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Pau Gasol: “A bit distracted,” “A bit exhausted” in Lakers-Mavs series
For the Spanish-language ‘site Marca.com, Los Angeles-based sportswriter Jesús Sánchez recently got some quality face time with Pau Gasol – enough to fill three columns’ worth of stories. The key news for those looking ahead to the summer, a group that certainly includes Lakers fans and those cynical about the possibility of the NBA actually […]
NBA Western Conference Playoffs: The Eurocentric view
Rumor has it that across the ocean, this basketball league called the NBA is about to begin its playoffs. With the 2010-11 regular season behind us, BallinEurope takes a present-and-future look at the playoff-bound Europeans in the American league series by series, together with musings, meanderings, YouTube clips and those Fearless Predictions™. Today: the Western […]
Pau Gasol’s Facebook page: 2 million served
Have you “liked” Pau Gasol’s Facebook page today? If so, you’re now one of the Laker big man’s two million-plus fans on the social network site. Pau delivered the 20-second, locker-room shoutout to his virtual horde on – where else? – YouTube posted below. Gasol today ranks 871st on the “Facebook Pages Leaderboard,” just ahead […]
Happy Eighty-One Day from BallinEurope!
From the Just Wanted to Get This One in There Department, ESPN.com reminds that today (technically the wee hours of tomorrow morning CET) is the five-year anniversary of Kobe’s 81-point scoring spree against the Toronto Raptors (or, as BiE likes to think of them, “The Euraptors”), the second-most points ever scored in an NBA game […]
Introducing the 2010-11 BallinEurope Festivus Invitational Tournament
As a holiday present to the audience, each of you has received courtside tickets to the first annual BallinEurope Festivus Invitational Tournament. Thanks to the miracle of totally BiE-unaffiliated (and totally mind-blowingly awesome) website What If Sports, we can bring together great players of the past and present for true dream matchups – and without […]
Armenian Youth Federation reviled by Kobe Bryant’s Turkish Airlines deal
One group won’t be joining the Staples Center crowd in chanting “M-V-P! M-V-P!” for Kobe Bryant the next time he’s at the charity stripe: namely, Los Angeles’ Armenian population. On Tuesday, Turkish Airlines (also current sponsor of Euroleague basketball) announced a two-year deal which would make Bryant the “global brand ambassador” for the airline beginning […]
Pau Gasol versus the vampires (and BallinEurope versus Bill Simmons)
BallinEurope yesterday read the latest anti-Laker screed basketball column by ESPN.com’s Bill Simmons, an alternately funny and blood-boiling confession-style bit about conditioning one’s children to cheer for the “right” sports team, i.e. Daddy’s favorite team. Ultimately, however, The Sports Guy’s affectionate look at dominating your child’s formative years is perhaps best characterized as “disturbing.” And […]
Napoleon Dynamite’s fantasy team is better than yours
Jake Stephens, he of “Napoleon Dynamite” fame stars in certainly the best and funniest fantasy basketball ad campaign ever. ESPN’s fantasy basketball ads feature Stephens (who apparently has some serious access to much-wanted mobile phone numbers) exhorting his charges to, you know, win one for the fantasy team.
Frank answers to four burning Euroleague questions
He’s back! Emerging out of hiding (or perhaps digging himself out of work with youth squads plus Italian-language sports media) is BallinEurope’s man in Italy, Francesco Cappelletti. As the season progresses, Cappelletti will be opining as to what really went down in a week’s worth of Euroleague matches. Today, four key themes that will be […]
Around the world with NBA Live, Euroleague American tour
The NBA Live Europe tour begins tonight when the New York Knicks visit AJ Milano; tomorrow sees the Los Angeles Lakers take on the Minnesota Timberwolves in London and Maccabi Haifa visiting the New Jersey Nets. All in all, the exchange program between the two big leagues will see nine games played in four countries, […]
Most popular jerseys in Europe: Top 10 half European; Kobe, LeBron, D-Wade still rule
In advance of the Los Angeles Lakers-FC Barcelona game next week, fans of both teams in Europe are helping make Pau Gasol’s NBA jersey one of the hottest items among The Continent’s basketball faithful. Gasol reached no. 4 on the NBA’s official list of jersey sales in Europe. The list was compiled from sales at […]
Just enough Durant to give USA win after ferocious Spain comeback
Is Kevin Durant the next Kobe Bryant after all? Team USA fans are certainly swaggering today after their guys’ strong showing in upending the defending FIBA world champions, 86-85. Durant was the alpha dog for the US – a role many including BiE worried about going unfilled a la my least-favorite 2006 team – in […]