Aris Thessaloniki 27
Weekend wrap: Barcelona beaten, Winters comes to Greece, checking in with Motiejunas, more
And how was your weekend? BallinEurope was able to check out quite a few matches from The Continent and ‘States this weekend, but as they say, too much is never enough. Right, so let’s get the week started with a handful of video clips and story links from around the basketball universe. • Starting with […]
Foreign players, strikebreakers take floor in Greece in “parody” of basketball
Those who think an NBA lockout in 2010-11 could be crazy should check out the situation in Greek pro basketball right now. After seeing the first week of action cancelled due to a player strike called by Greece’s player union PSAK, EΣAKE got underway last night as some of the bigger *teams* broke picket lines […]
Saga of Pierre Pierce to continue at Aris BC
BallinEurope recently received an email from the folk(s) over at Greek-language blog site Basketball Aris about the team’s latest acquisition Pierre Pierce, who comes to Greece after a couple of seasons with LNB side Hyeres-Toulon. Though BiE doesn’t get the chance to watch too much LNB ball – and even less of Hyeres-Toulon – i […]
Sofoklis philosophizes in brief Euroleague interview
“Much speech is one thing, well-timed speech is another.” – Sophocles BallinEurope would be highly remiss if i didn’t turn you onto the Euroleague’s official interview with one of the main men ‘round this ‘site, Sofoklis Schortsanitis. Somewhat disappointingly, it’s fairly standard stuff, though Big Sofo does offer some insight into stopping the Partizan game, […]
Eurocup final four: Four stories, one video, fearless predictions
The Eurocup tournament concludes this weekend with the quartet of matches comprising the competition’s final four. Backed by a handful of road-tripping fans, Alba Berlin will take on the Black Tide of Bilbao Bizkaia Basket in the late game. Starting things up tonight will be Victor Claver and his youthful Valencia Power Electronics (That’s the […]
Juan Dixon saga continues through weekend
On Friday, FIBA and Euroleague officials conspired to grant Juan Dixon surely one of the worst weekends in his life by announced that he was suspended from play with Unicaja Malaga thanks to his misuse of a steroid product. In the statement from the Unicaja front office itself, club officials explained that Dixon had “tested […]
(Slightly biased) highlight clip: Alba Berlin vs. Aris BSA
Just in case you missed it, following the text break is a (biased) highlight clip from last night’s Aris’ 65-61 away win at Alba Berlin in Eurocup competition. The win moved Aris BSA up to 1-2 in Eurocup Last 16 play; Alba Berlin dropped to 2-1, resulting in a wide-open Group I with groupmates DKV […]
The Frank Euroleague roundup, week 10
BallinEurope’s man in Italy, Francesco Cappelletti, wraps up the wrap week of the 2009-10 Euroleague regular season in discussing — among other subjects — how justice was done in the Top 16 accession, why Ricky Rubio deserves our admiration, and how the next four groups look. Who deserves the Top 16 and who doesn’t In […]
New Playboy Belser makes quick impact in Finland
Don’t look now, but the balance of power in Finland’s top league may have shifted a bit with the arrival of Corey Belser from Aris Thessaloniki to the excellently named Honka Espoo Playboys of Finland’s Korisliiga. Belser first appeared on international scouts’ radar in his days playing for the University of San Diego, culminating in […]
The Greek League explained
Trying to give more oomph and interesting themes to a league dominated by Panathinaikos and Olympiacos ever since 1992, the Greek Federation opened the doors to a third non-European player per team in a move aimed to achieve a better balance between those teams whose goals are merely to challenge by only attempting toapproach the […]
Vanderbeken chooses Great Britain over Canada
Team Britain may not be playing EuroBasket 2009 with Luol Deng and Ben Gordon, but at least they’ve got … Jamie Vanderbeken. Vanderbeken’s decision was actually something of a lifetime commitment: The 23-year-old was feeling a bit pressed to choose between his father’s home country of Canada and Britain, due to his Scottish’s mother’s citizenship. […]
Panathinaikos veteran Hatzivrettas joins Aris
Hark: It’s a slight shift in the balance of power. Veteran shooting guard Nikos Hatzivrettas has left his long-time team Panathinaikos to join Euroleague qualifiers Aris BSA, the club announced today. Signing a two-year deal, Hatzivrettas says goodbye to the team with which he won six Greek League titles and two Euroleague titles; he says […]