Serbian Dejan Musli & Georgian Giorgi Shermadini will not be entering their names in the 2010 NBA draft, their respective agents inform us.

Musli most recently appeared in the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, but has been playing for various Teams Serbia on the international scene for a while.

After playing in the 2008 and 2009 Nike International Junior Tournaments (the latter culminating in his 31-point performance for LMP Belgrade in their championship game win over Lietuvos Rytas; see below video), Musli impressed at last summer’s FIBA U18 European Championship Men: His play there earned his a first-team All-Tournament team and in turn was parlayed into a nomination for FIBA’s first “Champion U18 All-Star Game” later in 2009.

The big 7’1” Shermadini has been on the Panathinaikos Athens roster, playing sporadically in the oft-injured and soon-released Marcus Haislip’s spot on the floor. Shermadini has been a blip on the international basketball radar since 2007, when he made a laughingstock of Georgia’s national league, putting in peak games of 52 points, followed by a game in which he went for 60 plus 17 rebounds and seven assists.

Shermadini immediately drew comparison to Nenad Krstić and Zaza Pachulia, and participated in 2008 Reebok Eurocamp in Treviso. Later that summer, he crushed the opposition for Team Georgia at the 2008 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, shooting 74% from the field to go with an average line of 21.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 3.7 blocks per game. And he capped the year by debuting with Panathinaikos – in the Greens’ Euroleague championship season, no less.

The current list of players that have announced their eligibility for the draft out of Europe includes Andrew Albicy, Antoine Diot, Bangaly Fofana, Thomas Heurtel, Edwin Jackson, Saidou N’Joya, Kevin Seraphin (France); Robin Benzing, Tibor Pleiss (Germany); Stefan Bircevic, Uros Lukovic (Serbia); Bojan Bogdanovic (Croatia); Mindaugas Kuzminskas (Lithuania); Tomasz Nowakowski (Slovenia); Xavi Rabaseda (Spain); Fernando Raposo (Portugal); and Ryan Richards (Great Britain).

The sole bona fide first-rounders from The Continent are expected to be Donatas Motiejunas of Lithuania and Jan Vesely of the Czech Republic.

I do not know when there will be a European division of the NBA. But there will be one

NBA in Europe in post-Stern NBA?
But we start off today with NBA commissioner David Stern saying that the NBA will be coming to Europe. David Hein of heinnews had his ear on the pulse of U.S. media and wrote up this piece on Stern’s interview with ESPN personality Colin Cowherd.
Here are a couple of quotes: “I think that it will be done. I don’t know if it will be done under my watch.” And: “It’s either Barcelona or Madrid. It’s either Milan or Rome. I think it’s London.”

Euroleague Final Four tickets on sale this week
Euroleague Basketball has made an announcement about 2010 Final Four tickets going on sale this week.
Here all the info you would need

Euroleague Basketball has announced that tickets for the 2010 Final Four will be available for purchase this week by the general public. The Final Four, which will crown a champion of the 2009-10 Euroleague season, takes place from May 7 to 9, 2010 at Palais-Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in the French capital. A pre-sale of tickets to fans who registered for that privilege will continue until midnight on Tuesday. Just 12 hours after the pre-sale ends, at noon on Wednesday, sales of 2010 Final Four tickets will open to the general public through the official page of the competition, www.euroleague.net . Ticket prices for the 2010 Final Four range from €150 to €495, not including on-court VIP seats that cost €1,000 and come with access to Euroleague Basketball VIP Hospitality. There are also official VIP Hospitality Packages for the very best seats in the arena, offered by THG.  All tickets grant their holders access to four games, both of Friday’s semifinals, plus the third-place and title games on Sunday.

Maccabi boss Gershon apologizes
One coach usually appearing at the Final Four is Israeli legend Pini Gershon. The Maccabi Tel Aviv coach has apologized for his behaviour at Maccabi’s recent game against the New York Knicks, where he would not leave the court after being ejected by the game referees. Gershon has since apologized for his actions, as published by the New York Times.
Here his statement sent to NBA commissioner David Stern and Knicks president Donnie Walsh:

Having had time to reflect on my actions while our team was in New York, I would like to apologize to the New York Knicks franchise, the NBA and basketball fans not only at Madison Square Garden but throughout the country. Our trip to the U.S. was for a wonderful cause – the children of Migdal Ohr – and hopefully a few minutes of bad behavior on my behalf won’t detract from all the good that was accomplished by our spirited competition with the Knicks and the Clippers.

Locker room death in Portugal
Monday also came the tragic news of the death of American basketball player Kevin Widemond. The Associated Press reported that the Ovarense player collapsed in the locker room at halftime of the Ovarense – Academica Portugal cup game cup on Sunday and later died at local hospital. An autopsy was still to be performed. Our prayers go out to the family and friends of Widemond.

