BallinEurope, the European Basketball news site

Spanish teenage sensation Ricky Rubio has issued a statement that he is ready to make the leap to the NBA, saying it’s his goal to enter the NBA for the 2009-10 season.

“The hope and responsibility not to disappoint has given me the will to continue to work and I believe that I am ready to take that leap and to realize the dream that any player has. … My wish is to go to the NBA for the 2009-10 campaign,” said Rubio.

The 18-year-old Rubio is still under contract with his Spanish club DKV Joventut for two more seasons and will have to pay the team most of the $6 million buyout.

Rubio’s agent Dan Fegan met with DKV Joventut president Jordi Villacampa this week to discuss the June draft, in which the point guard could go as high as second behind Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin. And chances are he would land with either the Sacramento Kings, the Los Angeles Clippers or Washington Wizards.

“I can be at the top and that is why I am making myself available. No basketball player can say no to a high position in the draft. It assures you will go there and already have a name. My agent will speak to the franchises and I will try to give everything,” said Rubio, who turns 19 in October.

It was Rubio’s experience at the Beijing Olympics last summer that convinced him the he could play against the best players in the world.
“At the time, I didn’t think about it,” he said. “But I realized that I can play against the best and I believe I’m not mistaken.”

Rubio’s remaining two years with Joventut, whom he led to the 2008 ULEB Cup title, and his buyout could be a major issue. Even the rising star admitted so: “That could be an impediment, but I am not concerned because my agents are working on it.”

Meanwhile, the Spanish club remains adamant about trying to keep Rubio in Spain for at least one more season. Joventut last season lost Rudy Fernandez to the NBA as the Spanish national team star left for the Portland Trail Blazers.

Rubio concluded by saying he doesn’t want to talk about the NBA until the season is over but added, “I want to thank DKV for the confidence they gave me in allowing me to make my ACB debut at such a young age. Whatever happens in the future, I will always have Joventut in my heart.”

Not everything from the 2006 run to the NBA Finals is being forgotten by the Dallas Mavericks. Dallas superstar Dirk Nowitzki says beating the San Antonio Spurs on their way to the 2006 Finals will give his team confidence in their 2009 first round series against the Spurs.

“San Antonio used to be like a big brother who would always beat up on the little brother. But in 2006 we finally got out of that shadow. And since then we have played some very good games against the Spurs,” Nowitzki said in an interview with the German sports portal spox.com.

“We can use again the confidence of knowing that we won back then. San Antonio has the home court advantage this time again and their arena is very loud. But knowing that we can win there and even decide a series there will give us a good feeling.”

San Antonio had the home court advantage in the 2006 Western Conference semifinals and won game one at home. But the Mavs came back to win Game Two in San Antonio and took both of the next two games at home for a 3-1 lead. The Spurs took Game 5 at home and then beat the Mavericks in Dallas to set up a Game 7 in San Antonio. Nowitzki and Dallas pulled out Game 7 in overtime to move into the Conference Finals.

Nowitzki gave the interview before Game 1 of the series on Saturday, which the Mavericks won 105-97 in San Antonio. The power forward admitted in the interview that the Mavericks are lucky that Manu Ginobili is out of the series.

“Of course it’s a bit lucky that Manu Ginobili is out. But that really only means that Tony Parker and Tim Duncan will do even more. Parker was at times unstoppable against us. It will definitely be a difficult series, but we will have fun as well. We beat them once this season in double-overtime and these games are always classics. So it should be a great series.”

Nowitzki said the key will be trying to stop Parker as a collective unit.

“He will score his points no question. But I hope we can win the games as a team and keep together and hold off Parker in the important stages.”

In Game 1, Parker scored 24 points and had eight assists. But he also shot just 10 of 23 from the field and turned the ball over five times.

Many observers and participants are already calling the 2009 Final Four in Berlin in early May the best ever. While that remains to be seen, one thing that is certain is that the affair in the German capital is anything but just another European party. And American basketball fans will have plenty of reasons to watch.

