A former Illinois State Redbird, Holloway came to Vilpas after stints with Basketbol Brno of the Czech Republic and Germany’s Pro B team Hannover. Holloway is currently enjoying a breakout season with the Vikings, leading the team in minutes (34.2), points (20.6), and steals (1.7), while also contributing 4.4 boards and 3.0 assists per game. Below runs either a very short documentary or a very long player profile on Holloway by YouTube user/Vilpas Vikings enthusiast Karupappa.

Hopefully supplying a much needed jolt to the 8-12 Vikings will be “The Hulk,” a.k.a. Durham. A product of Grace Bible College (!), Durham dominated the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association from 2009 to 2011 with a CV that includes three Division II All-Tourney Team honors, three national championship MVP awards, three Midwest regional MVP awards, three All-American nods, one national MVP, and a Pete Maravich Memorial Award in addition to leading Grace to three national championships.

Durham drew some international attention with his play at the Eurobasket Summer League in Las Vegas last summer; chief among his performances was a 16-point, 15-rebound, six-block showing in the championship game. Beginning the 2011-12 season with CS Dinamo Bucuresti, Durham he compiled a ridiculous state line of 23.3 points and 13.7 rebounds (including 5.7 offensive) per in 18 games there.

In his first two Korisliiga games, Durham hasn’t disappointed: He debuted with an insane 27-point, 19-rebound show in an overtime match against Torpan Pojat.

Vilpas is 2-0 going into 2012 behind this compelling new combination; with 20 games remaining in the Finnish schedule, the Vikings will need an injection quickly in order to advance to the season-ending tournament. BiE can’t help but meanwhile wonder, given the composition of the Korisliiga right now (i.e. mostly American) and recent trends in European national basketball, whether we might see either of these guys going for Team Finland before all’s said and done.

Click below the break to follow with BiE!

Pregame. BiE’s starting to think that the live blog concept is outdated, but this won’t stop BiE today, anyway. Yeah, sure, i’ll throw out some tweets from @BiE_basketball.

National anthem time … will it go off without a hitch?

Well, it seemed to go okay…

First quarter. 9.38: McKenzie hits the first points of the game. Georgia, 3-0.

6.50: Georgia is just chucking up the threes since … unforunately, they’re only 1-of-3. Finland, 6-5.

5.07: Kopponen winds down the 24-second clock, then slashes through the lane and dumps it to Saus Salin for the three. Finland, 9-5. Not exactly a barnburner here…

3.51: McKenzie won’t stop jacking ‘em up! For three! Finland, 9-8.

3.22: Marcus Haynes ties it up from the line … those anti-naturalization folks must hate Georgia. 9-9.

2.43: Finland retakes the lead and Georgia turns it over in a hurry. Commentators note that “If Georgia has one weakness, it’s turnovers.” If? They’ve been giving up 19 per game in this tournament.

2.06: Georgia’s moving the ball around nicely, especially outside on the perimeter, but just not hitting anything.

0.56: Another three missed by Georgia, and after a missed FT, they get the lay-in.

0.24: Finland kills much clock thanks to an offensive rebound, Gerald Lee with the layup and the and-one.

0.17: More Finland. Another damning stat for Georgia: They’re just 3-of-8 from the FT line. Koivisto hits two FTs.

0.00: At the end of one, it’s Finland 22-13.

Second quarter. Georgia is just 4-of-14 from the field, divided into equal 2-of-7s from two and three.

9.38: Salin and Gerald Lee commit two quick fouls on one Georgia possession … no matter.

8.56: McKenzie hits a long one for Georgia, followed by a Finland TO.

8.43: Shermandini blows past Lee for two. Finland, 22-17.

8.19: Gerald Lee fouls, Georgia blows right back with Markoishvilli. 22-19.

7.53: And Gerald Lee with his third foul of the quarter!

7.25: Koponen playing pitch-and-catch with every man on the floor … no result.

7.09: Nice fake and the dunk by Kotti! 24-21, Finland.

6.59: Koponen kicks it out to Koivisto for three. 27-23, Finland.

5.43: Shermanidi with the dunk and the and-one. No more three-point shooting, Georgia? Must be Lee on the bench…Shermanidi hits the FT. Georgia down by just one.

5.15: Korvisto for three again … Finland’s six longball of the game.

3.54: Missed threes by Korvisto and Koponen, but two offensive rebounds.

3.05: Shengelia drives the baseline for the 30-30 tie!

2.38: Haynes can’t hit, but Shengelia with the board … Haynes can’t hit a second try, either.

