Monday’s cigarettes

Happy new Year! After a short Christmas break, BallinEurope is now back with the freshest and sexiest stories around Basketball in Europe. And what is better to start the new year than a yummy bunch of cigarettes.

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X-mas cigarettes

Today is December 24th, Santa Claus is just around the corner, and here we go for some cigarettes that help to survive during the break over the holy days.

• First of all, thanks to Zalgiris Kaunas, which is (so far) the only Euroleague and team in general that has sent a (digital) Christmas Card to BallinEurope.
• Speaking of gifts, who doesn’t remember the 2008 Olympic Games final? The French referee Chantal Julien who officiated during the Olympic Games talks about the decisive game between Spain and the USA. In an interview with the French magazine Basketnews, Chantal comes back to this memorable game with the following words: You don’t call the same things on the Americans than you do call on other teams. You have to call the most evident of the evident things. If you whistle a travel every time that Kobe Bryant starts a drive, you will get whistled, you as the referee … During the final, the Spanish team was penalized on the US travels. With the consequences that we know at the end with the two technical fouls on non-called traveling violations. This was embarrassing…
• Some Euroleague teams have put X-mas related content on their homepages. While TAU Vitoria has changed the look of the entry page into a giant Christmas tree, Virtus Roma is even selling a Christmas T-shirt with the autographs of their players. ALBA Berlin is combining their own wishes to the fans with those of the team by putting Julius Jenkins on the official Christmas message, and CSKA Moscow has arranged its homepage a bit into a Christmas Feeling while describing the VTB League win as a Christmas gift. However, the maximum in Christmas kitsch comes from Montepaschi and this video clip in which the players and some other people wish a merry Christmas and a happy new year while wearing those stupid Santa Claus hats. And nobody can tell me anymore that Italians do NOT talk too much…
• I really though that the ACB would make a special Christmas clip for the ACB TV portal. There is nothing at least until now, but watch this great highlight film of the best and most spectacular plays of the year 2008. Be sure to check out the latest Ricky Rubio beauty at the end of the film.
• You can also read the official Christmas letter from Jan Pommer, the German Bundesliga commissioner, but it’s far less entertaining than the ACB video review.
• In France, the Christmas break is always marked by the All-Star Game. And as always, the dunk contest is more exciting than the game itself, as officials invited Golden Child and Justin Darlington to compete against the best French leapers.
• For the Euroleague, it’s Christmas, too, with a best of Christmas cheerleader action. This is even worse than the Montepaschi wishes.

OK, I think I’ve done my work for now. I wish you all the best and a merry Christmas…

Yarone’s Weekend Joints - Part I

Part I will present all that before Part II, in which the games in Barcelona and Roma take center stage.

Just almost…

Prokom’s Pat Burke came very close this week to writing his name in the Euroleague history books. Burke finished the game in Kaunas with 20 rebounds and could have become just the fourth player in Euroleague history to notch a 20-20 game, but instead scored 18 and stayed off the list. The only three players who registered a 20-20 performance remain: Spencer Nelson, Antonis Fotsis and Mirsad Turkcan. The first two are only playing in the Eurocup this season. Behind them is a list of four more performances by players who reached 20 rebounds or more, but failed to connect on enough points. Turkcan is in charge of three of them, while the fourth is Dejan Milojevic’ 17-point, 20-rebound game. Burke scored his 18th point when there were still four minutes to play, and actually had a great chance to make the list with a shot under the rim in the closing seconds of an already decided game, but was blocked by … Loren Woods, which leads us right into the next joint.

Blocking tree

Philosophy still hasn’t found an answer to the question, “If a shot is rejected in the middle by Woods and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”, but Prokom felt Loren’s presence all the way. That block on Burke was only one of seven the Zalgiris center delivered on Thursday night, finishing with seven points, 14 rebounds to go with the seven blocks: Not too far from the third triple-double in Euroleague history and the first to be reached with blocks. The Euroleague record for blocks in a single game belongs to Ukrainian big man Grygorii Khizhniak, probably the best shot blocker in Euroleague’s history. Khizniak also played for Zalgiris when he put in his eight-block game back in the debut season of the Euroleague in 2000. That game, by the way, went into overtime and Khiz played over 40 minutes, so that record will carry an asterisk. Khizniak also had two additional games with 7 blocks, tying him with Woods and yet another former player of Zalgiris, Darjus Lavrinovic, who reached that figure in only 27 minutes. In total, Zalgiris holds the top five shot blocking performances in the list. Behind them are four players with six block: Fred Weis who pulled it off in 23 minutes; Maceo Baston, who notched the total in a Final Four semifinal game; another Maccabi player in Terence Morris; and Marcus Haislip in his days with Efes.

