Shaun Stonerook 23
The Frank Euroleague Roundup: Top 16, week five
With one more week of Euroleague play to go before the field of viable contenders officially shrinks again, Ball in Europe contributor Francesco Cappelletti wraps the round that was in the big league. In this week’s roundup, Signor C. laments Montepaschi Siena’s fate, Sergio Scariolo’s precarious position and the reason Olympiacos might yet give Barca […]
Montepaschi Siena takes Coppa Italia; is that a good thing?
BiE is still internally debating whether Montepaschi Siena predictably winning the 2010 Coppa Italia was a good thing or not. On one hand, any other result might have resulted in massive match-fixing allegations; after all, Siena devotees would argue, how else could this dominant squad have possibly lost if not for referee assistance? On the […]
The Frank Euroleague Roundup: Top 16, week three
With a scene-shifting week three of Euroleague Top 16 play in the books, BallinEurope’s Francesco Cappelletti defines his surprise, from Montepaschi’s masterful play to Sasha Kaun’s success to the curse of a Panathinaikos title defense, and more. Read on! Pianigiani’s lesson to Messina “I think it was a masterpiece from my players. One of the […]
My chat with Francesco (or, WTF is up with Montepaschi Siena?)
Whilst watching the Efes Pilsen-Montepaschi Siena game with horror fascination last night – probably somewhere around the Ferdinando Minucci ejection – BiE couldn’t help but wonder what Francesco Cappelletti, this website’s man in Italy, thought of it all. Seriously. Montepaschi came into the game having looked strong in Euroleague competition this season thus far; with […]
Euroleague team preview: Montepaschi Siena
Can Montepaschi still improve? That’s the question many fans and even Euroleague 2007-2008 Executive of the Year winner Ferdinando Minucci put to the team. It’s easy to talk about windows of opportunity, but never has it been so appropriate, as Montepaschi looks at perhaps its final opportunity to get to the top of Euroleague. In […]
Just how good is Montepaschi Siena, anyway?
Poring over some Sporting Bet odds and lines on Lega Uno basketball reveals a stunning amount of continued domination from Montepaschi Siena. Not only is Ferdinando Minucci’s team a 4/15 favorite to take the Italian title, they’re also an incredible 3/10 favorite to once again (again!) go undefeated at home. So the question to our […]
Interview: Ten minutes with Montepaschi Siena mastermind Ferdinando Minucci
Coming up on his 20th anniversary with Montepaschi Siena, general manager Ferdinando Minucci shows no signs of letting up – either in terms of hard work on his winning ways. Minucci’s rise through the ranks in the 1990s coincided with Montepaschi’s increase in prestige in Serie A. Achieving the lofty title of General Director and […]
Yarone's Playoff joints (Round 1)
After a long rest due to Interpol checking into the legality of the Joints published on BIE, the most tiring piece of text on this blog is back, and no better timing than the quarterfinals. With all due respect to the handball match that went on in Moscow, the Game 1 joints will focus on […]
Good night to Montepaschi's title chances?
Montepaschi Siena’s chances of winning the Euroleague title took a huge blow on Wednesday when it was announced that power forward Ksistof Lavrinovic had broken his left hand and will miss at least a month of action. The Italian club said in a statement that the Lithuanian big man had undergone successful surgery Wednesday morning […]
Tips from the Euroleague boss: Week 10
Hello everybody and happy 2009 to every BallinEurope reader! First and foremost, I must apologize for my non-blogging last week. I was on holiday and returned one hour before the games with a ton of things to do. Things didn’t go as planned, either, trades were not good and I went down some positions. Hope […]
Yarone's weekend Joints
Lots of three-ball action took place this week. Some went in with great accuracy. Others will have to pay for the rim damage. Lazos, Erceg and Childress are the most overpaid players of this week, the double OT in Istanbul had two sides, Spencer caught up, Nancy made history, Jennings made us proud, and one […]