Team Russia 135
Eurobasket 2011: French, Russian NBA players insured; Joakim Noah still rehabbing
Good news for backers of the French or Russian causes at Eurobasket 2011 came out yesterday, as both national federations announced their overcoming of insurance issues related to their top stars. With certain agreements between the NBA and FIBA temporarily suspended in the wake of the player lockout in America, national squads all over the […]
Coming to Europe: The top five most influential American players of all-time
With seemingly no end in sight to the NBA lockout situation forthcoming, BallinEurope has to admit to enjoying the schadenfreude of the situation … just a bit. Even more exciting than the day-to-day speculation as more and more players from the big league consider their Continental options are the possibilities for the future: History has […]
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, […]
Russia shuts down Turkey, talks EuroBasket Women title, 59-42
Congratulations go out from BallinEurope this morning to the ladies of Team Russia, who claimed their third FIBA EuroBasket Women title with a convincing 59-42 win against Turkey in the championship match last night. Elena Danilochkina, who went for 12 points in the final and averaged 13.9 in the tournament, was named MVP; former EuroBasket […]
EuroBasket Women: A “huge moment” for Turkey against Russia
If there were any doubt that Turkey is experiencing a bona fide golden age of basketball, look no further than the FIBA EuroBasket Women championship match tonight. The unheralded Team Turkey will take on pre-tournament favorites/historically dominant Russia in Lodz tonight. At stake is an automatic bid in the 2012 Olympic Games, but one can’t […]
Basketball weekend: Tournaments in Germany, (probably) Italy ending; Eurobasket Women starting
The 2010-11 professional basketball season may effectively be over this weekend, with a final championship series game scheduled in Germany tonight plus a possible elimination game in Italy happening on Sunday. But no worries: the end of club play means the beginning of summertime national-team tournaments, starting with the 2011 FIBA Eurobasket Women competition. In […]
CSKA Moscow takes Russian championship; J.R. Holden announces retirement
The 2010-11 champion has been named in Russia and for the ninth consecutive season, it is CSKA Moscow. Along with the exultation of the Red Army’s 74-63 victory over BC Khimki, however, came the sad (if inevitable) news that longtime Muscovite J.R. Holden would be retiring from professional basketball. Playing nearly the entire game, Holden’s […]
Fratello named Team Ukraine coach for Eurobasket 2011
Former Atlanta Hawks coach/Marv Albert’s right-hand man Mike “The Czar” Fratello has been named coach of Team Ukraine in advance of Eurobasket 2011. According to press releases and Associated Press reportage, Ukrainian Basketball Federation president Olexandr Volkov stated that “We have a verbal agreement and will sign an official contract any day now. This will […]
And the nominees in the category of “Best Euroleague Coach” are…
Over at the Lithuanian Perspective, BallinEurope typically contributes to a weekly column entitled “The Wise Men Know” (hey, BiE didn’t choose the moniker). This week, the deadline sadly whooshed past this writer and so no contribution from Os Davis appears in the current edition. However, BiE just couldn’t let this week’s third question – namely, […]
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 […]
Holden seeing heart specialist; CSKA short-handed for VTB opener
CSKA Moscow basketball’s official website is reporting that longtime Red Army/Team Russia guard J.R. Holden is in Duisberg, Germany, today to see specialists about a recent heart problem. While Russian media worries about Holden ever playing again, CSKA informs levelly that “According to the test results, which will be available in three days, the player […]
FIBA Women’s Worlds continues today
After an off day Sunday, the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women restarts today with some notable matchups – but figure the real fireworks to come on Wednesday night. Today, defending FIBA world champions Team Australia and Olympic titlists Team USA are still undefeated and are both facing teams characterized as desperate for wins and […]