Pass last Logan

Still along the line of Zalgiris blocks, more or less, here’s the story of Prokom’s David Logan in Kaunas wherein he finished the game with no fewer  than 21 attempts from the field: not a figure you see every week in the Euroleague. The bad news was that he connected on only five of those shots on the way to a terrible 23.8% night. Logan actually scored his last field goal in the final minute of the third quarter, cutting the difference to 57-54 and reaching a not-so-fun-in-the-first-place 5-for-13 on field goals. The problem was that in the last quarter he missed all of his eight shots, and dropped to the terrible numbers above. During that run of missed shots, Logan was blocked three times and reached a total of four received blocks in the games. If it’s any comfort, he wasn’t the only one to suffer so this week.

Chris too

After the terrible performance last week against Maccabi it was time for Chris Warren of Avellino to wake up. He provided 16 points and 6 rebounds as his team once again gave Unicaja a hard time but, like Logan, Warren was blocked four times. For Chris, it happened in a span of 18 minutes and each block was made by a different opposing player. Not an easy experience.

Bluth and D. Spen are tied

Two more games to go in the season and this race will be decided only on the last game. David Bluthenthal and Dewarick Spencer are now tied 4-4 in the weekly race for “Who took more field goal shots for Le Mans?” Bluth won 12-10 this week, an expected score, since he played against his former club Maccabi.

Where We Stand, Group A

So now it’s final and official. The four teams to qualify to the Top 16 are: Olympiacos, Unicaja, Cibona and Maccabi. Le Mans will host Avellino next week to try and avoid a winless season before flying to Greece. Right after the break, get ready for a big show when Olympiacos comes to Tel Aviv to meet former coach Pini Gershon. All is open among the four as they still have to play one another. Maccabi will travel to Malaga in the last week, so they are in charge of their own destiny, but a 19-point loss in Greece and a 7-point home loss to Unicaja makes make the task difficult. The next round of games will decide if it’s a Olympiacos-Unicaja battle on top and a Maccabi-Cibona fight for 3rd place or just a free-for-all.

True survivors

Efes Pilsen had to win in Athens to avoid an uncomfortable situation, considering their last two games are against CSKA and at Real. Efes lost to Panionios in the first leg, 78-69, and replied with a close result but five points better for them, 78-74. Coach Ergin Ataman decided to bet on his veterans and it paid off big time: 31-year-old Bootsy Thornton had started in all of Efes’ Euroleague games this season, but for 32-year-old Greek forward Michalis Kakiouzis, it was the first time. Neither wasted time in making a statement: The Turks took a 11-4 lead after five minutes, while Kakiouzis had seven points and two assists in the run - nothing but perfection. After a Peker dunk, it was Bootsy’s time. He scored seven points in a row for Efes and saw Kakiouzis reappear with another assist as Efes took a 22-6 lead they never relinquished. Both veterans provided their season highs just in time. Bootsy had 18 points on 5-for-7 from the field, 6-for-6 from the line, three rebounds and four assists to reach an index rating of 25. Kakiouzis returned with 15 points, 5-for-8 from the field, 4-for-4 from the line and five rebounds on the way to an index rating of 22.

Where we stand, Group B

It’s very unlikely Barcelona won’t finish first after their performance in the last two weeks, so the big is on the 2nd spot and it will take place right after the break in Siena. Montepaschi will host Pao with both teams tied at 6-2. Pao won by five in the first leg, so anything but a five-point win by the Italians will give Pao second place. Things are wide open at the bottom, as Zalgiris can still escape from a terrible 0-7 start to gain a spot in the Top 16. Right after the break, they  host SLUC Nancy; a 15-point win, not an unreachable goal considering their shape in the last two games, would give them the first place in the tiebreaker with the French and Prokom. If no huge upsets happen, that win would be enough for Zalgiris to qualify. A Lithuanian win of less than 15 will push Prokom into the next stage. A French win would punch Nancy a shocking Top 16 ticket.

The future!

