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.

To wit, in 2011, we enjoyed:

• an exciting round of Euroleague playoffs which included FC Barcelona’s surprising tournament-round exit and culminated in storied franchise Panathinaikos bagging its third EL trophy in five years;

• in domestic leagues, another weird Bundesliga playoff tournament, another controversial Greek tourney, and from Italy and Spain second-place shockers Bennet Cantù and Bizkaia Bilbao Basket advancing;

• lots of European superstars battling it out in the NBA playoffs, particularly on the Western Conference side, with Tony Parker, Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng and of course Dirk Nowitzki proving so key to their teams’ successes (or lack thereof);

• the Eurobasket 2011 tournament hosted in the world’s basketball-maddest country which ultimately inspired Team Serbia coach Dusan Ivkovic to opine that “this has been the strongest European Championship in history…” (and, judging only from the star content alone, BiE would probably agree, despite a general loathing for such hyperbole directly after an event);

• some awesome schadenfreude-laced moments as NBA refugees came to play on the Continent during the player lockout, plus all the incredibly amusing speculation on names beginning with Kobe Bryant; and finally

• the close to the 2011-12 Euroleague regular season with a week 10 that featured some crazy dogfights for entry and positioning in the Top 16 round, including a great do-or-die game between Emporio Armani Milano and Partizan Belgrade.

Olympic Games or no, how can basketball year 2011 be topped? On the first day of the new year, BallinEurope takes a last brief look back at the most popular stories we ran in 2011. Relive one killer 365 days of European roundball once more below.

1. Eurobasket 2011 Power Rankings: First take. With nine days to go before Eurobasket 2011 tipped off, European basketball fans were clearly focused on the international tournament. While power rankings are not designed to predict the final outcome of a given competition, history shows that BiE’s first assessment was decent, at least up top. Three of BiE’s first four did eventually get through to the quarterfinals. Lithuania, Serbia and Greece were placed too high, Croatia was way too high. But note Finland in the top 16, though! And whereas your bracket surely had FYR Macedonia getting a 2012 Olympic bid, nine days before the tournament, the BallinEurope Power Rankings had them … (gulp) 23rd?

2. Top salaries in European basketball, 2011-12. Soon after Deron Williams signed up for a $5 million-or-so salary with Beşiktaş JK in July, the intrigue began along with fandom’s burgeoning panic about what David “El Jefe” Stern would later dub the NBA’s “Nuclear Winter.” The numbers posted on BallinEurope drew a much attention as we all speculated on just which European clubs might be able to afford who … ultimately nearly creating some strange bedfellows indeed.

3. Ron Artest to play in Finland. No, really. Actually, in reality, not. But today’s Metta World Peace isn’t really about reality, is he? No matter, #15 is one of the funner, funnier tweeters out there and for a short while we believed (or wanted to believe) in this madcap plan – and later that he’d be suiting up for the Cheshire Jets. How droll!

4. Highlights from Ty Lawson’s epic Twitter venting. What can be said about this that hasn’t already been tweeted? October 25, 2011, might have gone done as notable date in European basketball tweeting history if, you know, the collective consciousness regarding Twitter lasted longer than 24 hours or so. For two hours, Lawson tossed the 141-character ball back and forth with mostly Lithuanian fans. Despite having to deal with some of the shadier side of fandom, Tweeter Ty stayed honest, truthful and even pithy throughout.

5. Report: Deron Williams to Beşiktaş Cola Turka. BallinEurope was one of the first English-language sites to break this story: BiE’s luckiest break of 2011, perhaps. Unfortunately, the Zaza thing never worked out, but the results vis-à-vis D-Will’s performance there certainly were nice.

6. Yi gods! Jianlian throws it down over Barac, Croatia. Team China didn’t have much to celebrate vis-à-vis their participation in the London Invitational Tournament in August – even losing to theretofore winless Britain – but at least Yi made the highlight reel in his team’s 30-point blowout loss to Croatia.

