Nov
1

Anton Larsen: “One great player to give Denmark hope”?

Denmark is one rarely associated with great basketball; indeed, the men’s national team is ranked no. 111 in the current FIBA standings, putting them well behind basketball powers such as Liberia and Togo.

Despite it all, suggests Tom Schad in the Copenhagen Post Online, “Denmark could become world beaters in basketball.” Citing the examples of Tony Parker, Dirk Nowitzki and Yao Ming, Schad argues that it only takes “one great player to give a country hope” in its national basketball program, and “For Denmark, maybe that player is about to arrive.”

That would be Anton Larsen, currently with Old Dominion University.

Continue Reading…

Oct
4

Pau Gasol: “I prefer European style of basketball,” won’t play for Barcelona (probably)

The ACB official website (and just about every other Spanish-language outlet for sports news) offers a lengthy piece on Pau Gasol, based on interviews with French newspaper L’Equipe.

Highlighted in the Spanish league reportage is Pau’s line to the effect that “I prefer the European game in the NBA because basketball is a team sport and is more beautiful to watch when players pass the ball or when ball movement creates shots.”

(Gods know what language this interview took place in, so bear in mind that this quote is probably emerging by way of English to French to Spanish and back to English; however, surely the sentiment survives through this mutant translation.)

Gasol also seemingly put to rest any notions of his playing for FC Barcelona this season, stating that he’s only training with the club and that it wouldn’t be “fair” were he activated only to have to return to America for the NBA season. With his addition to the team, Gasol reckons that “the Barça game would change. In the end, my starting the season with the team would penalize them.”

Continue Reading…

Oct
0

Alzhan Zharmukhamedov returns home to enliven Kazakhstan national program

While Alzhan Zharmukhamedov might not quite be a household name in the post-Soviet era and Kazakhstan is hardly a European nation readily associated with top-flight basketball, this nation is hoping that the former Olympic and EuroBasket champion can change all that.

The Kazakh Academy of Sports and Tourism yesterday announced that a revamped national basketball academy would be headed up by Zharmukhamedov. Working from a seven-year plan, the retired USSR player has shown his dedication to the project by moving from his long-time Moscow home for Almaty. It must be noted that the medalist has some way to go in creating a viable program, as Team Kazakhstan couldn’t even manage to squeak into the recent FIBA Asia Olympic qualifying tournament.

Continue Reading…

Sep
14

Fallout from Eurobasket 2011: Is Serbian basketball in trouble?

With a quite respectable history over the past 20 years – particularly in the FIBA EuroBasket tournament – Serbia has earned a reputation as one of The Continent’s great basketball powers. A little concern may be justified, then, at Team Serbia’s relatively disappointing eighth-place finish in this year’s European national-team tourney; indeed, at least one news source sees Serbia’s early bouncing as a symptom of greater illnesses affecting the team’s national program.

The English-language version of the Serbia-based Blic online ran a piece on Monday which sought answers under the headline “Basketball stifled by financial troubles and busy calendar.” Writer Tatjana Dragojevic investigated some of the woes she (and others) see as dogging Serbia hoops; today BallinEurope takes a closer look at some points of speculation.

Continue Reading…

Sep
2

FYR Macedonia players return to experience “joy of a nation”

Sure, the players of Team Spain have been feted for their 2011 EuroBasket championship, but wasn’t that nation kind of … well … *expecting* to be holding those victory parades? On the other hand, there was tournament shocker FYR Macedonia, who received a hero’s welcome in Skopje yesterday for achieving the seemingly impossible again and again in the tourney. The team eventually placed fourth, thereby gaining a spot in the 2012 Olympics Qualifying Tournament.

To show their appreciation, over 5,000 fans greeted the dozen basketballers at Alexander the Great Airport in the capital of FYR Macedonia – not at all bad for a workday in a city of under 670,000 – and many more lined the streets of Skopje to show gratitude for their underdogs. Noted the Macedonia-based MicNews: “The joy of the nation is worth more than a medal. The uniting power of victory is amazing. We returned with a trophy after all.”

(Impressive) video of the celebration runs below.

