First, to set the table a bit for the thriller-capping final bucket in this week’s Eurocup match between the visiting Italian side and Lokomotiv Kuban: Benetton had trailed throughout the Group L matchup before finally putting together a 14-1 run to close out the third quarter and enter the final ten minutes up 55-53.

After some nip-and-tuck, Benetton found itself with a two-point deficit with 3.4 seconds remaining on the game clock. Taking the ball out of bounds after a timeout, Sani Becirovic appeared to have been ordered to look for a game-winning shot opportunity. (Gutsy call by coach Aleksandar Djordjevic; while common wisdom says to play for the win on the road, still. Gutsy.)

With 19 points already to his credit, Thomas broke free from his defender thanks to beautiful pick by Benjamin Ortner and found an open spot on the left side beyond the arc. Though Ali Traore came over to defend Thomas, well, just recall that old basketball axiom about never leaving your feet too soon…

Best of all for Thomas’ side, the clutch shot and subsequent W put Benetton into a tie with the Lokomotiv for group supremacy with three games to go in the Last 16 round.

General managers of European powerhouses tend to distrust American players out of university, as their teams cannot afford to await the player’s adaptation to a system that’s all about team execution. This is why even young talented players with prestigious college résumés may have to start professionally in the provinces of Europe.

A big Carmelo Anthony fan, former Hoya Austin Freeman is a powerful 6’3” (190.5 cm) guard with a wide shooting range: “I think I’m more like a Joe Johnson type of player, but I like watching many players and try to take a little something out of them.” Last season, his senior year as a Hoya, Freeman scored 17.6 points per game and joined Kemba Walker in the backcourt of the All Big East First Team.

Freeman confesses he landed in the Italian second division with little knowledge of European basketball. “I didn’t know too much, just that some rules were a little different. I knew a couple of guys from my area who told me they were doing well. You know David Hawkins? He played here in Italy before and told me I would do fine.”

The Hawk, current captain of Beşiktaş Milangaz, was right and Austin began doing what he’s always done: pouring in points and making big shots. See below for video from his debut in Italy, when he introduced himself by dropping 38 points.

He acknowledges some differences with the basketball he was used to: “Most players here have a lot of skills, they’re very talented. The big men can shoot really well; they can put the ball on the floor. The game is also more physical here.

“Plus, here it’s much more about team game: In America, we have a lot of isolation – players do their own thing most of the time. Here you have to be able to execute both on the offensive end and the defensive end.”

But Freeman doesn’t want to make much of an issue out of his status as a rookie in a European basketball. After all, there are many instances that remind him of college. Fans “are not so different, I mean not so different from American college fans. Just a little bit more excited and involved with everything.”

Freeman's hand gesture has inspired a T-shirt

Forli’ is a small city in the northeast of Italy. There is only one McDonalds in town and rumors say many of Fulgor Libertas’ former American players are distinguished members of the Hall of Fame of hamburger-consumers there.

“Naaah, I’m not like that!” Freeman chuckles. “I found a couple of good Italian restaurants I go to on a regular basis when I have practice. I like going there with the guys, too.”

Currently the third-highest scorer in the league at 22.4 points per game, Freeman has drawn the attention of several first-division teams from Italy and Greece. Forli’ is not willing to let him go during the 2011-12, and will surely struggle to re-sign him with such suitors.

When we mention the word “future,” Freeman chuckles, presuming the same old lame question on NBA dreaming is forthcoming. We try not to mention the three magic letters explicitly, instead asking: Are you going to the next summer league?

“Yeah, that’s the plan. Once the season is over, I’m going back home [and] take a couple of weeks off to get ready for it.”

All right then, some hypothetical thinking, then. Next summer, there are two deals on the table: One is a guaranteed contract offered by a top European team; the other is a non-guaranteed temporary contract from an NBA team. Say a 15-day contract. What would Freeman go for?

“If it’s a 15-day contract, I’m coming back here to Europe! If it’s a 15 day contract…”

Enrico Cellini is lifelong basketball fanatic and a long-time sportswriter with a focus on Italy and Spain. He was born among European hoops, was raised watching the NBA, and thinks choosing between American and European basketball is like choosing between one’s mother and father. You can follow him on Twitter or check out his Italian-language blog Hoop Addicted.

The first half of Serie A season is over and the table is set for a little appetizer to the final playoffs. In Turin, from February 16th to 19th, the top eight teams of the 2011-12 season’s first half will play each other in elimination games to conquer the Coppa Italia, the second-most important national trophy and litmus paper of each team’s ambitions.

The teams and matchups are as follows.

