 10 Eurocentric basketball stories of the season.
Draft profile: Nemanja Bjelica
Now that the pingpong balls (or computer algorithm or mad scheme cooked up by David Stern, whichever you prefer) have spoken, we can truly let speculation on the 2010 NBA Draft run wild. Following up profiles on the likes of Donatas Motiejunas and Miroslav Raduljica, BallinEurope’s man in the U.K. Sam Chadwick today takes a […]
“This is the Final Four”: The Euroleague quotebook going into the semifinals
A quick collection of quotes for you, collected yesterday and today at various press conferences and media meetings. With just hours to go before tipoff, enjoy a bit of wit and wisdom from coaches and players on BallinEurope. On Paris “It is […] special to have the Final Four in Paris. This is the city […]
Partizan Belgrade takes Adriatic League in thriller
Partizan Belgrade completed the four-peat this weekend, with the team taking its fourth consecutive BBL title in extraordinary fashion. Dusan Kecman is today the toast of Belgrade (and owes Dame Fortuna quite a big favor) after sinking a three-pointer from beyond halfcourt to win over Cibona Zagreb, 75-74. (It just isn’t Cibona’s year, is it?) […]
Beyond Vesely: Five European names North America must know for 2010-11
With BallinEurope’s profile piece on Jan Vesely in, today we’re adding a bit of a primer on some other names certain to get increasing mentions in NBA culture from your team’s elimination from the playoffs through to the draft and into the 2010 FIBA World Championships in August/September. NBA fans who want to get in […]
Draft profile: Jan Vesely
In tribute to that great international pastime known as “NBA mock drafting,” BallinEurope’s man in the U.K., Sam Chadwick, periodically takes a look at some of Europe’s prospective high draft picks. Today’s profile features the Czech Republic’s Jan Vesely, a power forward reckoned to be the second European taken in the NBA draft (after Donatas […]
God created Zadar basketball, Adam Smith may have killed it
God may have created man and Zadar basketball (“Bog je stvorija čovika, a Zadar košarku,” goes the team’s motto), but 81 years of tradition and in fact perhaps the birthplace of organized basketball in Croatia are about to meet with a purely manmade force: Economics. The financial situation in KK Zadar has reportedly become desperate […]