Continue Reading…

Sep
16

Official Fearless Predictions™: France vs. Greece, Russia vs. Serbia

All right, so who had FYR Macedonia winning that game?

Come on! While the BallinEurope prognosticators took something of a hit in the comments section here beginning a few nanoseconds after Vlado Ilievski’s game-winner, few truly had this one pegged. Team Russia coach David Blatt kinda sorta probably wasn’t surprised, but even the mystical crustacean Lazdeika had Lithuania to win last night.

And hey, note that right here at BallinEurope it was guessed that “this game comes down to turnovers; FYR Macedonia needs to hang close throughout and exploit the three or four opportunities they get.”

(Incidentally, Macedonia won the turnover battle, 14-8.)

So BallinEurope plods forth with another two sets of official Fearless Predictions™ for tonight’s France-Greece and Serbia-Russia games. BiE’s man in the U.K. Sam Chadwick joins in on the fun in forecasting the matches again and, as yesterday, neither writer read the other’s opinion before posting.

Also provided strictly for the reader’s edification are some lines from the sportsbook, in this case Sporting Bet. As BiE previously stated, whether gambler or no, it pays for the fan to know the bookie’s stand; after all, these guys have the most to lose financially if they get it wrong. (But they cleaned up a bit last night, eh?)

And a few more YouTube clips…

Continue Reading…

Sep
4

Has Dirk Nowitzki retired from Team Germany?

After an incredible 13th year with Team Germany came to an end with its defeat at the hands of Lithuania yesterday, Dirk Nowitzki may be contemplating retirement – in fact, the Germany-based Sport 1 believes it’s a done deal.

Though in an interview with the network, Nowitzki stated that “he wanted to ‘see what the future brings,’” Sport1.de went on to opine that “after the [second] round at the European Championship in Lithuania … everything points to farewell.”

Continue Reading…

Sep
9

Chicken move or clever maneuver? Conspiracy theorizing on Spain 96, France 69

With not nearly enough time spent in Lithuania, BallinEurope doesn’t wish to make any generalizations regarding the national character vis-à-vis tendency to conspiracy theory. Having been based in Central Eastern Europe for plus-10 years now, however, BiE knows how it goes, with “it” here representing “management of professional sport clubs well above and beyond normal, decent parameters of corruption.”

How does it go? It goes like this and this and this and this and just about all of this and of course this – and that’s just Greece and Turkey; don’t get BiE started on Vladimir Romanov.

Continue Reading…

Sep
6

Eurobasket 2011 round two: Impressions, links, notes and highlights

With just two days (and one game per team) remaining in 2011 EuroBasket round two, BallinEurope takes a brief look at some issues and trends going down in the tournament – plus links and YouTubes, of course. Read on for quips, quotes and clips.

• Importance of remaining games. Of six games left to play, four are critical to shaping the knockout round while two feature battles of undefeated teams fighting for group supremacy and the no. 1 seed. Both Spain-France tonight and FYR Macedonia-Russia tomorrow determine the group’s top two finishers, while the Slovenia-Finland (definitely) and Turkey-Serbia (most likely) games will lock in the no. 4 teams from the groups.

• Valanciunas vs. Kanter. In terms of prospect-watching, these are the guys observers have their eyes on. In general, Toronto Raptors fans should be fairly stoked – even a tad miffed that the Lithuanian lad won’t be joining their club for the 2011-12 season (should it happen) – about Valanciunas’ progress.

Continue Reading…

Sep
29

Eurobasket 2011: Scenarios for round three

With one game left to play for the teams of Group E and two for Group F in the 2011 FIBA EuroBasket tournament, BallinEurope takes a brief look at some of the mathematical possibilities for advancement into the knockout stage.

Group E
• France and Spain have clinched the top two spots in the group; their game tomorrow night will determine which is which seed.

• Lithuania gets the no. 3 seed with a win over Germany on Sunday. In this case, the Group E no. 4 seed would be determined with the outcome of the Turkey-Serbia game (by the way, nice grudge match there, eh?): Winner takes the last ticket to advance. Should Lithuania lose to Germany, there will be one of those messy multi-team ties for third and fourth spot, which would shake out something like the following.

Continue Reading…