Lithuania 191
Injured and possibly done for season in Lithuania, Sonny Weems tweets an S.O.S.
Bad news from Lithuania for Žalgiris Kaunas, NBA teams seeking a viable free-agent guard for 2012-13, and Sonny Weems himself. After suffering a foot sprain in Žalgiris’ LKL 88-71 victory at Rudupis, Weems’ season may now be done and, if so, the former Toronto Raptor reports he’ll be heading back home to the ‘States. Making […]
Surprise! With five weeks to play, Lithuanian league reduces playoff tournament
Only in Lithuania? In what is surely perceived of by fans of Lithuanian teams such as Pieno žvaigždės, KK Baltai, Kėdainiai and Juventus as (an unwelcome slap in the face) a controversial decision, LKL officials have decided today (!) to reduce the league’s playoff tournament from eight to six teams. Yesterday, league commissioner Mindaugas Balčiūnas […]
Sonny Weems + LKL dunk contest + awesome production values = Video of the month
The best basketball video clip of the roughly half-done month? Well, about a week before James White was bagging his fourth European dunk contest crown, Zalgiris Kaunas’ Sonny Weems was earning his first in Lithuania. Below runs not just any dunk contest highlight clip, but an amazingly edited 100-plus seconds replete with amazing angles and […]
Lithuanian hero in Florida: Deividas Dulkys cool as ice, sinks FTs to seal FSU’s first-ever ACC title
Florida State University SG/SF Deividas Dulkys is no stranger to high-pressure NCAA basketball, having gained experience in March Madness last season with his university team; the Lithuanian showed that coolness in the clutch yesterday, with his 15th and 16th points of the game coming with 3.9 seconds on the clock. Despite some distraction techniques – […]
“Sinister”: Zalgiris Kaunas owner to form political party, fight for “sport, culture, art”
What’s up with the bizarre mix of politics and basketball going on in Europe? While Barack Obama butters up Italia with references to Danilo Gallinari and Marco Bellinelli, New Jersey Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov is stumping in Russia on an apparently futile bid for the presidency there. And now … well, let’s just say Lithuania […]
11-for-11: BallinEurope’s Most 11 popular stories from 2011
So 2011 may have been few people’s favorite year personally, European basketball fans have certainly got to be taking solace in the fact that the past 12 months featured a seriously great run of Continental-flavored hoops. To wit, in 2011, we enjoyed: • an exciting round of Euroleague playoffs which included FC Barcelona’s surprising tournament-round […]
Posters absoluts & Monsterdunken: The Eurocentric slam dunk of 2011 – plus 25 others
Before BallinEurope signs off for 2011, let’s give a late Christmas gift to the dunkaholics out there, shall we? Below runs a collection compiled through the year featuring dunks by Europeans, on Europeans or perhaps simply in Continental games. The first 20 will listed by competition, followed the top five runners-up and the champion jam […]
Message from Zalgiris Kaunas fans after national anthem rendition
BallinEurope got this note posted in comments on the recently-run piece regarding Žalgiris Kaunas fans raucously singing the national anthem prior to games in response to a Euroleague ruling for 2011-12 which bans formal performance of anthems. Ran the comment: “BallinEurope, you can update your article with the pic i posted: Žalgiris fans showing this […]
In defiance of Bertomeu, Žalgiris Kaunas fans sing on
In the spirit of ’11, BallinEurope’ll call it “Occupy Euroleague.” CEO Jordi Bertomeu made official a Euroleague decree at the start of the 2011-12 season which banned the performance of national anthems before games. (BiE kinda agrees with this dictum, actually, as most rosters are stocked with Europeans while clubs are owned/controlled by corporations and […]
In Lithuania, Jonas Valanciunas vs. Santa Claus
Only in Lithuania would an NBA first-round draft pick take on the spirit of Christmas himself on the basketball court – and get more fan support. Jonas Valanciunas recently appeared in Vilnius alongside a slightly more infrequent visitor to the Lithuanian city, i.e. Santa Claus. Valanciunas and Claus appeared as part of the festivities closing […]
Sonny Weems caps Žalgiris Kaunas win in memorable fashion
Think Žalgiris Kaunas fans are happy Sonny Weems has no out-clause? The Greens were able to stay alive in Euroleague play last night, rising their record to 2-5 in besting Unicaja Malaga in Lithuania, 67-65, thanks in no small part to some clutch play from their American import. Weems accounted for the final points of […]
Ty Lawson announces swansong with last (?) tweets from Europe
Ty the Twitterer posted a couple of tweets this morning, informing Žalgiris Kaunas fans that he’ll be suiting up for the Greens one more time. Wrote Lawson: “I would like to thank the Zalgiris organization and fans for allowing me the opportunity to play for them. I enjoyed the experience.” And the formerly locked-out Denver […]