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.
The final four teams in 
Congratulations go out this morning to Germany, Russia, Lithuania and – whoa, really? – Lebanon, for their bestowal of a “wild card” bid to the 2010 FIBA World Championship by the organization’s central board.
Those attending last Saturday’s match between Russian Superleague contenders BC Lokomotiv Kuban and Dynamo Moscow in Krasnodar Sports Arena got way more than they bargained for in both positive and negative fashion.
If you dig wagering on – or even contemplating wagering on – underdogs and longshots, 
Geez, we all knew the New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets were in trouble, but is the team really worth less than $2 (€1.36)?
In 2006, PBC Ural Great was crowned FIBA EuroCup Challenge champion and was a perennial contender in the Russian League. Just two post-seasons later, the club had worked its way into such a pile of debt that authorities “