Danny Granger 13
Thoughts and Trade Machine tinkering: Can the Lakers trade Pau Gasol?
As Los Angeles Lakers fandom giddily awaits the possible debut of Mike D’Antoni on the bench tonight and the emergence of the superteam most observers expected, the inevitable whispers are beginning: Yes, Pau Gasol appears to be on some imaginary trading blocks (and perhaps even the actual one) already. As BallinEurope understands it, the thinking […]
March Madness: University of New Mexico Lobos win! (And now, the angst)
For no good reason other than BallinEurope displaying pride in his alma mater, BiE today congratulates the University of New Mexico Lobos in winning their second-round NCAA Tournament match against the Long Beach State 49ers, 75-68. Drew Gordon, the Lobos’ potential NBAer – the Draft Express mock 2012 draft has him going to the Boston […]
The Eurocentric 2011-12 NBA Eastern Conference preview (plus Official Fearless Predictions™)
While basketball lovers are getting something of a Christmas gift this season in the December 25 NBA opening day – BiE says “something of” there because this belated debut is kinda like your parents saying, “Well, we’ll just give you your birthday gift at Christmas.” When your birthday’s in October – BallinEurope would like to […]
Introducing the 2010-11 BallinEurope Festivus Invitational Tournament
As a holiday present to the audience, each of you has received courtside tickets to the first annual BallinEurope Festivus Invitational Tournament. Thanks to the miracle of totally BiE-unaffiliated (and totally mind-blowingly awesome) website What If Sports, we can bring together great players of the past and present for true dream matchups – and without […]
Greece vs. Russia: He who wins shall lose?
“Sometimes when you win, you really lose. And sometimes when you lose, you really win. And sometimes when you win or lose, you actually tie and sometimes when you tie, you actually win or lose. Winning or losing is all one organic globule, from which one extracts what one needs.” – Gloria Clemente, White Men […]
Rondo leaves Team USA; FIBA Worlds roster set
It’s a good news/bad news news item for Team USA backers: The good news is that the Red-White-and-Blues finally have their 12-man roster for the 2010 FIBA World Championship roster; the bad news is that the electrifyingly exciting Rajon Rondo won’t be on, having essentially decided to leave the team proactively before his dismissal. Figuring […]
Just enough Durant to give USA win after ferocious Spain comeback
Is Kevin Durant the next Kobe Bryant after all? Team USA fans are certainly swaggering today after their guys’ strong showing in upending the defending FIBA world champions, 86-85. Durant was the alpha dog for the US – a role many including BiE worried about going unfilled a la my least-favorite 2006 team – in […]
Spain vs. USA friendly: Five things to watch for
The biggest of all this year’s international basketball friendly matches goes down in Madrid tonight at 7pm GMT (9pm CET, 1pm EST) as prospective 2010 FIBA World Championship favorites Spain and USA meet in the first truly serious test for either team. It’s also a rematch of the 2008 Beijing Olympics gold match of sorts; […]
BallinEurope’s 2010 FIBA World Championship power rankings 4.0
BiE was waiting for a result from last night’s Brazil-Argentina game in Spain before preparing this week’s edition of the official BallinEurope 2010 FIBA World Championship Power Rankings. Now that those numbers are in, the long-awaited list may be unveiled; who’s hot and who’s not? In BiE’s opinion, readings off the lay lines of the […]
New York news: Kobe praises Spain; Team USA, Puerto Rico cruise
Kobe Bryant was hanging around in New York last week as part of the World Basketball Festival festivities and, upon praising Team Spain, was dutifully quoted by Spain-based sports media outlet Sport.es. “When it comes to really tough opponents,” said Bryant, “no doubt, Spain is the team.” Kobe has seemed somewhat positive about this year’s […]
Sunday roundup: Slovenia stunned; France smoked by Canada; USA, Serbia, Lebanon roll
With three key warmups for the 2010 FIBA World Championship tipping off tonight, BallinEurope takes quick stock of some of the games played in the last few days and relevant news on the Team Brazil roster and Hellene injuries – links and video abound, too. Slovenia shocked by New Zealand… No matter what Team New […]
Official 2010 BallinEurope mock draft, version 3.0: The first 15
Though not quite completely settled yet, most devotees have a pretty good idea of the pool for this year’s suddenly distinctly non-European flavored 2010 NBA Draft. BallinEurope’s man in the U.K., Sam Chadwick, revisits the official BallinEurope NBA Mock Draft once again with updated prognostications for the first 15 choices in round one. 1. Washington […]