Team China 37
Notes from the Nike International Junior Tournament, day two
BallinEurope took in a couple of Nike International Junior Tournament games today – namely, Crvena Zvezda vs. Anadolu Efes and Lietuvos Rytas vs. FC Barcelona. A few brief impressions gleaned follow. • Early on, Crvena Zvezda appeared intimidated by Anadolu Efes, a much more physical team than the previous day’s opponent, FC Barcelona – but […]
Notes from the Nike International Junior Tournament, day one
As befits tradition, the 2012 Nike International Junior Tournament is running in parallel with the Euroleague Final Four competition in Istanbul. Eight youth league teams are competing for the grand prize – and, individually speaking, to garner some attention from club scouts as each player’s career burgeons on the big stage. In the bigger picture, […]
11-for-11: BallinEurope’s Most 11 popular stories from 2011
So 2011 may have been few people’s favorite year personally, European basketball fans have certainly got to be taking solace in the fact that the past 12 months featured a seriously great run of Continental-flavored hoops. To wit, in 2011, we enjoyed: • an exciting round of Euroleague playoffs which included FC Barcelona’s surprising tournament-round […]
Posters absoluts & Monsterdunken: The Eurocentric slam dunk of 2011 – plus 25 others
Before BallinEurope signs off for 2011, let’s give a late Christmas gift to the dunkaholics out there, shall we? Below runs a collection compiled through the year featuring dunks by Europeans, on Europeans or perhaps simply in Continental games. The first 20 will listed by competition, followed the top five runners-up and the champion jam […]
Eurobasket 2011: London and/or Joel Freeland prepares
How does BallinEurope contributor Sam Chadwick’s basketball career fit in with that of Joel Freeland, Portland Blazers draft pick in 2006 and current Team Britain/Unicaja Malaga player? Read on to find out, together with an assessment of Freeland’s recent performance in the London Invitational Tournament. (And requisite YouTube clip!) In the summer of 2007, I […]
Yi gods! Jianlian throws it down over Barac, Croatia
The posterization of last weekend? Well, would you believe it involved Yi Jianlian on the offensive side? Truth is, Team China didn’t have much to celebrate vis-à-vis their participation in the London Invitational Tournament – even losing to theretofore winless Britain – but at least Yi made the highlight reel in his team’s 30-point blowout […]
Türk Telekom tournament tips off in Turkey
Tipping off yesterday in Turkey with a full slate of games was the U16 Türk Telekom tournament. The 12-team competition is stacked with European sides, including the hosts, Bulgaria, France, Georgia, Germany, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, and Ukraine; China, Iran and Puerto Rico fill out the field. Defending champions Serbia are not participating. The always-excellent European […]
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 […]
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 […]
2010 FIBA World Championship scenarios (plus fearless predictions™) going into games four
With the 2010 FIBA World Championship picture now coming into focus, BallinEurope can take a look ahead, determining some who will, some who might and some who could reach the “Eight Finals” after tonight’s games. Though technically only Canada has been mathematically eliminated altogether, the fat lady is definitely warming up in the wings of […]
Fearless predictions: 2010 FIBA World Championship, day four
Sorry folks, a bit short on time today, but after a perfect 6-0 showing in the official BallinEurope 2010 FIBA World Championship Fearless Predictions™, how could BiE leave you hanging? With two excellent games going down yesterday (Sheesh, who knew a team that gave up 75 points to Jordan could defend?) in the Slovenia-Croatia sharpshooting […]