Sarunas Jasikevicius 94
Championship basketball: Galatasaray stays alive; Barça, Mavericks take care of business
It’s hard to believe the 2010-11 season is drawing to a close, but so it goes. Leagues in Turkey, Spain and the United States could be all shutting down for the summer (or, in the latter’s case, perhaps a good deal longer) within a week. A brief roundup this morning, then, of action in this […]
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 […]
Euroleague Final Four flashback: FC Barcelona takes first EL title, 2003
While many of us (ahem) were shocked that FC Barcelona did not qualify for this year’s Euroleague Final Four to be played at the Blaugrana’s venue, Barca made good in defending home court the last time the Spanish capital hosted. In 2003, Barcelona brought a veritable dream team to the tournament to chase the team’s […]
On the map, in the news: Maccabi Tel Aviv legend Tal Brody
One old-timer’s name popping up in the news lately is former Maccabi Tel Aviv/Team USA great Tal Brody. Actually, to define Brody as “great” in his years with Maccabi is overwhelming understatement, as the man’s career has weaved a thread through the club’s and, to an arguable extent (and o, it will be argued; see […]
Euroleague Top 16, games six: Notes, natterings and Fearless Predictions™
The quest for the 2010-11 Euroleague title is officially reduced by 50% tonight as a full slate of games completes the Top 16 round of play; three games remain relevant to the final eight round and BallinEurope below takes a brief look at each, together with YouTubes and the ever-popular Fearless Predictions™. Enjoy the games! […]
Euroleague Top 16 highlights: Day one
It wasn’t exactly the most inspiring set of Euroleague basketball games last night, with all four losing sides “held” under 60 points and nearly all blown out. (The operative verb gets quotation marks because the three crushed teams all shot under 40% overall with incredibly abysmal numbers from beyond the arc, to some extent helping […]
FC Barcelona: Anticipating Maccabi Tel Aviv clash with brief video review
Since BallinEurope has been shamefully derelict in his duties as high priest of the Church of Rubio this season, let’s run some FC Barcelona clips in preparation of the defending Euroleague champs’ incipient matchup against thus far the top 2010-11 EL team Maccabi Tel Aviv! In Euroleague terms, Barça was last seen taking out BiE’s […]
Dream Team Europe nips 1960 Team USA, 107-106, in Festivus Invitational opener
The first annual BallinEurope Festivus Invitational Tournament tipped off today, brought to you incidentally (they probably even haven’t heard of BiE) by the sports simulation website What If Sports. Opening up the tournament is BiE’s own (slightly modified) Dream Team Europe, who hosts that original dream team, the 1960 Team USA squad that destroyed all […]
Introducing the 2010-11 BallinEurope Festivus Invitational Tournament
As a holiday present to the audience, each of you has received courtside tickets to the first annual BallinEurope Festivus Invitational Tournament. Thanks to the miracle of totally BiE-unaffiliated (and totally mind-blowingly awesome) website What If Sports, we can bring together great players of the past and present for true dream matchups – and without […]
Jasikevicius turns down Lietuvos Rytas offer; club to sign another PG
Maybe Šarunas Jasikevičius has the same career counselor as Allen Iverson … With basketball leagues now begun throughout Europe, the four-time Euroleague champion and all-decade team member, has officially turned down a contract offer from Lietuvos Rytas. Still residing in Athens – his daughter was born there in late September – Jasikevičius adds his long-ago […]
Official BallinEurope Euroleague Power Rankings: Final preseason edition
The 2010-11 Euroleague season tips off tomorrow? Right, then. Presenting the last preseason – and thus last totally subjective, because we’ll be able to base these things on, you know, wins and losses beginning next week – BallinEurope Official Euroleague Power Rankings™. (Plus lots of video clips.) Enjoy! 1. (↔) FC Barcelona – Yeah, as […]
Official BallinEurope Euroleague Power Rankings: The preseason
Since BallinEurope’s Official Power Rankings were so, um, popular during the FIBA World Championships, today we’re kicking off the same schtick for the upcoming Euroleague campaign. The rules, again: These rankings are basically purely subjective (at this point; once the games are played, actual wins and losses will be figured in) but are based loosely […]