At this speed, what particularly stands out are the number of times the ball appears stuck on the CSKA end of the floor, dramatically indicating the massive amount of half-court offense The Red Army prefers to play – and certainly exploited in this 91-75 Moscow victory. Enjoy and, whatever you do, don’t blink.

For nearly a week, the story of the Reds signing the 5’5” Boykins has been getting play from American sources to Greece-based Sentragoal, but nothing doing as yet.

Akin Akingbala had reportedly been on the Olympiacos radar, but SLUC Nancy is apparently not interested in letting loose the point guard as yet. Boykins actually spent the 2008-09 season in Europe, playing for Virtus Bologna.

Meanwhile, it’s no secret that the Reds would like to add a center, “thanks” to the Lazaros Papadopoulos injury. NBA free-agent Mbenga might be an ideal solution, as apparently underwhelming interest exists ‘Stateside, even at the league-minimum salary rate. The Los Angeles Clippers recently held a workout with D.J., though with Solomon Jones now signed, Mbenga probably won’t be moving to Lob City soon.

Though Kerusch’s jam gave the underdog visitors a 44-43 lead going into halftime, the Euroleague side eked out the 71-70 victory to put the Reds at 6-1 atop the EƩAKE table. With the loss, Aris is just 1½ games above last-place Maroussi BC at 1-5.

Moment of gravity-defying glory runs below.

…which has more than once become stuff like what’s at about 5:10 into this video…

…but PAO coach Zeljko Obradovic is urging some restraint for this particular match.

Obradovic was quoted over at the official EΣAKE website as stating, “Once again, I would ask Panathinaikos [fans] to keep calm and come to the arena to help the team … in a purely sporting atmosphere without problems. This is most important.” We’ll see.

Panathinaikos is currently two points behind their rivals in the EΣAKE standings, though they’re 3-0 in Greek league play thus far. Olympiacos is a perfect 4-0, in perfect contrast to the Reds’ disappointing 2-3 Euroleague performance.

And speaking of Euroleague, Obradovic wants to make clear that the defending champions’ recent shocking 79-76 loss to Brose Baskets Bamberg is irrelevant to tonight’s match: “We know that we’re coming off a defeat in the Euroleague, but the struggles with Bamberg has nothing whatsoever to do with [the] game against Olympiakos. It’s a totally different situation, a completely different match.”

Team Lithuania’s Sarunas Jasikevicius, who knows a few things about wacky (if not quite so aggressive) fandom, added that “These games are amazing. Especially when you’re playing [at home], in your own world.”

Joanna Barnes, currently playing with the PAOK Women’s team, blew off some steam in that favorite 21st-century virtual venting arena, Twitter. Tweeted Barnes this morning:

A part of me wants to say F bball, b/c of the under payment & the b/s the put you through for it. #frustrated

BallinEurope figures not too much should be made out of one tweet whipped off on a Saturday, but this seems something of a departure from the optimistic, mission-driven picture Barnes painted on her Facebook fan page last November: “Thank you for supporting me and my page. I am continuing to work hard because this is a dream of mine I always had. People doubted that I could make it overseas, people doubted that I would be any good in college, and people did not see me being ‘as good’ in high school. I plan to continue to live life for me and prevail in this game because this is my drive. All those doubters are being proved wrong every day and I don’t do it to prove them wrong, but it sure feels good along the way.”

Barnes has amassed quite an interesting run in basketball thus far and likely will have a career path to follow after she does walk away from the game. After starring for her Washington, D.C. high school team, Barnes attended Fresno State for a year before going on to a leading role with the American University team and compiling honors and accolades.

Post-graduation, Barnes didn’t play the game on any level while studying physical therapy instead. In 2007, she decided to make a comeback, starting by averaging a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds in Estonia. After a year in Switzerland, Barnes was OOB (out of basketball) for 2009-10 but returned in 2010-11 for a turn in Cyprus. Her play there earned her a shot with PAOK for this season.

While Barnes isn’t quite the stat machine she was in other countries (She averaged 25 points, nine rebounds and five assists per game in Switzerland? Whoa), her 10.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game in Greek league play seem respectable. And she’s one of six PAOK players getting 32 minutes or more of court time per game.

