Fenerbahce Ülker 150
Official BallinEurope Euroleague Power Rankings: Final preseason edition
The 2010-11 Euroleague season tips off tomorrow? Right, then. Presenting the last preseason – and thus last totally subjective, because we’ll be able to base these things on, you know, wins and losses beginning next week – BallinEurope Official Euroleague Power Rankings™. (Plus lots of video clips.) Enjoy! 1. (↔) FC Barcelona – Yeah, as […]
Kanter waits for NCAA decision; war of words heats up
With his son’s immediate-term basketball future at stake, Dr. Mehmet Kanter took his grievances about Fenerbahçe Ülker to American media last week. This morning, Fenerbahçe, in the person of general manager Nedim Karakas, fired back at prospective University of Kentucky big man Enes Kanter’s dad in the sports pages of this morning’s New York Times. […]
Official BallinEurope Euroleague Power Rankings: October update
Got the vitriol brewing? All right, then, with BallinEurope now caught up on some preseason basketball viewing, it’s time for another edition of BiE’s Official Euroleague Power Rankings. Just one quick note for irritated fans (we’re looking at you, Olympiacos, Žalgiris and Lietuvos Rytas backers): Remember that these rankings are first totally subjective and secondly […]
Official BallinEurope Euroleague Power Rankings: The preseason
Since BallinEurope’s Official Power Rankings were so, um, popular during the FIBA World Championships, today we’re kicking off the same schtick for the upcoming Euroleague campaign. The rules, again: These rankings are basically purely subjective (at this point; once the games are played, actual wins and losses will be figured in) but are based loosely […]
Calipari: Kanter “a great kid,” amateur; status still under review
While the NCAA Eligibility Center continues to review the case of Enes Kanter, whose reception of up to $150,000 in benefits from Turkish club Fenerbahçe Ülker may make him ineligible to play for the University of Kentucky in the 2010-11, team coach John Calipari offered a public show of support Thursday night. Calipari opined to […]
Kanter can’t play at U.K.? Fenerbahce Ulker exec blows whistle on eligibility
All those rumors that dogged Turkish phenom Enes Kanter through his senior year of high school in the U.S. – to the extent that he twice transferred schools when his eligibility was questioned – have blown up into allegations that may threaten his much-anticipated freshman year at University of Kentucky. Fenerbahçe Ülker GM Nedim Karakas […]
"Twelve Giant Men": Origins and brief history
For those wondering about that lustily-belted, catchy fight song the Turkish fans serenaded at Team France pretty much throughout the second half in the “Eighth Finals” game of the 2010 FIBA World Championship, BallinEurope’s got some answers. The song is entitled “Oniki dev adam” (or “Twelve Giant Men”) and was originally written and performed by […]
Mediterranean Basketball Association: To Be or Not To Be?
The rumor first popped up a couple of days ago on Talk Basket and an intriguing bit of gossip it is, too. According to that website, the Hellenic Basketball Federation (EOK) and former FIBA Europe president George Vassilakopoulos are advancing the idea of a Mediterranean basketball league which would include teams from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, […]
Omer Asik officially becomes a Chicago Bull
Though the Chicago Bulls couldn’t sign any of the so-called “Big Three” free agents this summer, they have come to terms with their 2008 second-round draft pick, Team Turkey’s shot-swatting Omer Asik, signing him to an approximately $1 million per year deal. And the Bulls have also reportedly extended an offer sheet to J.J. Redick. […]
Euroleague 2010-11 groups set
Lebron who? Over here on The Continent, the biggest basketball news today is all about the pingpong balls which determined the groups for the 2010-11 Euroleague season. The 22 teams that have qualified for Euroleague play have been divvied up into the four groups who will duke it out in the regular season. Without further […]
Euroleague announces seedings for 2010-11 draw
In advance of the draws on Thursday, Euroleague basketball have announced the seeds of the 22 Euroleague teams that will be divvied into four divisions in the 2010-11 season, as well as the 16 teams competing for the remaining two EL spots in the Euroleague Qualifying Rounds. This seedings do not of course determine the […]
Vrankovic names preliminary Team Croatia roster; includes 11 Euroleaguers, just six from Eurobasket
How do you say, “Let’s clean house!” in Croatian? Because that’s the phrase Team Croatia coach Josip Vrankovic was certainly employing when he assembled his 17-man preliminary FIBA World Championship. After the disappointing finish by the Croats in the 2009 Eurobasket competition, then-head coach Jasmin Repesa hastily resigned and thereafter replaced by Vrankovic; now Vrankovic […]