Montepaschi Siena (1) vs Banco di Sardegna Sassari (8)
EA7 Milano (4) vs Canadian Solar Bologna (5)
Scavolini Siviglia Pesaro (2) vs Umana Venezia (7)
Bennet Cantù (3) vs Sidigas Avellino (6)

Will this be an opportunity for Montepaschi Siena to reassert its dominance after a few unexpected losses or a chance for rampant new challengers to prepare for an assault on the throne?

Looking at the low end of the brackets first, Scavolini Siviglia Pesaro and Bennet Cantù look like the best-equipped teams to make it to the final, with a slight advantage for Cantù. Since the unpleasant episode of the pig’s head, Pesaro has won four consecutive games and looks like the team in the best physical and mental shape.

Cantù recently added the undersized-but-energetic center Greg Brunner and has a long and experienced rotation to oppose to the talented-yet-inconsistent Avellino firstly and then the energetic young Pesaro team.

Siena presumably won’t have too many problems in getting rid of the Cinderella team Sassari but will certainly face a hard nut to crack in the semifinal against the winner of the most balanced matchup of the cup, EA7 Milan vs Canadian Solar Bologna.

After Terrell McIntyre’s abrupt retirement due to chronic hip problems, Bologna point guard Giuseppe Poeta stepped up together with big man Angelo Gigli, quickly becoming the best pick-and-roll duo of the league. Milan, on the other hand, is still struggling to find a fluid game and consistency in results, despite the recent tab of the best Italian prospect Alessandro Gentile. If Coach Scariolo doesn’t fix things before mid-February, Bologna will get the ticket to the semifinal.

Anyway, even though both teams defeated Siena on their home courts this season, Montepaschi’s solid and experienced system makes the club appear more of a more reliable bet.

So, nothing but history repeating? A rerun of last year’s Siena vs Cantù final and a fourth consecutive Coppa Italia for Coach Pianigiani? Lame, yeah. But likely.

Siena has a number of inflammable players who can easily get in the zone and win a game pretty much on their own, like former Euroleague scoring-champ Igor Rakocevic; Bo McCalebb, the most dominant point guard; and young gun Pietro Aradori. In addition to this, Pianigiani can count on a solid core of experienced veterans (Shaun Stonerook above all, but also newcomers like David Andersen and Bootsy Thornton) able to provide the extra killer instinct needed on special occasions.

With such an uneven combination of talent and experience compared to their opponents, it’s hard to bet against Montepaschi in Coppa Italia’s Final 8. However, in America as well as in Europe, the golden rule in elimination-game events is always “Never underestimate the hunger of an underdog.”

And compared to Siena, any team in this tournament is an underdog.

Enrico Cellini is lifelong basketball fanatic and a long-time sportswriter with a focus on Italy and Spain. He was born among European hoops, was raised watching the NBA, and thinks choosing between American and European basketball is like choosing between one’s mother and father. You can follow him on Twitter or check out his Italian-language blog Hoop Addicted.

On January 2, Scavolini Siviglia Pesaro (then 6-6 in Italy) was supposed to be fully focused on preparing for the toughest match of the season, i.e. the Serie A game against almighty juggernaut and five-time repeat champions Montepaschi Siena. Nobody could have ever expected that the greatest challenge for the team would come from outside the court.

On the morning of the game, Pesaro officials informed media that head of a pig had been left in front of Scavolini Pesaro basketball operations offices by an indignant anonymous fan or group of fans (or rather, more appropriately, “fanatic” or “fanatics”).

Pesaro head coach Luca Dalmonte must have wished his only problems were about dismantling Siena’s pick-and-roll or Bo McCalebb’s ferocious athleticism. Instead, Dalmonte also found himself dealing with an intimidating message accompanying the disembodied head: “The next one will be for Dalmonte.”

(Nevertheless, as Gazzetta dello Sport speculated, the most likely designated recipient of the macabre delivery was Pesaro general manager Mauro Montini, who had previously criticized his team’s fans after the victory against Varese.)

Pesaro is one of the historical venues of Italian basketball, with a long history of passion and prestige. Nowadays, the club can count on a young and dynamic team including former USC/current Team Italy point guard Daniel Hackett, former Philadelphia 76er Jumaine Jones, and high-flying forward James White, but big-time ambitions are not realistic. After the act of intimidation, players and coach stuck together and responded in they only way that could possibly fix the situation.

Remember the game at Siena? Despite running with a seven-man rotation, Pesaro played solidly, had all five starters scoring in double figures and took the upset win by three points on one of the most hostile courts in all of Europe.

