Spartak St. Petersburg 27
Quiz: The NBA- and Euro-centric year in basketball, 2011-12
Quick! Before those memories of basketball championships European and NBA fade completely, take a brief look back at the season that was – one crazy one on The Continent that began with Tony Parker, Ty Lawson and Mehmet Okur playing over here and concluded with titles taken by King James and Emperor Spanoulis. Get out […]
Revealed: The EuroChallenge championship curse
Winning the EuroChallenge title is a good thing, right? After all, it’s typically the first Continental trophy to display on the mantelpiece and the champions label wins the club to right to play in the more prestigious (and more big-bucks) Eurocup competition the following season. Well, Uygar Karaca may convince believers otherwise. In the first […]
Referee scandals in Russia lead to protest, in Italy to suspensions
A BallinEurope question has been reopened today, to the detriment of Russian professional basketball’s reputation. About two weeks ago, a PBL game which will likely determine the league’s upcoming playoff tournament saw an extremely high number of, let’s say, questionable calls. According to Spain-based SoloBasket, these were certainly enough oddity for the losing side, Spartak […]
Spartak St. Petersburg 82, Triumph Lubertsy 73: Epic display of flopping, personal vendetta or match-fixing conspiracy?
Criticizing the referees is the international pastime for fans of every sport as losses are bemoaned and shortcomings blamed on those unloved (and allegedly) myopic zebras. Nothing new here. Cynicism and conspiracy theorizing are particularly rife in this part of formerly Soviet-influenced Europe, with anything up to and including Eurobasket losses. Again, nothing new here. […]
BC Khimki overcome Caner-Medley, Valencia to take 2012 Eurocup title, 77-68
Congratulations go out from BallinEurope this morning to the first entrant into Euroleague 2012-13, BC Khimki Moscow region, with their win over BC Valencia in the Eurocup championship game yesterday. In a possible Euroleague title-game preview – at least in terms of home bases – the Russian side topped the Spaniards, 77-68. In the consolation […]
Eurocup Championship, Khimki vs Valencia: The Official BallinEurope (sort of) Fearless Prediction™
BallinEurope this morning sends out congratulations to BCs Valencia and Khimki Moscow region for their advancement into the 2011-12 Eurocup finals . The Spanish representative managed to get up to a 20-point lead before fending off a furious comeback by Lietuvos Rytas to take the 80-70 victory. Khimki meanwhile won the battle of Russian sides, […]
Spartak St. Petersburg: The Hunger of Experienced Rookies
In the leadup to the 2011-12 Eurocup Final Four tournament beginning on Saturday, Eurosport Turkey basketball commentator Uygar Karaca contributes a series of previews on the remaining quartet entitled “Four Teams, Four Stories” to BallinEurope. Today taking a look at one of the two remaining Russian sides, Karaca writes “Zenit St. Petersburg reached its zenith […]
Lietuvos Rytas: Stable in Motion (and Jonas Valanciunas, too)
In the leadup to the 2011-12 Eurocup Final Four tournament beginning on Saturday, Eurosport Turkey basketball commentator Uygar Karaca contributes a series of previews on the remaining quartet entitled “Four Teams, Four Stories” to BallinEurope. Today, Karaca takes a look at Lietuvos Rytas – and the club’s amazing ability to continually come back and adapt. […]
Eurocup tips off 10th season with Spartak v. Cedevita, Asvel v. Valencia, five more
Happy 10th birthday, Eurocup! The Continent’s no. 2 club competition will tip off season no. 10 tonight with seven matches, definitely highlighted by the showdown between Tony Parker’s Asvel Villeurbanne against a Valencia Basket side bringing in a lineup which includes Victor Claver and A.J. Ogilvy – not to mention Team France’s Nando de Colo […]
Eurocup Draw completed, groups announced
The EuroCup draw for groupings went down at 1pm CET today; below the break, BallinEurope runs the results of said draw. Information in parentheses indicates last year’s finish in domestic league play. So how’s your team’s group looking…?
Eurocup Qualifying Round: Games one briefs
For those who missed ‘em, BallinEurope runs below the official wrapups from last night’s Eurocup Qualifying Round games. Tonight, the first leg finishes with Artland Dragons hosting Gran Canaria 2014 and Spartak St. Petersburg playing at Etha Engomis’ house.
Krka Novo Mesto wins Eurochallenge over Lokomotiv Kuban; Oostende third
Congratulations from BallinEurope go out this morning to Krka Novo Mesto, who topped Lokomotiv Kuban 83-77 to take the 2011 FIBA EuroChallenge title in Belgium; in the third-place game, hosts Oostende snuck past Spartak St. Petersburg, 94-92, in overtime.