7. Ricky Rubio: An object of faith. Let’s face it: Even the most ardent worshippers in the Church of Rubio noted that on the offensive end at very least, Ricky’s 2010-11 was not at all impressive. Seeing a downturn in essentially every statistical category, muttering from the US (with an epicenter in Minneapolis-St. Paul, where Minnesota Timberwolves fans were probably greater each other with “Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!” in lieu of “Hello”) wondered about Rubio’s lost jump shot – or if he’d even had one in the first place. He seemed to be improving on defense both in Euroleague and ACB play, but it didn’t take keen observation to note that the second place finisher for 2010 EL defensive MVP honors was nowhere near the finalists the following season.

In March, with FC Barcelona’s bouncing from the Euroleague’s elite eight round and Rubio’s ho-hum Eurobasket play still ahead, BiE wrote: “It’s as though Rubio becomes an object of faith, a representation of European basketball itself as the single most exciting product to come out of The Continent since at least Dirk Nowitzki. Can this wunderkind baffle with his ball-handling in America? To say ‘yes’ is to meet with derision and charges that the viewpoint’s holder underestimates one-on-one defense in the NBA; to say ‘no’ is seemingly to continue denying that top European players are among the tops on the planet.

Now? Heck, BiE wonders if maybe Rubio’s off-year was all about daydreaming of playing in the NBA the whole time. The Spaniard’s play for the Minnesota Timberwolves early on has exceeded expectations.

BiE’s closer on this piece went as follows: “Opinion: Rubio may be slightly overrated (representing a change from the traditional BiE stand, which was heavily involved in helping overrate him – though he did have a great season in 2009-10, gotta admit). On the other hand, perhaps he’s having an off year.

“BallinEurope will choose to believe the latter for now. And before the vitriol rises and the mad keyboard punching begins, BiE will paraphrase Soren Kierkegaard with the closer, “The existence of Rubio’s superhuman talent is founded in our minds not on the basis of logic or reason, but purely on faith.”

Good news, then, devotees, our faith would seem to be getting rewarded.

8. Highlights: Deron Williams in “all-star mode,” goes for 31 points in Eurochallenge win; Besiktas now 7-0. After drawing a bit of criticism for his early play with Beşiktaş, D-Will soon heated up, producing this eye-opening gem against Armia in mid-November. And by the time this guy was scoring 50 a week-and-a-half later, we were already taking performances like this one for granted.

9. Live blogging EuroBasket 2011: Turkey vs. Lithuania (a.k.a. the big match). After what were basically warmup matches for the home team, Team Lithuania finally got a true test in Eurobasket game three with Turkey the opposition. And wow, this game didn’t disappoint with awesome up-tempo play, a controversial flagrant foul call with less than 1½ minutes to play, and a packed house that brought the noise throughout.

10. Return of the Bulldog: Adam Morrison goes for 30 against Union Olimpija. Who knew Morrison was so popular? The former Gonzaga Bulldog became one of the feel-good stories of 2011 in the resurrection of his career with Red Star Belgrade. Folks back ‘Stateside truly began to sit up and take notice after this aggressive 12-of-18 barrage in Adriatic League play. After experiencing a slump in the last two games (going for a combined 3-of-16 overall shooting), Morrison’s Adriatic League averages for 2011 read 15.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per game.

11. Hey, who wouldn’t want to be like Dirk? Well, in 2011, who? And a happy 2012 to all!

• Big shot of the night, NBA-related or no, was certainly Mehmet Okur’s three-point dagger to give Turk Telekom the 83-81 win over Pinar Karsiyaka. Reports FIBA Europe in part: “With Turkish basketball still talking about the 50-point explosion by Okur’s former Utah Jazz teammate Deron Williams for Beşiktaş last week, Okur capped another solid performance with a long-range shot that gave the Ankara team an 83-81 triumph on Tuesday.

“Utah Jazz big man Okur, like New Jersey Nets guard Williams, is to soon head back to the United States following Saturday’s announcement that the lockout is set to end this week.

“Okur had 14 points and 10 rebounds in Izmir against Karsiyaka. … His free throw had given Turk Telekom an 80-79 advantage with 31 seconds to go, but Karsiyaka went back out in front when Alper Saruhan landed a jumper.

