Scottie Pippen 13
Twenty years ago today: The Barcelona Games
The 1992 Olympic Games, the Games of the XXV Olympiad: The first to be held without mass boycotts and, by many estimation, the greatest Olympics ever in presentation, hosting, and competition. It was the Games of Hungarian swimmer Krisztina Egerszegi, of Belorussian/Unified Team member Vitaly Scherbo in gymnastics, of the Russian men’s swimming team, of […]
Twenty years ago today: The greatest in his greatest season
Drazen Petrovic: The name is always mentioned in any discussion of all-time greatest European player, his effect inestimable, his ultimate greatness unknowable. BallinEurope has waxed poetic on the Basketball Mozart innumerable times already, but must say that lost in the general hoopla of the Dream Team in 1992 was the fact that one of the […]
Twenty years ago today: Recalling the Dream Team roster annoucement
BallinEurope continues with its look back at 1992 through the YouTube scope with a rundown of players on that Team USA of legend, a.k.a. The Dream Team. This of course means highlight clips of some of the greatest ever to have played the game … enjoy! To start this one off, a personal reminiscence … […]
Twenty years ago today: Champions in Europe and USA, 1992
In celebration of certainly still the most significant year in international basketball history, BallinEurope today begins the “Twenty years ago today” series in which we’ll peer back in time through the lens of YouTube to that era of morphing European national teams and Dream Team dominance. In the wake of that Greatest Basketball Team Ever […]
Dalibor Bagaric on time with Chicago Bulls: “I was unlucky”
Old pro Sam Smith of Bulls.com has written an exceptional column on present (though perhaps for but a wee bit longer, if speculation is to believed) and former Chicago Bulls Luol Deng and Dalibor Bagaric. A good portion of this epic-by-today’s-standard is devoted to possible trade destinations for the Team Britain big man — even […]
Olympiacos wins! Olympiacos wins! Olympiacos wins! (a.k.a. *The* European basketball story of 2011-12)
Let’s put this into perspective. The last time Olympiacos took the Greek national title, they were led by David Rivers and Dragan Tarlać. Vassilis Spanoulis was 15 years old and not near professional club play. Dejan Bodiroga was in the middle of his career and Mirsad Turkcan had just turned 21. Across the pond, Lebron […]
Ron Artest to play in Finland. No, really.
BallinEurope just received word from Hippo Taatila (via BiE pilgrim father Christophe, now of European Prospects) that Ron Artest may have topped himself in wackiness yet again – and this within a week of the announcement of his imminent name change to Metta World Peace. Reports Taatila: “Finland’s top league Korisliiga will witness some serious […]
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 […]
Remembering the other two Dream Teams of 1992
On this day of 1992 Team USA’s well-deserved induction into the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame, BallinEurope again takes the opportunity to remember those other two squads competing in the Barcelona Games whose impact on an international level was almost as great and whose impact at home was inestimable. What the Dream Team gave to […]
Look out, Bundesliga (basketball): Here comes Bayern Munchen!
Rarely is the introduction of a new second-division basketball team greeted with such fanfare; of course, it’s not every day that a world-renowned football brand like FC Bayern joins the hoops world, either. Bayern München president Uli Hoeness unveiled the new second-division club’s uniforms and future plans amid much hoopla in southern Germany on Friday, […]
The 35 Greatest Basketball YouTubes of All-Time: Nos. 21-25
Shaquille O’Neal’s big presence is felt in this quintet from BallinEurope’s 35 Greatest Basketball YouTubes of All-Time. For those interested in the methodology (giggle) used in compiling this handy list of dandy little clips, click here; otherwise turn on the BiE network and prepare to waste the next 22 or so minutes – hey, what […]
Revisiting USA-Croatia 1992 (or, Why YouTube is God, part 1 of many)
Reports last week that the Basketball Hall of Fame would be moving up the 2010 induction ceremony, so as to avoid conflict with the FIBA World Championship tournament and thus focus the hoops universe’s full attention on the 1992 USA Olympic team enshrinement, got me to reminiscing about that seminal game in basketball history: The […]