Ball in Europe, the European Basketball Blog

As we await the two-game showdown between France and Belgium for the final spot in the FIBA Eurobasket 2009 tournament and Eurobasket Division B pool play enters the homestretch, Ball in Europe takes a speculative look at three national programs we might be hearing a lot more about in 2010 and beyond.

Finland. When Finland capped pool play in Group B of the Eurobasket Additional Qualification Road with an impressive 95-89 victory over Italy, an exclamation point was emphatically put on the team’s success in this tournament.

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The Belgian national team has not been crowned with much success in recent years. But a growing number of interesting talents will try to qualify for 2009 Eurobasket in Poland for the first time since 1993. Head coach Eddy Casteels has published his shortlist of 24 players that will attempt the impossible.

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With Eurobasket 2009 approaching (by the way, official ticket sales started this weekend), the various participants are currently reviewing  possible rosters and inviting new players to compete for spots to play in the basketball event of the summer in Poland. And one player has raised particular interest, as he can play for two countries actually.

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Sofoklis Schortsianitis (Olympiacos) – No shot attempts at all and only one foul in 7:42 minutes. Only once before has Schortsianitis finished a Euroleague game without a single shot attempt and that was when he played only two minutes.

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The Eurobasket 2009 qualifiers have started really poorly for coach Recalcati’s Team Italy. After four losses in the first five games, the situation was pretty bad but without going for incredible results, Italy is back in the race for Poland.

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BallinEurope has established a list of all National Champions in the various European leagues as they are known so far. If you have results to add or know who was named Final MVPs in a European league, feel free to add this in the comments so that we can update the list.

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• Not a very nice Christmas break for Lucca Staiger as the last decisional level confirmed that he will miss a whole season with Iowa State
• Delonte Holland seems to be close of finding a new team. The Turkish newspaper Fanatik claims that Fenerbahce is interested in signing him.
• For all the showtime lovers, this is one of my presents for you
• Darjus Lavrinovic also explains Roger Powell how to say Merry Christmas in Lithuanian: su Kaledoms
• After the players selected for the French All-Star game have been announced, here is the selection of players that will compete at the Slam Dunk Contest: Guy Dupuy, Fabian Greiser (from Germany), Max Kouguere and Steve Lobel
• Demond Greene was known for two plays: a monster block on Dwayne Wade and a very very bad foot injury. Now Euroleague TV draws a nice portrait video on him
• Ermal Kuqo Kurtoglu gave a very long and interesting interview to Euroleague TV. Worth to watch really as he explains his new three point shot, the difference between Efes and the other Turkish basketball teams and his multinational background.
• Chuck Eidson and Hollis Price explain krepsinis.net that they have to stay in Lithuania over Christmas
• Here are the rosters for the Adriatic League All-Star game

• Nicolas Batum announces that he will be in the NBA Draft this upcoming summer.
• The first Bundesliga basketball game in the German Free-TV for three years was a blowout win by ALBA Berlin in Bamberg. However, we saw one of the nicest plays of the season so far.
• The 22nd edition of the World Junior Tournament will be held from June 18 to 22 in Douai, France. Former players that showcased in Douai are Carmelo Anthony, Tony Parker or Andrei Kirilenko
• Vote for the Adriatic League All-Stars and the German Bundesliga All-Stars
• Second player of the month award for Vladimir Stimac in the Baltic League
• Curtis Borchardt wins the MVP of the Day in the Spanish ACB
• After being waived by Prokom Trefl, Eugeniusz Kijewski is now rumored to become Polish NT headcoach
• Alpella, which is a club formed to let young players develop, beat Efes Pilsen this Saturday. Apparently, they have developed too much that they have beaten the two Euroleague competitors from Turkey. Omer As?k is putting his names higher and higher in the Mock Drafts by another monster game 25 points, 14 rebs. and 6 assists vs. Loren Woods and Andre Hudson! (Thanks for the hint, Kerem)

Unfortunately, I have not been in the arena but what happened yesterday in Berlin must have been one of the great European Basketball nights.

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With the Guildford Heat, for the first time a team from the UK will participate to the ULEB Cup this season. And according to their head coach Paul James, they are not in this to make up the numbers. Continue Reading…