BallinEurope, the European Basketball news site

In the wake of the NBA lockout, those players from the big league not hawking their wares in Europe or elsewhere overseas are looking to schedule alternative games. Though a big-name international tour appears to be stalling at present, this weekend will see quite an exhibition in the four-team “Las Vegas Superstar Challenge” headed up by former Beşiktaş signee Allen Iverson.

While the game apparently won’t be broadcast on television, an outfit called iLinkSports.com is offering folks worldwide a chance to see the games involving names like Kevin Durant, Paul Pierce, Amare Stoudemire and Andre Iguodala online. See below for the press release detailing the deal; in short, $4.99 (just over €3.50 by today’s exchange rate) before Friday will get you a pass to see the Vegas games.

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Last Sunday in the ‘States, prime-time animated program “The Cleveland Show” ran its take on the NBA All-Star game. Chief among the player cameos was that of Dirk Nowitzki, who gets to do lots of stuff about how he doesn’t speak English so good. Nowitzki was joined by Lebron James (really), Shaquille O’Neal (no surprise there), Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard and Steve Nash.

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The first episode in season two of “Inside Israeli Basketball” came out last week, running on Comcast Sports stations in the ‘States. Once again the season’s premier chapter mostly focused on Eurochallenge competitor Maccabi Haifa and a name player: This year, however, the team is not about a 17-year-old Jeremy Tyler leaving high school to play pro ball as a road to the NBA, but rather a Sylven Landesberg who eschewed a junior year at University of Virginia after a sophomore slump season to play pro ball as a road to the NBA.

Despite ditching Virginia rather cavalierly in the eyes of many, subsequently failing to go in the NBA Draft and not grabbing a spot with a D League team, Landesberg still managed to land on his feet with Maccabi Haifa. Rather than worry about a difficult transition from one culture to another that so many players crossing the ocean either way face, Landesberg received an Israeli passport by dint of his Jewish heritage via his father.

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Well, it seems the situation vis-a-vis viewing the Besiktas Cola game is dire, my friends. After hours (really) of searching and attempting tricky downloads, BallinEurope has found nothing.

The problem is that Eurosport stubbornly refuses to budge the main station’s schedule, preferring instead to show some sport called football or soccer or something, with games like Switzerland-Wales on tap. And abridged versions, no less!

And so viewers are reduced to getting it on Eurosport 2, which, unlike Eurosport, as BiE said, is proving impossible to find online. BJK TV, the Besiktas club’s official station, seems similarly invisible in IPTV streams. BiE’ll keep trying, but it doesn’t look good for you Yanks…

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Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. The day is finally here (presumably) and has any Eurocup opening day game been filled with more intrigue and spectator interest than tonight’s Beşiktaş Cola Turka-KK Hemofarm Stada match? BallinEurope thinks not. To get things started on the day of Allen Iverson’s European debut, BiE presents a few soundbites.

• If/when the memorabilia collectors hear of it, records will fall. Featured on the cover of what will certainly become the biggest-selling sports club fan magazine of all-time in Turkey is none other than Mr. Answer himself. (Though the illustration actually more resembles Chris Rock … perhaps it’s a special American comedy issue?)

Released to newsstands yesterday (and perhaps already gone) was the November issue of youth publication Yarvu Kartel or “Little Eagle,” so named after the Beşiktaş Cola Turka team mascot. And, hey, just in case stories on A.I. aren’t interesting enough for the kiddies, there’s also Sudoku!

• How’s life in Turkey treating him so far? Iverson yesterday gave an interview to Euroleague TV on the subject (after practice, titter titter):

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For those of you who may have missed the fantastic ESPN 30 for 30 documentary “Once Brothers” – and this wouldn’t be surprising with the ungodly scheduling of the thing on ESPN America in European time – BallinEurope presents it in its entirety below.

If you have not seen this, please check it out; the “30 for 30” series has cranked out a number of great films, including several basketball-themed products such as “Winning Time” and “Jordan Rides the Bus,” but the stunning story of friendship and loss of friendship among the awesome Team Yugoslavia squads of the late 1980s/early 90s is truly one of the best thus far – and certainly tops for an international audience.

This is courtesy YouTube user Captain Canada for posting these clips; in the past, someone has removed these videos within days after posting – BiE supposes its their right and all, but still… – so enjoy it while you can!

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Best basketball-related TV campaign of the month? Well, we’ve got an early entry from Spanish network Barça TV, which brings this nice 60-second blurb on Thursday night’s Los Angeles Lakers-FC Barcelona NBA Europe Live game.

You gotta love the use of the good ol’ “Rocky” theme – best in years, surely – and BallinEurope is happy to see someone else noticed that this essentially represents a showdown of championship teams, with neither side seeing a massive roster reshaping in the offseason.

It may just be an exhibition game, but BiE’s excited…

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All right, on this last World Cup-free weekend for the foreseeable future, who’s up for a little basketball? No, make that a lot of basketball. A barrage of basketball, if you will. Get ready to clear the schedule, stock up the liquid refreshment and blow off the familial obligations for the hoops marathon we like to call the BallinEurope 2010 playoff quadruple-header.

Incidentally, if BiE is a bit short on posts today, this is why: i’m actually watching the games. Imagine that…

The schedule goes something like this.

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Two of Europe’s finest, most hard-fought leagues are coming to a head with crucial games going down today in both Greece and Spain – and with no NBA playoffs on the schedule, you have no excuse to miss either.

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In Lithuania, Žalgiris Kaunas’ bizarre personnel situation, i.e. no official head coach named with a maximum three games remaining in the LKL season, continues. Žalgiris owner Vladimir Romanov spent the weekend *not* officially naming anyone to the position; the role was apparently unofficially filled by guard Marcus Brown in last Thursday’s 83-70 win over longtime rivals Lietuvos Rytas.

On his team’s part, promises Lietuvos head coach Rimas Kurtinaitis, “everything will be different” tonight. (“Vilniuje ‘Lietuvos rytas’ bus kitoks nei Kaune. Bent tą žada ekipos vyriausiasis treneris Rimas Kurtinaitis.”) For his sake, let’s hope so … one can only imagine the psychological damage a game-five loss to a visiting, uncoached team might do on the poor lad.

Lietuvos Rytas vs. Žalgiris Kaunas tips off at 7.10 local time (that’s 6.10 CET, 12.10 EST); to check out Europe’s weirdest playoff series of 2009-10, visit the Lietuvos Rytas website at game time.

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