Nike International Junior Tournament 25
Podcast: Interview with Ricky Rubio; wrapping the 2012-13 Euroleague season, NIJT; reviewing The Wrestler
Episode #35 of the BallinEurope/heinnews co-produced “Talking the Charge” podcast series is now available online and is downloadable from iTunes – and o boy, it’s a good one. Days after Olympiacos made European basketball history, we’re still amazed by another incredible run by the Reds and so discuss the context of this back-to-back title victory. […]
Nike International Junior Tournament: Day three roundup
Just over two hours remain before Spain’s Europe’s top youth teams face off in the Nike International Junior Tournament championship game, and so follows a recap of yesterday’s action which ultimately saw FC Barcelona and Joventut Badalona advance, as provided by Net Scouts. The shows that these teams put on in facing a variety of […]
Nike International Junior Tournament: Day one roundup
From BallinEurope’s newfound friends over at Net Scouts comes a wrap of the first day’s games in the highest-profile European youth club competition, the Nike International Junior Tournament. While the headliner in the tourney is clearly FC Barcelona’s Mario Hezonja, no one impressed BiE more than Crvena Zvezda/Red Star’s Dusan Ristic – surely we’ll be […]
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 […]
NIJT wrap: Lietuvos Rytas takes title; plus, BiE’s nine European (and one Chinese) prospects to watch
Congratulations this afternoon go out to the Lietuvos Rytas junior team, which handled home team Fenerbahçe Ülker in the championship game of the 2012 Nike International Junior Tournament. Before something of a sedate crowd (perhaps folks here are a bit sedate and/or hungover after last night’s city-rocking goalless match – hey, it’s football – in […]
Nike International Junior Tournament: Lietuvos Rytas torches Crvena Zvezda to reach finals
Just completed was the deciding game in Group A of the Nike International Junior Tournament – and for Crvena Zvezda the results were ugly indeed. While Dusan Ristic had his now-standard killer game for the Serbian side with 21 points and 10 rebounds, the tenacious play of the Lithuanians (clearly still rolling from their incredible […]
Notes from the Nike International Junior Tournament, day two
BallinEurope took in a couple of Nike International Junior Tournament games today – namely, Crvena Zvezda vs. Anadolu Efes and Lietuvos Rytas vs. FC Barcelona. A few brief impressions gleaned follow. • Early on, Crvena Zvezda appeared intimidated by Anadolu Efes, a much more physical team than the previous day’s opponent, FC Barcelona – but […]
Notes from the Nike International Junior Tournament, day one
As befits tradition, the 2012 Nike International Junior Tournament is running in parallel with the Euroleague Final Four competition in Istanbul. Eight youth league teams are competing for the grand prize – and, individually speaking, to garner some attention from club scouts as each player’s career burgeons on the big stage. In the bigger picture, […]
Brief impressions: 2011 Nike International Junior Tournament
Congratulations from BallinEurope go out to KK Zagreb Croatia Osiguranje, who are the 2011 Nike International Junior Tournament champions after defeating Žalgiris Kaunas, 76-65, in the championship match this morning. A few observations on the match, if you will… • First and foremost, there’s Dario Saric. You don’t need BiE to tell you to believe […]
Romanian playoffs: Cluj-Napoca meets Gaz Metan Medias in last game of semifinals
In case you don’t have enough hoops to watch today – there’s the Nike International Junior Tournament, the Real Madrid-Montepaschi Siena Euroleague third-place game, the Euroleague championship, the Chicago Bulls-Atlanta Hawks playoff game, and the Los Angeles Lakers going out like chumps and ending the brilliant career of Phil Jackson rather ignominiously playing the Dallas […]
On five prospects in the Nike International Junior Tournament
Running in parallel with the 2011 Euroleague Final Four is the Nike International Junior Tournament, featuring eight teams from around the world (okay, seven from Europe and one from China, technically) packed with youthful prospects moving up the professional ladder. Below, BallinEurope enumerates a few of the players who’ve piqued the interest. And no, this […]
Nous sommes les champions: INSEP takes Nike Invitational Junior Tournament
Congratulations to the lads at INSEP for demolishing yet another BallinEurope fearless prediction taking the academy’s first-ever Nike International Junior Tournament in the team’s first-ever final four bid. Livio Jean-Charles had another outstanding game for the French side, contributing 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists on the way to the tournament MVP award. Official […]