2.02: Shengelia draws a foul then gives one on the other end.

1.38: Makkailen for his first points gives Finland a four-point lead.

0.25: Georgia ball, down by two. Markoishvili draws the tripping foul. Georgia just 7-of-13 on FTs after missing one.

0.02: Georgia can’t do anything with its last possession, leaving 2.7 seconds (or maybe 3.3; they’re arguing it over with the replay technology) on the clock for Finland.

0.02?: Or maybe 3.7, they’re saying now…

0.00: Insane. Desperation three may have been goaltended by Shengalia; more debating among refs…nope, won’t count. Finland up, 36-33, going the entire quarter without a free throw.

Third quarter. 9.28: Nice drive by Koponen. Finland has four in a row, Georgia is 0-of-6 on the last six attempts.

9.06: Koponen again to the rim but BLOCKED.

8.06: Tskitishvili draws the foul after nicely rebounding the wild three at the 24-second buzzer. Hits both. 42-37, Finland.

6.38: Shermadini and Lee back for their respective sides. 46-37, Finland, after another three. Cold be pulling away, with Georgia hitting nothing.

5.40: Haynes wide open for the three, stops the Finland run.

5.20: Markoshvilli goes over two defenders to feed Tskitishvili underneath. Georgia had a good timeout…

3.49: Swapped baskets. 50-46 to Finland.

3.03: After not one shooting foul incurred in the second Q, Finland has had seemingly an unending series of walks to the FT line in the third. Finland, 56-48.

2.30: Kovisti for the three! Eleven point lead is Finland’s biggest. 59-48.

1.29: Markoshivilli for three, ugh. That didn’t work before, Georgia … Kotti with the defensive rebound.

0.22: Koponen blocked by Shengalia — that’s one thing Georgia can do, even without Pachulia…

0.00: Finland clearly won that quarter, eh? Finland up, 61-52, after 13 free throws taken that quarter.

Fourth quarter. Finland up in rebounds, 30-26? That shouldn’t really happen, should it?

9.44: Koponen to Muurinen for three. Eleven points for Muurinen now, nine in the second half. 64-52 to Finland … and it’s looking like this plucky side will stay alive, though they still need a Slovenia loss as well…

7.54: Huff beats three much larger Georgians for the offensive board and the follow. 69-56 to Finland.

7.33: “Plenty of time for Georgia,” says a FIBA announcer, which may mean the opposite.

7.11: Huff now with 10 after a nice jump shot made. 71-59, Finland.

6.51: Salin burns on the fast break as Finland extends the lead to 14.

6.05: Yeesh, Haynes travels instead of finishing the fast break. The proverbial nothing is going Georgia’s way…

5.49: Desperation timeout for Georgia here? Meanwhile, we’re reminded of just how much play the hosts want to get out of their official EuroBasket anthem song. No one will ever want to hear this again, come October.

5.11: Koponen for another three. Finland now a ridiculous 12-of-24 on threes here.

4.58: Shermadini fouls Koponen and thus fouls out. Finland, 77-61, after another foul to Kotti. Hark, the fat lady is warming up in the wings.

3.56: Haynes turns it over, Finland off to the races, but can’t finish.

3.30: On the other end, Georgia with the fast break get a four-footer from Tskitishvili, who draws the foul from Lee. Lee fouls out. 77-64, Finland.

2.25: Koponen reenters with his guys up 11. Five Finns are in double-figure scoring: Koponen, Huff, Muurinen, Koivisto and Kotti, each with between 10 and 12.

2.20: Now Tskitishvili fouls out, taking his 10-point, five-rebound, four-assist line with him…

1.39: Sanikidze misses one of two from the line — figures. 81-69 to Finland, who’s killing clock like never before … can they just crawl it up the court?

0.28: Ah, the Beckettsque existential angst of the basketball End Game: foul, foul, foul, with the trailing team never catching the leader … and then twin fastbreaks make it 84-73.

0.00: And your final score is 87-73 after another Koivisto three — also figures.

Right, so one more time: Finland now awaits the outcome of the FYR Macedonia-Slovenia game tonight; for this serious underdog to live another day, Slovenia must lose.