“After a timeout by the visitors, Okur caught a pass by Muratcan Güler and hit the shot from the arc with nine seconds to play for a two-point lead. Mire Chatman of Karsiyaka had an opportunity to put the home side back in front but his three-pointer was off target.”

• The Jerusalem Post informs that “Maccabi Tel Aviv fans got their last look at Jordan Farmar at Nokia Arena on Saturday night when the yellow-and-blue improved to 8-0 in the Adriatic League with a 96-89 victory over Cedevita Zagreb.”

Right. So let’s have a look, then.

And check out this nice work from Israel-based Haaretz on the remainder of the EL/NLB contender’s 2011-12, i.e. “With Farmar’s departure for the U.S., Maccabi’s second season begins.”

• For Valencia BC, Tiago Splitter in his second departure from European pro ball went for nine points on just 4-of-12 shooting to go with 12 rebounds in under 30 minutes of playing time. Valencia ended up winning at Lukoil Academic, 72-64, as former University of Maine/Estudiantes Madrid forward Nik Caner-Medley put in a ridiculous 27 points.

Splitter ended with stint with the Spanish side having played two games each in the Eurocup competition and the Liga Endesa, with a cumulative average of 12.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.

• Asvel did not play with Tony Parker or Ronny Turiaf but won 70-53 at Oostende anyway, and Beşiktaş was without Deron Williams – though the New Jersey Net “looked on as a supporter” and watched before the game as *his freaking jersey number was retired.* In D-Will’s stead, Erwin Dudley (a.k.a. Ersin Dagli) had 20 points and 14 rebounds in Beşiktaş’ Eurochallenge victory against ZZ Lieden, 76-69.

• Coming soon (maybe): Euroleague games featuring final turns by Thabo Sefolosha with Fenerbahçe Ülker, Ty Lawson with Žalgiris Kaunas, and Nikola Pekovic with Partizan Belgrade, among others.

One interesting consequence of the NBA lockout – and possibly a precedent-setter – are the cases of Ersan Ilyasova, who has long stated that he ultimately prefers playing with Anadolu Efes rather than the Milwaukee Bucks, and of frequently disgruntled Rudy Fernandez, whom Real Madrid would like to keep around.

In fact, France-based Basket News yesterday reported that “Ersan Ilyasova, encore lié à Milwaukee pour un an, souhaiterait négocier avec les Bucks pour rester à l’Anadolu Efes.”

Second season, indeed…

In riding the wave of sentimentality to the shore, BiE today presents the virtual scrapbook of 10 favorite individual performances from locked-out NBA players. (Not included are those NBA guys who were off-season free agents; therefore no appearances by, say, Nenad Krstic, or, sadly, Adam Morrison are forthcoming.)

• Deron Williams: Leaving his mark in Europe
An obvious choice to lead off, D-Will was dubbed by BallinEurope way back at the beginning of the nothingness as already among the most influential American players in European basketball history. Perhaps that was a tad presumptuous (BiE was one of the cynics who figured the entire 2011-12 NBA season would be cancelled), but the truth is that Williams may ultimately be the sole locked-out player to leave a tangible mark on Continental hoops history in emphatically dropping 50 on BG Göttingen for the FIBA Eurochallenge record.

Said Göttingen coach Stefan Mienack in the post-game: “It’s so hard to win against a team in which Deron Wıllıams plays for.” Hear that, New Jersey Nets fans?

(Also awesome: Williams’ 24-point, 10-rebound show against Pinar Karşiyaka in TBL play.)

• Euroleague Player of the Week Andrei Kirilenko: Parts 1 and 2
The best locked-out NBA player in Europe? AK-47, and it’s not even close. CSKA Moscow’s prime addition in a busy offseason just about got off an airplane, suited up for the Red Army and bagged the Euroleague’s first Player of the Week trophy with a dominant 17-point, 15-rebound performance in the Russian side’s 87-74 victory over Žalgiris Kaunas.

The Euroleague brain trust was apparently so geeked by Kirilenko’s show at season’s tipoff that he was also credited with the dunk of opening night…

…the block of opening night…

…and the assist of opening night.