Each of the four teams – CSKA Moscow, Olympiacos, Panathinaikos and Regal Barcelona – have Americans playing a major role or Europeans with a connection to American hoops.

Here a breakdown of each the Euroleague Final Four squad for those American fans not in touch with the European game.

CSKA Moscow:
The defending champions from Russia have plenty of familiar faces:

J.R. Holden – the point guard from Pittsburgh starred at Bucknell University from 1994-98. He also made headlines for getting a Russian passport and leading the Russian national team to the 2007 EuroBasket title, hitting the game-winning jumper.

Trajan Langdon – the shooting guard hails from Anchorage, Alaska, and reached one NCAA Final Four with Duke from 1994-99, playing in the 1999 final. The 1999 1st Team All-American then played three seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers and came to Europe in 2002.

Erazem Lorbek – this sweet-shooting big man from Slovenia broke Michigan State fans’ hearts for leaving East Lansing after his freshman season in 2003 to return to Europe. The Indiana Pacers drafted Lorbek in the second round of the 2005 Draft (No. 46 overall).

Sasha Kaun – the little-used center from Russia helped Kansas to the 2008 NCAA title after playing there 2004-08. The Seattle SuperSonics (now Oklahoma City Thunder) drafted him in the second round of the 2008 NBA Draft (No. 56 overall).

Viktor Khryapa – this extremely talented forward played two seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers (2004-06) and then one-and-a-half with the Chicago Bulls (2006-08) before returning to CSKA.

Zoran Planinic – the Croatian point guard played with the New Jersey Nets for three seasons from 2003-06 before returning to the Continent.

Terrence Morris – the forward from Frederick, Maryland, played college ball from 1997-2001 with Maryland. He then played two seasons with the Houston Rockets (2001-03) and half a season with the Orlando Magic (2005-06).

Olympiacos
Josh Childress – the forward from Lakewood, California starred four years at Stanford (2001-04) and played four seasons with the Atlanta Hawks (2004-08) before making his European debut.

Lynn Greer – the guard from Philadelphia starred at Temple University from (1998-02) and then played one season for the Milwaukee Bucks (2006-07).

Jannero Pargo – the guard from Chicago played college basketball at Arkansas (2000-02). He played the next six seasons (2002-08) in the NBA for the Los Angeles Lakers, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls and New Orleans Hornets.

Giorgos Printezis – the Greek forward was selected in the second round of the 2007 NBA Draft by the San Antonio Spurs (Pick No. 58). The Toronto Raptors currently own his rights.

Panathinaikos
Vassilis Spanoulis – the Greek guard played one season in the NBA for the Houston Rockets (2006-07).

Mike Batiste – the Long Beach, California forward played college basketball at Arizona State from 1996-99. He played one season with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2002-03.

Antonis Fotsis – the Greek forward played one season with the Grizzlies in 2001-02.

Drew Nicholas – the Long Island, New York guard played college ball at Maryland from 1999-2003 and won the 2002 NCAA title before moving to Europe.

Nikola Pekovic – the Montenegro big man was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round of the 2008 NBA Draft (No. 31 overall).

Sarunas Jasikevicius – the Lithuanian playmaker went to high school in Pennsylvania before attending Maryland from 1994-98. He returned to Europe before playing in the NBA from 2005-2007 for the Indiana Pacers and Golden State Warriors.

Regal Barcelona
Andre Barrett – the guard from the Bronx in New York played at Seton Hall from 2000-04. He played on and off in the NBA from 2004-2008 for the Houston Rockets, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Clippers before moving to Europe.

Lubos Barton – the Czech forward played college basketball at Valparaiso University from 1998-2002 before returning to Europe.

Juan Carlos Navarro – the Spanish guard played one season in the NBA for the Memphis Grizzlies in 2007-08.