Could Marc Gasol be getting a lot better very soon?
Marc Gasol must have been doing cartwheels at Memphis Grizzlies practice on Monday when he saw Hall of Fame legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sitting in on the practice session. The Memphis Commercial Appeal is speculating that Abdul-Jabbar may soon be joining the Grizzlies coaching staff.

Nicolas Batum goes under the knife

Don’t look for Portland Trail Blazers small forward Nicolas Batum on the court for any time soon as the Associated Press reported that the French international will be undergoing shoulder surgery.
Batum will have torn cartilage in his right shoulder repaired. He played with an injured right shoulder for much of the second half of last season and re-injured it over the summer playing for the French National Team at EuroBasket 2009 in Poland. Batum again injured his shoulder the first week of training camp.

Belinelli getting cold shoulder in Toronto
Sticking with the NBA and Europeans there for one more second, Italian guard Marco Belinelli appears to be receiving less playing time during the NBA pre-season with the Toronto Raptors. He a bit of coverage on the issue by the Toronto Sun.

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Rubio, who just turned 19 years old on Wednesday, has not needed to do much scoring for his new team, totally just 21 points in four ACB and one Euroleague game. But he has been dishing the rock, handing out 10 and nine in his last two games and 31 in five games. And he has 11 steals in those games, showing his game has more than translated to the bigger club atmosphere in Barcelona.

Excitement – Euroleague style
The other two games on Wednesday offered plenty of excitement.
German champions EWE Baskets Oldenburg made up for the loss of starting point guard Jason Gardner as Rickey Paulding and Je’Kel Foster combined for 43 points in Oldenburg’s 87-81 victory at Asseco Prokom in their first ever Euroleague game.
And the most thrilling game came in Greece as CSKA Moscow needed a three-pointer at the buzzer by Viktor Khryapa for a 66-65 win at Maroussi.

Better than Jordan?

Talk about high praise … check out Spartak Moscow Region Vidnoje coach Laszlo Ratgeber’s compliment about his superstar Diana Taurasi, recently named WNBA MVP.

“You know what? Michael Jordan is a very lucky and fortunate person.If Diana Taurasi had been born a man, she would have been the best ever basketball player and not Michael Jordan.”

Check out what Ratgeber is talking about

New basketball film – in Germany!?!
Not long after the 2006 World Cup in Germany, a film documenting Germany’s run at the football spectacle drew rave reviews. But now a basketball film is hitting German moviehouses – called “Hangtime”.

Coming soon to Europe?
The NBA teams are making their final cuts. Don’t expect some of these names to come to a European club near you: Maceo Baston, Thomas Kelati, Dan Dickau and Jared Reiner.

Pleiss talks about NBA
German star talent Tibor Pleiss is one of the top center prospects in the European game. And in an interview on heinnews, the 19-year-old Pleiss talks about his final goal of reaching the NBA.

Euroleague leaders turn your heads
And to finish off with Euroleague … EL management cannot have been happy watching the highlights of the Maroussi-CSKA thriller. Of course the game had an amazing finish. But check out the empty stands – attendance was listed as 1,650. Imagine if Alba Berlin had reached the Regular Season and filled the 02 World Arena with 14,000 fans.

And now, the list!

(But first, a quick primer brought to you by FIBA Europe:

•  The Euroleague regular season will feature 24 teams. Twenty-two teams qualify directly into the Euroleague, with the remaining two teams to be determined by an eight-team, two-round tournament.

•  The Eurocup regular season will feature 32 teams. The six teams who fail to qualify for the Euroleague will remain in Eurocup, joining 18 teams who qualify directly, and eight teams who will qualify via the 16-team Eurocup qualifying round.

•  The eight teams who do not progress past the Eurocup qualifying round will join the 24 teams already qualified for The FIBA EuroChallenge listed below.

End primer.)

Euroleague regular season – automatically qualified
Cibona Zagreb (Croatia)
Asvel Lyon Villeurbanne (France)
EWE Baskets Oldenburg (Germany)
Olympiacos Piraeus (Greece)
Panathinaikos Athens (Greece)
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv (Israel)
Armani Jeans Milano (Italy)
Virtus Roma (Italy)
Montepaschi Siena (Italy)
Lietuvos Rytas (Lithuania)
Zalgiris Kaunas (Lithuania)
Asseco Prokom (Poland)
CSKA Moscow (Russia)
BC Khimki Moscow Region (Russia)
Partizan Belgrade (Serbia)
Union Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia)
Real Madrid (Spain)
Regal FC Barcelona (Spain)
Tau Ceramica (Spain)
Unicaja (Spain)
Efes Pilsen Istanbul (Turkey)
Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul (Turkey)

