Serie A 74
Ben Ortner- Carpe Diem or Nothing
When a big name arrives, someone has to pay the price. For one man on Reyer Venezia’s roster, he’s all too used to not being the go to guy but Nicolò Origgi found plenty of cause for Ben Ortner to take heart from the role he has so often played. As we bid farewell to […]
Cold blood, hot hands
With the Italian, and indeed European season as a whole, nearly over Nicolò Origgi looks at the men teams turn to when the game is on the line. Across Lega Basket, there are a few heads you know will be turned to when it’s time for that final push. They are the closers, the guys […]
The strange case of the Swiss jersey
Switzerland has a unique way of recognising the players who take all the shots and Nicolò Origgi reckons it could be fun if applied elsewhere. Here he looks at the Italian league players who deserve a jersey all of their own Even the most die-hard basketball junkies might not know that in Switzerland each team’s […]
Esteban Batista – The goalie in the middle
With the Italian finals tipping off on Saturday, Nicolò Origgi has found a player he can relate to well. Like Esteban Batista, he’s got some experience between the sticks, and the Reyer Venezia man is looking to climb to the top with the ball in his hands over the next couple of weeks Just as […]
Aaron Craft – The last of a dying breed
Aquila Trento have quickly become the story of the summer, sweeping Dinamo Sassari and routing Olimpia Milano en route to the Serie A finals. Nicolò Origgi looks at how a new arrival this season with an old-school mindset is proving the driving force behind Trento’s remarkable run to the championship series In a basketball increasingly […]
Who mourns for Ale?
With Alessandro Gentile and Olimpia Milano parting ways, Emmet Ryan looks at what the departure means and where Gentile will end up next This divorce was coming for a while. A couple of years ago Alessandro Gentile committed to Olimpia Milano out of loyalty to the club but that bond was only going to bring […]
Did nobody check the calendar?
Bold, foolhardy, or just plain foolish? Emmet Ryan is perplexed by the decisions of leagues in Italy and Spain to go up against Euro 2016 with two of their biggest games of the season While Olimpia Milano claimed the Serie A title with a comeback win in Game 6 against Reggio Emilia, the Italian national […]
Back to the NBA? Bobby Brown works out with Knicks
Wishes of good luck go out to Bobby Brown today, but BallinEurope must say the electrifying point guard would be missed in Euroleague 2013-14 should his current plan be successful. Yahoo Sports reports this morning that the PG, with Montepaschi Siena last season, was given a workout session with the New York Knicks yesterday; the […]
Thrilla in Siena: Montepaschi-Cimberio Varese Serie A semifinal game four
Game of the week last week? How about last night’s game four of the Montepaschi Siena-Cimberio Varese semifinals series in Italy’s Serie A? National powerhouse and this tournament’s no. 5 seed Siena found themselves nearly on the ropes at 10 minutes to play before slowly coming back with a 24-13 run. With 60 seconds left, […]
Siena-Milano series highlights feature Bourousis, Fotsis, Moss, Sanikidze, Mensah-Bonsu and especially Daniel Hackett
Once again, Montepaschi Siena survives to play another day: The Euroleaguers managed to win the decisive game seven of the Serie A quarterfinal series at no. 4 seed Armani Milano, 90-80, last night. Below runs an impressive highlight clip of the top 10 plays from the series produced by the Italian league and starring J.R. […]
Sour tweets: Hackett’s comments on Twitter put future with Siena, Team Italy in doubt
So a professional baller getting himself into trouble via a few ill-advised tweets is hardly news, but Daniel Hackett’s popping off on Twitter last night could have long-term ramifications for his standing on Montepaschi Siena for the remainder of 2012-13 and even for Team Italy in the future. While sitting out Siena’s 72-68 loss at […]
Il Tornado (a.k.a. Daniel Hackett) levels cameraman, Julio Jones-style
Fans of the NFL will surely long remember Julio Jones’ taking out of a security guard during the NFC Championship Game; heck, the thing went viral immediately … in any case, BallinEurope’s got the European basketball equivalent for you. Check out Montepaschi Siena’s Daniel Hackett living up to the “Tornado” sobriquet in his team’s unfortunate […]