BiE for one is hoping things work out for Barnes. As for the money thing, well, it *is* Greece in 2011…

“These days, our country is passing through difficult times, but basketball could be an exception. We can all offer a nice show and decent product to our fans,” stated Stavropoulos, adding the proviso that such can only be accomplished “if the rules are applied to all.”

Without actually naming the target of his allegations, Stavropoulos publicly mused, “I wonder how an entire year passes [for a team] without a league drug test. I wonder how they spent an entire season without the decisions of sports bodies announced. And I hope this year is different.”

Wow, if only he’d gotten a tad more agitated, Greece might’ve had a good old-fashioned American-style sports figure meltdown.

The league’s official website naturally glommed over the comments and it appears no official word on Stavropoulos’ vitriol will be forthcoming from Panathinaikos, leaving observers to draw their own conclusions. Here’s what’s sure to become a common one from BallinEurope reader Nikos: “I guess it would explain why [Dimitris] Diamantidis suddenly started refusing to play for the Greek national team anymore. He has to face no doping control with Panathinaikos, but with the Greek national team he would…”

Olympiacos will host Panathinaikos meet for their annual derby game in week five of the season at Olympiacos. Per league penalty, the game will be played in front of empty stands.

From Sport.gr, we learn that: “Olympiacos’ start definitely left [head coach] Dusan Ivkovic satisfied, as the Reds were strong on defense and on the attack found solutions both outside (mainly by Martynas Gecevicius) and in the paint (Lazaros Papadopoulos). This was how the Reds got off to a 18-10 against Anadolu Efes, though Efes recovered and managed to take the lead at the end of the first quarter at 24-23.

“The duo of Ersan Ilyasova and Tarence Kinsey created many problems for Olympiacos, which was bad in the second period. An impaired defense and a predictable attack team lost control of the match for Olympiacos, who made just nine points in 10 minutes and to go down at halftime, 47-32.

“The offense improved in the third quarter for Olympiacos, but the defense still showed many problems; Efes had found a rhythm and kept the lead in double-figures, closing the third quarter up 72-49.

“The winner was clear from early on and Olympiacos just wanted to save face, but even this they failed to do. Efes took the victory, 87-62, in this inaugural tournament while Olympiacos was taught a lesson that may be useful when we Euroleague play begins.

“Anadolu Efes 87-Olympiacos 62: 24-23, 47-32, 72-49, 87-62

“Efes Pilsen: Balbay 2, Ilievski 3 (1), Kinsey 18, Tunceri 5 (1), Akyol 8 (2), Batista 6, Vujacic 7 (2), Savanovic 10 (2), Ilyasova 11 (1), Kung 6, Guler 7 (1), Barac 4.

“Olympiacos: Hines 11, Lucas 3, Antic 8 (1), Spanoulis 3 (1), Howard 7 (1), Smith 4, Gecevicius 9 (3), Glyniadakis 6, Printezis 6, Papanikolaou 0, Sloukas 5 (1), Katsivelis 0.”

The Two Nations Cup is an event – or rather, pair of events – which pits top clubs from Greece and Turkey in basketball and rowing (!) tournaments; the latter event will be held on October 23, for those of you into that sort of thing. The competition was organized under a mission to “bring together Turkish and Greek sportsmen at club and national team level [to] cover different sports branches. Said brand, owing to the uniting power of sports and its represented common values, as well as its sports mission, will serve to strengthen the friendship bonds between the two countries. It will be an environment where the prime principles of ‘Olympism’ are addressed with care.”

Come on! While the BallinEurope prognosticators took something of a hit in the comments section here beginning a few nanoseconds after Vlado Ilievski’s game-winner, few truly had this one pegged. Team Russia coach David Blatt kinda sorta probably wasn’t surprised, but even the mystical crustacean Lazdeika had Lithuania to win last night.

And hey, note that right here at BallinEurope it was guessed that “this game comes down to turnovers; FYR Macedonia needs to hang close throughout and exploit the three or four opportunities they get.”

(Incidentally, Macedonia won the turnover battle, 14-8.)

