Lawrence Roberts 12
Lietuvos Rytas: Stable in Motion (and Jonas Valanciunas, too)
In the leadup to the 2011-12 Eurocup Final Four tournament beginning on Saturday, Eurosport Turkey basketball commentator Uygar Karaca contributes a series of previews on the remaining quartet entitled “Four Teams, Four Stories” to BallinEurope. Today, Karaca takes a look at Lietuvos Rytas – and the club’s amazing ability to continually come back and adapt. […]
What good can Dominic James bring to Partizan?
Welcome to Partizan Belgrade, Dominic James! “Now,” wonders the Grobari fan, “what can he do for us?” BallinEurope’s man in Serbia, Marko Savkovic, takes a look at the former Marquette Golden Eagle vis-à-vis Dragan Todoric’s master plan for the club. In our praise of Partizan’s system of basketball, we’ve stated how this team’s success has […]
What makes the Partizan “system” of basketball?
BallinEurope today welcomes Marko Savkovic into its corps as the Serbia-based writer takes a look at just what has made Partizan Belgrade basketball tick through its many years of success… In December, Armani Jeans Milano denied Partizan Belgrade from playing in its sixth consecutive Top 16 phase of the Euroleague. And yet again, in what […]
The Frank Euroleague roundup, week two
Francesco Cappelletti’s regular column with BallinEurope is back as our man in Italy takes a look at the after-effects of Euroleague week two action. This time out, Francesco sees European basketball history returning to the old days on the Continent while Balkan squads fight economic problems but dispatch Western European teams anyway. And early on, […]
Highlights from Union Olimpija-Efes Pilsen 2OT thriller
The Euroleague’s game of the night last night and probably ultimately in all of week one was seen in the Union Olimipija-Efes Pilsen battle – and BallinEurope does mean battle – in Ljubljana. By the time the buzzer sounded, some 8,700 had thrilled to only the third double-overtime regular-season game in EL history, with Olimpija […]
Official BallinEurope Euroleague Power Rankings: The preseason
Since BallinEurope’s Official Power Rankings were so, um, popular during the FIBA World Championships, today we’re kicking off the same schtick for the upcoming Euroleague campaign. The rules, again: These rankings are basically purely subjective (at this point; once the games are played, actual wins and losses will be figured in) but are based loosely […]
Euroleague Final Four head-to-head matchups: Partizan Belgrade vs. Olympiacos
Whoa, the Final Four starts in two days? Almost unbelievable. But enough digression! Yesterday, BallinEurope presented a brief position-by-position rundown of Friday’s FC Barcelona-CSKA Moscow game. Today, a consideration of the late game, Partizan Belgrade vs. Olympiacos. Similarly to the early game, Partizan-Olympiacos also features a matchup between classic plucky underdog versus season-starting prohibitive favorite. […]
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?) […]
Fantasy tips from the Euroleague Boss: Top 16, week five
Hello everybody, this is once again Javier Gancedo of Euroleague.net, ready for yet another SportingBet Euroleague Fantasy Challenge week. There are two more weeks in the Top 16. The good news is that it is being extraordinary. Nobody would have predicted that no teams would be 100% qualified after four weeks and that the only […]
The Frank Euroleague roundup: Top 16, week two
It’s time for the look back at the wacky Euroleague week that was with Francesco Cappelletti. This week, BallinEurope’s man in Italy examines messing with rotations in Olympiacos and Unicaja; praises Partizan for the potential blueprint win over FC Barcelona; and chides the narcissistic defending champions for their shameful general laziness. No instant replay, Partizan […]
The Frank Euroleague roundup: Top 16, week one
Which team has already clinched a Euroleague Final Four spot? Who’s most to blame for Panathinaikos’ loss? What did Ergin Ataman do wrong? And why did Aito Garcia Reneses pull Cesar Augusto Lima with seven minutes to play? These questions are answered – OK, not that last one: That one’s a real riddle for the […]
The Innocents Abroad, Part Two: Assessing the US' Euroleague rookies and sophs
Yesterday, Ball in Europe had a look at about a dozen newbies in the NBA from Europe; today, we’re flipping continents for a brief look at players from the US trying to make it in European basketball. With about one-third of the Euroleague season in the books, how are the first- and second-year Americans faring […]