BallinEurope, the European Basketball news site

Episode #35 of the BallinEurope/heinnews co-produced “Talking the Charge” podcast series is now available online and is downloadable from iTunes – and o boy, it’s a good one.

Days after Olympiacos made European basketball history, we’re still amazed by another incredible run by the Reds and so discuss the context of this back-to-back title victory. Also up for discussion are reasons why Real Madrid and FC Barcelona should be proud and CSKA Moscow a bit ashamed. And what about that Red Army side? Will they blow up the team? What is the future of Ettore Messina, Milos Teodosic and Nenad Krstic with the club after a most disappointing Euroleague finish?

We also weigh in on the results and performances of the Nike International Junior Tournament, with particular reference to the finalists, champions Club Joventut Badalona and runners-up FC Barcelona – an extreme contrast in styles vis-à-vis club development within the economic realities of European sport in the 2010s.

Of course, this show’s highlight is the brief interview with none other than The Human YouTube Highlight Clip himself, Ricky Rubio. In remarkably succinct fashion, La Pistola weighs in on this year’s Euroleague Final Four, the past frustrating season with the Minnesota Timberwolves (and the importance of Nikola Pekovic) and the possibilities for Team Spain in the upcoming Eurobasket 2013 tournament.

Finally, our sports movie review of the week focuses on the 2008 film The Wrestler featuring Mickey Rourke in an outstanding tour de force career-comeback performance.

Check out the entire podcast here or to subscribe from this episode ad infinitum, enter http://heinnews.com/feed/taking-the-charge/ into iTunes or any podcast aggregator.

Thanks for listening and talk to you next week!

Continue Reading…

BallinEurope weighed in on the question of Euroleague Coach of the Year for 2012-13 earlier, so now it’s your turn: Who do you like for the honor? (This poll will remain open for a day after the championship game, should your decision hinge on the outcome…)

 Loading ...

 Loading ...

Continue Reading…

BallinEurope doesn’t actually get to vote for Euroleague Coach of the Year, but we can still pretend. And in BiE’s opinion, the question of who should get the honor comes down to three, interestingly enough each in his first season with his current club.

Continue Reading…

Below runs the official EL interview with Olympiacos head coach Georgios Bartzokas going into his team’s championship game against Real Madrid. Certainly a candidate for 2013 Euroleague Coach of the Year honors, Bartzokas had never taken a team past the Top 16 round previous to this season – but one couldn’t discern this from either the excellent gameplan he drew up for the Reds in the semifinal match or his incredible sangfroid in this clip…

Continue Reading…

The attention Jaycee Carroll got on Saturday’s open media time was well out of proportion to his playing time on Friday night. In about 22 minutes (much of it in garbage time; then again, much of the game was garbage time, ultimately), Carroll contributed just two points – well done from his double-figure scoring averages this season – to Real Madrid’s immolation of CSKA Moscow. Below, a minute with one of the Madridistas’ friendliest, most engaging players…

Continue Reading…

Real Madrid’s Marcus Slaughter feels good despite facing the pressure of what he calls – and what unquestionably is – the biggest game of his seven-year professional career. Olympiacos might want to take note, as the defending champs could well have matchup problems in facing up against this athletic big man … particularly if, as he says, speed will be the key to a Euroleague title in 2013…

Continue Reading…

After a disappointing no-show by CSKA Moscow in the first Euroleague Final Four game, BallinEurope hopes that the clash of Spanish basketball superpowers lives up to the “Il Classico”…perhaps the biggest news/speculation regards Nathan Jawai, who was such a force in the playoff round for Barca; at least one Spain-based source claims that the big guy will not play at all. With Pete Mickael already out, this cannot be good news.

As for Real Madrid, it seems like ages since they last suited up for a Euroleague game. Will the long respite hurt or help?

Follow along below with BallinEurope and comment at will; enjoy the game, all!

Continue Reading…

Okay, so BallinEurope supposes it’s not technically “live blogging” per se, but here will follow live textual coverage of the first Euroleague Final Four game for 2013. And though to man, the Red Army denies any psychological impact or residue of revenge motivates them this game, BiE can’t help but think the disappointment of 2012 isn’t somewhere in mind…

And so what can Euroleague MVP Vassilis Spanoulis engineer this time? We’ll find out very soon now. Join in on the chat here at BallinEurope.com and enjoy the game!

The eminently quotable Sonny Weems was in fine form before his club’s matchup with Olympiacos in Euroleague Final Four play. See below for his talk with media members in which he downplays the revenge factor going into tonight’s game (of course, Sonny was not one of the half-dozen players who ended up on the wrong side of the big league’s biggest championship upset ever) and speaks of the difference between playing for CSKA Moscow and Žalgiris Kaunas.

And finally, for those who assume that any player worth his salt would automatically eschew European basketball for the NBA, watch to the end for a hint on Weems’ future with the Red Army. (Hint: CSKA fans should be stoked indeed…)

Continue Reading…

So does a status as titleholder tend to give a defending champion extra confidence or put extra pressure on the team? Here’s an answer from Kostas Papanikolaou of 2012 Euroleague champs Olympiacos…

Continue Reading…