Lithuania 191
Profile: Jonas Valanciunas, Toronto Raptors lottery pick
Which player was the sensation of this year’s U19 European Championship (and the guy whose arrival Toronto Raptors fans should be anticipating with optimism)? Jonas Valanciunas of Lithuania, of course! Today, Sam Chadwick takes a look at this rising star and his recent successes in youth tourney play. Name: Jonas Valanciunas Country: Lithuania Club: Lietuvos […]
Celebrating good times: The official 2011 Eurobasket anthem
Okay, so BallinEurope finally got the chance to sit down with the official anthem (no, really) for Eurobasket 2011. Entitled “Celebrate Basketball,” the seriously poppy three-minute ditty features music by Marijus Mikutavicius and Andrius Borisevicius; lyrics were written by Mikutavicius and Aidas Puklevicius. Everything in the song is copyright Promostar. The official video is full […]
Kestutis Kemzura names 20 to preliminary Team Lithuania roster
Team Lithuania coach Kestutis Kemzura this morning named 20 players to his preliminary squad in advance of the Eurobasket 2011 tournament. The home team will be returning seven players from the side that took bronze in the 2010 FIBA World Championship and including one NBAer – but not Linas Kleiza. Returning from the surprise of […]
Dirk, Dydek and beyond: Weekend video clips
European basketball leagues and the NBA may be coming to a close for 2010-11, but there’s still plenty of hoops to keep up with – and even more online video clips for the watching! BallinEurope starts your Sunday with a dozen clips shot in the U.S., Greece, Spain, Israel and other locales. Enjoy today’s action […]
Believe the hype: Playoff action in Spain, Lithuania, Romania, Germany
Sorry, the N-B-what? While Euroball fans can certainly take pride in the outstanding number of Continental players still competing in the big league overseas – a list that includes Team Turkey’s Omer Asik, Team France’s Joakim Noah, Team Britain’s Luol Deng, Zydrunas Ilgauskas of Lithuania, Team Switzerland’s Thabo Sefolosha, French sophomore Rodrigue Beaubois (sort of; […]
Martynas Pocius injury: Vladimir Romanov to blame?
Stepping outside the realm of the Euroleague playoffs for just a moment, BallinEurope was saddened to hear quite the insidious story of BiE fave Martynas “Air” Pocius’ season-ending injury. As though not bad enough that Pocius is gone for the traditional LKL championship series between Žalgiris Kaunas and Lietuvos Rytas, BiE buddy Simonas Baranauskas yesterday […]
Donatas Motiejunas declares for draft; BallinEurope revisits prospect
One of last year’s projected top five selections in the NBA Draft has declared instead for the 2011 edition of the world’s biggest hoops talent lottery: Big man Donatas Motiejunas deferred in 2010 because “really felt like he needed another year of international ball before he was ready for the NBA” … so how has […]
Playing with money: Are some European NBA players worth it?
Finally blessed with a bit of time to peruse ESPN’s compelling financial stats as presented in its magazine’s “All About the Money” issue (check them out if you haven’t already; big numbers are fun!), BallinEurope just couldn’t help, well … noodling around with the numbers some more! Over at the big network’s Chicago Blackhawks blog, […]
Rumor du jour: Pocius to move to Moscow next season?
Could Martynas “Air” Pocius soon be flying to Russia? Talk Basket today supposes that not only will CSKA Moscow rebuild after a relatively poor season for the Red Army (not surprising), but that new Lithuanian head coach Jonas Kazlauskas is actively pursuing acquiring Pocius’ services for CSKA in the 2011-12 season. Pocius’ obligation to current […]
Arvydas Sabonis: A career retrospective, via YouTube
BallinEurope sends out huge, 7’3” congratulations this morning to all-time great Arvydas Sabonis, finally inducted into the Professional Basketball Hall of Fame alongside luminaries such as Chris Mullin, Dennis Rodman (whoa, that’s still weird), Artis Gilmore, Tex Winter, “Goose” Tatum, Tom “Satch” Sanders, Tara Van Derveer, Herb Magee, and Teresa Edwards. A tribute in the […]
Sabonis on expansion into Europe: “It depends on the NBA”
Lithuanian legend Arvydas Sabonis recently gave a brief interview to Erildis Budraitis of Balsas.lt – later picked up by the official website of Žalgiris Kaunas – in which the big man reminisces about life in the NBA and speculates on the presently American league’s future a bit. A few interpreted excerpts follow. Balsas: Do you […]
“Too old” Ilgauskas to retire after 2010-11; will not play for Team Lithuania in Eurobasket
Lithuania-based news outlet/high-profile club sponsor Lietuvos Rytas yesterday published quite an extensive piece on Zydrunas Ilgauskas and his recent lack of playing time with the NBA’s most woeful Miami Heat. Big Z took his talents to South Beach for the veterans’ minimum salary of $1.4 million this year reportedly at the behest/encouragement of LeBron James, […]