Having had problems all along with the corpulent tournament field of 24 for this EuroBasket tournament, BiE has mixed feelings about a Finland advancement. While it’s always nice to see the plucky upstart get far (that’s the secret of March Madness, innit?), something just doesn’t sit right in allowing a team that goes 3-4 to advance. On the other hand, they’ll merely be meeting a guillotine, either French- or Spanish-flavored on Wednesday. On the other other hand, Koponen and the boys are 3-0 in potential elimination games in this tournament … allow BiE’s stay in fantasy land for a few more seconds; after all, much of Helsinki probably still is at this very moment…

Due to the tragic events in Norway, a sombre feeling overlay the past weekend when the Nordic Championships between national teams from Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Iceland began in Sundsvall. The Norwegian team came and participated well nevertheless, considering that their senior national program in basketball has been non-existent the past few years.

Shooting guard Terrence Oglesby, 23 (Clemson University/CB Tarragona), was the backbone of a team that finished fourth after beating Denmark with surprising ease.

The talk of the town was of course Finland: This team has a good shot at the final place in Eurobasket 2011 in Lithuania. And they did impress, with youth and veterans, on the outside and inside.

The 35-year-old Hanno Möttölä, formerly of the Atlanta Hawks, did not play every game, but proved invaluable in the paint. Gerald Lee Jr. (Old Dominion/Prima Veroli) played well. Lee’s father came to play in Finland in the 1970s and stayed; Gerald’s uncle is Ron Lee, who today lives in Sweden and had a stellar NBA career, leading the league in steals in 1977-78.

But most impressive was the Finnish backcourt of Petteri Koponen (drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2007, but with rights currently held by the Dallas Mavericks) of Virtus Bologna and veteran Teemu Rannikko of Varese.

Hungary and Portugal better look out for the upcoming games in August to qualify for Eurobasket. as coach Henrik Dettmann’s team is in the driver’s seat. The Finns beat the hosting Swedish team, 85-63, the biggest margin of victory in the tournament since 1985.

Hosts Sweden missed a couple of key players, mainly Jonas Jerebko of the Detroit Pistons, who did not play due to his contract status and insurance issues. Also missing were SLUC Nancy point guard Kenny Grant Jr., out with a shoulder injury, and FIBA EuroChallenge Breakthorough Award winner Joakim Kjellbom of the Norrköping Dolphins.

Back on the team was PF Christian Maråker (Pacific University/Hokkaido) and new was SG Erik Rush (Montana State), but Sweden did not make any statement and coach Brad Dean has his hands full in making sure the team qualifies for Eurobasket 2013. Jerebko is certainly the key to future success and Jeffrey Taylor of Vanderbilt may join the team next summer.

Sweden’s U20 team did well in European championships and finished in ninth place. Some of those players will contribute in the future, including Chris Czerapowicz (Davidson College), Andreas Person (Helios Domzale), Viktor Gaddefors (Virtus Bologna), Alex Lindqvist (Solna Vikings) and Charles Barton (Oregon State), but it’s a big step to go up against the big men in Europe. The mental ability will prove the difference in the future for the Swedish team, since there is a lack of winning tradition in basketball, in contrast to country’s success in soccer and hockey.

Iceland lost Jon Stefansson (CB Granada) early in the first game against Sweden due to a shoulder injury and he was greatly missed.

The trio from the hometown club of Sundsvall — Jakob Sigurdasson, Hlynur Baeringsson and newly signed Pavel Ermolinski — all showed their talents from time to time. But Iceland’s lack of size and depth was felt, especially with Stefansson out.

One thing impresses about Iceland: Their hearts. It is a pleasure to watch these athletes giving absolutely everything out on the court. And it was a vital ingredient when Sundsvall Dragons won the Swedish title in May, featuring Sigurdarsson and Baeringsson.

Denmark still looks to come to terms with their greatest talent ever, Christian Drejer, having to retire due to injury at far too young an age a few years ago. He should have been the spine of this team, like Jerebko for Sweden. Now Denmark must wait for the talented (and big) group of boys born in 1993 and 1994.

Although a winner of European group C a year ago, Denmark has a tough future in the very competitive European scene of national teams.

The final standings in the 2011 Nordic Championship were as follows:
Finland 4-0
Sweden 3-1
Iceland 2-2
Norway 1-3
Denmark 0-4

The all-star team was comprised of Teemu Rannikko and Petteri Koponen of Finland; Jakob Sigurdarsson and Hlynur Baeringson of Iceland; and Sweden’s Christian Maråker.

The Nordic Championships 2011 belonged to Finland. Congratulations!

Magnus Dahlborn is quite the heavy hitter in the world of Swedish basketball broadcasting; he has been following hoops since the mid-1970s and does play-by-play TV commentary in Sweden on Euroleague and Swedish League (plus the FIBA World Championships and Eurobasket…), working 90 games in 2010-11 and around 500 over the last 10 years.

