Team Argentina 47
USA 118, Britain 78: Notes, Mensah-Bonsu quotes, highlights, upcoming games
So the USA-Britain meeting in yesterday’s friendly turned out to be something described with words like “blowout,” “thrash,” “humiliate” and “eviscerate.” The last lead Team Britain had in the Red-White-and-Blues’ 118-78 win in Manchester was at 2-0, and the Brits resumed a discouraging tendency from the Eurobasket 2011 tournament, mentally lapsing and collapsing in head […]
On Olympiacos Euroleague championship: From crises emerge heroes
European basketball fans know that history was made with Olympiacos’ stunning victory in the 2012 Euroleague championship. And so BallinEurope contributor, the self-proclaimed hoops history junkie Uygar Karaca looks back with perspective on the title bid, reaching all the back to the Great Depression of 1929 through the collapse of the Soviet Union and into […]
On the demise of Lithuanian Basketball
BallinEurope is not exactly sure what led our man in Lithuania, the enigmatic Y., to contemplate the fortunes of his country’s national team … but who are we to question a Lietuva hometowner when it comes to basketball? Y. goes back eight years to figure out where things went so terribly wrong and unfortunately finds […]
Peja Stojakovic: The BallinEurope tribute
Just days ago, Peja Stojakovic appeared to be a viable free agent for an NBA team with roster holes, a still-deadly long-range assassin at the age of 34, a 19-year veteran with gas enough in the tank for late-game daggers and smart D, a prototypical European baller with an American championship pedigree. “Couldn’t he drain […]
Lithuania tops Serbia, 85-67, to take U19 title; Russia finishes third
Congratulations from BallinEurope go out this morning to Team Lithuania, who took the FIBA U19 World Championship title with an 85-67 victory over Serbia last night. Jonas Valanciunas again contributed a dominant performance with 36 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and three steals; to no one’s surprise, the Lithuanian was named tournament MVP. (Excited yet, […]
Preview: Lithuania-Serbia in FIBA U19 championship; on Jonas Valanciunas and (a little) more
The FIBA U19 World Championship closes out today, and BiE is proud to say that two of Europe’s finest basketball powers, Lithuania and Serbia, will be meeting for the title. Following, a few links, video clips and the like serving as a preview for the big youth match. • The biggest audience in North America […]
FIBA Women’s World Championship: Giants cruise, pool play ends today
Another full slate of games is going on today in the Czech Republic with the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women entering game three of pool play. Team Canada and Team Japan managed to turn in the first surprises of the tournament yesterday in overcoming China and Argentina, respectively, but otherwise it seems like business […]
Lithuania wins decisively; three million invited to party
“Celebrate good times,” as they say, “come on!” Of course the folks in Lithuania need no such exhortative encouragement after blowing past Team Argentina last night, 104-85, to reach the 2010 FIBA World Championship final four. The tournament has represented an awesome achievement for Europe in general, with three of the four teams remaining, and […]
FIBA World Championship semi-finals: Of Lithuanian fight songs and Fearless Predictions™
With the informal Turkish national fight song “Oniki Dev Adam” getting lots of media play thanks to the stirring renditions performed by hometown crowds at the 2010 FIBA World Championship, BallinEurope thought it would be a good time to give props to Lithuania’s own popular sports anthem.
How it feels to be a Lithuanian fan
Last Tuesday in the 2010 FIBA World Championship, Team Lithuania completed a huge comeback to defeat the heavily-favored Spain 76-73 – just another win on the way to the tournament round, albeit an exceedingly exciting one, right? Wrong. BallinEurope’s man in Lithuania, known in this space since last year’s LKL championship series insanity as Y., […]
Tuesday cigarettes: FIBA World Championship smokin’
For longtime readers of BallinEurope, here’s a brief trip down Memory Lane … we’ll call these “Tuesday cigarettes,” a collection of quotes, links and YouTubes (especially YouTubes) focused on the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Inhale and enjoy! • Team Russia head coach David Blatt, who “was one of those kids crying when the American team […]
Official BallinEurope Power Rankings: Pre-knockouts edition
Now that noted astrophysicist Stephen Hawking has announced God’s non-existence in our universe through mathematics, maybe he can start working on explaining the FIBA tie-breaking procedure. No, no, don’t start on BiE; it’s as easy as dialing up Wikipedia to find the steps in determining seeding for tournament play: Placement is determined based on, in […]