Five weeks later (and just days before suffering a concussion in the PBL game at Krasnye Krylya Samara), Kirilenko turned in perhaps the most fascinating stat lines of Euroleague play this season against Unicaja Malaga in an outstanding display of his unique skills: minutes played, 34:59; points scored, 17; 2-pt FG shooting, 1-of-2; 3-pt FG shooting, 1-of-1; FT shooting, 12-of-13; offensive rebounds, 2; defensive rebounds, 7; total rebounds, 9; assists, 2; steals, 6; turnovers, 1; blocks, 3; performance index rating, 39.

• Brian Scalabrine: Fan favorite on two continents
One of us! One of us!

• Serge Ibaka: The Shot Blocka returns against Zaragoza
In his likely final game for Real Madrid, the Oklahoma City Thunderer led his team to an easy 84-67 win over CAI Zaragoza in Liga Endesa play with 15 points (on 7-of-8 shooting, including five dunks), nine boards, six blocks (five in the first half) and a performance index rating of 29 in 25 minutes of court time – This after averaging about 12 minutes per game in Spain to that point.

As BallinEurope’s Enrico Cellini put it: “But stats can’t convey how much Ibaka dominated. His overwhelming athleticism under the boards discouraged any penetration and deterred any other shots from inside the paint. Simply all over the place.”

• Ty Lawson: A Day in the (Twitter) Life
October 25 could go down in the sports pages as a day in Twitter history – you know, if we had stuff like Twitter history. Or sports pages, for that matter. For two hours, Lawson had European basketball fans (and probably about half the population of Lithuania) spellbound with his laid-out feelings on playing for Žalgiris. And NBA 2K12.

• Nicolas Batum: Brilliantly besting Baskonia
Sayeth the league’s official writeup, in part: “SLUC Nancy forward Nicolas Batum was at his best against on Thursday with a brilliant all-around performance to lead the French champs to a 90-85 win over previously unbeaten Caja Laboral. The victory made Nancy 2-0 at home this season and just like in their previous win in front of French fans, Batum was the star of the show and subsequently earned Week 4 bwin Euroleague MVP honors. Batum amassed an impressive stat line of 21 points with just three missed shots in addition to nine rebounds, four assists and one block en route to a performance index rating of 35. Beyond the numbers, Batum was also crucial to the Nancy effort in that he played all 40 minutes – his average 39:26 minutes per game is most in the league – and was clutch down the stretch with seven points in the game’s last five minutes.”

• Tony Parker: Decisive against Cholet
Asvel Villeurbanne, wave bye-bye to your alpha dog. Parker was actually slightly under his LNB scoring average in Asvel’s match at Cholet Basket on October 29, but the two-time NBA champion contributed a “decisive” performance for his French team, going for 19 points, including nine in the fourth quarter in the 79-70 Asvel victory.

Below, BallinEurope presents some links, highlight clips and like on some of the competing teams starring Igor Rakocevic, Tiago Splitter, D.J. Strawberry and that Williams guy, among others. O, if only BiE had time to properly cover all this basketball … sorry, the NB-what?

• Rod Higgins of the Basketball Post provides much food for thought going into Montepaschi Siena’s game against Unics Kazan on how Igor Rakocevic affects the Italian side’s game plan: Has Ferdinando Minucci sacrificed trademark defensive trickery at the cost of a faster game with another shooter?

On the other hand, perhaps Minucci’s master plan with Rakocevic is just crazy enough to work … tonight provides another nice litmus test: Unics Kazan is middle of the Euroleague table in terms of turnovers at 13 per game while Montepaschi is fifth in team scoring at 84.0 points per game.

• Once resembling a super team, CSKA Moscow entered last week’s PBL game against Krylya Samara short-handed; with Andrei Kirilenko now out for two games minimum, the situation approaches near-critical mass as the Red Army hosts Žalgiris Kaunas. Will a holey CSKA still have enough against the outmatched-on-paper Žalgiris?

