Vassilis Spanoulis 78
Euroleague All-Decade Team: The official BallinEurope ballot
The waffling is over! After a couple of weeks of mulling over the field of 50 candidates for ten spots on the Euroleague All-Decade Team, the final decision has been made (and whoo, was that painful) and the ballot submitted. The following, then, is how the official BallinEurope ballot for the 2010s all-stars, along with […]
The Frank Euroleague roundup: Top 16, week one
Which team has already clinched a Euroleague Final Four spot? Who’s most to blame for Panathinaikos’ loss? What did Ergin Ataman do wrong? And why did Aito Garcia Reneses pull Cesar Augusto Lima with seven minutes to play? These questions are answered – OK, not that last one: That one’s a real riddle for the […]
The top 5½ European teams of the 2000s
In closing out the calendar on this decade – not technically, we know, but we’re going with the flow here – BallinEurope today considers the top European teams of the 2000s. (For BallinEurope’s official All-Decade All-Europe All-Star team, click here.) Though only Euroleague championship finalists were considered, domestic league records were also factored in vis-à-vis […]
The European Player of the Year nominees are…
The nominees are in over at FIBA Europe and, with the exception of one (or two, thanks to Rubiomania) categories, voting could be pretty tight in the FIBA Europe Player of the Year 2009. Yes, Pau Gasol and Ricky Rubio are on the list in a threat to become repeat winners in the Male POY […]
Khimki win thriller, U.S. gov't looks into Olympiacos, Jeremy Tyler
Another night of great Euroleague action featured a real thrilling victory for debutant Khimki in overtime against Real Madrid. But there was more going on as the U.S. government is looking intensely at Greek powers Olympiacos and an update has been found on American 18-year-old Jeremy Tyler at Maccabi Haifa.
After Eurobasket, the future: Part Two
In part two of Ball in Europe’s look at Europe’s top teams following Eurobasket 2009, Francesco Cappelletti contributes his analysis of present and future for those nations who did not finish in Eurobasket’s top four. Part one, featuring looks at Spain, Serbia, Greece, and Slovenia, may be found by clicking here. FRANCE Absences: Mickael Pietrus, […]
After Eurobasket, the future: Part one
Ball in Europe contributor Francesco Cappelletti wraps Eurobasket 2009 with little surprise and a long view on the future of Europe’s premiere national basketball programs. Today, analysis on the tournament’s top four finishers. It was simply a result that we could take for granted: Spain at the top of Europe, with silver medalist Serbia beaten […]
Eurobasket 2009, lucky day 13
This tournament just keeps getting better and better. Whether you dig the comeback or prefer a back-and-forth tug of war, Eurobasket 2009 had basketball lovers all smiles yesterday with a pair of fantastic contests truly reflecting the excellence of this field. And today there’s *four* more games? Nice. Jumping right in, then…
Hack-an-Asik and other fearless predictions for Eurobasket 2009, day 10
How do you explain “they should swallow their whistles” to someone who knows nothing about sports? (And I mean really nothing; we’re talking live-six-years-in-Chicago-during-the-Jordan-Era-and-still-not-know-the-difference-between-Bulls-and-Bears nothing.) That was my situation during large portions of the second and third quarters of the France-Greece game last night as to the wife’s chagrin I yelled at the TV. While […]
Betting on basketball: MVP, tops in points, rebounds, assists
Tomorrow is the day: Eurobasket 2009 finally tips off. Naturally, Euroleague/Ball in Europe sponsor SportingBet.com has a plethora of odds and lines for your amusement, including some intriguing fodder for discussion in the form of individual-awards proposition bets. So you think you know not only who’s going to stand atop the podium when it’s over, […]
Betting on basketball: Early EuroBasket 2009 Group A odds
The proliferation of the internet has created a veritable legion of sports experts: Maybe millions have a take on this week’s games, next month’s standings, the eventual tournament champion … so, assuming you have no access to top-secret insider information, who should you trust in attempting to brazenly predict tomorrow’s outcome? Easy: The oddsmakers. Why? […]
After Euroleague Final Four cigarettes
After several hours of driving, I have finally arrived back home from Berlin, and I’ve had enough time to think and remember the impressions of the 2009 edition of the Euroleague Final Four. So the typical Monday cigarettes will be jumped over and be replaced by my own personal memories of the weekend.