Fran Vazquez – the Spanish big man was drafted by the Orlando Magic with the 11th overall pick of the 2005 NBA Draft but never played in the NBA.

Ersan Ilyasova – the Turkish forward played two seasons in the United States – 2005-06 for the Tulsa 66ers of the D-League and 2006-07 with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Daniel Santiago – the Puerto Rican center played college basketball at New Mexico Military Institute (1994-95), New Mexico (1995-97) and St.Vincent College (1997-98). He played in the NBA from 2000-02 for the Phoenix Suns and 2003-05 for the Milwaukee Bucks.

David Andersen – the Australian center was selected in the second round of the 2002 NBA Draft (No. 37 overall) by the Atlanta Hawks.

We are really proud to announce that BallinEurope joined the network of one of the best blogs out there about basketball: the truehoop network by Henry Abbott.

I started reading truehoop back in 2006, when it was not affiliated with ESPN at all. Over the years I got to meet Henry through email and even at a few live events in the US that we both attended.

Every basketball blogger knows about truehoop and Henry Abbott, so we are really part to be a small part of this great thing now.

Right now, the ESPN truehoop network features 24 blogs, all about the NBA and their teams. We are even more excited to be able to join a network that of course focuses on the NBA – with us being the only blog about Europe. It just motivates us and tells us we have been doing the right thing, especially when truehoop readers comment on us joining the network like this:

GREAT move including the “Ball in Europe” blog into the network. With the undeniable influence the Euroleagues have had on the game today, what better way to get the readers of TrueHoop at least some idea of what’s going on with the NBA from that perspective. We all too often have such an insulated mindset with our world in general; TrueHoop is one of the ways many of us keep that from being too much the case with our sports (albeit just from other cities). This will keep us from being too ignorant of what’s going on from a world view of hoops.

A few weeks ago the Euroleague announced that Naturally 7 will be the performing live act at the Final Four. Never heard of them? Me neither, but I should since Euroleague.net tells us that they perform the #1 German hit “Music is the Key.” I was kind of shocked, me being German and all, that I didn’t know the German #1. Continue Reading…

Police in Berlin are planning for the worst and expect militant fans from Greece and Russia to possibly cause rioting in the German capital at the Euroleague Final Four from May 1-3.

May 1 is Labour Day in Germany, and riots traditionally break out in a number of cities throughout the country – including Berlin – as demonstrations have been known to get out of control.

Now, Berlin police officials are coming up with extra security plans for the Euroleague Final Four. And the fact that fans from Greece and Russia will be coming to the basketball spectacle has German authorities worried.

“We will have to wait and see,” police spokesman Frank Millert said in the German newspaper TAZ.

The Berlin daily Tagesspiegel said O2 World arena officials are in talks with police about extra security for the event. O2 spokesmen added that exact plans are scheduled to be completed later this week.

The Berlin paper added that the German capital could have the feeling of a big football match with a number of police officials with police dogs at train stations and on the streets, while authorities in civilian dress will be observing known hooligans. The police spokesman also said that once the final participant – Barcelona or Tau Ceramica – is known, authorities may discuss if and how foreign officials can be used in Berlin.

While Russian fans of CSKA Moscow are a cause for alarm for the German police, the biggest concern for police is Olympiacos facing fierce rivals Panathinaikos in the semifinals on May 1. Panathinaikos was fined 14,500 euros last weekend after fans lit flares inside the arena, used laser pointers and threw objects onto the court. Tagesspiegel noted that supporters of the opposing teams have not been allowed into the arenas of the rivals for security reasons for years, and that a fan died  during a game between the two clubs’ women’s volleyball teams in 2007.

Berlin on Monday night was the site of some 100 leftist extremists rioting in protest of the NATO summit with cars set afire and Molotov cocktails and stones thrown at buildings. The Berlin head of the German police union, Bodo Pfalzgraf, said he was worried about the near future, telling the Berlin Morgenpost:  “Hopefully, May 1 will not be as heated as the signs show.”