“Finland’s top league Korisliiga will witness some serious NBA talent in September 2011, when Los Angeles Lakers forward/multipersonality Ron Artest will join league newcomer LoKoKo Loimaa.

“The 31-year old Artest has three years left in his Lakers contract, but that doesn’t seem to bother LoKoKo sports director Aleksi Valavuori, who backs up the rumor in Tuesday’s Ilta-Sanomat newspaper.

“We have sorted things out and I can happily confirm that Artest will arrive in Finland,” Valavuori states in the Ilta-Sanomat interview.

Valavuori has been making noise with his antics in Finland earlier, too. In November 2005, 7,420 spectators witnessed Dennis Rodman’s 17-point, 6-rebound performance in Helsinki, and in November 2008, Scottie Pippen played for ToPo in two Korisliiga games.

Artest is supposed to play “a few games” with LoKoKo. But are the 16,907 inhabitants of Loimaa ready for Artest? My wild guess is that Loimaa’s nightlife will never be the same.

This jam forbidden in Finland

Theron Wilson, formerly of Bradley University, has found a nice niche in Finland with the Salon Vilpas Vikings, though perhaps someone should have informed him of the stinginess of Korisliiga referees. It appears that, unlike the Ukrainian ball Wilson was with in his rookie professional season last year, Finland’s zebras just aren’t accustomed to play above the rim – and the Americans’ tendency to destroy a loitering opponent underneath.

In last week’s game against BiE fave Honka Espoo Playboys, Wilson puts his prowess on display to come from out of nowhere, grab the board off a Harris Dejuan miss and, in Waltonian vernacular, throws it down!

Despite the crowd’s awed reaction and Wilson’s own euphoria at the career highlight film slam, the unflappable Finnish referee immediately calls an offensive foul and technical foul on Wilson. Added effect in the video is provided by Dejuan once he realizes what the foul call is, precisely: In an arena with reported attendance of 780, Dejuan’s protestations of “What? Oh man!” can be heard clearly.

YouTube user Karupappa, who titled this clip “Dunk of the month … I mean, offensive foul,” comments that while “Korisliiga is attempting to become more extravagant and spectacular,” calls like this one probably won’t help in such a quest.

Video of awesome jam and egregious foul call follows. And just for the record, the Playboys won the game, 87-79.

• Enes Kanter. It’s impossible to tell at present where the sensation (and MVP) of the 2009 FIBA U18 European Championship will be going in 2010 and beyond, unless “upward” is included as a potential location. Despite announcing his intention to play NCAA basketball at University of Washington next season, certain improprieties Kanter may or may have not been involved with at Fenerbahçe Ülker could keep him from playing at his stated destination next year; the question of whether Kanter actually played professionally with Fenerbahçe reportedly led to his departure from Las Vegas’ Findlay College Prep in September.

No matter: Kanter has been ripping up American high-school ball this season, recording an insane line of 48 points and 24 rebounds in a November game; some 50 to 60 NCAA schools sought to recruit Kanter before he settled on getting with the Huskies. Be certain that, whether the Turk is playing college ball or Euroleague in 2010-11, this dude will make his mark on the game before 2020.

• Team Serbia and Team Slovenia. A pair of national men’s teams that were competitive throughout the 2000s nonetheless ended up the surprise squads of Eurobasket 2009. While Slovenia recorded its best-ever finish as an independent nation with a mix of veterans and youth (the tournament roster included four players born in the 1970s five players aged 26 or younger), the Serbians went in with a relative bunch of unknowns who stunned Spain in the opener and ended up taking home silver.

In the coming decade, we’ll be watching the evolution of the Slovenian program and fearing that of Serbia: Just imagine how the latter will be playing in, say, the 2014 FIBA Worlds with four more years under their belts.

• Team Finland. Talk about your no-names. Finland snuck into the Eurobasket Qualifying Rounds this year to face off against the likes of France and Italy, but left the tournament with a little respect earned. The Finns will hardly become a world power this decade, but it would be shocking to not see this nation a bit, um, higher in the FIBA rankings (They’re not even in the top 73? I swear i don’t get this system) by decade’s end. Plus, who else is curious about Petteri Koponen, a former no. 30 overall draft selection, playing NBA ball?

