FIBA 348
What’s missing from FIBA’s World Championship ad campaign?
So the Euroleague season is over and, though domestic league action is still with us for a couple months longer (BallinEurope’s “European Champions” feature is coming soon), something of that international competition spirit is missing for the nonce – at least until the FIBA World Championships in August and September! And so the high-profile FIBA […]
Coaches, Sue Bird to return to Spartak; Taurasi, Fowles to depart
It’s a good news/bad news day for fans of Spartak Moscow region women’s basketball as announced by FIBA. The Spartak front office has confirmed that returning for 2010-11 will be head coach Pokey Chatman and her entire staff; members of all four champion Spartak squads Sue Bird, Irina Osipova, and Marina Karpunina; Anete Jekabsone-Zogota and […]
Göttingen Violets take Eurochallenge, Rochestie named MVP
Congratulations go out this morning to BC Göttingen and former Washington State Cougar Taylor Rochestie, who took the 2010 EuroChallenge title by controlling Krasnye Krylya Samara in the championship game for an 83-75 win. The trophy marks the first-ever European title for Göttingen and hopefully will assist the club in helping make financial ends meet […]
FIBA Eurochallenge final pits German Cinderella against Russian Pinocchio
In the runup to today’s FIBA Eurochallenge final between BC Göttingen and Krasnye Krylia Samara, certain themes are repeated to well-worn across The Continent. For example, there’s the “who’da thunk it” storyline, particularly on the Russian side as the Samara Red Wings threw together a slapdash roster for 2009-10 to amazing results. The “clash of […]
Partizan Belgrade takes Adriatic League in thriller
Partizan Belgrade completed the four-peat this weekend, with the team taking its fourth consecutive BBL title in extraordinary fashion. Dusan Kecman is today the toast of Belgrade (and owes Dame Fortuna quite a big favor) after sinking a three-pointer from beyond halfcourt to win over Cibona Zagreb, 75-74. (It just isn’t Cibona’s year, is it?) […]
Musli, Shermadini say no to 2010 NBA Draft
This just in (Okay, about five hours ago): According to the always excellent Draft Express, at least two high-profile young European players will *not* be entering their names into the NBA’s 2010 draft pool. Tweeted one of the Expressers: Serbian Dejan Musli & Georgian Giorgi Shermadini will not be entering their names in the 2010 […]
Everything you've always wanted to know about Barcelona vs. Unicaja (in English)
On Saturday, perhaps the marquee matchup on the ACB slate – if for historical significance only – will be the FC Barcelona vs. Unicaja match. The league’s official website has quite the extensive collection of facts ‘n’ figures about this match and the 15-year record of meetings between these two clubs, of which BallinEurope attempted […]
Kuzminskas declares for NBA draft: Knicks interested?
Website LithuanianBasketball.com is reporting that Mindaugas Kuzminskas has declared his intent to enter the NBA draft. According to the ‘site, Kuzminskas was reportedly checked out by New York Knicks vice president for basketball operations Glen Grunwald and international scout Kevin Wilson last month in Lithuanian League (LKL) play. In last summer’s FIBA U20 European Championship […]
Khryapa snaps Diamantidis’ streak, snags EL Best Defender; Rubio finishes second (Videos? You bet!)
A slightly belated congratulations this morning go out to CSKA Moscow’s Viktor Khryapa, who became the Euroleague’s answer to Dwight Howard in taking the “Euroleague Best Defender” trophy and snapping Panathinaikos’ Dimitris Diamantidis’ five-year stranglehold on the award. Meanwhile, NBA fans need take note: Finishing second was FC Barcelona wunderkind Ricky Rubio in what was […]
Globetrotters stuck in Ireland, hang out in inner-city Dublin
Alba Berlin wasn’t the only basketball team in Europe to meet with delays and cancelled plans thanks to the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano: Stuck in Ireland after shooting promotional TV spots in Dublin were two Harlem Globetrotters. The Globetrotters thereby made the best of their enforced downtime by doing what they do best: namely, entertain the young […]
Lithuania victory at Eurobasket 2011 > 20th-century Russian geopolitics
If there were any doubt anywhere in the world as to the level of insanity that is basketball obsession fandom, a crack by Lithuanian prime minister Andrius Kubilius on Russia-based RT.com should dispel any underestimation of the power of roundball in the Baltic country. Amidst what was ostensibly an interview about Lithuania’s “stance on Europe […]
Weekend video wrap: El Classico, Nike Hoop Summit, EL Women final, BBL Cup
For The Continent, quite a bit of important basketball action went down this weekend. In the ‘States, the best of Team USA faced off against the world in the Nike Hoop Summit game; in Spain, arguably the two best women’s teams on the planet meet for the FIBA Euroleague Women final; the German domestic league […]