Five days later, Pesaro hosted top team Virtus Bologna (you know, the guys who tried to hire Kobe Bryant). Led by Richard Hickman, Pesaro provided a great display for its home fans in shooting 55% from inside, 52% on threes, and bringing home a second consecutive win.

In the meantime, directly after the Siena game, the anonymous fan(s) sent an email to the website Pesaro Sport to clarify the nature of the gesture, calling it nothing but a joke born from an “innocent crack made among friends.”

According to the email, the clear proof of this “would be the signature of the message sent to Dalmonte.”

The fan(s) inform that the accompanying letter was signed by the name of former Pesaro coach Stefano Pillastrini and was not entirely publicized after the incident. In an undisclosed part, right after “the next one will be for Dalmonte,” the fan(s) claim they made the fake Pillastrini say, “I have eaten the rest of the pig” in a jab at the coach’s chubby build.

In the email, there is no sign of apology: Notwithstanding feeling “extremely surprised” and “terribly sorry for the spin that this thing has taken” in the media, the prank was explained to be a “goliardic joke” that became greatly exaggerated.

While striving to minimize the scale of the issue in the media, the Scavolini Siviglia Pesaro organization has taken the threat very seriously and has informed the authorities.

Enrico Cellini is lifelong basketball fanatic and a long-time sportswriter with a focus on Italy and Spain. He was born among European hoops, was raised watching the NBA, and thinks choosing between American and European basketball is like choosing between one’s mother and father. You can follow him on Twitter or check out his Italian-language blog Hoop Addicted.

According to Il ‘Blog, the Raptors have advanced an offer of Andrea Bargnani and Jose Calderon to the Lakers for Pau Gasol and Derek Fisher. Supposedly, the San Antonio Spurs are also interested in making a deal for Gasol, which would be quite the bizarre transaction, indeed. (Who comes to L.A.? Tony Parker?)

The story quotes no less than John Hollinger of ESPN.com as having confirmed this rumor, but without linkage.

Update: BiE wishes a big “thank you” to Mr. Hollinger, who dropped us an email this morning (CET time) on this subject. Not surprisingly, Hollinger had nothing to do with the unsubstantiated rumor, explaining that “I have no connection at all to this Toronto-Pau stuff. There was a commenter fraudulently posting with my name and [another website] decided this made it valid. Please stop attributing this nonsense to me.”

Guess Pau ain’t going anywhere. For the time being.

In an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, Danilo Gallinari goes through his lifestyle in Denver: “I want to live downtown – I’m looking for a house.” Regarding food, a crucial issue for every Italian abroad, he says, “I have been doing some ‘scouting’: I found a couple of pretty good restaurants. One is downtown and is managed by an Italian guy. The other one is in Cherry Creek, a neighborhood full of shops and fun places. It’s the closest thing you can get to Corso Como,” recalling a commercial street in the center of Milan, very close to where he was living during his term with Euroleague club Emporio Armani Milano.

The comparison with the more glamorous Milan and New York to Denver comes inevitably. “Yeah, I’m feeling the difference,” says Gallinari. “We are in the provinces here. I need to get used to it. They send you to bed earlier – which is positive – and there is less temptation. Women are less aggressive, you might need to fall in love,” he jokes.

Talking about basketball, Gallinari comments the intensive calendar of the post-lockout NBA season: “A Nuggets fan asked me the other day, ‘How are we supposed to watch one game after another?’ He’s right. We’re one those teams that will play three games in three days: on December 31st in L.A. against the Lakers, January 1st at home against the Lakers again and January 2nd in Milwaukee. It’s crazy!”

On the end of the lockout, Gallinari says, “I’m happy to start playing again but not happy about other things. We the players have made some mistakes during the lockout and lost a lot of money. It’s not the best deal for us” and he reckons that “David Stern has never missed a trick since when he’s been the head of the NBA.”

Gallinari is resolute to become a leader of the new Nuggets, stating that “Coach [George] Karl believes in me, he wants me to become a fundamental player for the team. We lost some key players, and our GM will need to work at night to build a credible team. But I’m not worried, the Nuggets have made it to the playoffs each of the past eight years. The project is good, and the important thing for me is playing.”

Enrico Cellini is lifelong basketball fanatic and a long-time sportswriter with a focus on Italy and Spain. He was born among European hoops, was raised watching the NBA, and thinks choosing between American and European basketball is like choosing between one’s mother and father. You can follow him on Twitter or check out his Italian-language blog Hoop Addicted.

To wit: Yesterday, the Lietuvos Rytas website ran a report stating that Milovan Rakovic could be heading back from loan to his contracted club Montepaschi Siena in January. Siena would naturally like to bolster up in the middle for a deep run into the Euroleague playoffs in lieu of the injured Ksistof Lavrinovic.

