Pro A 12
Official BallinEurope Euroleague Power Rankings: October update
Got the vitriol brewing? All right, then, with BallinEurope now caught up on some preseason basketball viewing, it’s time for another edition of BiE’s Official Euroleague Power Rankings. Just one quick note for irritated fans (we’re looking at you, Olympiacos, Žalgiris and Lietuvos Rytas backers): Remember that these rankings are first totally subjective and secondly […]
HTV Basket Ducky Toy is pure pleasure – and subject of weirdest ad campaign ever
Sports, capitalism, sex and philosophy: This is why we love the French. In what is surely the most brilliant ad campaign ever devised in European sports, Hyeres-Toulon Var Basket has launched a new campaign promoting – ostensibly – it’s supercheap tickets for upcoming Pro A games (starting at just €5 and kids under 14 get […]
"Homegrown" status gets green light in France
Christophe, the former brain behind BallinEurope now devoted to European Prospects, yesterday reported that France would be the first to adopt the “Homegrown Player” status for its national league. The LNB steering committee reportedly unanimously adopted the amendment to current player statuses in a Monday meeting and the changes will go into effect for the […]
Desperate Dijon replaces replacement’s replacement with Milosevic
Well, things can scarcely get worse for JDA Dijon, and so the debut of Stevan Milosevic for tonight’s game against Ligue Nationale de Basket’s current no. 2 Cholet (14-5) must be looked at with much optimism by the club’s fans. The 24-year-old 2.11-meter tall center comes to France from Partizan Belgrade, where the youngster scarcely […]
Encapsulating the Semaine des As squads
For a quick informational brief in advance of the Semaine des As tournament tipping off today, Francophones should head over to a site called LeMans.Maville.com. For a rough feeling of this excellent piece, cobbled together from remedial French knowledge and online translators with a gob of poetic license, read on. Chorale Roanne. At home the […]
Bad week for Dixons continues as Bobby released from Asvel Basket
In a move called “intriguing” by mainstream French media, Asvel Villeurbanne has released American guard Bobby Dixon. After logging just one half-season with the Euroleague squad, Dixon was cut just two days before the Semaine des As tournament, despite his success in the 2009 Semaine with champions Le Mans. Aymeric Jeanneau’s play had steadily eaten […]
On salaries in French basketball, 2009-10
Running over at the French-language website I Love Basket is a brief on salaries in Pro A and Pro B basketball. Some figures were recently released by the French players association with regard to average monthly salaries, with the key figures below. (“FIBA players” are defined as those from European nations defined under the Bosman […]
European basketball calendar: January 2010
Emerging from the holiday season, we happily find a month packed with wall-to-wall basketball on The Continent. Below is a partial calendar filled with listings for matchups in a handful of Europe’s larger domestic leagues and international club competitions for men and women. We’ll post updated versions of this schedule as time allows and blanks […]
Best of the (basketball) net: Happy Holidays edition
In between celebrating the holidays with family and checking out the Lakers getting chumped for Christmas, Ball in Europe snuck in some time surfing for basketball goodies online. A few stories and videos for your own post-Christmas Sunday, then, as word from Greece’s players’ union is awaited this afternoon… I tried to introduce some of […]
FIBA EuroChallenge capsule previews: Group H
With FIBA EuroChallenge 2009-10 just getting heated up right now, BallinEurope presents its primer on Group H, a quartet of teams with generally much international tournament experience.
FIBA EuroChallenge capsule previews: Group B
On the eve of FIBA EuroChallenge 2009-10, here are the BallinEurope.com briefs on Group B, certainly one of the toughest first-round pools, including Cyprus’ champion and perpetual European contenders EiffelTowers Den Bosch.
FIBA EuroChallenge capsule previews: Group A
Tomorrow night sees the tipoff of the 2009-10 FIBA EuroChallenge, the third pan-European tournament featuring 32 of The Continent’s up-and-coming and/or smaller-market teams. Over the next two days, Ball in Europe will present a brief primer on each of the groups; first, the basics of Group A.