Besides the Final Four semifinals, Berlin on May 1 will also be hosting 25 events associated with May Day. Most of these are anti-right extremism or anti-capitalist in nature, including registered demonstrations with names like the “Revolutionary May 1 Demonstration” at Oranienplatz and “Capitalism is crisis and war” at Kottbusser Tor. There is also a demo registered titled “Abolish capitalism” scheduled for 2-10:30 p.m. at Boxhagener Platz in Friedrichshain, not far from the o2 World arena.

And the federal executive board of the pan-German nationalist and right extremist party NPD is planning to mobilize its members for a rally at Mandrellaplatz in Köpenick.

Rarely does the future of one club seem so dreary yet so promising at the same time as with German first division club Köln 99ers.

The 99ers’ main investor Jürgen Wollny said the 2006 BBL champions are dangerously close to filing for insolvency just 14 months after the Hamburg businessman saved the club at the last second. But Wollny also said he already has major plans to have Köln play with eight or nine Germans next season.

Wollny told German news magazine Spiegel Online that the club is missing 600,000 euros, and that players, coaches and office personnel have had to wait up to two months for their money.

“It’s not possible to play until the end of the season with my own money and finance next season,” Wollny told Spiegel.

The report said a final decision is planned for by Thursday before the crucial relegation battle against LTi Giessen 46ers.

News of possible insolvency for the struggling Köln club – in 16th place of the 18 teams in BBL – comes just 14 months after Wollny stepped in, actually after the club had filed their bankruptcy paperwork with the league though the BBL had not yet processed it.

Last week, Wollny met with the city of Cologne to try to piece together enough sponsorship deals to at least limit the hole in the budget he admits he would be willing to fill. But he wants a long-term plan — more like five years — rather than merely something lasting until the end of the season.

Another part of the plan has a team to be assembled with eight or nine Germans, a direct answer to issues raised recently by German national team coach Dirk Bauermann, who was at the meeting with the city.

“We want to bring in (German) players who are just sitting on the bench elsewhere,” said Wollny, who calls his idea “Team Germany.”

Wollny believes that by the 2014 World Championship, the Köln club could provide a number of players for the German national team. And he hopes the idea of having Germans get the majority of the playing time will attract a wider base of sponsors beyond local or even regional levels.

German national team coach Dirk Bauermann dished out plenty of praise for Panathinaikos guard Dimitris Diamantidis in an interview, in which he also addressed the likelihood of Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman playing for Germany at the 2009 EuroBasket.

In the interview with heinnews.com, Bauermann was asked which team he would pick to win the Euroleague. And the nine-time German league champion coach answered:

Well, I think Dimitris Diamantidis has taken his game to another level on the offensive side. He was always an absolutely great defender. But now I think he is one of the best offensive players in the Euroleague as well. So, for that reason alone I would probably pick Panathinaikos. But none of those teams would surprise me

Bauermann also offered the latest on Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman playing at 2009 EuroBasket, saying:

I talked to Chris two weeks ago and he said he was interested. He is back playing but he is not sure about things in the situation in Los Angeles. So that’s up for grabs. It will also depend a bit on what Dirk does.

and

I will be seeing (Dirk) in April in Dallas when they have a three-game home stand. I will go and try to convince him to play. I’m pretty optimistic that he will play. That’s too long a summer for him not to play. He would get bored I think if he didn’t play.

Bauermann admitted that Lucca Staiger, playing college basketball in the U.S. with Iowa State, could have a big impact on the German national team. And he also said that the Germans are thinking about finding a summer league in the U.S. to get Alba Berlin’s bench-riding German international Joe Herber some playing time before the Germans meet for training camp in Mallorca.

