Ball in Europe – European Basketball Blog

Well, things can scarcely get worse for JDA Dijon, and so the debut of Stevan Milosevic for tonight’s game against Ligue Nationale de Basket’s current no. 2 Cholet (14-5) must be looked at with much optimism by the club’s fans.

The 24-year-old 2.11-meter tall center comes to France from Partizan Belgrade, where the youngster scarcely played in bits of three Top 16 round games, averaging under seven minutes a game in Euroleague play for the black-and-white.

Milosevic arrives in Dijon as the club currently sits at the bottom of the LNB table at a pitiful 4-15; the club has been a bit of a revolving door in 2009-10 and relegation appears a grave danger if not utterly imminent. Milosevic will serve as replacement for Roger Powell. Powell, formerly of the Utah Jazz, CB Murcia and Hapoel Jerusalem, joined Dijon on February 4 before going down to injury in his second game with the club.

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In France this weekend, La Republique’s two Euroleague teams met in the finals of the Semaine des As tournament, with Asvel Basket overcoming the hometown crowd and turning away Entente Orleanaise, 70-69.

Unfortunately, video coverage of this game is sparse and so, unless you were geared up with a nice fat satellite dish or, you know, actually living in France, you probably caught precious little of this action. The official LNB website carries only a French-language writeup of the game and no video, but BiE managed to cobble up a few clips for your recapping pleasure.

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While not interested in passing definitive judgment, we think it would be useful and fair to take a look at the European basketball panorama. There will be no ratings or rankings here, just a snapshot of what the most important ballin’ countries offer us.

Ten years into the third millennium, it’s common to hear repeated concepts about European community and a sense of brotherhood, but the idea of “European basketball” elicits language only indicating something is wrong. Disunity: That’s the main word for the variety of ways to develop basketball in Europe. European basketball was well on its way until five to six years ago, when internal division began to decrease European ball’s opportunity to become a serious alternative to a NBA bereft of stories and talent to sell – yes, that was before Lebron James’ era.

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For a quick informational brief in advance of the Semaine des As tournament tipping off today, Francophones should head over to a site called LeMans.Maville.com. For a rough feeling of this excellent piece, cobbled together from remedial French knowledge and online translators with a gob of poetic license, read on.

Chorale Roanne. At home the “Chorale” sings; away, this team only sings the blues, losing by lopsided scores at Le Mans (73-58), against Villeurbanne (88-57) and Nancy (101-62). Home at Andre-Vacheresse, however, Roanne is firing on all cylinders, as seen in the team’s 72-71 win over Cholet. The man to watch: Uche Nsonwu-Amadi.

Asvel Lyon Villeurbanne. So much for being the favorites. Were they not hosts, Asvel might not be attending this party at all. The team’s recent defeat at Poitiers, its 11th in the last 19 games, may indicate the team mortgaged a bit too much for the playoffs last season. The man to watch: Mindaugas Lukauskas.

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This just in from French-language Basket News: Vichy, the last team to qualify for the Semaine des As tournament, will have to compete in that competition without its key player Dounia Issa, who reportedly is suffering from torn ligaments in his hand.

In perhaps his best statistical season in Pro A, Issa is averaging 9.6 points, 11.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game in 2009-10 for a 20.8 efficiency rating. No date has been set for Issa’s return.

Vichy takes on defending Semaine des As champions Le Mans on Friday.

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In a move called “intriguing” by mainstream French media, Asvel Villeurbanne has released American guard Bobby Dixon. After logging just one half-season with the Euroleague squad, Dixon was cut just two days before the Semaine des As tournament, despite his success in the 2009 Semaine with champions Le Mans.

Aymeric Jeanneau’s play had steadily eaten into Dixon’s playing time (and ultimately cost him the starting spot) throughout the season. Dixon had been notching his worst LNB stat line since leaving Troy State University for France in 2006 with just 11 points per game, three assists per game and three-point shooting of just 33%. His Euroleague play was little better at 11.5 ppg and 3.1 apg.

Asvel management promised that “we have solutions” even in the wake of the Dixon release. Indeed, because Dixon is no longer with the team, his void clears a roster space for U.S. player Curtis Borchardt, who figures to be ready to play by mid-March.

As Le Figaro mused, one only wonders what this team’s chemistry might have been like in the autumn with Jeanneau in the starting spot… Continue Reading…

Running over at the French-language website I Love Basket is a brief on salaries in Pro A and Pro B basketball. Some figures were recently released by the French players association with regard to average monthly salaries, with the key figures below.

(“FIBA players” are defined as those from European nations defined under the Bosman ruling, whereas the “Cotonou nations” are those of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States excepting Cuba.) Combien gagnent-ils? Read on!

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Ho ho ho! He got game!

In between celebrating the holidays with family and checking out the Lakers getting chumped for Christmas, Ball in Europe snuck in some time surfing for basketball goodies online. A few stories and videos for your own post-Christmas Sunday, then, as word from Greece’s players’ union is awaited this afternoon…

I tried to introduce some of these videos compiled by the Hoop Doctors into the family’s Christmas traditions, but it didn’t fly. Ah well, wait ‘til next year.

Sinan Guler is quite the active presence online. Check out the interview with “Turkish Chocolate” (whoa, great nickname) over at Slam and Freaknick’s Euroleague Adventures.

Gravelines Dunkerque stud Ben Woodside gets the local (North Dakota) newspaper’s attention and muses about life in a sleepy French town.

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How about a few videos to start your weekend? Ball in Europe runs a (mostly) video version of the news this morning, with top plays from Spain, parts throughout Europe, and Washington. Add in a little bombast from France and one American item (don’t worry; it’s short) and it’s … a good way to spend several minutes.

Read (and watch) on!

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In part two of Ball in Europe’s look at Europe’s top teams following Eurobasket 2009, Francesco Cappelletti contributes his analysis of present and future for those nations who did not finish in Eurobasket’s top four. Part one, featuring looks at Spain, Serbia, Greece, and Slovenia, may be found by clicking here.

This didn't happen enough

FRANCE
Absences: Mickael Pietrus, Yakhouba Diawara, Joakim Noah, Johan Petro.

A lot of people thought France would be a frontrunner in Eurobasket 2009, thanks to the team’s more detailed preparation thanks to qualifying round play, handily won against what remained of Italy and Belgium. In fact, France’s beginning was outstanding; OK, Group B was a joke, but many victories by slim margins (69-64 over Russia, 87-79 over Croatia, 71-69 over Greece) made us trust a very physical yet technically perfect team with teachers like Tony Parker, Nicolas Batum, and Boris Diaw. Unfortunately, the improving Spain was not the team France expected after six wins in a row and France lost by 20: Come on, that’s a road accident! The confirmation came from the next games, wins against Turkey and Croatia.

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