Fenerbahce Ülker 150
Official BallinEurope Euroleague Power Rankings: Post-week nine
So Žalgiris gets its coach fired after playing .800 ball through 20 games, Spanish powerhouses lose in Lithuania and Germany, Valencia kills Milano, Efes Pilsen stuns PAO … just another week in Euroleague 2010-11, eh? And after happenings aplenty, it sounds like time for another edition of BallinEurope’s Official Euroleague Power Rankings! Let’s go! Tops […]
Turnover City: Solving the mystery of Zalgiris Kaunas
“Do[es] all the little things with surprising grace and feeling – and an iron will to win.” – characterization of prototypical Lithuanian player in FreeDarko’s The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac BallinEurope’s latest obsession started with a tweet. Specifically, a message from BiE’s main Lithuanian, Martynas “Air” Pocius. Pocius retweeted a fascinating stat about his Žalgiris […]
Official BallinEurope Euroleague Power Rankings: Post-week seven
Apologies for the tardiness of this column, dear readers, but the Official BallinEurope Euroleague Power Rankings are just as fun and informative on Sundays as they are on Saturdays! With four teams through into the Top 16 round and several more on the bubble, who’s cruising and who’s losing? BiE says the two dozen squads […]
Fenerbahçe Ülker, 74-67: Beşiktaş, Iverson lose again with fourth-quarter stall
Allen Iverson remains oh-for-Europe after his first TBL game with Beşiktaş Cola Turka, a 74-67 loss to Euroleague squad Fenerbahçe Ülker. More distressing for Beşiktaş was another disappointing fourth quarter: The Eagles entered the last stanza tied at 53, only to be outplayed and outscored by Fenerbahçe, 21-14 over the final 10 minutes. In general, […]
Official BallinEurope Euroleague Power Rankings: Regular-season halftime
BiE still can’t claim to totally understand what’s going on in Euroleague basketball in 2010-11 (Real Madrid lost by how many? To *who*?) but at least some of the cream is rising to the top. This latest edition of the official BallinEurope power rankings should probably wait ‘til after some key games over the weekend […]
Iverson watch: Tough test in Fenerbahçe Ülker today, change of venue for Eurocup game Tuesday
So Allen Iverson acquitted himself reasonably (though nowhere near perfectly) well in his debut match for Beşiktaş Cola Turka; to riff on the old cliché, however, today is the first day in the rest of Mr. Answer’s European career. In Türkiye Basketbol Ligleri play today, A.I. and the Eagles today draw none other than defending […]
Pete Mickeal puts on a show as Barcelona tops Cajasol, 75-67
Once again in 2010, FC Barcelona found itself looking to right matters against an ACB opponent after a shocking loss. Two days after dropping a Euroleague game to Fenerbahçe Ülker in Palau Blaugrana (where they went undefeated in EL play in 2009-10), Barça looked fit to go beat up on mid-table Cajasol. While certainly never […]
Allen Iverson’s Turkish arrival, introduction delayed
Ah, bummer: Reportedly, Mr. Answer’s arrival in Turkey – and thus his high-profile presentation to surely already-adoring Beşiktaş Cola Turka fans – has been delayed. In a brief story, Besiktas officials, via the Associated Press, informs that Iverson will not even be arriving in Istanbul until Monday, November 8th. Presumably, then, the official unveiling of […]
Euroleague week three talking points, part II
Five Euroleague games are to be played tonight, each bearing a number of scintillating storylines – well, okay, maybe not the nearly history-bereft Cholet-Lietuvos Rytas matchup, but you get the point. For your perusal, then, a few factoids, bites of information and videos in the leadup to tonight’s action. Enjoy the games, and best of […]
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 […]
Besiktas Cola Turka schedule: Who's in Iverson's future?
With Allen Iverson to join the TBL’s Beşiktaş Cola Turka, BallinEurope reckons the team will be getting a little (read: a lot) of extra attention from all parts. And so today, a brief look at the team’s current state in the 2010-11 season. After two games, Beşiktaş stands at 1-1: The club won an away […]
Sixty-eight Fearless Predictions™ for 2010-11 Euroleague season
With the EL tipoff game tonight, BallinEurope is feeling devotion … not to mention a rush of Fearless Predictions™ coming on. How crazy can BiE get? You be the judge; here are 68 prognostications on all things Euroleague which you may [laugh uproariously about] ponder. Enjoy the season, everyone! (And sign up for the BallinEurope […]