Said head coach Jonas Kazlauskas in the post-game: “The thing that worries me is that Kirilenko is injured seriously. [Milos] Teodosic is injured. Taking into account that [Darjus] Lavrinovic is not practicing with the team yet, [Nenad] Krstic had a high temperature … I don’t want to get back to the difficult situation we had last season.”

So, Krstic’s back tonight while the other three above-mentioned won’t be suiting up; adjust your Euroleague fantasy rosters accordingly.

• Speaking of playing/not playing, Da’Sean Butler won’t be on the VEF Riga roster for the team’s Eurocup game against BC Khimki Moscow region – indeed, BiE believes Butler hasn’t yet left the ‘States and is not even 100% sure that the “European team” the locked-out San Antonio Spur’d claimed to have signed with is in fact Riga – but he’s anxious to get there.

• Which naturally leads to Butler’s NBA teammate Tiago Splitter; he’ll be making his 2011-12 Eurocup debut when his Valencia Basket host Telenet Oostende. Splitter went for an impressive 12 points and 10 rebounds in his team’s squeaker of an 86-83 win at UCAM Murcia in ACB play.

• In the leadup to the Anadolu Efes-Partizan game, um, here’s a picture of Sasha Vujacic:

• More seriously, Anadolu Efes claims they’re close to signing locked-out Dallas Maverick Jose Juan Barea.

• Incredibly, Hapoel Jerusalem posted its first win against Maccabi Tel Aviv in 21 years in a 78-64 shocker on Sunday – and D.J. Strawberry says it “wasn’t even our most important game of the week.” According to Strawberry, that would be Jerusalem’s Eurocup match against Cibona Zagreb.

Reports the Jerusalem Post: “Hapoel’s 80-71 defeat at BC Donetsk in its Eurocup opener means its situation inGroup A is already complicated just one game into the regular season, making a home win against Cibona crucial to Jerusalem’s hopes of finishing in the top two and advancing to the last 16…

“Zagreb’s streak of 20 straight years in the Euroleague ended this season and its Eurocup campaign got off to a nightmare start when it was thrashed at home 101-71 by BCM Gravelines of France.

“We need to win our home games in Europe, starting on Tuesday,” Jerusalem coach Oded Katash said. “There is good reason to celebrate after the win against Tel Aviv, but I told the players to put the party on hold until we beat Cibona.”

• Yet another Spur isn’t playing. Tony Parker’s shoulder injury will keep him out of Asvel Basket’s game against Lukoil Acadmic in Sofia; this will mark the first time Asvel plays without Parker since his arrival. Said head coach Pierre Vincent, “We still have a team capable of playing. It is certain that Tony makes a difference, especially in the pick-and-roll. We’ll see if others can take over. And there are other solutions to implement.”

Incidentally, the guard/team executive stated that he and Boris Diaw “have already spoken. If the season is canceled, I will make him an offer for him to come play with me and Ronny [Turiaf].”

• Deron Williams and his Beşiktaş Milangaz meet BG Göttingen in Eurochallenge play tonight. From the In Case You Missed It Department, the Eagles’ troika of D-Will, Semih Erden and Marcelus Kemp wasn’t quite up to spec in TBL play on Saturday; Erdemir handed heretofore undefeated Beşiktaş its first loss of the season by a score of 88-84. Williams went 6-for-16 overall in scoring 16 points and contributing eight assists, Kemp was 5-of-15 for 15 points and Erden battled foul troubles throughout, seeing less than 16 minutes of playing time. In that one, Erwin Dudley (!) was the top scorer for Beşiktaş with 19 points and Zoran Erceg (!!) had 16 points to go with his team-high six rebounds.

It’s been a rough 2011-12 in Göttingen, meanwhile. The team sits dead last in the Bundesliga at 1-8 while going 0-2 in Eurochallenge play, last losing to ZZ Leiden, 80-71, at home in EC play last week.

• No, Linas Kleiza isn’t getting with Lietuvos Rytas any time soon.

Whoever questions NBA stars’ ability to adapt to the European game may see Parker’s performance of last night to be a partial answer: The locked-out San Antonio Spur essentially iced EuroCup Player of the Week honors in scoring 34 points for Asvel, including 13 in his team’s high-flying 29-point fourth quarter. Parker also dished five assists and added one steal to his stat line.

