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.

(Press release) – iLinkSports.com will give NBA fans around the world a chance to see their favorite players compete in Allen Iverson’s “Las Vegas Superstar Challenge” for just $4.99. The high-quality web stream will show all three of the two-day tournament games live from Las Vegas on Nov. 12-13. Fans can pre-register for the stream’s early bird special now
on iLinkSports.com. The price will increase on Nov. 11.

“No where else can you see this caliber of professional basketball in one place for this price,” said Donald Toatley, president of the site. “This is a perfect example of how iLinkSports.com is keeping the global sports community connected, despite the current NBA lockout, giving everyone an opportunity to watch live professional basketball.” iLinkSports.com has streamed two NBA lockout games in Washington and is preparing for a game later this month in Iowa.

Viewers will be able to see some of the NBA’s best, including Allen Iverson, Amare Stoudemire (New York Knicks), Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder), Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers), Jamal Crawford (Atlanta Hawks), Lou Williams (Philadelphia 76ers), Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies), Paul Pierce (Boston Celtics), Stephen Jackson (Golden State Warriors), Al Harrington (Denver Nuggets), C.J. Watson (Chicago Bulls), Monta Ellis (Golden State Warriors), Matt Barnes (Los Angeles Lakers), Dahntay Jones (Indiana Pacers), Kemba Walker (Charlotte Bobcats), James Harden (Oklahoma City Thunder), Hakim Warrick (Phoenix Suns), Tyreke Evans (Sacramento Kings), Kyle Lowry (Houston Rockets), Jason Thompson (Sacramento Kings), Marcus Morris (Houston Rockets), Kenneth Faried (Denver Nuggets), Jordan Hamilton (Denver Nuggets), Darius Morris (Los Angeles Lakers), Klay Thompson (Golden State Warriors), Kyrie Irving (Cleveland Cavaliers) and more. Additional names are being announced daily.

Though the episode itself is certain to be gut-wrenchingly brutal – come on, have you seen this thing? It’s like “Family Guy” but worse. If that’s possible – the “making of” vignette below is quite hilarious. BiE particularly digs on the following exchange.

LeBron: For the last time, Kazaam was not real.
Dirk: But it seemed so real.

[CUT TO:

Nowitzki in sound studio, laughing in spite of himself.

Dirk: Ohhhhh, now you’re making me look ridiculous!

Perhaps Dirk (not to mention Nash) have finally found their medium, i.e. in the spoken-word milieu. Some of us still remember this pair’s seconds-long-but-still-excruciating parts in the 2002 film “Like Mike.” Be sure to waste a few seconds of your life below, as it includes the incredible sight of Nowitzki getting dubbed *into German* for his home country’s audience.

O, and as for Dirk’s future career, yeah, he’s got something in mind. As the Maverick told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, “I like The Simpsons. Maybe we can hook that up.”

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.

Thus in Israel, it seems that Landesberg’s main difficulties are in choosing a car and unboggling his mind after spending $200 on a stereo. See from about 18 minutes in for the Queens boy’s jump to a new lifestyle.

Landesberg memorably went for 24 points against the New Jersey Nets when Haifa toured the ‘States this autumn, and a large segment of the Israeli basketball TV magazine show is devoted to the Israel side’s U.S. travels. (Watch from about 1:20 in on the below video.) And after considering Landesburg’s American duck-out-of-water story, note the reactions and thoughts of some European players who’d never been to the big ol’ U.S. of A. before.

(Through six Ligat HaAl games, Landesberg is averaging 9.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 31.8 minutes per, but is shooting just over 33% overall shooting at 20-of-59.)

Elsewhere on the quite American-biased episode of “Inside Israeli Basketball” is a segment on Haifa tryouts in Miami, which landed Zach Evans (from Bucknell University), Brett Harvey (Loyola), Rodney Webb (Florida Atlantic) and Adrian Moss (IUPUI) gigs in Israel. Evans made it to the big club, while the others landed with second-division Haifa affiliate club Hapoel Kiryat Tyvon. Moss has since moved onto Spanish second-division side Faymasa Palencia.

Another illuminating segment focuses on Haifa’s international scouting effort in the ‘States, the Americas, Europe and beyond, as led by Federico Brodsky (see about 15 minutes in). And this and the marvelous Yarden Harel, too…

•••••

BallinEurope is going to break internet decorum a little bit here and rerun some material, if only because the audience for this story was nearly non-existent; after re-viewing this YouTube three times since last weekend, though, BiE still finds Terrell Myers’ anecdotes of basketball in England and Spain in the late 1990s/early 2000s compelling stuff.

Most interesting in contrast to Landesberg’s move – not to mention that certain high-profile import to Turkey – is Myers’ recalling life for low (basketball) profile squad Sheffield Sharks. If folks in America think TBL and Ligat HaAl are low-level leagues, they’ve got the amenities well beyond British hoops of 12 years ago.

All in all, the current St. Andrew’s College (Maryland) coach tells a story surprising in its wit and introspection. Sometimes funny (love the chicken sandwich), sometimes negative (European xenophobia can be scary) and surprising reflection of a general lack of knowledge of foreign cultures.

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…

• 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):

• Iverson’s official website has posted a handful of pictures from last week’s introduction ceremony, including a bunch of the new no. 4 taking token jump shots to oohs and aahs; there’s also a shot of Iverson with that same dude who bookended him at the Oyak Renault game – who is that guy? His street lingo translator?

