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Giant slayers: Caja Laboral Baskonia wins 70-69, pushes FC Barcelona to brink
In a season already spiced with big playoff upsets, Caja Laboral Baskonia may be adding the biggest to the list yet, as the Basque Country boys held on through an insane final minute of play to eke out a 70-69 win over FC Barcelona. And now things in Spain have become suddenly unthinkable as the […]
Kobe likely addition to no-shows for 2010 FIBA World Championship
The folks at FIBA are referring to the upcoming 2010 World Championship tournament in Turkey as a “Giant Get-Together,” but with every passing day it seems the meeting gets just a bit smaller. In seemingly the first mention of such an exclusion, USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo lumped Kobe Bryant in with confirmed or near-confirmed […]
The 2009-10 NBA Finals: BallinEurope's official fearless prediction
As if BallinEurope would miss a chance to make a fearless prediction … especially in what is probably the biggest club championship in the world, i.e. the NBA Finals. But first, allow BiE to consult with others before dropping my easily predictable predication out there.
K.C. at the Line
With the 2010 NBA Finals tipping off tomorrow, inspiration has moved BallinEurope to poetry. Here’s a 19th-century classic rebooted for the modern day. Enjoy! K.C. at the Line: A ballad for the world sung on the eve of the 2010 NBA Championship Series (dedicated to Nik, Nick, Diq, Shaq and especially K.B. the inspiration; with […]
Team USA to take on Greece in leadup to 2010 FIBA World Championship
Tickets went on sale yesterday for this summer’s friendly match between Team USA and Team Greece in the leadup to the 2010 FIBA World Championship tournament. The Americans will be taking on Hellas in Olympic Stadium on August 25. Ticket prices range from €20 to €100. Team USA’s national team training camp runs July 19 […]
Invisible to insane: The six types of basketball team owner
They say that no one has ever bought a ticket to a sports event in order to see an executive but with two weeks of American and European basketball club owners hogging sports page headlines, BallinEurope got to thinking about these moneyed celebrity types who run the teams we watch … and the often disturbing […]
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 […]
Kahn reiterates: Rights to Rubio are untouchable
Minnesota Timberwolves general manager David Kahn reiterated his bold stand on the team’s overall no. 5 NBA draft pick, Spanish wunderkind Ricky Rubio, to the Minnesota Star-Tribune last night. To wit: Rubio is untouchable in this off-season. The move by the man they sometimes call KAAAAAAAAAAAAHN prompted Star-Tribune writer Jerry Zgoda to collect quotes on […]
For Phil Jackson: What to expect from Bennett Salvatore
A bit of an aside here, if you would be so kind, BallinEurope readers, and an apology; you see, i’m still traumatized by Sunday’s Los Angeles Lakers-San Antonio Spurs game. Due to that old life/other plans thing, i waited until last night to watch the possible playoff matchup in a game that’s often a regular-season […]
Vujacic’s eight points in 14 minutes = “FOR SALE” sign?
With only three NBA games going last night, the most surprising story of the American evening needn’t have been too mind-blowing, but Sasha Vujacic’s performance in the Los Angeles’ Lakers surprisingly easy 101-89 win over the San Antonio Spurs was among the more remarkable at least. Vujacic ended up with eight points on 3-of-3 shooting […]
Best of the (basketball) net: Salinger, supplements, Shirley and Sixers girls edition
Quite the busy week in basketball land this week, eh? Even if you did follow the slew of happenings over this seven days – the opening weeks of Euroleague and Eurocup Final 16 play, the naming of NBA All-Star teams, FC Barcelona’s streak ending in the ACB, the Greg Oden and Paul Shirley scandals, as […]
Is Dirk Nowitzki really the greatest European NBA player ever?
“When it’s all said and done Dirk will end up being the greatest European basketball player to ever play in the NBA, if he isn’t already.” So ran the tangential line from within a story at Bleacher Report entitled “A New Decade: A New Future.” Though this contention is taken for granted in the U.S., […]