OK, there was one more thing to follow in that game if you’re a diehard youth basketball fan. In fact, if you’re a scoutk then this game is a must-see, as 1989-born Georgian center Giorgi Shermadini, who was recently signed by Pao on a long-term contract, took the court for the first time and played more than 10 minutes in which he felt the big difference between dominating European youth championships and the real world of basketball. On the other end waited the 214-cm, 1988-born big man from Niger, Amadou Aboubakar Zaki who spent a season-high 20 minutes on court. The kids combined for one point, and if you are curious how they did on court, well, there are other places on the web to hunt for that type of information.

Euroleague Picture Report: ALBA Berlin - TAU Vitoria

The press conference after the Euroleague game brought nothing special, as there was only one question from the about 20 journalists in the room. Luka Pavicevic explained that the decisive game for ALBA would be in Badalona, where they need to win to qualify for the Top 16. He also translated Dusko Ivanovic’s words into English because of the TAU head coach’s poor English. (How is this guy talking to his players, then?)

You can also check out the pictures from O2 World below.

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Euroleague LIVE: ALBA Berlin - TAU Ceramica

Today, BallinEurope will be live in Berlin at the O2 World for a Live Blog of the Euroleague game between ALBA Berlin and TAU Ceramica. We will also check out the Arena where the Euroleague Final Four will be played in May and give you information about where to stay and what to do when you come to Berlin in May.
The game will start at 20h00 CET.

Last-second choices for the NIKEiD Fantasy Challenge

My transfers were already set Tuesday afternoon but when I came home on the evening, I read that Juan Carlos Navarro will probably miss the next game. So I had to change those nice picks I’d  already made.

OUT: Nikola Pekovic (Panathinaikos), Mirsad Turkcan (Fenerbahce) and Giorgios Printezis (Olympiacos).

IN: Lior Eliyahu (Maccabi), David Andersen (FC Barcelona) and Viktor Khryapa (CSKA Moscow).

The thing is that two guys, Nikola Pekovic and Navarro, must be moved out by any means  because of injuries. So who to take as a third, Mirsad Turkcan or Giorgios Printezis, or even somebody completely different? With the two first guys out, I could easily bring in my two choices, David Andersen and Victor Khryapa. Both are currently improving their playing level and are still not too expensive. This brings me to a situation where I have 34 credits left and still one trade to make.

By selling Turkcan like I wanted to, I have to many credits. On the other hand, none of the other inside players is a selling option in my opinion, as both Edu Hernandez-Sonseca and Tiago Splitter should come up with big numbers next game. So I have to check on the forward position and forget about bringing Lior Eliyahu to my team.

So my choice goes to David Logan, who should bring good stats in the game against Zalgiris. So I really think that this is the deal I need in order to overcome my poor performance from last week and find my way back to where I belong.

Batum: “I feared defending Greer more than Wade.”

Today, we take another look at the blogs written by those ballers playing in or coming from Europe. Nicolas Batum, currently playing his first season in the NBA, is sharing his thoughts with his French fans and made quite a nice statement in his blog on Basketsession:

In fact, the thing about the guys I have to guard, Wade, Hamilton, T-Mac, is that I can anticipate what they do as I have seen them play so often. This has helped me very much when I took Wade down to 12 points only. I don’t fear them at all. I feared defending Ricardo Greer of Nancy more than taking on Dwyane Wade.

I saw that I put him in trouble when he voluntarily hit me with his elbow in my face. That made me laugh: I was happy because this meant that I was doing well.

It seems like Nicolas has really entered the NBA right now, but there is one guy that can put him in big trouble though.

By the way, the day when I really struggled, when I had to fight but I could not do anything, it was against Peja Stojakovic. Believe me: he is unstoppable, he shoots too quick.

Euroleague Power Rankings (Week 7)

The last game day before Christmas is just ahead, so let’s check which are teams are hot and which are not at the moment.

1. CSKA Moscow (6-1) (+1)

It was just a short-term downgrade to second place for CSKA Moscow. An emphatic win against Panionios and a hard-fought victory over Unics Kazan helped them to recover the first place in our unique Power Rankings.

2. Montepaschi Siena (6-1) (-1)

Siena had a little more trouble than expected in beating the Lithuanians from Zalgiris Kaunas. On the other hand, in the domestic league, the team continues to win and confirms their current good situation.

3. Regal FC Barcelona (6-1) (+1)

The big win of the week comes from FC Barcelona and their victory in the OAKA. This puts them in third place on the Euroleague Power Rankings and shows the nice job done by the coaching staff to build such a strong team.