Žalgiris’ prospects for advancement aren’t exactly dim, but they’re currently mired at the bottom of Group B, in a three-way tie with Brose Baskets Bamberg and KK Zagreb at 2-5. Losses vs. Panathinaikos tonight and Bamberg next week would certainly doom the Greens to elimination; even a 2-1 finish by the Lithuanian side might not be enough.

In 49 Euroleague and Italian league games with MPS last season, Rakovic was good for a steady 8.0 points and 3.8 rebounds per outing.

Seemingly a logical move for all parties concerned, perhaps, but Massalski also claims that he has yet to be contacted by Montepaschi Siena officials.

Regardless, if Žalgiris does indeed drop the next two games, Vladimir Romanov will surely have canned Aleksandar Trifunovic by Christmas. Come New Year’s Day, BiE believes Massalski’s mind will surely be elsewhere as he’s out coach-poaching again. Or managing the team himself…

(By the way, did you know that Rakovic has a tattoo of a St. Petersburg scene?

Coming to America

Messina began his career in Italy but then started “to feel uneasy” with his native basketball environment. “Moscow was the place where I felt the best,” he explains. In Russia, we won championships on the road, celebrated on the court with rival fans applauding us. In Italy, this would be inconceivable. In Spain, they are passionate, too, but for sure there is not the acrimony we have in Italy.”

Though, even Spain was tough sometimes to digest: “I wasn’t happy with basketball matters and I felt like a stranger. I was bothered by the fact that when we won, I was Ettore Messina. When we lost, I was ‘the Italian’.”

On the NBA, Messina’s future home: “I am curious and worried. Curious to experience the day-to-day life of the NBA, to coach great players. Worried because I hope I get accepted by others. I hope I’m ready – we’re finally getting started.”

Enrico Cellini is lifelong basketball fanatic and a long-time sportswriter with a focus on Italy and Spain. He was born among European hoops, was raised watching the NBA, and thinks choosing between American and European basketball is like choosing between one’s mother and father. You can follow him on Twitter or check out his Italian-language blog Hoop Addicted.

Still pining...

According to Corriere della Sport via Sportando, Sabatini still can’t get the L.A. Laker off his mind. Runs the quote: “We had the agreement, there was just a little detail left. He was supposed to arrive yesterday, play today and leave tomorrow. Three days, one game, but we would sell out Unipol Arena and make €1.5 million. Our first offer for Kobe was $800,000 for two months then we offered him around $3 million for four days.”

Well, BiE’s not too familiar with the $3 million offer but one wonders if Bryant himself was aware about an “agreement,” which, to be honest, was most probably purely in Sabatini’s fevered imagination.

And in an alternate universe, BiE is scheduling his evening around finding a satellite broadcast of Serie A games in Hungary…

Emporio Armani Milan knew that sooner or later it would have had to deal with the loss of NBA lockout refugee Danilo Gallinari, but no one expected this moment would take place in such troubled waters. The team has shown poor chemistry, losing four of its first six Euroleague games to compromise the chances of getting to the EL Top 16.

Even though Gallinari has not left yet, coach Sergio Scariolo’s team can waste no time in finding a valuable successor; according to several rumors, Milan is determined to replace him with the no. 1 Italian prospect Alessandro Gentile.

Gentile has just turned 19 but is already the third-best Italian scorer in Serie A, averaging 12.7 points per game: He’s a guard with outstanding technical skills and a solid body structure (200 cm, 103 kg). Despite his young age, he’s in his fourth season of professional basketball and was the first 18-year-old to ever score 20 points in a Serie A game. NBA draftniks widely believe Gentile will soon become Italy’s fourth NBA player.

What else? Oh yeah, he’s also the youngest son of Ferninando Gentile, one of the greatest Italian playmakers of all-time…

Benetton Treviso may be a tough nut to crack, though, as it currently risks losing three NBA exiles in Jeff Adrien, E’Twaun Moore and fan favorite Brian Scalabrine. The magazine Superbasket reports that Treviso requested a €400,000 buyout (Sportando later tweeted the figure as €500,000) plus Jeff Viggiano in exchange for Gentile, with Milan paying the remainder of Viggiano’s 2011-12 salary.

Enrico Cellini is lifelong basketball fanatic and a long-time sportswriter with a focus on Italy and Spain. He was born among European hoops, was raised watching the NBA, and thinks choosing between American and European basketball is like choosing between one’s mother and father. You can follow him on Twitter or check out his Italian-language blog Hoop Addicted.