Jordi Bertomeu 24
The price of peace has never been lower
FIBA and Euroleague have been at loggerheads for a while. It serves no-one any good but the dispute shows little sign of resolution. Emmet Ryan is more than tired of the fighting and it’s time for both sides to end the animosity. The solution is obvious, all it takes is being willing to make the […]
On Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, Giannakopoulos and the Greek League mess
The history books will forever record Panathinaikos as having won game three of the 2012-13 Greek League championship series over Olympiacos by a score of 76-72 to complete a three-game sweep. The reality, as is sadly so often the case in Greens-Reds match, was more complicated. With just under a minute and a half remaining, […]
Podcast: “The Euroleague Bonanza”
On this, the eve of Euroleague basketball 2012-13 edition, David Hein and BallinEurope (unleash) present a serious gabfest on all things Euroleague (and some NBA) with two of our favorite hoops scribes. It’s two hours of solid basketball talk, a.k.a. episode four in the “Taking the Charge” podcast series, which Hein took to calling “The […]
Stern Words: Analyzing the NBA and Euroleague bigwigs’ Berlin press gig
So apparently this is what BallinEurope does when dithering about Official Fearless Predictions™ for Euroleague waiting around to record podcasts: Watches video of league management types. On the other hand, this isn’t just any commissioner we’re talking about today – This is El Jefe himself, arguably the most influential figure in international basketball for a […]
Quiz: The NBA- and Euro-centric year in basketball, 2011-12
Quick! Before those memories of basketball championships European and NBA fade completely, take a brief look back at the season that was – one crazy one on The Continent that began with Tony Parker, Ty Lawson and Mehmet Okur playing over here and concluded with titles taken by King James and Emperor Spanoulis. Get out […]
Bertomeu: Euroleague doesn’t need NBA players, system (Welllllll…)
BallinEurope heads out to Istanbul this morning to join the scene at this year’s Euroleague Final Four and start pumping out four days’ worth of steady reportage, historical stuff, stats, quotes, video, etc. But BiE figured he’d leave you temporarily with some gauntlet-throwing type stuff by EL CEO Jordi Bertomeu. In what became a widely […]
Euroleague trophy comes to Istanbul, makes like a tourist this week
Euroleague officials announced last night that one of professional basketball’s most aspiring-to bits of hardware had arrived in Istanbul last night, Naturally brought to the EL Final Four host city via Turkish Airlines – official sponsor of Euroleague basketball. (Although one assumes that the trophy is the traditional cup-like object held by a TA employee […]
In defiance of Bertomeu, Žalgiris Kaunas fans sing on
In the spirit of ’11, BallinEurope’ll call it “Occupy Euroleague.” CEO Jordi Bertomeu made official a Euroleague decree at the start of the 2011-12 season which banned the performance of national anthems before games. (BiE kinda agrees with this dictum, actually, as most rosters are stocked with Europeans while clubs are owned/controlled by corporations and […]
Eurocup tips off 10th season with Spartak v. Cedevita, Asvel v. Valencia, five more
Happy 10th birthday, Eurocup! The Continent’s no. 2 club competition will tip off season no. 10 tonight with seven matches, definitely highlighted by the showdown between Tony Parker’s Asvel Villeurbanne against a Valencia Basket side bringing in a lineup which includes Victor Claver and A.J. Ogilvy – not to mention Team France’s Nando de Colo […]
Valencia does it with offense, defense: Takes Eurocup, earns 2010-11 Euroleague pass
Congratulations this morning go out to Valencia, who put on another stunning and masterful show of basketball skills – though 180 degrees removed from the record-breaking performance against Panellinios just the night before – to defeat Alba Berlin and take the 2010 Eurocup title by the incredible score of 67-44. Really no typo there, as […]
Mark your calendars: Teams, dates for 2011 NBA Europe Live tour set
Who says it’s too far away to be thinking about the 2011 NBA Europe Live tour? Not BallinEurope, certainly, and apparently not EA Sports, Euroleague and the NBA: The organizations have released information on participating teams – and o boy, they’re good – for the October event. The NBA teams playing in the annual hypefest […]
Euroleague Top 16 draw: The Frank take
The Euroleague Top 16 group draw was orientated, due to the guidelines, well before it started. So, while Group G and Group H were fixed, it remained to see where Maccabi Tel Aviv and Efes Pilsen Istanbul would be directed: to the Barcelona-Panathinaikos group or the Real Madrid-Montepaschi gang. The two teams went into the […]