Meanwhile, Ronny Turiaf came off the bench to become one of Asvel’s five double-digit scorers, contributing 12 points and five rebounds over 25 minutes in the win.

Official game writeup follows the break.

(Eurocup Basketball) – With a virtuoso performance from one of its owners, Asvel Basket delighted its home fans by downing two-time champion Valencia 87-78 on Tuesday in the Group D opener for both teams.

Point guard and part-owner Tony Parker hit back-to-back three-pointers with under four minutes remaining to break open what was a two-point game. Parker finished with 34 points, with 13 in the final four minutes. Ronny Turiaf added 12 points for Asvel, Dijon Thompson and Edwin Jackson 11 each, and Kim Tillie 10.

For Valencia, Nik Caner-Medley downed 19 points, Serhiy Lishchuk had a double-double of 16 and 12 rebounds, while Rafa Martinez added 12 points, Stefan Markovic 10. Asvel’s advantage of nine three-pointers made – with Parker and Edwin Jackson hitting three apiece – to just four for Valencia was the difference.

Both teams established inside points for their big men early, until Parker landed a three that put Asvel up, 7-6. Caner-Medley took the lead right back for Valencia on a three-point combination, and soon had nine points early on another basket to tie it up at 13-13. The game’s sixth tie would be broken on a three-point play by Parker to which Turiaf added an inside basket to take control for Asvel, 20-15, after 10 minutes.

Rafa Martinez got Valencia closer with the second quarter’s first basket, but Asvel responded with a 9-0 run that featured a steal and a block by Dijon Thompson plus five points from Parker for a 29-17 advantage. Florent Pietrus ended the drought with a layup for Valencia, but Parker was on fire, answering with a layup as he reached 13 points. When Jackson buried a triple, Asvel was up 15 points, 34-19. Martinez and Markovic cut into the Asvel lead, then Rihards Kuksiks kept it going until Valencia went on an 8-0 run to go into the locker room having cut the difference almost in half to 34-27.

Lishchuk dunked and Martinez downed a triple to get Valencia even closer, 36-32, soon after halftime, but Thompson answered from deep for Asvel. A breakneck pace surprisingly favored Valencia, as layups by Nando De Colo and Caner-Medley made it 39-38. Parker and Turiaf revived Asvel with an acrobatic layup and a dunk, respectively, to pull out to a 43-38 lead.

Lishchuk and Markovic struck back for Valencia, but Jackson’s next triple kept Asvel ahead, and when Parker found Thompson for another, the hosts led 55-47. Kuksiks came off Valencia’s bench for a three-pointer that Rodrigo San Miguel soon matched, as the difference was reduced to 58-55 after three quarters of play.

Martinez made it a two-point game with free throws to open the final stanza, but those were answered threefold, as Phillip Goss and Jackson scored from long range to boost Asvel to a 64-57 advantage. Valencia wouldn’t go away, however, as De Colo pumped in a corner triple at 69-67 with four minutes left. Parker had seen enough, however, and returned from a timeout to blast back-to-back three-pointers and make it 75-67. When Thompson soon downed a layup and Parker two free throws, it was 80-71. One more Parker jumper gave him 31 points and his team a double-digit lead to send Asvel on its way to a big home victory to start the Eurocup season.

Basket: l'ASVEL en chute libre?

Official press release on the giddy night and highlight video from last year’s Unics Kazan-Cajasol final runs below the break.

(Eurocup Basketball) – The tipoff on Tuesday of the season-opening game between Spartak and Cedevita in in St. Petersburg, Russia will mean that the Eurocup’s 10th-anniversary season has begun, too! Over that decade, thousands of basketball players from 127 different clubs have entertained more than a million fans in 27 countries across the continent. The Eurocup, originally known as the ULEB Cup, has brought elite-level basketball to arenas and audiences all overEurope and the world. As such, it has also played a major role in the continued growth of the basketball not just throughout Europe, but globally, with Eurocup teams having been home to Olympic, World, European, South American, African and Oceanic champions over the last decade.

