Zydrunas Ilgauskas 29
Žydrūnas Ilgauskas considering a comeback? Wow LeBron has power
Retired Lithuanian big man and 15-season NBA veteran Žydrūnas Ilgauskas is considering a comeback according to what would best be described as reports tonight. .@TheRealTRizzo: Zydrunas Ilgauskas is attempting a comeback to the NBA. #Cavs Listen to The Really Big Show on http://t.co/l1VfrW2yk5 — ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) August 25, 2014 That isn’t a critique on […]
On the demise of Lithuanian Basketball
BallinEurope is not exactly sure what led our man in Lithuania, the enigmatic Y., to contemplate the fortunes of his country’s national team … but who are we to question a Lietuva hometowner when it comes to basketball? Y. goes back eight years to figure out where things went so terribly wrong and unfortunately finds […]
The Eurocentric 2011-12 NBA Eastern Conference preview (plus Official Fearless Predictions™)
While basketball lovers are getting something of a Christmas gift this season in the December 25 NBA opening day – BiE says “something of” there because this belated debut is kinda like your parents saying, “Well, we’ll just give you your birthday gift at Christmas.” When your birthday’s in October – BallinEurope would like to […]
Rapping about Jonas Valanciunas
Naturally, everyone in basketball-rabid Lithuania has their own favorite on the national team, but the overwhelming devotion attractor right now is unquestionably Jonas Valanciunas. As the future of Lithuanian basketball itself – he’s six years and one month younger than the next most junior member of the national team – it’s not too much of […]
Championship basketball: Galatasaray stays alive; Barça, Mavericks take care of business
It’s hard to believe the 2010-11 season is drawing to a close, but so it goes. Leagues in Turkey, Spain and the United States could be all shutting down for the summer (or, in the latter’s case, perhaps a good deal longer) within a week. A brief roundup this morning, then, of action in this […]
Dastardly Dirk versus The Big Z: Who deserves a ring more?
The two have played a combined 1,837 regular-season NBA games, scoring over 33,750 points while nabbing more than 14,500 rebounds over 24½ full seasons. Each has rewritten the franchise record books of the team for which he spent the overwhelming majority of his career. Each has been underrated for much, if not all, of his […]
Believe the hype: Playoff action in Spain, Lithuania, Romania, Germany
Sorry, the N-B-what? While Euroball fans can certainly take pride in the outstanding number of Continental players still competing in the big league overseas – a list that includes Team Turkey’s Omer Asik, Team France’s Joakim Noah, Team Britain’s Luol Deng, Zydrunas Ilgauskas of Lithuania, Team Switzerland’s Thabo Sefolosha, French sophomore Rodrigue Beaubois (sort of; […]
NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs: The Eurocentric View
With the NBA playoffs starting today, BallinEurope takes another brief look at the matchups drawing our attention for the next 137 months or so. Unlike the Western Conference half of the bracket, Eastern teams are disappointingly low on European players stocking their rosters. No matter: We’ve still got the FIBA Bulls and the Big Z […]
Zaza Pachulia teaches you the meaning of “swag”
Innovative English-language student tutorial website English, baby! has added another European baller to its stable of celebrity guest teachers as Zaza Pachulia of the Atlanta Hawks educates on a couple of key contemporary terms vis-à-vis fashion sense. Reads press material, “The 7-foot Georgian recently invited English, baby! to his hotel room in Portland to go […]
“Too old” Ilgauskas to retire after 2010-11; will not play for Team Lithuania in Eurobasket
Lithuania-based news outlet/high-profile club sponsor Lietuvos Rytas yesterday published quite an extensive piece on Zydrunas Ilgauskas and his recent lack of playing time with the NBA’s most woeful Miami Heat. Big Z took his talents to South Beach for the veterans’ minimum salary of $1.4 million this year reportedly at the behest/encouragement of LeBron James, […]
Déjà vu in Ukraine? Proposed role models for Fratello’s new team
When Mike Fratello arrives to head up his national team coaching gig in Ukraine, he won’t see too many familiar faces beyond Sasha Volkov. Volkov played for the Czar’s Atlanta Hawks for a couple seasons way back when; unfortunately, Volkov hasn’t actually played ball at any level since year 2000. Coupled with the fact that […]
University of Central Florida study shows European NBA players dominant in aesthetics
While needlessly noodling around idly catching up on some online reading this morning, BallinEurope came across this little gem detailing European NBA players’ domination in a certain statistical area in the big league. The Onion, the US-based news source that once famously readjusted Dirk Nowitzki’s stats by current exchange rates, this week reports on a […]