Vassilis Spanoulis 78
Greek championship: Olympiacos comes back in final five minutes to take game three, 76-68
Though a bit distracted by referees’ calls early, Olympiacos survived to play another day in the Greek championship series, thanks to an amazing 15-2 run to close out the game against Panathinaikos for a final score of 76-68. The Greens led early as the Reds carried some heavy weight after two games that some felt […]
Triple-crown winner Dimantidis named Euroleague MVP
To the surprise of few, Dimitris Diamantidis was named MVP of the 2010-11 Euroleague season last night, thereby completing an individual triple crown in bagging MVP, All-Euroleague first team and Best Defender nods. Equally unsuspenseful was the naming of the All-Euroleague teams – hey, if BallinEurope can go five for five, it must have been […]
Greek League wrap: Olympiacos perfect, Panathinaikos breaks records against Panellinios, AEK relegated
Despite playing without Vassilis Spanoulis and Theo Papaloukas, Olympiacos kept its date with the history books in easily defeating Iraklis Thessaloniki last night in front of a mostly empty stadium, 83-44. The Reds thus conclude the EΣAKE regular season at 26-0, becoming the first team ever to do so and the first to go undefeated […]
Bits, bites and videos going into Euroleague playoff games three
Tonight: Which Euroleague teams will be bounced to end their 2010-11 bid? And which will force a game five? A few bits, bites and videos’ worth of notes on tonight’s games below the break from BallinEurope via a buncha other sources – many of which are not actually named “YouTube.” Plus, of course, those patented […]
All-Euroleague Team 2010-11: BallinEurope’s ballot
Beyond checking out the wild Menorca-Caja Laboral Baskonia game yesterday, BiE spent a good deal of time this weekend contemplating an empty 2010-11 All-Euroleague team ballot. The EL folks sure don’t make things easy for the voter, providing 60 names are allowing one to vote for just five – not that anyone would ever think […]
Olympiacos pulls off 65-61 upset at PAO, forced to flee rain of fire
What in the name of Naismith is going on in Greek basketball? Will Olympiacos and Panathinaikos ever again meet without players having to fear mortal injury? In the first game between the Greek superpowers since last season’s capper known as “The Night of Shame,” Olympiacos ground out a 65-61 win in territory literally made hostile […]
Notes on Panathinaikos-Olympiacos, most important game of 2010-11
If tonight’s Panathinaikos-Olympiacos match isn’t the most important game thus far in the 2010-11 basketball season in Europe, BiE can’t think of what would be. Of no little significance in this clash of the titans, too, is its status as the first meeting between the teams since the 2009-10 EΣAKE championship final game, a.k.a. “The […]
The Top 100 Teams in Europe: Now with new formula!
You have commented and BallinEurope has heard. Thanks in large part to the proddings and machinations of a somewhat indignant Y. (BiE’s man in Lithuania), we’ve reworked the formula to determine the official Top 100 Teams in Europe list. Not to go into any boring detail, but Y. was kind enough to install somewhat arbitrary […]
The Frank Euroleague roundup, week two
Francesco Cappelletti’s regular column with BallinEurope is back as our man in Italy takes a look at the after-effects of Euroleague week two action. This time out, Francesco sees European basketball history returning to the old days on the Continent while Balkan squads fight economic problems but dispatch Western European teams anyway. And early on, […]
Foreign players, strikebreakers take floor in Greece in “parody” of basketball
Those who think an NBA lockout in 2010-11 could be crazy should check out the situation in Greek pro basketball right now. After seeing the first week of action cancelled due to a player strike called by Greece’s player union PSAK, EΣAKE got underway last night as some of the bigger *teams* broke picket lines […]
Frank answers to four burning Euroleague questions
He’s back! Emerging out of hiding (or perhaps digging himself out of work with youth squads plus Italian-language sports media) is BallinEurope’s man in Italy, Francesco Cappelletti. As the season progresses, Cappelletti will be opining as to what really went down in a week’s worth of Euroleague matches. Today, four key themes that will be […]
Sixty-eight Fearless Predictions™ for 2010-11 Euroleague season
With the EL tipoff game tonight, BallinEurope is feeling devotion … not to mention a rush of Fearless Predictions™ coming on. How crazy can BiE get? You be the judge; here are 68 prognostications on all things Euroleague which you may [laugh uproariously about] ponder. Enjoy the season, everyone! (And sign up for the BallinEurope […]