Here’s a quick one for you: Below the break, an almost giddy Jonas Kazlauskas in the post-game following his CSKA Moscow’s near escape…
May
May
3
Live blogging Euroleague Final Four 2012: FC Barcelona vs. Olympiacos
Right, so who gets to meet Kirilenko, Teodosic and the CSKA Moscow boys in the Euroleague championship game? FC Barcelona and Olympiacos will be duking it out for the privilege in about 15 minutes — does Olympiacos pull off the upset their rival Panathinaikos couldn’t or does Barcelona set up what has appeared to be a destined meeting all season? BallinEurope is live-blogging this one, too, so stick around for updates (below the break) over the next couple hours.
May
5
Live blogging Euroleague Final Four 2012: CSKA Moscow vs. Panathinaikos
Coming from the old school, BallinEurope loves the “live blog” format and so that’s what BiE’ll be doing for tonight’s two Euroleague Final Four games — we’ll probably be running a live chat format for Sunday’s third-place and championship matches, however. Tipoff is at 5pm CET (11am EST) for the first game, featuring tournament favorite CSKA Moscow vs. defending champs Panathinaikos.
Will the marquee names of the Red Army blind the Greens with their star quality or can that three-ring nucleus and the greatest EL tournament coach ever overcome the odds? Stay tuned to BallinEurope throughout the game and feel free to chime in with comments. See you at tipoff time…
May
2
Eclipse watching: All-time records under threat at Euroleague Final Four 2012
Siskauskas seeks title, free throws
• Under assault could be the all-time free-throw mark of 56 held by Nikos Galis. Galis set this individual mark in just four games in the 1988 and 1990 tournaments with Aris BC and Panathinaikos, respectively, in performances that set all sorts of EL Final Four marks. However, Ramunas Siskauskas has amassed 45 over the years with PAO and CSKA Moscow; at an average of four trips to the FT line per game in 2011-12 Euroleague play, Siskauskas could squeak into the record books in 2012 – and he’s currently a bit better in accuracy than Galis was, at 78.6% to 74.6%.
• Now 34 years old and the senior member of a seriously veteran-laden Panathinaikos team, Mike Batiste doesn’t have too much time left to run up his numbers. While his 41 two-pointers are a far cry from Galis’ ridiculous 87, the Arizona State University alum could jump from his current no. 9 standing on the EL Final Four all-time two-pointer table to no. 4, passing Dejan Bodiroga with just six more buckets. After that, the targets would be no. 3 Theo Papaloukas’ 53 and no. 2 David Andersen’s 57.
• Batiste is also 17 rebounds behind Matjaz Smodis’ lifetime mark of 73; Viktor Khryapa may be destined to become no. 1 before all is said and done, with 54 to his credit already.
May
1
Game changer? Pascual hints that Navarro is questionable for Olympiacos match
Euroleague pre-event press conferences are typically pretty blah stuff, with the same old rhetoric about team play, the competitors’ greatness, even matchups, defense wins championships, ad nauseum.
However, among FC Barcelona coach Xavi Pascual’s loquacious enthusiasm, the Blaugrana leader did drop in one scintillating note. Said Pascual, “Juan Carlos Navarro’s fasciitis problems have returned. At this moment, he is being treated and [is] undergoing some tests, so we will see how he progresses, if he can play the game and in what condition.”
Navarro missed a total of nine games – three in the Euroleague and six in Liga Endesa – due to the foot issue this season.
BiE has to wonder, particularly since it seems guaranteed La Bomba’s playing time will at least be limited: Have Olympiacos’ odds just improved…?
May
46
Bertomeu: Euroleague doesn’t need NBA players, system (Welllllll…)
BallinEurope heads out to Istanbul this morning to join the scene at this year’s Euroleague Final Four and start pumping out four days’ worth of steady reportage, historical stuff, stats, quotes, video, etc. But BiE figured he’d leave you temporarily with some gauntlet-throwing type stuff by EL CEO Jordi Bertomeu.
In what became a widely reported story, Bertomeu held a press conference yesterday in which he had a few scripted remarks to make vis-à-vis his Euroleague’s position in international club basketball.
Said Bertomeu, “We are very proud of that fact and we will stay faithful to our principles because we have proved that we don’t need NBA imports to be a top-quality competition drawing millions of fans across Europe…
Wellllllllll, not to trigger another firestorm here, but while the Euroleague clearly doesn’t *need* NBA players, BiE cannot deny the effect some NBA players – even the short-term lockout refugees – have had in 2011-12. CSKA aside, what about the EL longevity given to Žalgiris Kaunas and Emporio Armani Milano…?
May
0
Watching the Euroleague Final Four on TV, online
Euroleague officials have announced that the 2012 Euroleague Final Four will be broadcast to some 174 countries via 66 television networks, with live on-site reportage in 13 languages. NTV Spor is the host broadcaster, making available for the first time live coverage of the Nike International Junior Tournament.
The lead broadcast carrier to show the Final Four is naturally ESPN, with a presence in 101 of the named 174 countries. Among the other big guns distributing the games are Canal+, Viasat, Al Jazeera, CCTV, Setanta, Supersport and Guangdong TV.
In case you’re not in one of the countries covered or you’d like to view the games with broadcast in English or a few other languages, extensive streaming of press conferences and events such as the NIJT, head to the Euroleague TV website. The ‘site is also making available every complete Euroleague Final Four Final from history on-demand to all users. A subscription is €9.99 or $9.99.
May
0
Report: Olympiacos’ Papadopoulos to miss Euroleague Final Four
As though the underdogs of the 2012 Euroleague Final Four needed more obstacles to bar the way to what would be the tournament’s biggest modern-era upset, here’s another. According to Talk Basket, center Lazaros Papadopoulos will not be suiting up for the Reds in the competition.
Reports the site: “Papadopoulos hasn’t trained for days now due to a knee-related injury and is extremely doubtful for the Euroleague’s event of the year.”
May
0
Teodosic: “We can’t put Diamantidis on a pedestal.”
You gotta admit, the quote makes a good headline; 2009-10 Euroleague MVP and starting CSKA Moscow playmaker Milos Teodosic is actually showing a bit of modesty to go along with the well of confidence The Red Army squad must be feeling.
In reference to CSKA’s upcoming Euroleague Final Four match with Panathinaikos, Teodosic told media that his counterpart Dimitris Diamantidis will be the focus of the Moscow defense, but the side needn’t become obsessed with stopping DD.
“We can’t put him on a pedestal ahead of Panathinaikos’ other players, like [Mike] Batiste or [Sarunas] Jasikevicius.”
Teodosic knows: In CSKA’s two regular-season matchups with PAO in the Euroleague regular season, keeping Batiste and Jasikevicius at bay proved the difference in both games. In the week four OT match, Saras was limited to just six points while harassed into five turnovers, and Andrei Kirilenko’s block of Batiste when the scoreboard read 75-75 in overtime was the hidden key play of the game.
May
0
Euroleague trophy comes to Istanbul, makes like a tourist this week
Euroleague officials announced last night that one of professional basketball’s most aspiring-to bits of hardware had arrived in Istanbul last night, Naturally brought to the EL Final Four host city via Turkish Airlines – official sponsor of Euroleague basketball. (Although one assumes that the trophy is the traditional cup-like object held by a TA employee in the picture below and not the statuette that EL CEO Jordi Bertomeu is holding in the picture below – unless there’s some sneaky wording in that five-year endorsement deal…)
