BallinEurope, the European Basketball news site

Who would’ve thought this game would be significant in the EuroBasket 2011 tournament? Yet, here we are, less than 24 hours after Team Poland’s stunning upset of the big-bodied, NBA-stocked Turkey — not to mention a day after Great Britain’s first-ever major tournament win.

While Britain needs an outrageous 58-point margin of victory today (not to mention a Turkey loss later as well) to advance into the next round of the tourney, Poland merely needs a W. BiE thinks they’re good for it. But don’t take this word for it; follow along with BallinEurope live blogging from Panevezys below the break. Enjoy!

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All righty, then, time for today’s second of three live blogs, as Turkey prepares to take on Poland. The scenario: Spain and Lithuania have already clinched spots in the next round. To keep their chances alive, Poland must win out in the last two games while Turkey loses both … and that would be one heckuva shocker. Join us to see if it happens below the break, and enjoy the game!

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Right, so it’s not the most scintillating of games and will probably be irrelevant when the dust settles on EuroBasket Group A play, but we can say one exciting thing about Poland vs. Portugal: One of these two teams is guaranteed to notch their first win in the tournament.

Follow along with BallinEurope’s live blogging (if you dare) below the break. BiE would say “enjoy the game,” but if you’re watching this one, you must be a basketball fanatic or supporter and thus you’ll be assured to.

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All right, the home team hits the court again tonight in Panevezys, presumably in hopes of improving on a somewhat inconsistent opening game against Great Britain; with Spain and Turkey performing as expected to go 2-0, Team Lithuania will need a W to keep up.

Note for the game: Marijonas Petravicius will not be playing tonight due to an unspecified minor injury. Could this mean some time for prospective Toronto Raptor Jonas Valanciunas, who only saw four minutes of action last night…? Find out soon and follow the BallinEurope live blogging below the break. Enjoy!

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EuroBasket 2011 tips off in Panevezys with the Spain vs. Poland game. The defending champions are bringing years of experience in Euroleague and NBA stars — among them the Gasol Brothers, Juan Carlos Navarro, Ricky Rubio, Rudy Fernandez and Felipe Reyes — while relatively unheralded Team Poland hopes to compete without Marcin Gortat.

BallinEurope will be checking in to update on the action throughout the match, so click below the break, stay right here and refresh often! Happy Eurobasket, all!

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European basketball leagues and the NBA may be coming to a close for 2010-11, but there’s still plenty of hoops to keep up with – and even more online video clips for the watching! BallinEurope starts your Sunday with a dozen clips shot in the U.S., Greece, Spain, Israel and other locales. Enjoy today’s action (Olympiacos-Panathinaikos! ACB semifinals!) … after checking out BiE’s playlist, of course.

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OK, Ponitka was pretty good, too

Team USA won 92-80, though this score belies the fact that the outcome was never truly in doubt. After jumping out to an early lead, the Stars and Stripes held a double-digit lead for most of the game; a 7-0 World Team run reduced the deficit to eight points at just about midway through the third quarter, but this was a last gasp.

Rivers scored 20 and two of the four future Kentucky Wildcats – Anthony Davis and Michael Gilchrist – each added 16.

Sickest of the sick vis-à-vis this Team USA was the chemistry displayed by the squad in general but particularly by the Kentucky-bound foursome. Don’t believe BiE? Here’s a tiny sample, i.e. a sick Marquis Teague-to-Davis alley oop.

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Can it all be over so quickly? February Madness peaked this weekend in Europe, with several domestic cup tournaments being played out and celebrations aplenty. BallinEurope this morning provides a rundown of the action – and, naturally, video clips. Without further ado, then, let’s look in on the insanity.

• To no one’s surprise, Spanish superpowers FC Barcelona and Real Madrid indeed met in the Copa del Rey final with La Blaugrana overcoming their rivals playing on their home court, 68-60. Check out, as the league’s official website, says a collection of clips including “Alley oops terribles de [Boniface] N’Dong y [Fran] Vázquez, mate furioso de Clay Tucker, D’Or Fischer que pone el candado a su aro … ¡Mucha diversión en la Final!”

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In an exciting if somewhat obvious promotion, the mighty powers of Blake Griffin, YouTube and ESPN have combined forces to allow basketball fans the opportunity to design a Griffin jam in the All-Star Weekend dunk contest throwdown.

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Over at Real GM, they’re taking a bit of a detour from their NBA focus to present an interview with J.R. Giddens, guard with Asseco Prokom Gdynia and formerly of BiE alma mater University of New Mexico.

After an infamous bar fight in which he was stabbed, Giddens transferred from the University of Kansas to New Mexico, where he was the undisputed team stud in 2006-07 and 2007-08, playing over 30 and 32 minutes per game in the two seasons. Giddens was taken as the last pick of the first round in the 2008 NBA Draft, but couldn’t stick with the Boston Celtics. After spending time with the D-League Utah Flash, a cup of coffee with the New York Knicks in 2010 and finally with the Sacramento Kings’ summer league squad, Giddens’ (and Bobby Brown’s) agent had his client take a deal to play with Poland’s Euroleague club.

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