Marijonas Petravicius 9
Is Jonas Valanciunas the problem for Team Lithuania?
And here’s a second question: Shall composition of the requiem for Lietuva’s 2012 Olympic bid begin now? Sadly, it doesn’t look good for our heroes with Team USA on the slate tomorrow and a first-round date with presumably Spain or (BiE’s pick) Russia in the knockout stage – and this in the 20th anniversary year […]
2012 Olympic Qualifying Tournament Preview: Lithuania
The 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men tips off in Venezuela today at 11am local time (11.30am EST, 5.30pm CET) with the Russia-South Korea match. Of the 12 national teams competing, four are European. The last of BallinEurope’s previews of these qualifiers features an assessment of Lithuania. Roster: Tomas Delininkaitis, Paulius Jankūnas, Mantas […]
On Olympiacos Euroleague championship: From crises emerge heroes
European basketball fans know that history was made with Olympiacos’ stunning victory in the 2012 Euroleague championship. And so BallinEurope contributor, the self-proclaimed hoops history junkie Uygar Karaca looks back with perspective on the title bid, reaching all the back to the Great Depression of 1929 through the collapse of the Soviet Union and into […]
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, […]
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 […]
Live blogging Eurobasket 2011: Great Britain vs. Lithuania
So, what to look for in this game? BallinEurope sat in one some of the Great Britain practice session today and must say the team looked pretty loose, but will imperviousness to pressure be enough? After all, the specter of the missing Ben Gordon (and, as Ogo Adegboye pointed out to BiE yesterday, Pops Mensah-Bonsu) […]
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 […]
The Italian League explained: Part one
Some consider Serie A to be the second best European league behind (and I mean, kilometers behind) only the ACB, others consider the league’s unstoppable decreasing level which began at the beginning of new millennium. Anyway, between clubs which fail year by year, rules about US and EU players never staying consistent for more than […]
Eurobasket 2009 fearless predictions VIII: Titanic vs. Hindenburg headline matchup
If you had told a basketball fan about today’s Spain-Lithuania Eurobasket second-round matchup two weeks, he/she might have figured it to be one of the tournament’s most interesting games. It still is, of course, but for the exact opposite reason one may have expected. In one corner is Team Spain, a bunch of household names […]