Nikola Vucevic 18
A harsh lesson for the USA
The USA won against Montenegro but the problems in this roster and the style of play they have opted to play with were all too evident as the tiny nation gave them one hell of a game in Manila No efficiency from deep, no impact in the paint, and, quite simply, no half-court offence. The […]
Valanciunas proves that this is his court
It took a while for the big man battle to get going but once it did, Jonas Valanciunas was decisive in his duel with Nikola Vucevic as Lithuania moved to 3-0 with victory over Montenegro Basketball is a complex game involving movement, sets, knowing when to be opportunistic, adjustments, and so much more. Sometimes however […]
Boys do cry so get over it
The reaction to Rudy Gobert crying after finding out he didn’t make the NBA All Star game was a mix of sympathy and scorn. Emmet Ryan on the utter stupidity of those who took issue with Gobert being in tears after addressing the media for the first time following his snub Best to get the […]
EURO-NBA: Les Spurs roll, Pek scores 25 but T-Wolves fall
It was a busy Veteran’s Day for the NBA’s European contingent. Tony Parker and Marco Belinelli had big days for San Antonio, Nikola Pekovic had a bigger one for Minnesota but came out on the losing end at the Clippers. The Spurs put in another insanely balanced performance, spreading minutes and stats across their roster, […]
EURO-NBA: Vucevic’s dub-dub and Rubio’s dimes highlight Sunday
Nikola Vucevic’s double-double helped the Magic overcome the Nets while Ricky Rubio had 10 assists as the T-Wolves topped the Knicks. It was a good night for La Pistola as the Timberwolves beat the Knicks 109-100. The T-Wolves out-scored the Knicks 40-19 in the first frame as Kevin Love led Minnesota with 34 points and […]
EURO-NBA: Vucevic's dub-dub and Rubio's dimes highlight Sunday
Nikola Vucevic’s double-double helped the Magic overcome the Nets while Ricky Rubio had 10 assists as the T-Wolves topped the Knicks. It was a good night for La Pistola as the Timberwolves beat the Knicks 109-100. The T-Wolves out-scored the Knicks 40-19 in the first frame as Kevin Love led Minnesota with 34 points and […]
Eurobasket 2013: Which NBA players are in, which are out?
Because it’s never too early to start looking ahead to Eurobasket 2013 – wait a minute, there’s only 11 weeks left until tipoff? Definitely not too early, then, to take a look at the formative rosters for the big Continental tournament. While only a few national teams (Croatia and Lithuania among them) have released preliminary […]
The BallinEurope Eurocentric NBA preview: 25 storylines to watch
BallinEurope’s said it before and fully expects to say it again: Better late than never. Stuff like podcast recording, the day job and, you know, life, has delayed the release of this season’s “Eurocentric preview.” BiE figures he’s morally convinced, since 80% of the NBA hasn’t tipped off as of this writing. We’re doing something […]
Taking stock of European players in the NBA, 2012-13
BallinEurope will be celebrating NBA Opening Day with lots of stuff centered on the big league; firstly, BiE takes stock of Continental ballers in the ‘States. Taking a look at this year’s roundup, we note that 53 Europeans have been named to NBA clubs’ 15-man roster, just beating the pace of the 52 listed in […]
EuroBasket 2013 draw seedings: Some thoughts
Exactly what the title says then – BallinEurope takes a look at the seedings for the EuroBasket 2013 draw and riffs a bit. As we know, the six groups from which the final divisions will be comprised look as follows. No. 1 seeds: Spain, France, Russia, FYR Macedonia No. 2 seeds: Lithuania, Greece, Slovenia, Great […]
How good is Nikola Vucevic? Very.
Not long ago, BallinEurope handed out mid-season grades for NBA players representing The Continent; rookie Nikola Vucevic was awarded a solid 3 out of 5 – a 3.5, really, if only this self-imposing grading system weren’t so harsh. BiE assessed that “subjectively speaking, Vucevic has been particularly impressive for the surprisingly impressive Philadelphia 76ers; if […]
First half report cards for European players in NBA
At the halfway point of the crazy fast 2011-12 NBA season, BallinEurope flexes the university professor muscles a little bit this morning with midterm assessments of individual performance by the big league’s Continental Players. We’ll be using the European grading system, with 5 being the top score possible and 1 the lowest; the Americans may […]