Luis Scola 24
2012 Olympics: Five reasons Russia will beat Spain (and one other Fearless Prediction™)
Now that BallinEurope’s personal Olympic bracket has been shot to hell, BiE will revert to the cumulative readers/contributors’ podium picks of USA-Russia-Argentina. Followers know that BiE’s ridden Russia since the opening ceremonies and the quarterfinals, despite a Spain win, only strengthened this convinction. Below, then, are five reasons why Russia will overcome the 4.5-point favorites.
Plan Y for Team Lithuania (plus Official Fearless Predictions™)
BallinEurope’s Lithuanian agent Skyped BiE today with two words on his mind: “Lithuania’s doom.” “Today?” BiE countered. “No, it already happened two days ago,” said Y. and he was off with a prescient, simple formula for success after the 23-point blowout at the hands of Argentina.
BallinEurope’s Official Fearless Predictions™: 2012 Olympic Basketball Group A
Okay, with just a few hours before men’s basketball tips off at the 2012 Olympics, BallinEurope’s got just enough time for some Official Fearless Predictions™. If done properly, these things are never as easy as they look. Right, starting with Group A, then, we’ve got: 1. USA (5-0) also 5. Nigeria (1-4) 6. Tunisia (0-5). […]
Seven (or eight) games on which 2012 Olympic basketball will turn
BallinEurope’s Official Fearless Predictions™ for 2012 Olympic basketball will be posted tomorrow, but with the 2012 Olympics opening ceremonies taking place tonight and the men’s competition tipping off on Sunday, BiE got out the virtual calendar to make time for the following seven (or eight) games, matches that should fundamentally shape the greater 30-game picture, […]
USA 86, Argentina 80: How beatable are the Yanks?
Though not actually about European basketball, last night’s USA 86, Argentina 80 pre-Olympic friendly result leads BallinEurope to put forth a few talking points from the notebook (and highlight clips, of course)… • Perhaps slightly flawed as a whole, the truth is that Team USA still has the best three players in the world right […]
On the continued rise of The Dragon
A breakout year from Team Slovenia’s Goran Dragic with the Houston Rockets deserves a look – and some embedded YouTube clips. Today, Sam Chadwick takes that look on BallinEurope. Developing in the cool climate of Ljubljana, Slovenia, Goran Dragic’s rise to basketball success was a game of waiting. After a Slovenian league championship in the […]
Dragon produces Euro-centric NBA highlight of the night
Euro-centric NBA highlight clip of the night? That’s easy. Check out Goran “The Dragon” Dragic leading the break for his Houston Rockets, slickly executing a behind-the-back dribble to blow past Jason Kidd and then dish a no-look pass in the lane to former Saski Baskonia stud Luis Scola for an incredibly easy two. Unfortunately for […]
Euroleague Top 16, Week Two, Night One: Six games, 100 facts
Courtesy the Euroleague folks, BallinEurope brings a compendium of facts and figures spanning history and record books regarding tomorrow night’s slate of a half-dozen games – plus lines on the games and highlight clips. Enjoy! CSKA Moscow vs. Anadolu Efes Istanbul • CSKA leads the all-time series between the teams, 8-7. • Nenad Krstic has […]
The Eurocentric 2011-12 NBA Western Conference preview (plus Official Fearless Predictions™)
Okay, after that Xmas distraction, BallinEurope is ready to write up some more stuff about good tidings and cheer*, namely, the start of the NBA season. With hours to go, BiE’s got just enough time to get in the part two of the Euro-centric big-league preview in this brief look at the teams in the […]
Fallout from failed CP3 deal: Lamar Odom facebooks WTF; Pau Gasol “devastated”
So, Lamar Odom is going to the New Orleans Hornets in a deal involving Chris Paul landing with the Los Angeles Lakers, Pau Gasol heading to the Houston Rockets and Luis Scola getting with the Hornets. No, wait, none of that is happening. For “basketball reasons,” apparently. Now poor Odom himself (last season going for […]
NBA Nuclear Winter settling in; Twitter bursts with news of player exodus
You know who benefits from the NBA player lockout? Twitter, that’s who. The website has become an endless source of interest as each event/non-event transpires in the NBA lockout soap opera. Minute to minute, commentators, players, pundits and rumormongers pithily weigh in and/or report on the immediate future of professional basketball in America… …and Europe! […]
Nike Hoop Summit: Nine named to World Select Team (but not Enes Kanter)
Rosters for the 2011 Nike Hoop Summit have been released and while The Continent is well-represented on the World Select Team, BallinEurope considers there to be at least one shocking omission. Team World will include Davis Bertans (Latvia/Union Olimpija); Evan Fournier (France/Poitiers); Przemyslaw Karnowski (Poland/SMS PZKosz); Mateusz Ponitka (Poland/Tempcold AZS); and Dario Saric (Croatia/KK Zagreb). […]