4. TAU Ceramica (5-2) (+2)

The offensive powerhouse from Vitoria comes off another destroying win in the Euroleague. And they will play against ALBA Berlin this week in a rematch of Igor Rakocevic’s 6-for-6 three-point effort.

5. Unicaja Malaga (5-2) (+2)

Unicaja is currently in the upstream, so it’s time for them to slow down to remain in their classical up-and-down moves. The big win at home against the Greek Olympiacos team with a reduced team gives them the necessary boost to remain among the top contenders for the Top 16.

6. Olympiacos (5-2) (-3)

Olympiacos is currently a little bit off, as the team has not yet identified the leader who takes over games in the final minutes, which ultimately caused their defeat in Malaga. Josh Childress is doing the job, but he is not the “Messiah” awaited by the Reds.

7. Panathinaikos (5-2) (-2)

Panathinaikos is a bit in the same situation as Olympiacos and even lost at home. The game against FC Barcelona will remain in the minds of fans and players, but the next matchup against SLUC Nancy should get them back on track.

8. Cibona Zagreb (5-2) (+1)

The weeks continue and Cibona is still in the Top 10 in our rankings. The Croats are playing an excellent season so far, building on some local talent with surprisingly strong US players: A mix that works very well and qualifies them for the Top 16.

9. DKV Joventut (5-2) (+2)

Ricky is back, and so is DKV Joventut. It’s not quite that easy, but the Badalona team is currently getting better. The case of Pops Mensah-Bonsu is definitely sealed, and Eduardo Hernandez-Sonseca is working in the paint. With Ricky improving every game now, the Top 16 will be very interesting.

10. Lottomatica Roma (5-2) (-2)

Coach Repesa is gone, and so goes the five-game winning streak. It’s not that simple, but the team does need to find itself again at this moment. Even if Brandon Jennings gains in minutes, the goal is to win games and not to develop the scoring skills of a high school kid.

11. Real Madrid (4-3) (+3)

A tough win at home against Partizan, and Real Madrid moves up in the rankings again. Coach Joan Plaza’s is probably the most discussed position right now in the Euroleague, but with every win, his seat remains in place. By the way, Real will play in Moscow this week and a loss is very probable.

12. Maccabi Tel Aviv (4-3) (+1)

Maccabi wins on the road but loses in the domestic league; what a strange situation. However, since Lior Eliyahu has woken up in the Euroleague, the team seems to comfort their Top16 spot and should continue their presence for another few games.

13. Efes Pilsen (3-4) (+2)

After being ranked pretty high at the beginning of the season, the Turkish Brewers have fallen down regularly in our Rankings but seem to find their way back up right now. After beating the red-hot AJ Milano team at home, things look a little bit better right now.

14. Partizan Belgrade (3-4) (-4)

Partizan needs to win its games at home and maybe take one or the other win on the road. This week, they nearly did, losing by only 1 in Madrid. However, they remain strong and should be able to reach the Top 16 again this season.

15. Fenerbahce Ülker (3-4) (+1)

Fenerbahce Ülker was on the way to win in Berlin but without any obvious reason completely struggled in the second half and gave ALBA Berlin a highly important win. They showed no problems in the domestic league in beating the small team Antalya and they have a crucial game at home against Joventut this week.

16. ALBA Berlin (3-4) (+4)

ALBA Berlin remains unbeaten in O2 World and will try to continue the win streak against TAU this week. However, a surprising loss on the road in the Bundesliga was not in their favor, and the still long list of injuries is a problem for Luka Pavicevic.

17. AJ Milano (2-5) (-5)

A big move up and big move down; this is how to look at AJ Milano’s fortunes last week. The team had an impressive win at home against CSKA which boosted their stock. However, it wasn’t enough to continue their streak and lost in Istanbul. Everything remains possible for the team, though, as they host Partizan this week.

18. Panionios (3-4) (-1)

The Greeks took a severe loss in Moscow, like nearly every team in the Euroleague. Additionally, they lost by 16 against Olympiacos in the Greek league, like nearly every team in the A1. So not a lot of changes for Panionios right now.

19. Asseco Prokom (2-5) (-1)

Prokom did the job in Nancy with the loss and not giving back the lead taken in the first meeting. The Polish team needs to win a few more in order to qualify for the next round and are currently in the best position for 4th place in their (poor) group.