So BallinEurope plods forth with another two sets of official Fearless Predictions™ for tonight’s France-Greece and Serbia-Russia games. BiE’s man in the U.K. Sam Chadwick joins in on the fun in forecasting the matches again and, as yesterday, neither writer read the other’s opinion before posting.

Also provided strictly for the reader’s edification are some lines from the sportsbook, in this case Sporting Bet. As BiE previously stated, whether gambler or no, it pays for the fan to know the bookie’s stand; after all, these guys have the most to lose financially if they get it wrong. (But they cleaned up a bit last night, eh?)

And a few more YouTube clips…

• France (7-1) vs. Greece (6-2)
Os says: It’s not quite a rematch of their 2009 EuroBasket Group E game – Greece is bringing exactly half that roster into this game, while Team France returns eight from ’09 – but these two sides are playing up the rivalry aspects of the matchup.

What should be played up is how much losing the rebound battle will hurt France; if France has an Achilles’ heel in this tournament it’s here. Bottom of the table statistically among remaining team, Les Bleus are fated to be outboarded by the bigger, stronger Team Hellas. As awesome as Joakim Noah has been at 8.0 rpg (including 2.6 offensive), he can’t do it all against Antonis Fotsis and his guys.

From the other angle, France would appear to have a huge advantage up top, with Nick Calathes looking to contain Tony Parker. BiE’s hedging that the Spur goes for his biggest game of the tournament yet; he may have to go for 30 to keep his side in the game.

Finally, here’s a bonus Fearless Prediction™ free of charge: Crazy as it feels, the X- (and probably even deciding) factor in this game will be Boris Diaw. The on-again/off-again play that has dogged Diaw since the beginning of his career has been in full evidence in EuroBasket 2011 – and it’s not just a question of providing the Bobcat with scoring opportunities, because Parker et al do, as Diaw is getting off over seven shots per game.

But take a look at his scoring lines: 14, 6, 2, 21, 15, 3, 4, 5. Better yet, here are his shooting percentages: 7/10, 3/7, 1/6, 7/9, 6/10, 0/5, 1/8, 1/4. That’s right, 2-of-17 over the last three games, against the likes of Turkey, Lithuania and Spain.

As for specific instances of previous play against Team Greece, Diaw’s been shaky: unimpressive on EuroBasket 2005 opening day with just six points and two rebounds; a respectable 6-of-13, 14-point, four-rebound performance in a Greek victory on the way to the title in the ’05 quarterfinals; and a total disappearing act of 0-of-2, zero points, five turnovers and one rebound in 19 minutes in 2009 as France managed to top the Greeks despite him.

It’s a good thing that Diaw has steadily contributed four to five rebounds per game in the tournament despite his playing time: BiE believes France will need it. But here’s to thinking they’ll need key shots from their captain in the second half in this one. Fearless Prediction™: Diaw does okay, France squeaks out the 80-79 win.

Sam says: France rested its stars against Spain and got dominated; hopefully that rest was enough for Parker and Noah to be back to full heath for this matchup with the Greeks. On the other hand, Team Greece have steadily been improving for this whole tournament and will look to reclaim their place among Europe’s basketball elite. Prediction: France take the win.

Sportsbook says: France (3/10 to win outright) gets a handicap of minus-7.5 against 5/2 underdogs Greece. The over/under line for the game is 138.5 points, thereby implying a final prediction a 73-65 or 73-66 French victory.

• Russia (8-0) vs. Serbia (5-3)
Os says: The day before the FYR Macedonia Miracle, this matchup was forecasted as the most closely-contested of the four quarterfinal games. Make no mistake, however: This should be a dandy.

Russia escaped Group F undefeated thanks to the last-second three by Sergey Monya, the second close call the team has survived to this point. Though most all observers reckoned Russia would sweep the floor with FYR Macedonia, well, by now everyone knows who the gods’ favorite team is in this EuroBasket. BiE’s been blowing Russia’s horn since day one of this tourney, so the praise will be kept short here; however, it should be said (written?) that the eked-out victory, a couple games after the one-point win over Slovenia, demonstrated again that Russia’s crazy-good defense is backed with a spine strong enough to survive the pressure of crunch time.

