Wilt Chamberlain 11
First images (kinda, sorta) of Steve Nash as Laker
For no good reason other than overt fandom, be sure to check out the first (Instagrammed/Photoshopped) photos of Steve Nash as a Los Angeles Laker, via Spain-based Planeta ACB. Just one problem with that top one; as has been pointed out, the Lakers have retired jersey #13 in honor of Wilt Chamberlain’s stint with the […]
News from Lebanon: Mohammad El Akkari goes for 113 points in a single game
No, the European Union nor FIBA Europe are ready to incorporate Lebanon into their ranks, but damn if the performance by Mohammad El Akkari yesterday doesn’t deserve mention on every single basketball-related website on planet Earth. El Akkari went for a mind-boggling 113 (that’s right) points in a Lebanon Division A final eight tournament game […]
Festivus Invitational Tournament continues: Dream Team handed stunning loss; Europeans barely survive 60s again
Four more games are in the books as the first-ever BallinEurope Festivus Invitational Basketball Tournament rolls on, shattering all attendance records for Budapest basketball (no major feat, but still) as fans gather to witness the all-time greats plucked from their native timestreams for their amusement … but who was amused when the Dream Team itself […]
Festivus Invitational continues: Dream Team rolls, All-Time Toronto Raptors split
Three more games to report on from the first annual BallinEurope Festivus Invitational Tournament brought to you by sports simulation website What If Sports – all apologies for the late reportage, but even BiE can’t ignore the family for hoops 365 days a year has to merrily celebrate the holidays – as day two wraps […]
Dream Team Europe nips 1960 Team USA, 107-106, in Festivus Invitational opener
The first annual BallinEurope Festivus Invitational Tournament tipped off today, brought to you incidentally (they probably even haven’t heard of BiE) by the sports simulation website What If Sports. Opening up the tournament is BiE’s own (slightly modified) Dream Team Europe, who hosts that original dream team, the 1960 Team USA squad that destroyed all […]
Introducing the 2010-11 BallinEurope Festivus Invitational Tournament
As a holiday present to the audience, each of you has received courtside tickets to the first annual BallinEurope Festivus Invitational Tournament. Thanks to the miracle of totally BiE-unaffiliated (and totally mind-blowingly awesome) website What If Sports, we can bring together great players of the past and present for true dream matchups – and without […]
Pau Gasol versus the vampires (and BallinEurope versus Bill Simmons)
BallinEurope yesterday read the latest anti-Laker screed basketball column by ESPN.com’s Bill Simmons, an alternately funny and blood-boiling confession-style bit about conditioning one’s children to cheer for the “right” sports team, i.e. Daddy’s favorite team. Ultimately, however, The Sports Guy’s affectionate look at dominating your child’s formative years is perhaps best characterized as “disturbing.” And […]
How to make the Harlem Globetrotters relevant again
Given the premise, BallinEurope probably should have guessed at the response. Yesterday’s post, entitled “Are the Harlem Globetrotters still relevant?”, drew less readership than imagined. Which, one supposes, is logical. Nevertheless, a promise to actually propose a few solutions to fixing up the modern-day irrelevance of a cultural-historical force rare in the game of basketball […]
Are the Harlem Globetrotters still relevant?
Budapest last night played host to the Harlem Globetrotters, and BallinEurope was among the approximately 4,000 in attendance. Though a generally good time appeared to have been had by all – and particularly, of course, the preteens for whom the team’s brand of tomfoolery is really for – BiE just couldn’t help but wonder at […]
Review: "The Book of Basketball" by Bill Simmons
The only good thing about getting a nasty flu? Easy: Lots of time for reading monster tomes like Bill Simmons’ “The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to The Sports Guy”. Thanks to a sentinel from the legion of The 2009 Killer Viruses, i was able to knock down all 697 pages of this thing […]
An open letter to European Basketball
I’m writing you today on behalf of the Los Angeles Lakers. I have no official capacity with the club, but after watching three games of the NBA Finals, you can’t help but feel sorry for guys like Phil Jackson, Sasha Vujcic, Kobe Bryant and especially Jack Nicholson, who’s about one more fourth-quarter comeback away from […]