The reach that the Eurocup has enjoyed cannot be overstated. Among the 27 countries that have competed, 17 of them have had at least three different clubs participate, which shows how the Eurocup has met its goal of broadening the talent and fan bases of the game. Similarly, some of Europe’s major national leagues have seen 10 or more teams qualify, showing that the Eurocup can also be a springboard for important basketball growth projects. Indeed, 11 of the 24 teams now competing in the 2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague have played at least one season in the Eurocup. The inclusive nature of the Eurocup is even greater, if possible, when it comes to the competition’s exposure on television. Eurosport, beginning its seventh season as broadcasting partner of the competitions, brings Eurocup action to more than 50 million homes in 57 countries and 17 languages.

This season, 32 teams from eight countries will vie for the honor of lifting the Eurocup’s 10th-anniversary title. The winner’s journey will last 16 games through countless hours of travel to many countries. At the end of a decade’s worth of great basketball, it will have proven to be a journey well worth the effort for clubs, players and fans alike.

“This decade of dedication to the Eurocup on the part of the clubs is evidence that our sport is always finding new and ambitious projects, markets and fan bases,” Euroleague Basketball president and CEO Jordi Bertomeu said. “The Eurocup stands for inclusiveness. Any club ready to grow and prosper in the right ways on and off the court can aspire to this elite competition, where their efforts will be rewarded.”

Turiaf looked good enough in his first game since injuring his hand in a friendly match leading up to the 2011 EuroBasket tournament, going for nine points (including one effusive dunk early on; see below Asvel-based YouTube clip), eight rebounds (four offensive), three assists and five fouls drawn in 25 minutes of court time.

Unfortunately for Asvel, they were totally outclassed by the Euroleaguers and went down in defeat, 92-77. Victor Samnick put in 25 points as Nancy didn’t mind losing the battle of the boards, 41-29.

Turiaf himself reportedly appeared fatigued in the game, and Asvel coach Pierre Vincent explained in the post-game that “I had no plans to play [Turiaf] so much. I left him in at the end of the game because of his play and his experience.”

Parker, who threatened a triple-double with 20 points (though a woeful 6-of-24 overall from the floor), eight rebounds and nine assists, was quoted as saying that “It’s not easy for him since he hasn’t played for two months. He was a little apprehensive about playing with the hand, but even so he had a good performance.”

It is something of an informal tradition for Italian basketball fans to sing songs and chants to support their teams during basketball games, and a very short while passed before fans of Benetton Treviso dedicated a personal chant to Brian Scalabrine. They immediately opted for “Scalabrine uno di noi!” (“Scalabrine is one of us”).

Scalabrine is paying back his new fans’ warm welcome. On Sunday, he was decisive in the Treviso’s victory against Cantù: despite scoring only six points (though with only one missed shot; Scal was 2-of-3 in the game), he grabbed 15 rebounds, dished three assists and provided plenty of smart plays that do not go in the statistics. In the previous match against Avellino, Scal accounted for 18 points with eight field goals out of ten attempts.

Coach Aleksandar Đorđević has kept the White Mamba on the court for an average of 32 minutes per game so far and the player is producing 12 points and 6.3 rebounds for an average index performance rating of 17.3 per game. The feeling is that both coach and teammates now acknowledge Scalabrine as one of the leaders of the team.

But don’t dare be surprised: Scalabrine had already warned anyone as soon as he stepped onto Italian soil. At his presentation this summer, he broke down his credentials in front of some mesmerized journalists: “I was an all-American in college, when I had the opportunity to play I played well. You know, my winning percentage is one of the highest in the NBA as a starter.”

Scalabrine successfully passed the tryout phase in September (and the skepticism on his physical shape) and applied to get an Italian passport, which would make even more appealing in the European market. Many in Italy are starting to believe he is not (just) a media phenomenon but also an excellent basketball player. After all, stats don’t lie. Too bad Italian journalists forgot to ask him the percentage of NBA games he played as a starter…

Enrico Cellini is lifelong basketball fanatic and a long-time sportswriter with a focus on Italy and Spain. He was born among European hoops, 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.