Pau Gasol 180
On the demise of Lithuanian Basketball
BallinEurope is not exactly sure what led our man in Lithuania, the enigmatic Y., to contemplate the fortunes of his country’s national team … but who are we to question a Lietuva hometowner when it comes to basketball? Y. goes back eight years to figure out where things went so terribly wrong and unfortunately finds […]
Rubio out ‘til 2012-13; options and outlook for Team Spain, Minnesota Timberwolves [Updated]
A moment of silence, please, in memory of Ricky Rubio’s 2011-12 season. After Rubio suffered an injury in Friday night’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves fans held their collective breath, and the Human YouTube Highlight Clip got another video added to his virtual collection – one that La Pistola certainly never wanted […]
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 […]
Rumor: Timberwolves pursue Team Spain connection with Derrick Williams for Pau proposal
Could Pau Gasol be reunited with his Spain teammate Ricky Rubio on the Minnesota Timberwolves? According to Hoops World, Minny management is pursuing such a situation and is reportedly willing to send over rookie Derrick Williams and draft choices to the Los Angeles Lakers for Pau. No comment seems to have been made by Lakers […]
Shocker (not): FIBA Europe names Dirk Nowitzki player of the year; Navarro, McCalebb runners-up
To no one’s surprise – certainly not BallinEurope’s, in any case – FIBA Europe today announced its men’s player of the year award would go to the longtime Team Germany/Dallas Mavericks superstar. Less than suspenseful, too, were the results of the top five finishers: Behind Dastardly Dirk came Juan Carlos “La Bomba” Navarro, Bo McCalebb, […]
Happy Valentine’s Day from BallinEurope (also Pau Gasol and Ricky Rubio)
BallinEurope wishes readers a happy Valentine’s Day today with an expression from that greatest love of all, namely the love of a fan for basketball. At left is our Valentine’s Day card to you, starring those “Latin lover” types Pau Gasol and Ricky Rubio – a match made in heaven. Or in Spain. (A suitable-for-printing-and-framing […]
Block of the week: Pau Gasol caps Lakers’ OT win over Celtics
BiE supposes that Los Angeles Lakers fandom will have to tone down the muttering about Pau Gasol for a bit. In a clutch performance for the Lakers in their 88-87 victory over what might just be the Spaniard’s future club, the Boston Celtics, Gasol finished off his 25-point, 14-rebound with a hustling, instantly YouTubeable block […]
Ricky Rubio to Kobe Bryant: “You know you’re getting the silver medal, right?”
Perhaps the most unfairly overlooked aspect in discussions of the difficulties European players face when attempting to adapt to NBA ball is the question of language. Sure, English is the international language of basketball. Sure, there are nearly three times as many English-language students than native speakers. Sure, a great fraction of Europeans grow up […]
Dirk Nowitzki: “Angela Merkel is nice”; “I want to top Sabonis.”
Surely to no one’s surprise, Gazzetta dello Sport gave its prestigious Euroscar Player of the Year Award to Dirk Nowitzki, he of the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks. Clearly the favorite to take FIBA Europe’s equivalent award, the Mav was bestowed with the honor on the same night he collected his bling-bling title ring in […]
Magic-Lakers-Nets three-way blockbuster trade: Why wouldn’t this work?
Ever since the Los Angeles Lakers’ dreary loss to the Orlando Magic last Friday and straight through to yesterday’s brickfest in a loss to the Indiana Pacers, this fan’s thoughts are turning to – OK, now nearly obsessed with – making a trade to shake things up. First and foremost, BallinEurope feels for Pau Gasol. […]
Flashback: Pau Gasol of FC Barcelona, 2000 ACB Finals
Courtesy the awesome Dejan Body (Where does he get those wonderful clips?), below the break runs an incredible blast from the past in a compilation of clips from the 2000 ACB finals featuring a 19-year-old named Pau Gasol, then in his second year with the big club. Gasol’s FC Barcelona, which also included the just-about […]
Truth or fiction? Toronto Raptors interested in, propose trade for Pau Gasol [updated]
Spanish-language Blog de Basket has quite the compelling story running today, particularly for Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors fans; the problem is that BallinEurope.com cannot seem to confirm the story’s veracity or the source reportage. According to Il ‘Blog, the Raptors have advanced an offer of Andrea Bargnani and Jose Calderon to the Lakers […]