Bizkaia Bilbao Basket 32
Rumor: Anadolu Efes to pay for, transfer Saric to KK Split
Now here’s an encouraging rumor about Dario Saric’s potentially disastrous contract situation: According to Euro-Step, one team which can afford to do so will step up to foot the €550,000 transfer fee demanded by KK Zagreb to release the Croatian wunderkind. As rumor has it, “Nikola Vujcic is acting as an intermediary” in a deal […]
11-for-11: BallinEurope’s Most 11 popular stories from 2011
So 2011 may have been few people’s favorite year personally, European basketball fans have certainly got to be taking solace in the fact that the past 12 months featured a seriously great run of Continental-flavored hoops. To wit, in 2011, we enjoyed: • an exciting round of Euroleague playoffs which included FC Barcelona’s surprising tournament-round […]
Ho, ho, De Colo! Nando goes Santa Claus
Hey, look, it’s a Christmas card from Nando de Colo via BallinEurope’s man in Italy, Enrico Cellini! Enjoy and happy holidays! With few seconds on the clock, French combo guard Nando “Aladdin” de Colo is the man that Valencia fans want to see handling the ball. Check out the acrobatic fashion by which he knocked […]
Euroleague week four bullets: Aldemir debuts nicely, true Bogdanovic emerges
Five Euroleague games were played last night and things were interestingly shaken up a bit when the final buzzers sounded. Tonight’s slate looks even nicer, with Montepaschi Siena vs. FC Barcelona and possible instant classic Panathinaikos vs. CSKA Moscow. To get you up to date and ready – plus possibly take up a minutes of […]
FIBA denies EuroBasket doping rumor; Macedonian media trash-talks Lithuanian counterparts
Though Team FYR Macedonia eliminated hosts Lithuania from the 2011 EuroBasket tournament in mid-September, a certain amount of talk-trashing about the match continues in the blogosphere. Yesterday, FIBA was forced to do a bizarre bit of damage control after Lithuanian media – specifically, who else but powerhouse club sponsor Lietuvos Rytas? – reported that two […]
Sunday bullets: Real Madrid analyzed; Szczerbiak, Boumtje-Boumtje remembered; retro Nike ads return
Lazy Sunday? Great: BallinEurope has just the thing to occupy your time! Below run some quality articles and gawk-worthy YouTubes from the week that was in European basketball and NBA lockout land for your perusal. The bullet-point format is in effect and the show stars Danny Green, Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje, Walter Szczerbiak, Spike Lee and Samuel […]
Euroleague games three: Official BallinEurope Fearless Predictions™ for Thursday games
After lazily posting the BallinEurope Fearless Predictions™ for Wednesday’s Euroleague games solely on Twitter – and going four for four picking winners, naturally – BiE returns the prognostication to its proper place, namely here. Following, then, brief takes on each of tonight’s seven matches.
Euroleague Power Rankings: November edition
With two Euroleague games in the books for each team and something of an overall picture developing, BallinEurope unleashes the November edition of its ever-“popular” power rankings for the two dozen squads. For reference, edification and jollies, the preseason edition of the ‘rankings may be seen here. Once again, advisories in effect: These ratings are […]
Euroleague 2011-12: BallinEurope Official Fearless Predictions™ – in haiku form!
Right, then: It’s finally time. The top professional basketball league in the world (Now that bears some thinking about now, dunnit?) tips off its 2011-12 regular season tonight as Žalgiris Kaunas hosts AK47-armed, Teodosic-toting CSKA Moscow. Almost as anticipated as the actual Euroleague opening game is of course another round of BallinEurope’s Official Fearless Predictions™ […]
Euroleague Power Rankings: First of the Season edition
Right, then. With the last teams advancing into the Euroleague two dozen for the regular season and a break in the Kobe-to-Bologna soap opera today, BallinEurope breaks out an old favorite: power rankings! Once again, the BallinEurope Euroleague Power Rankings are based on current trends, i.e. who’s hot, who’s not. For this edition of the […]
Pop Quiz: The Euro-/NBA-centric year in basketball
Just because the NBA Draft is over, the big league is heading toward a lockout, and the top European teams are thick into the wheeling/dealing of off-season acquisitions with an eye to 2011-12, that’s no reason to forget your history. Were you paying attention this season? Test your knowledge with the official BallinEurope 2010-11 season-ending […]
Return to the top: FC Barcelona completes sweep of Bizkaia Bilboa Basket
BallinEurope congratulates another champion this morning, as FC Barcelona earned a Spanish triple crown last night by finishing off Bizkaia Bilbao Basket last night, 64-55, to sweep the ACB championship series. Barcelona ended its 2010-11 campaign, in which the Blaugrana took the Copa del Rey and regular-season title by regaining the trophy they last won […]