20. Air Avellino (2-5) (-1)

Air Avellino lost nearly all of their chances to qualify for the Top 16 with the home defeat against Maccabi. It was a great experience for the small Italian team to participate to the Euroleague but the dream is coming to an end.

21. SLUC Nancy (2-5) (+1)

Nancy had a small chance and took it. By beating Asseco Prokom behind an astonishing effort from Cyril Julian, the French team needs to win on the road now in order to have a last qualifying chance for the Top 16.

22. Union Olimpija (1-6) (-1)

Nothing is really working well right now for the Slovenians. Coaches come and go, injuries and defeats mark a season to forget in the Euroleague. The management is probably already thinking about next year and seeking improvements in order to become competitive again.

23. Zalgiris Kaunas (0-7) (+1)

Yes, Zalgiris only lost by seven, so it was enough for me to take them out of last place. And when reading the forums, I even hear voices claiming that the Lithuanians still have a chance to reach the Top 16 by beating SLUC and Asseco. Yes, that sounds possible.

24. Le Mans (0-7) (-1)

Should I really waste any time writing about the biggest disaster of the year? Starting with a team names that opened some eyes but also a rookie coach, Le Mans should probably refocus on their traditions of talented young locals and experienced coaches. At least the fans would not be as disappointed.

Eurocup LIVE: Brose Baskets - Spirou Charleroi

David Hein will cover the Eurocup game between Brose Baskets Bamberg and Spirou Charleroi live from the JAKO Arena in Bamberg. Other games of the evening that you can follow as Live Stream via Eurosport are at 17h00 CET Khimki Moscow vs. Besiktas Istanbul (LIVE Stream here) and at 19h00 CET  Turk Telekom Ankara vs. Aris Salonica (LIVE Stream here).

Monday’s cigarettes

Yeah, Christmas is coming closer and the Euroleague is in full force, right? Ricky plays again and immediately wins against Brandon. What better moment for some smoky cigarettes on a Monday morning?

• Even USA Today reported (through Jonathan Givony) on the Ricky versus Brandon game.
• French magazine Basketnews reported a very nice story about the San Antonio Spur Bruce Bowen. When playing in 1995 in France, Bruce Bowen was a member of Evreux in the French second division. In a Cup game against powerhouse Pau-Orthez, Evreux was up by 20 but finally lost in the end due to foul trouble and short rotation. After the game, Bowen and head coach Michel Veyronnet had a altercation in the locker room, as Bowen slammed the coach for bringing in a youth player in the final minutes. In response, coach Veyronnet threw his clipboard at Bowen in frustration and it was only the team president’s intervention that prevented a real fight. Seven years later, Veyronnet and Bowen met at a camp organized by Tony Parker. And despite not having seen or talked to each other during the time, Bowen talked to his former coach and told him that he wanted to apologize for all he had done to him. Christmas is approaching, you know…
• I still remember an edition of the former French Basketball magazine MaxiBasket having an introductory picture of the University of Massachussetts Christmas trip to Strasbourg in 1994. Lou Roe was featured in that picture and presented as a future NBA star. Today, 14 years later, Lou Roe is still playing basketball in Spain and ACB TV prepared a nice clip on the former Minuteman.
• Watch here the Top 10 plays from France in November.
• I knew that there are some crazy fans in Greece, but thanks to YouTube, I now know that Sigal Prishtine of Kosovo seems to be pretty hot, too.
• Rasheed Wright wins his second game on the buzzer for Poitiers in the French Pro B. And gets naked again…
• Yarone told me a nice story about a nice game from Israel that happened this weekend. Maccabi Rishon played against Hapoel Jerusalem, with hosts Rishon going an incredible 0-for-0 at the FT line. It was the first time ever that a team was not credited at least one free throw in a professional game in Israel. Additionally, another nice story from the game was the fact that Hapoel made a 19-2 run in the 2nd quarter to go up 41-14. At that moment, Rishon’s coach brought in some youngsters that even managed to get the momentum back with a 7-0 run. At the end, it was Hapoel that won, but only by seven points.
• Why Goran Dragic is the worst point guard in the NBA.
• Finally, we have no player fights this week but Turow Zgorzelec head coach Saso Filipkovski who hit a fan after the loss against AZS this weekend. No video evidence is available but, judging by the blood stains on the floor, it seems to have been a pretty tough fight. Filipovski was suspended despite his claim of self-defense.

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