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Rubio out ‘til 2012-13; options and outlook for Team Spain, Minnesota Timberwolves [Updated]
A moment of silence, please, in memory of Ricky Rubio’s 2011-12 season. After Rubio suffered an injury in Friday night’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves fans held their collective breath, and the Human YouTube Highlight Clip got another video added to his virtual collection – one that La Pistola certainly never wanted […]
First half report cards for European players in NBA
At the halfway point of the crazy fast 2011-12 NBA season, BallinEurope flexes the university professor muscles a little bit this morning with midterm assessments of individual performance by the big league’s Continental Players. We’ll be using the European grading system, with 5 being the top score possible and 1 the lowest; the Americans may […]
Truth or fiction? Toronto Raptors interested in, propose trade for Pau Gasol [updated]
Spanish-language Blog de Basket has quite the compelling story running today, particularly for Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors fans; the problem is that BallinEurope.com cannot seem to confirm the story’s veracity or the source reportage. According to Il ‘Blog, the Raptors have advanced an offer of Andrea Bargnani and Jose Calderon to the Lakers […]
The Eurocentric 2011-12 NBA Eastern Conference preview (plus Official Fearless Predictions™)
While basketball lovers are getting something of a Christmas gift this season in the December 25 NBA opening day – BiE says “something of” there because this belated debut is kinda like your parents saying, “Well, we’ll just give you your birthday gift at Christmas.” When your birthday’s in October – BallinEurope would like to […]
Sunday bullets: NBA-flavored European action, USK Prague beats USA, Deron Williams generally trashed, more
Your lazy Sunday just got a little lazier. BallinEurope gives you another few good minutes of clock killing in rounding up some stories for your perusal. As the NBA lockout continues – and many reckon no blinking will be done by either side on Monday, therefore necessitating cancellation of the 2011-12 schedule’s first two weeks’ […]
Spain 98, France 85: Behind Pau Gasol, Navarro, Ibaka, Spain makes it back-to-back titles
Big congratulations this morning go out from BallinEurope to Team Spain, which defended its European title in besting France in the 2011 FIBA EuroBasket championship game, 98-85. Particularly brilliant in this final match was Serge Ibaka, who provided five blocks and smothering defense off the bench. Five Spaniards scored in double figures, with tournament MVP […]
Reflections after EuroBasket day one
Though only one day of the 2011FIBA EuroBasket tournament is in the books, it’s never too early to make some kneejerk reactions, right? While a few suspenseful games played out last night, most prognosticators were certainly able to score a 12-0 record in picking winners in first-day games. (BallinEurope went 11-1, but that’s only due […]
Greatest of all-time: Yugoslavia or Spain?
An interesting exchange of tweets went down last Friday (yes, minus points for untimeliness, but on another job BallinEurope thought deep into the matter all weekend) between HoopsHype/ESPN Deportes writer Jorge Sierra and Team Australia/Milwaukee Bucks big man Andrew Bogut. Things started innocuously enough, with Sierra plugging a Spanish-language piece he’d written for Deportes: “An […]
NBA players to Europe: Weems will, Kirilenko could, Radmanovic might
That rhythmic pounding you hear over the basketball world? It’s the sound of the clock ticking as many an NBA player gets antsy awaiting a seemingly unreachable resolution to the player lockout in the big league. We’re only three days into the NBA’s first work stoppage since 1998 but with European ball a much more […]
British Basketball: What they're saying on the eve of The FIBA Decision
If it hadn’t been for all the personality-cult stuff surrounding a certain King James, the fateful FIBA committee vote scheduled for Sunday would more rightly be known as “The Decision”: In Lyons this weekend, the final determination will be made as to whether Team Britain receives for the 2012 London Games the traditionally-granted automatic qualification […]
NBA in London, game two: DeRozan dominates, Sasha rules, Nets optimistic about future
Say what you want about sending two lottery-level NBA clubs on a cross-Atlantic trip to play a pair of ultimately meaningless games, but not one of the 18,500-plus in attendance for the Toronto Raptors-New Jersey Nets game last night can fairly complain about not getting his/her money’s worth. Those attending the O2 Arena for the […]
NBA in London: High production values, sellout crowds, and Mikhail Prokhorov of course
The Toronto Raptors and New Jersey Nets played the first of their London twinbill last night, capturing the imaginations of observers from both sides of the Atlantic to various degrees. In advance of game two (or game 62/63, depending on how you look at it), BallinEurope brings you some bullets’ worth of highlights, factoids and […]