Team Serbia 99
Must-see EB: Ten Eurobasket round one games to watch
Just the weekend remains before European basketball (and by extension, NBA) fans get to enjoy some tremendous high-level hoops competition in the 2011 Eurobasket competition. Despite the seeming overload of underdogs – full-on 14 of the 24 teams in the tournament are ranked 34th or lower in the official FIBA rankings – the first week […]
Eurobasket 2011 Power Rankings: First take
As just nine days remain until Eurobasket 2011 tips off in Lithuania, BallinEurope today takes a look back at the performances of the two dozen teams slated to compete in the big tournament and deploys some good old power rankings – and lotsa highlight clips from friendlies and tourneys played throughout The Continent. Once again, […]
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 […]
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 […]
BiE's Top 10 most popular stories of 2010
Yeah, we’re gonna do the “Top 10” retrospective thing, but trust BiE: It’ll be mostly painless. (After all, a little reviewing of crazy highlights never hurt anyone – even with a hangover.) These are the stories running on BallinEurope in calendar year 2010 that got the most “reads,” but how many do you remember? Relive […]
Diana Taurasi flunks drug test, suspended in Turkey
Perhaps a worrisome Christmas it’ll be for women’s basketball great Diana Taurasi and backers of her Fenerbahçe side. In the wee hours of the morning, ESPN reported that a drug test on Taurasi had come back positive for an unspecified illegal stimulant. Said Taurasi’s lawyer Howard Jacobs, “We’re taking it one step at a time,” […]
Euroleague week three talking points (part I)
Seven Euroleague games go off tonight as the season rounds into form a bit. The marquee match tonight has got to be the Khimki-Baskonia showdown to establish early supremacy in that tough Group A; Olympiacos-Unicaja will surely be worth the viewing as well, although the way the Reds have dominated on their home floor lately […]
Serbian suspicion confirmed: Photo shows Tunceri stepped out
All Joey Crawford jokes and half-kidding aside, BallinEurope tries not to fault referees for blown calls too often. Nor does BiE want to get into the habit of blaming the zebras for losses; for a long time, the rant from yours truly has been something along the lines of “Well, your team shouldn’t have been […]
FIBA World Championship final: What to watch for in USA-Turkey match
And now, the conclusion of the 2010 FIBA World Championship. In hindsight, it looks like a meeting made inevitable by destiny: Hosts Turkey riding their home advantage and deploying its strongest roster since 2001 (if not ever) to meet the world’s basketball public enemy no. 1, Team USA. Since no one needs reasons to watch […]
Twelve takes on the FIBA World Championship final four
BallinEurope can hardly believe that the final four round of the 2010 FIBA World Championship is here … this fascinating and fun tournament wraps up this weekend, and BiE is happy to see The Continent well-represented and definitely well self-acquitted. Without further ado, here are twelve bits ‘n’ bites to enjoy going into the Lithuania-USA […]