After last season, the German basketball federation forced Bauermann to choose between solely national team duties or coaching for a club. And less than a full year after deciding for the Germany it sounds like Bauermann is getting antsy about returning to the sidelines for a club team.
When asked if he could see himself coaching a club again, he answered:

Well, I don’t know if I can do it in Germany after causing such an uproar. But I accept my role as national team coach right now. I think I have a contract for four or five more years, something like 2011 or 2012. I don’t even know. But I don’t think I will be able to sit and watch these games being played for nine months. But I will definitely take a close look. This first year has been good. It’s given me a chance to reload my battery. But I don’t think I can do it for four more years. If something comes up that is a really intriguing offer, I will really look at it long and hard.

That sounds like a man just yearning to get back on the sidelines.

Six Europeans have been included in the World team for the 2009 Nike Hoop Summit, which will be played on April 11 in Portland, Oregon.

The roster features
Guard Edwin Jackson of France (Nanterre), Serbian forward Milan Macvan (Hemofarm), Lithuanian center Donatas Motiejunas (Aisciai Kaunas), Greek guard Nikos Pappas (Real Madrid), French center Kevin Seraphin (Cholet) and Croaitian forward Tomislav Zubcic (Cibona).

The other four players are Argentinian guards Matias Nocedal (Vic Girona) and Mateo Gaynor (Benetton), Senegalese forward Mamadou Samb (Barcelona) and Chinese center Zhang Dayu (Zhejiang Wanma).

Rich Sheubrooks, Nike’s Consultant of Global Basketball, assembled the team and said:

“I think this year’s team is one of our bigger teams. They are fundamentally sound and come from good basketball programs all over the world. Argentina brings toughness and passion, Europe brings ball skills and fundamentals, while China and Africa bring raw talent and a great deal of potential.”

As of January 2009, 13 former World Team members were playing in the NBA.
Here is a list of the World alumni in the NBA:
Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks), Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs), Vladimir Radmanovic (Charlotte Bobcats), Andrea Bargnani (Toronto Raptors), Dan Gadzuric (Milwaukee Bucks), Darius Songaila (Washington Wizards), Sergio Rodriguez (Portland Trail Blazers), Yi Jianlian (New Jersey Nets), Luis Scola (Houston Rockets), Roko Ukic (Toronto Raptors), Nicolas Batum (Portland Trail Blazers), Mouhamed Saer Sene (Oklahoma City Thunder) and Alexis Ajinca (Charlotte Bobcats).
The Nike Hoop Summit – which pits the best American and international players 19-year-old or younger – will be webcast on Yahoo! Sports.

The news did not make big headlines throughout Europe: Serbian coach Veselin Matic was hired to take over the Iranian national team. But the announcement actually continues an ongoing, positive relationship between Serbian and Iranian basketball.

While the Iranian national basketball federation relies heavily on American players to help improve the level of play in the domestic Super League, the Iran basketball bosses decided to name a Serbian as national team coach for the second time.

Matic replaces compatriot Rajko Toroman after stops as coach with Estonian side BC Kalev, the Polish national team, Rhein Energie Cologne, Partizan and Red Star, as well as a term as assistant for the Yugoslav national team in 2001 (EuroBasket champs) and 2002 (world champions).

Matic will take over the work that Toroman started. Toroman guided Iran to the 2007 Asian Championship title, getting an automatic bid for the 2008 Olympics; this was the first time the Iranians reached the Olympics in over 50 years. And even though Iran went winless in China, the country’s game gained recognition.

Center Hamed Haddadi was signed to a contract with the Memphis Grizzlies, becoming the first Iranian to make the NBA. And forward Samad Nikkhah Bahrami played part of this season in the French league with Pau Orthez before going back to Iran.

Toroman said the Iranians were able to improve on the one hand because of the competition of playing with and against Americans in the domestic league. But it was the Serbian’s tactics which helped Iran knock off the second-biggest Asian power, Lebanon, to reach the Olympics; China had already qualified as hosts.

And now with Matic, the Iranians are looking to build themselves into an Asian powerhouse and qualify for the 2010 World Championship in Turkey.