Lithuania 191
Highlights from Ty Lawson’s epic Twitter venting (P.S. Unicaja over Žalgiris, 85-78)
Has a Europe-based basketball player ever garnered so much attention in one day on Twitter? Those who follow locked-out Denver Nugget/current Žalgiris Kaunas baller Ty Lawson on the ‘site watched for a span of two hours as a complaint about practice snowballed into a barrage of speed tweeting among Lawson, detractors and supporters. The story […]
Chicken move or clever maneuver? Conspiracy theorizing on Spain 96, France 69
With not nearly enough time spent in Lithuania, BallinEurope doesn’t wish to make any generalizations regarding the national character vis-à-vis tendency to conspiracy theory. Having been based in Central Eastern Europe for plus-10 years now, however, BiE knows how it goes, with “it” here representing “management of professional sport clubs well above and beyond normal, […]
EuroBasket power rankings, post round one edition
The 2011 FIBA EuroBasket tournament gets things started again today, after the 12 advancing teams get in a couple days’ worth of hard-earned rest. With the dust now settled, BallinEurope takes a look at how the dozen sides look going into the second round of play (numbers in parentheses represent each team’s win-loss record brought […]
Rapping about Jonas Valanciunas
Naturally, everyone in basketball-rabid Lithuania has their own favorite on the national team, but the overwhelming devotion attractor right now is unquestionably Jonas Valanciunas. As the future of Lithuanian basketball itself – he’s six years and one month younger than the next most junior member of the national team – it’s not too much of […]
Eurobasket 2011: News, notes and clips going into day five
After a bit of a free day (not 100%, though, BiE can assure you) for BallinEurope, we get back in the game – so to speak – with a few notes, links and of course YouTubes for your perusal before FIBA EuroBasket games tip off today. • BiE’s games of the day? Today, Spain-Lithuania; tomorrow, […]
*The* question: Why is Lithuania so passionate about basketball?
It’s a question for the ages and one that BallinEurope has wondered about in contemplation for years. Last night’s post-game press conference following the Lithuania-Poland EuroBasket match saw an answer delivered, summing things up rather succinctly and satisfyingly. With Team Lithuania head coach Kestutis Kemzura and BiE fave Martynas “Air” Pocius before the assembled media, […]
Reflections after EuroBasket day one
Though only one day of the 2011FIBA EuroBasket tournament is in the books, it’s never too early to make some kneejerk reactions, right? While a few suspenseful games played out last night, most prognosticators were certainly able to score a 12-0 record in picking winners in first-day games. (BallinEurope went 11-1, but that’s only due […]
Eurobasket opener bullets: Pnini vs. Dirk, Spain's competition, Kanter's rust, more
Hours remain until Eurobasket 2011 tips off here in Lithuania. As a warmup this morning, BallinEurope brings a roundup of some chatter from around the world regarding the big tournament; in ESPN TrueHoop tradition, we’ll bring it bullet-style. • Poor Israel, one of the more unheralded teams in the tournament … not only are they […]
Eurobasket 2011: BallinEurope podcasts, makes Official Fearless Predictions™
As BallinEurope gets ready to hit the road for Lithuania – Panevezys, specifically, where BiE’ll be covering EuroBasket Group A action – there’s just enough time for a shameless plug and Official Fearless Predictions™. Last week, BiE guested on podcasts with the indomitable Freaknick over at the always fun and insightful Euroleague Adventures. We spent […]
Latvia, Lithuania on course to co-host 2012 U18 Euros, 2018 FIBA Worlds
Eurobasket 2011 is still a couple of weeks away, but that isn’t stopping the Lithuanian national basketball federation from thinking about the future … and they’ve got a partner in speculation in Latvia. Baltic Course is reporting today that FIBA Europe general secretary Nar Zanolin is seriously considering a bid for the two nations to […]
Portland says goodbye to Hall of Famer with Arvydas Sabonis Day
It might have been the last look Portland Trail Blazers get of one of their greatest big men in a good long time and as this is written, Arvydas Sabonis is most likely back in his home country of Lithuania. Last week saw Sabas receive his final honor as an NBA player at his induction […]
Career retrospective: Arvydas Sabonis, Hall of Famer
In honor of the legendary Arvydas Sabonis, the man Scottie Pippen once called “The greatest European basketball player ever to play the game,” entering the Basketball Hall of Fame, BallinEurope this morning reruns its career retrospective on the big man’s incredible career. Quite a collection of rare Sabonis footage exists in the collective consciousness of […]