Euroleague qualifying round
Alba Berlin (Germany)
Entente Orleanaise Loiret (France)
Maroussi Costa Coffee (Greece)
Benetton B. Gioco Digitale (Italy)
Spirou Basket (Belgium)
BK Ventspils (Latvia)
Aris Thessaloniki (Greece)
Le Mans Sarthe Basket (France)

EuroCup regular season – automatically qualified
KK Zadar (Croatia)
CEZ Basketball Nymburk (Czech Republic)
Cholet Basket (France)
SLUC Nancy Basket (France)
Telekom Baskets Bonn (Germany)
Angelico Biella (Italy)
BC Siauliai (Lithuania)
PGE Turow Zgorzelec (Poland)
UNICS Kazan (Russia)
BC Triumph Lyubertsy (Russia)
Spartak St. Petersburg (Russia)
Hemofarm (Serbia)
KK Crvena Zvezda (Serbia)
DKV Joventut (Spain)
CB Gran Canaria (Spain)
Turk Telekom (Turkey)
Galatasaray Cafe Crown (Turkey)
BC Azovmash Mariupol (Ukraine)

Eurocup qualifying round
WBC Kraftwerk Wels (Austria)
Dexia Mons-Hainaut (Belgium)
Apoel Nicosia (Cyprus)
Chorale Roanne Basket (France)
Brose Baskets (Germany)
Panellinios B.C. (Greece)
Hapoel Jerusalem (Israel)
VEF Riga (Latvia)
Bancatercas Teramo (Italy)
KK Buducnost m:tel (Montenegro)
EclipseJet Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Dynamo Moscow (Russia)
Pamesa Valencia (Spain)
Bilbao Basket (Spain)
Besiktas JK Cola Turka (Turkey)
BC Donetsk (Ukraine)

FIBA EuroChallenge Regular Season – automatically qualified
Aalstar (Belgium)
Antwerp Giants (Belgium)
Liege (Belgium)
Minsk (Belarus)
Zagreb (Croatia)
Cedevita (Croatia)
Proteas EKA AEL (Cyprus)
Keravnos (Cyprus)
Kalev (Estonia)
Tartu Rock (Estonia)
Gravelines (France)
Chalon (France)
Strasbourg (France)
Gottingen (Germany)
Artland Dragons (Germany)
Scavolini Spar Pesaro (Italy)
Eiffel Towers (Netherlands)
Ploesti (Romania)
Rostov (Russia)
Krasnoyarsk (Russia)
CSK VVS Samara (Russia)
Banvit (Turkey)
Khimik (Ukraine)
BC Kyiv (Ukraine)

But first of all, let’s take a look back at some of the best and most read stories of these two years. One subject always returns of course, and not girls or cheerleaders — even if those kind of posts were always a big success, too. No, the retuning subject is money.

The most read story at BallinEurope.com was the one discussing the top ten salaries in Europe from the 2007/2008 season. Among all the news on the site, BallinEurope was also known for stories like this one or this one that made the charm of the blog and were one of the reasons for its success. I must admit that I really had a great time and even now I have to smile every time i see Luka Pavicevic. Why? Because I remember the day I wrote this article. MASTER!

So now it is time to say goodbye and to thank all the people that have ever contributed to BallinEurope over the years. I won’t name them of course, because my memory is not that good and I don’t want to miss anyone.

I also want to thank the Euroleague for their collaboration and help they have provided us; we have made of course a lot of fun of you and especially of Euroleague TV (who does not remember the hilarious game from the PalaLottimotica with 7.15-meter tall players). But we know that you read and trusted this site quite well, and that that you even believed this story. By the way, Kirsten, you still owe me some answers!

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OK, I’ll stop talking about people I would like to thank for the above=mentioned reasons. You would certainly prefer to know how BallinEurope will continue. Well, the new owner of the website will give you more information about that once he starts writing here, though at present he wishes to remain anonymous.

BallinEurope will be taking a brief vacation for about two weeks while undergoing the transition; however, the Euroleague transfer table will be updated. Tobias and I will continue to work for BallinEurope, but our contributions may be more sporadic than they have been over the last two years. Personally, I will continue to write for my blog about young European basketball players and may have some publications in other languages from time to time, too. Our different personal obligations have forced us to make this step and we are lucky enough to have found somebody that we trust into and who we think will continue in the spirit of BallinEurope.

So let’s say it with the words of our beloved French friends: Le roi est mort. Vive le roi!

BallinEurope is the main site for information regarding European basketball leagues, players and rumors within the Euroleague or any other competition. For that reason the audience is well educated and really looks for detailed information. Besides that we were able to build up a strong site regarding online marketing and search engine optimization. For those who are interested in that, should please use the tools to find out about the SEO strength of Ballineurope or get in contact with us through the contact page.