• Alba Torrens. After pummeling The Continent’s men’s teams for most of the decade, is Spain now ready to achieve such dominance on the women’s side as well? Surely the Spanish women have hearts set on making The Leap into the discussion alongside the big three of Team USA, Russia and Australia in the 2010s, while all eyes for the time being are on point guard Torrens, star of Spain’s 2008 Olympic squad and MVP of the U20 European Championship Women 2009 with an average line in the latter of 16 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game – and she’s just 20, folks. Torrens is currently playing with Avenida and may someday suit up for the Connecticut Sun.

• Darko Milicic. The most infamous NBA no. 2 overall pick not named Sam Bowie returns home. Darko’s quest for redemption will surely be an unavoidable story for years to come.

• The economy, attendance. Still. At least in the short-term. With eight games gone, only Asseco Prokom (nearly plus-23%) and Real Madrid (plus-22%) are showing significant gains in attendance on last season and both teams play to less than 70% capacity in the average home game. Meanwhile, Fenerbahçe Ülker is down a whopping 78% on last season and mighty FC Barcelona plays to half-full home crowds and is down nearly 30% in ticket sales from 2009-10. Though international finance may right itself overnight (or not), the repercussions of the poor 2008-2009 economy will be felt in Europe’s highest levels of sport for seasons to come.

Bird: A frequent flyer

• Women as guns for hire (on both sides of the Atlantic). Hey, guess what: Sue Bird’s back with Spartak Moscow, the insta-team of Russian women’s basketball, thereby making Spartak the prohibitive favorite to take their fourth consecutive FIBA Euroleague Women title alongside the 2010 national title. Of course, Spartak is merely the ultimate extension of big-money European women’s pro team, successfully assembling a team month-to-month – day-to-day if necessary – that is designed to win tomorrow and nothing more.

In fact, in times of the tanked economy, the world’s highest-level women’s basketball players are among the few fortunate to potentially bag two decent-sized paychecks: One in Europe and a second in the WNBA. As long as that league remains solvent, that is.

And what do you figure we’ll be talking about in the next 10 years…?

Belser first appeared on international scouts’ radar in his days playing for the University of San Diego, culminating in College Insider‘s NCAA Defensive Player of the Year nod for 2006. Despite such a reputation, however, Belser went undrafted by NBA teams that year after Summer League play and instead jumped the pond to join Olympia Larissa.

Belser played three seasons for Larissa, opening with an Honorable Mention for the All-Greece Team and culminating in an average line of 10.2 points and 3.9 rebounds in 16 games.

(Incidentally, here’s a representative performance by the man, going for 24 points and 10 rebounds against Panionios:

Belser parlayed this run into a contract with Aris Thessaloniki, where … his results were not so impressive: In two Euroleague games, for example, he managed but five rebounds and exactly zero points in 13 minutes coming wayyyyyyyyyy off the bench. Belser was released last week…

…and immediately snapped up by the Playboys after Monte Cummings went down for up to five weeks thanks to a knee injury.

Does Belser still have it, despite a potentially demoralizing stint with Aris? You bet: All Belser did for Espoo was sign a contract, change clothes, get on the court and go for a sick 29 points on 9-of-14 shooting (including 4-for-8 from three-point range) and 7-of-8 on free throws. O, and the Playboys snapped a four-game losing streak by thrashing last-place Karhu Kauhajoen, 101-82.

Playboys fans are certainly hoping Belser helps change the 2006 champs’ fortunes. With the win over Karhu, Honka has righted its record at .500, sitting in a woeful seventh place in the Korisliiga at 6-6.

Upon signing Belser through the season, Honka CEO Mika Sohlberg stated that “An average of 10 points per game in the Greek league equals 20 in Finland.” The new import certainly proved Sohlberg mathematically correct in his debut, and it’ll be interesting to see just how far Belser can carry this team with three-quarters of the Korisliiga season gone.

Even more scintillating might be Belser’s 2010 off-season. How much does 25 Finnish points and four steals per game translate into, say, German?

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.

Aside from the young Ukraine team, few squads have shown the marked progession in adaptability and improvement this summer that the Finns did game to game. Entering the Euroleague Additional Qualifying Road as a 500/1 shot to win the tournament (not to mention a bit of a punchline), Team Finland emerges from the AQR as a promising squad with suddenly relevant names beyond un-retired (and clearly fit to play)free agent Hanno Möttölä.

Among those to keep on eye on include 21-year-old point guard Petteri Koponen (Virtus Bologna), who has gone for 13.8 points, 2.75 assists, three rebounds and one steal per game in 12 tournament games for Team Finland; and 25-year-old sophomore pro-baller Shawn Huff (Kavala BC), who contributed 10.4 rpg and 3.8 rpg to Finland’s group play success.

