EuroLeague 2342
Randolph’s five minutes of fury
The opening 40 minutes of Lokomotiv Kuban’s win over Barcelona weren’t bad but those 5 minutes of overtime were pure beast mode from Anthoony Randolph, writes Emmet Ryan The Palau Blaugrana is hardly the most intimidating arena on the continent but it was in full voice as OT got under way in Game 4. A […]
Too many things happened tonight
Euroleague’s decision to schedule three playoff games within 30 minutes of each other was only the start of the madness on a wild Tuesday, writes Emmet Ryan In reverse order… Sasha Djordjevic is no longer coach of Panathinaikos Fenerbahce completed a sweep of Real Madrid Dimitris Diamantidis ended his career in pan European basketball Baskonia […]
The Basketball Champions League – FIBA’s brand of hard ball
After a lengthy absence, part three of BallinEurope’s look at the civil war in European basketball continues with analysis of what the Champions League actually means for the sport. For past coverage check out Emmet Ryan’s features on the problems with a closed shop Euroleague and the need for a strong Eurocup FIBA wants back […]
CSKA progress and leave every other question unanswered
CSKA completed the 3-0 sweep of Crvena Zvezda in front of a hot crowd at Kombank Arena but Emmet Ryan says we still don’t know what type of team is coming to Berlin There weren’t all that many surprises in this series. Pretty much everyone expected a CSKA sweep, likewise most folk expected at least […]
Bogdanovic shines as Fenerbahce turn Real into roadkill
This was one of those ‘oh I’m here’ moments from Bogdan Bogdanovic and it didn’t get lost amid the rout Fenerbahce inflicted on Real Madrid, writes Emmet Ryan It is not a stretch if you didn’t think Bogdan Bogdanovic was the best or most influential man in a Fenerbahce jersey tonight. There were plenty of […]
Fener’s lust to be more than winners
Fenerbahce’s win tonight over Real Madrid wasn’t just about going 1-0 up in their playoff series, it was about the Istanbul club showing that they are now the power and everyone else better show some respect Galway Bay is a damn good brewery and it’s just lost its head brewer. Chris Treanor is off to […]
Podcast: Talking Top 16 Round 8 with Phil Naessens
BiE’s Emmet Ryan joined The Phil Naessens show to talk about the big match-ups this week in the Euroleague Top 16. Emmet and Phil look at a resurgent Panathinaikos, the struggles of Olympiacos, and a win or bust game for Anadolu Efes along with much more on this week’s action. Listen to the full show […]
Is a resurgent Dorsey the difference for Barcelona?
Emmet Ryan was in the Palau Blaugrana last Friday to witness the truly triumphant return of Joey Dorsey to FC Barcelona For the first 4 minutes and 27 seconds it looked the same. FC Barcelona, the jumbled mess of a roster that was on the wrong side of the playoff places, looked indecisive and vulnerable. […]
Fighting Football is foolish aka why Eurocup is vital
In the second part of out longform series on the business of basketball, Emmet Ryan looks at the vital role a secondary competition such as Eurocup plays in the overall growth of basketball in Europe. Part one, on the Euroleague proposal for next season, is here Football is big and people with money know this […]
Closing off sense – Euroleague, Champions League, and market stagnation
In the first of a series of pieces looking at the business and marketing of European basketball, Emmet Ryan reacts to the news that Euroleague may fully close off entry to the new 16 team competition The civil war has been ugly. The fans have been left hanging by and large. Money talks, naturally, but […]
Doncic shines, Rivers reassures, but Madrid have Real worries
Luka Doncic more than held his own against CSKA Moscow in Round 2 of Euroleague but Real are clearly still far from fixed, writes Emmet Ryan There were upsides for Real Madrid in Moscow. KC Rivers looked like he had slotted right back into the role he left in the summer, picking his shots well […]
The streaky shape of a Final Four contender
They live and die off streaks but Efes need to find what they are if they are to make a legitimate Final Four push according to Emmet Ryan On paper this team is stacked. Heurtel, Saric, Granger, Diebler, Dunston, Tyus, Osman, are the type of names that belong on a Final Four roster. This side […]