Fenerbahce Ülker 150
European Vocation: Early fallout from NBA lockout
The NBA fan’s nightmare came to pass yesterday with the expiration of the league’s collective bargaining agreement with the players, the concomitant announcement of a player lockout, and fresh new fear that professional basketball in 2011-12 might not even happen in the ‘States. BallinEurope’s gut reaction, at least on a visceral Eurocentric level? Cool! Bring […]
Fenerbahçe Ülker outlasts Galatasaray Café Crown, 91-88, for TBL title
BallinEurope this morning congratulates newly-recrowned 2010-11 TBL champions Fenerbahçe Ülker, who topped Eurocup side Galatasaray Café Crown, 91-88, in game six of the championship series. This marks the fourth championship for Fenerbahçe in the last five years and a defense of their 2009-10 title. Fenerbahçe’s big guns were all firing in the game, with five […]
Championship basketball: Galatasaray stays alive; Barça, Mavericks take care of business
It’s hard to believe the 2010-11 season is drawing to a close, but so it goes. Leagues in Turkey, Spain and the United States could be all shutting down for the summer (or, in the latter’s case, perhaps a good deal longer) within a week. A brief roundup this morning, then, of action in this […]
Kestutis Kemzura names 20 to preliminary Team Lithuania roster
Team Lithuania coach Kestutis Kemzura this morning named 20 players to his preliminary squad in advance of the Eurobasket 2011 tournament. The home team will be returning seven players from the side that took bronze in the 2010 FIBA World Championship and including one NBAer – but not Linas Kleiza. Returning from the surprise of […]
Free Enes (video)! Footage of Kanter in high school
While we in Europe have certainly not forgotten Turkish wunderkind Enes Kanter, he may have left the consciousness of many American hoops fans after having to sit out an entire 2010-11 season for which he was supposed to have played at the University of Kentucky. Neverthless, he’s still held in high esteem by those in […]
Real Madrid woes: EL Final Four whitewash of Whites sparks rumors of change
Just one day after getting outmuscled in two Euroleague Final Four games, Real Madrid is looking to next season and figuring to make sweeping changes – are the Whites due for yet another offseason of roster regeneration? Following Real’s 82-63 loss to Maccabi Tel Aviv, former Madrid legend/current staffer Alberto Herreros stated that the current […]
Brief impressions: 2011 Nike International Junior Tournament
Congratulations from BallinEurope go out to KK Zagreb Croatia Osiguranje, who are the 2011 Nike International Junior Tournament champions after defeating Žalgiris Kaunas, 76-65, in the championship match this morning. A few observations on the match, if you will… • First and foremost, there’s Dario Saric. You don’t need BiE to tell you to believe […]
On five prospects in the Nike International Junior Tournament
Running in parallel with the 2011 Euroleague Final Four is the Nike International Junior Tournament, featuring eight teams from around the world (okay, seven from Europe and one from China, technically) packed with youthful prospects moving up the professional ladder. Below, BallinEurope enumerates a few of the players who’ve piqued the interest. And no, this […]
List of 2010-11 European Basketball Champions
With most leagues drawing to a close and playoffs beginning – not to mention champions already crowned in Albania, Cyprus, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Norway and a few regional leagues – BallinEurope returns its “List of European Basketball Champions.” At present, only the above-listed domestic leagues have shut down for the summer; BiE supplies information on […]
Juan Dixon comeback begins today with Banvit
Thanks to an injury suffered by Antonio Graves, Turkish side Banvit had been left with a hole in the depth chart at the no. 2 spot plus a free “foreign-born player” spot on the roster – an unfortunate situation for the team, but ultimately a serendipitous chance for Juan Dixon to return to professional basketball […]
Nando de Colo is “Aladdin”! (Or, more precisely, “Aladdin’s Genie”)
Fans of Power Electronics Valencia surely think of Nando de Colo as magical – particularly given his scorching 60.4% two-point field goal shooting resulting in 10.8 points in 20 minutes per ACB game – and now he’s got the nickname to back up the notion. From Spanish television comes this profile of de Colo in […]
Vassilakopoulos: Full steam ahead on Mediterranean League
BallinEurope admits to having felt a great deal of skepticism when the rumors of a new major pan-European (and now -Asian! But more on that momentarily) basketball association were first announced; day by day it seems, however, that the Mediterranean League comes closer to reality. The prospective league could potentially involve teams from nine nations, […]