So what does Serbia bring to the table? In this opinion, Greek fans need to be a bit concerned about their team’s recent play, entering Group F with a loss and chasing this with two more consecutive Ls and a sloppy win over Turkey in which Greece nearly handed the game over in the second half. Despite putting up 90 or more, Greece managed to get outgunned by the quicker, more “athletic” France and Lithuania; Spain tromped them, while fatigue was a disturbing factor in the FYR Macedonia game.

Speaking completely empirically/subjectively, no one outside of Milos Teodosic has looked good for Team Serbia as of late, and nothing but the extra time for Dusan Ivkovic to cook up a gameplan suggests that will change here. Fearless Prediction™: This one’s for you, Konj: Russia 67, Serbia 59.

Sam says: This is another game I’m looking forward to; the Russians and Serbs have had a long rivalry and we’re all looking for that to continue, as no matter who wins, the loser will be out for revenge the next time these two teams meet. AK-47 has been solid this entire tournament for the Russians, but Nenad Kristic has been adding his own solid play for the Serbians … The good news is that I don’t think this is going to turn into a battle between just those two, with the solid play of Timofey Mozgov at centre and Victor Khryapa constantly finding the open man for the Russians, helping them go undefeated so far. The Serbians, on the other hand, recently lost to Spain by 25 but are nonetheless buoyed by the steady play of Milos Teodosic. Prediction: I see no upset here; Russia take it rather convincingly.

Sportsbook says: Russia (3/4) is a two-point favorite over Serbia (11/10). With an over/under of 140.5, that makes a final predicted score of Russia 71, Serbia 69.

And in the placement game, Os says Lithuania bounces back to top Slovenia, 70-60.

To kick off the week, the Greek players’ union PSAK formally announced what has been rumored through this season and in seasons past: Namely, that most EΣAKE clubs are delinquent in payment.

In a stark post on the union’s official website Monday, PSAK representatives showed the results of “an investigation conducted by members of our association.” The numbers are indeed staggering.

Exactly half of last season’s top-division clubs owe 50% or more in back salaries to players. The chief offenders are, not surprisingly, the just-relegated AEK and, a bit shockingly, 2011-12 Euroleague qualifying-round squad PAOK. The only clubs managing to balance their payroll for 2010-11 are Greek league/Euroleague champion Panathinaikos and SA Icarus Kallithea.

Best of the worst in the first division were Ilysiakos, with seven of 10 months’ worth of back salaries paid; Panionios Athens and Maroussi BC at 6½; Aris and Olympiacos, six. One can only imagine what will become of the latter’s players’ pay with the big-money management having just cleared off…

PSAK noted, however, that all foreign players on top-division clubs have been paid in full for 2010-11.

In Greece’s A2, no team has paid its domestic players in full and nine of 14 clubs owe at least 50% of wages for the past season. And in the lowest-tier B division … well, you get the idea.

BiE will now ponder the long-term ramifications of this for Greek professional basketball, another problem this country’s league and federation really don’t need.

In their (apparently philanthropic) run with the Reds going back to 2004, the pair have become known as running one of the freest spending operations in Europe – yet never won a Euroleague or EΣAKE title, while rival Panathinaikos amassed a combined 10 such championships during that time span. Today, the team is rumored to be in the poor financial shape currently plaguing more than a few European clubs – though in a bigger way, for sure.

In a scathing statement announcing their decision, the Angelopoulos Brothers touted their own accomplishments and the good Olympiacos had achieved by adding a whopping $50 million to government coffers. And then the positive was no longer accentuated…

The brothers went on to decry “behind-the-door mechanisms,” “unethical attacks” and, that oft-used allegation of Greek basketball, referee corruption. “Once again this year the decisions of the referees and the usual manipulations determined the champion,” stated they.

(One wonders what exactly EΣAKE officials and team owners would have to gain by rigging the championship into the same team’s favor for *nine straight seasons*. Could it be that, in the 2011 championship series, rampant whistle-blowing in game two aside, Panathinaikos generally spread the offense around better and dominated the Reds’ D in the halfcourt game?)