Unfortunately for him, 29-year-old stud Teemu Rannikko took something of a preemptive PR hit when he switched teams from now-Euroleaguers BC Khimski to CB Granada, but Spanish league fans will surely thrill to Rannikko’s style in 2009-10.

All in all, Finland could be poised to threaten in the early rounds of Eurobasket 2011 with up-and-comers capable of making people forget all about the immortal Hans von Blumenstock. (The downside to Team Finland re-reemergence as potential basketball power: A significant dropoff in the number of easy jokes at BallinEurope.com.)

Montenegro. Over the course of the team’s 6-0 run in Eurobasket 2009 Division B play, game reports have habitually described Team Montenegro’s wins as “decisive,” “dominant,” and “resounding.” The Montenegrin “cruise” and “coast” to victory, while the scoring attack is inevitably “balanced.” Saturday night, it was more of the same with Montenegro’s 86-63 thumping of hosts Austria already bagging the team a spot in the playoff round with two round-robin games left to play.

An appearance in the Eurobasket 2011 tournament seems likely if not downright probable for Team Montenegro; they’ll be building a foundation on today’s quality roster which includes Panathinaikos boys Nikola Pekovic and Vlado Scepanovic, Nemanja Gavranic (Buducnost), Mihalio Kasalica (Bonus Niksic), and import Omar Cook of Unicaja.

Amazing it is to think that Eurobasket 2009 Division B is the very first international competition for the independent Montenegro team. No way is it the last.

Bosnia & Herzegovina. Despite the ugly choke job against Belgium in what was perhaps the most important game in this squad’s short history, Team Bosnia & Herzegovina played all out of proportion to the country’s size (pop. just under 4 million) and should remain at least bubbling under for next year’s tournament.

Currently at no. 40 in the FIBA rankings, Team Bosnia & Herzegovina contained that proverbial scintillating blend of old and new in the Eurobasket Additional Qualifying Round tournament. Nineteen-year-old Nihad Dedovic chased his successful showing for FC Barcelona in the Nike Junior Invitational Tournament with a team-leading 10.6 points per game in the AQRs. Keep an eye out for this youth who can hang with the big boys already.

Representing the old(er) guard for Bosnia & Herzegovina in the tourney was Kenan Bajramovic, who will play with Alba Berlin in 2009-10 and has recently done stints with Lietuvos Rytas, Turk Telekom Ankara and BC Kyiv. At 28, Bajramovic showed peak play in the Eurobasket AQRs, putting in an average stat line of 10.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, one steal and nearly one block per game over the course of the tournament.

The problem, again, was psychological. Coach Mensur Bajramovic offered a simple explanation for that ugly 23-point loss that ended Bosnia & Herzegovina’s Eurobasket dream: “Belgium were hungrier than we were.” If we don’t hear this line in 2011, it may be that Team Bosnia & Herzegovina has matured. And then look out, Europe, for the dark horse will ride again!

Von Blumenstock’s notoriety has already helped the 189-cm tall guard get a personalized advertising campaign for a major brand, one of his multiple similarities with the famous No. 23. Of course, von Blumenstock has chosen the jersey number of the former Bull, as he believes he can fly and that nothing is impossible. But see yourself and you will believe too…

– thanks to Hippo for the tip

The first planned event will take place on November 13, 2009, at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp, Belgium.

And another sports Belgian sports site said organiser Geert Baeyens is hoping to get games scheduled in England, Germany, France, Spain and Italy.

Other players listed to participate in the NBA Legends event are Tracy Murray, Lamond Murray, AC Green, Shawn Kemp, Stacey Augmon, Norm Nixon, Darwin Cook, John Starks, Kenny Anderson, Oliver Miller, Stanley Roberts, Moses Malone, Robert Reid, Orlando Woolridge, Johnny Egan, Rodney McCray, Darryl Dawkins, Spud Webb, Dee Brown, Dominique Wilkins and Gerald Wilkins.

The second release called the event “Scottie Pippen & his NBA-Legends”. But Pippen apparently has pulled out, as the Sportpaleis website said Rodman has replaced Pippen.

Rodman will actually be making a return to Europe. He played one game for the Finnish first division team Torpan Pojat on November 6, 2005. Later that season he played three games for the English team Brighton Bears.

Rodman also played two exhibition games in the Philippines in spring 2006 along with former NBA stars Darryl Dawkins, Kevin Willis, Calvin Murphy, Otis Birdsong and Alex English.