Why is BallinEurope so special?

- 50% of the audience are from the United States – a country that is more into basketball than any other nation

- well educated people such as coaches, players and officials are using ballineurope

- great partnerships with sites such as Henry Abbott’s truehoop, the Euroleague, FIBA and other European media outlets

- a network of writers all over Europe

- and of course – our logo

In case you need a little help – here is a little estimation how much BallinEurope is worth in terms of blogging:

Bidding starts at USD 5,000.

Much worse than that from France (Pau Orthez) or Germany (Giessen).

Fortitudo Bologna has gone down to Legadue.

It seems incredible, but such is the unhappy end to a desperate season, only the tip of the iceberg from an era characterized by a slow descent since “Emir” Giorgio Seragnoli left the club in 2006.

First came disastrous management by Michele Martinelli, the man famous for his never-kept promises and his remarks against existing rules. This was followed by the much-desired return of a Bolognese owner, one Gilberto Sacrati whose primary occupation seems to be … oh, the building trade.

Because between summer acquisitions that made fans scream “Hey, we are championship contenders again!” and unexpected departures from within the staff (GM Diego Pastori, Andrea Mazzon), the suspicion that Sacrati is utterly unable to handle a basketball club is taking root. Especially when some uncontrollable voice comes out about missed payments and the strange story of Cesare Pancotto, the new (interim?) coach who, according to one source, was forced to stay in hotel during his first two months in Bologna because of Fortitudo’s problems in finding a house.

True or false, too many unclear situations exist for a team demanding the giant multi-purpose “Parco delle Stelle” arena via expensive state funds, to either give one of the most exciting crowds in Europe a larger arena, or – scandal! – to equip Dino Meneghin with a building he would be satisfied in during his qualification race to 2014 FIBA World Championship. But what’s Sacrati’s job? Right, he’s the building contractor.

Last but not least, there’s the game on the court. And the game says a GM fired from an elite team like Barcelona arranged a group full of talent (Qyntel Woods, Joseph Forte, Marcelinho Huertas, Uros Slokar, etc.) that NOBODY trusts due to its selfishness, the presence of too many me-first players, and general tactical-technical incompatibility. Barron remained unseen; Woods and Forte were waived, with common wisdom suggesting was a move to free up space for Malaventura and Lamma, rather than to welcome a ball-eater like D.J. Strawberry, an injured Alex Scales, a right man in the wrong place like Lazaros Papadopoulos.

And Huertas? Was Fortitudo really the ideal team for the 2007/2008 ACB best playmaker? The result was simple: Ten victories in a year; a horrible way of play (isolations, isolations, isolations); and finally near-ridiculous protests against potential relegation.

What remains? The hope may be to see Rieti go bankrupt in addition to the probable exit of Sacrati, once never too loved, now extremely hated. His “Parco delle Stelle,” his statements about the immediate return into Euroleague … it all needs to go.

Surely to vanish is Stefano Mancinelli, the club’s flagship player, directly to Montepaschi Siena, especially if the Legadue relegation is confirmed. At that point, there’ll be only photos and videos keeping the myth of “Baron” Schull, Alibegovic, Gay, Basile and Fucka alive while waiting for a new magician to take over the club. While we pray compassion drives Seragnoli to persuade him into rebuying “his own” team.

But Fortitudo may yet become a Redeem Team. Maybe a year spent between Sassari and Venezia, Rimini and Pavia, is what Fortitudo needs. The example of Varese is still fresh.

Never give up, Fossa dei Leoni. Bologna – Basketball City – won’t accept a Fortitudo exiled to the second league. The winner of two Italian League titles (2000, 2005) and six consecutive finals appearances, will soon rise again.

written by Francesco Cappelletti

Europeans particularly seem to love basketball on Facebook. The Euroleague has a group with 17,000 fans, almost every Euroleague basketball player has a facebook profile. (And Javier is friends with all of them … right, Javi?)

I really wonder if fans and readers of BallinEurope are also Facebook addicts. So we added this little widget on the right side of the blog to see if people are really fans of us and Facebook. Unlike all the other Facebook apps, we will not collect your data for stupid quizzes – so don’t worry…

If you like what we do and if you use Facebook, click on “Follow this blog.” Thanks!

Tyler’s father James, who, along with the player’s uncle will accompany him to Europe, meanwhile says he has no doubts his son will succeed: “If you know Jeremy, you know this kid is going to excel. Why would we waste his time holding him back? Kobe [Bryant] was only 17 [when he went pro] and he blossomed. And LeBron [James] blossomed. [Dwight] Howard blossomed. Why not give my son that chance?”