The official statement from Giorgios and Panagiotis Angelopoulos, courtesy Eurobasket.com, runs below.

“We got involved in Olympiakos S.F.P. Pireus BC exclusively out of love for the club and for basketball. We never sought any business profit, publicity or other benefit whatsoever. In 2004, we decided to financially support Olympiakos S.F.P. Pireus without any return or guarantees. In the summer of 2006, we took over the management and in July 2009 we acquired the shares of Olympiakos S.F.P. Pireus BC.

“During these years many things have happened that we are proud of:

“- Olympiakos S.F.P. Pireus regained its credibility in the basketball world, nationally and internationally.

“- We invested in top notch players and first rank coaches; thus, after many years, the team became highly competitive and is generally accepted as ranking amongst the best European clubs.

“- The team participated, after many years, in two consecutive Euroleague Final Four and, after 13 years, in the final of the 2010 competition. It scored a record number of wins in the Greek league twice (2009 and 2011) – it actually came through undefeated in this year’s regular season – and won two Greek Cups.

“- Olympiakos S.F.P. Pireus BC paid to the state a total amount of approximately $50 million in taxes alone; we wonder if there is any other team which has paid any such amount of money [to the federal tax collection agency] in the last 20 years…

“All these years we chose and consistently followed a specific path, very different from the one of our opponents.

“- It is our conscious decision not to be involved in any way whatsoever in behind-the-door mechanisms controlling and influencing circumstances, teams and championships. We did not want to do it and did not do it. As far as we are concerned, any success which is the result of manipulations and referee favoritism is not real success. End of story.

“- It is our conscious decision to communicate with basketball authorities (the state, the Hellenic Basketball Federation/EOK, the central refereeing committee/KED, the Hellenic Basketball League/EΣAKE) directly, openly under our name and through official channels only.

“- It is our conscious decision to reject the model of creating, financing and supporting team-associated press or influencing any media; instead our interaction with journalists has remained at a strictly professional level without commitments and dependencies.

“- It is our conscious decision our relations with the fans of Olympiakos S.F.P. Pireus to remain healthy and in a context of mutual respect.

“- It is our conscious decision to do everything in our powers in an effort to contribute to the quashing of violence, wherever its origin. This year, we, with the support of our fans, succeeded.

“Once again this year the decisions of the referees and the usual manipulations determined the champion. One does not even know where to start or end when it comes to the Greek refereeing establishment…

“Not only those who have repeatedly and flagrantly wronged Olympiakos S.F.P. Pireus have never been punished, but are on the contrary rewarded and provocatively promoted. It is no wonder that they have become audacious to such incredible levels as the world record of 18 versus 2 free throws during the second period of the second game in the finals at a point when Olympiakos S.F.P. Pireus had a 10-point lead!

“The last game of this year’s finals has taken place under conditions which should not have even allowed it to start in the first place: inadequate security measures, thousands of fans entering illegally without ticket, security zones violated, masked persons and henchmen presented behind the team benches and the officials desk in full TV-broadcasted view under the tolerance of the police, and as a highlight, the unmanly and unprecedented criminal attack against the players and coaches of our team.

“We are not going to shift our responsibilities to anybody. We have never done so and we are not going to do so now. [Along the way] we have certainly made mistakes. We have been criticized many times. Criticism made in good faith, even harsh, has never disturbed us. With regard to unethical attacks, the only way available is to resort to justice.

“This is our philosophy, what dictates our actions. We are proud that throughout the years that Olympiakos S.F.P. Pireus was under our leadership we have never forfeited our values.

“[Along the way] we have demanded the self-evidence, namely legality, equal treatment and transparency. We intervened and protested in public and made specific proposals.

“During all these years we fought off a system that reacts tenaciously and undermines persistently our efforts to achieve what our team and fans deserve.

“Taking into account all the above and having exhausted all options which are consistent with morality, legal order and common sense, feeling disgusted, we step out, heavy-heartedly, from our team, Olympiakos S.F.P. Pireus, and Greek basketball.

“We would like to thank all those that during all these years believed in us, supported us and fought with us.”