• Here’s Hemofarm captain Miljan Pavkovic, the player who’ll be assigned to man up on Iverson at the defensive end, on tonight’s game: “I didn’t even believe he would sign for Beşiktaş. It didn’t made much sense that a basketball star like that should be on his way to Europe. We discussed his arrival and once we realised it was actually going to happen, the first reaction was genuine shock. … Once the news spread, people instantly began to call us and try to book tickets for the game, which was still more than a month away.

“[Iverson] is arguably the greatest player to have played in the Eurocup and that’s we will be moving to the arena. We have to beat Partizan’s Euroleague attendance record [laughs].

“… I don’t think it will be only me who is going to defend him, but also other players in our team will be in charge of Iverson. For me, it will be a great chance to be direct rivals with him and I will have additional motivation.

“I get nervous at training sessions and when we play some easier league matches. I try as hard as I can to get positives from every situation. There will certainly be additional adrenaline and it will only rise as the match approaches. Our job will be to do our best, as we will be up against a top class of a player.”

• The bookmakers have spoken as well. Bodog had – at least until yesterday – offered three Allen Iverson “specials” for punters. The proposition bet “Will Allen Iverson be on the Beşiktaş roster for the entire 2010-2011 Season?” had lines of 2/1 on “no” and 1/3 on “yes,” while the over/under on Mr. Answer’s scoring average for Beşiktaş this season was set at 20 points per game.

Positive stuff there, but a third offering might not be so kindly thought of: “Will Allen Iverson be on an NBA roster for game 1 of the 2011-2012 NBA season?” was posted with long odds of 7/2 on “yes.”

Incidentally, as for the actual game, the sportsbooks have Beşiktaş as a 6.5-point favorite over KK Hemofarm Stada in Turkey tonight.

• Incidentally, some of us haven’t forgotten Beşiktaş’ current stud, Mire Chatman:

• How to watch. Right, so those of us on The Continent knew when Euroleague and Eurosport officials agreed on terms to broadcast Eurocup basketball games from November to April that these matches would be among the best programming the generally blah station had to offer – and that was well before Beşiktaş’ Great Experiment was even embryonic.

Both Eurosport and Eurosport 2 are listed as broadcasters of Eurocup games tonight, so presumably the bigger station will be airing Beşiktaş-Hemofarm; good news for a wide swathe of Continental viewers, then, as the station typically comes in basic cable TV packages.

For those outside of Europe, a number of live streams may be watched online but these are merely serviceable. BiE counted four safe stations for Eurosport and Eurosport 2 broadcasting (albeit not in English); no downloads are necessary, but fullscreen viewing is sadly not possible. Try Free Watch TV Online, EPC TV, Online Channels or A Jones.

To buy a nice clean Eurosport live stream from the station itself at €4.90 (about $6.75) per month, click here. (No, BiE isn’t shilling anything; strictly passing on the word without sponsorship deals.)

However, BiE may have a few more tricks up my sleeve for free streaming, so watch this space as the day progresses … meanwhile, Happy A.I. Day, everyone!

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!

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…

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.

• ACB semifinal game five: Caja Laboral Baskonia vs. Real Madrid, 12.30pm CET (6.30am EST). Real Madrid looked done, sunk, gone and terminated after the first two games against Baskonia in this series. A pair of close losses put Madrid at 5-9 against the ACB’s other big three (FC Barcelona, Baskonia, and Unicaja Malaga) in 2010 and Tiago Splitter was simply having his way with Ettore Messina’s men in some dominating performances.

But that was until Ante Tomic woke up, contributing twin 8-of-11 shooting performances for seven rebounds one night and 14 the next. Splitter may still be scoring at will (with games of 17 and 20 points), but the three-headed monster of Felipe Reyes, Novica Velickovic and Tomic is proving too much for Tiago on the defensive end – particularly with as little help as received from Mirza Teletovic in game four.

The result? Back-to-back decisive Madrid wins of 80-67 and 80-62, and a knotted-up series going back to Basque Country. Oh, and a dandy duel between Tomic and Splitter in game four.

Check out the excellent ACB360 portal to watch the game live and any of the ACB playoffs in full.

Fearless prediction: At home, the offense magically reappears and Baskonia ekes one out in OT.

• BBL championship series, game one: Brose Baskets Bamberg vs. Deutsche Bank Skyliners, 7.30pm CET (1.30pm EST). It has come to this in Germany. Brose Baskets Bamberg, going into the Bundesliga tournament as the no. 5 seed with a 22-12 record, host no. 7 overall Deutsche Bank Skyliners. Oh, and the winner gets an automatic 2010-11 Euroleague bid, with the German runner-up at least getting a Eurocup spot – and the Alba Berlins and EWE Baskets can wonder what they’ll be doing for extra-Germanic activities next season.

These teams have met for the German title twice before, at the end of the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons; Bamberg took the title in ’05 with Dirk Bauermann but is looking to capture its first-ever double championship season this year, with a BBL Cup already on the Brose mantelpiece.

Though Brose Baskets met the Skyliners in the BBL Cup final, Frankfurt’s team now sports a different coach in Gordon Herbert, who’s 9-4 cumulative with the club in 2010 and has been credited with revitalizing the play of Jimmy “American Streetballer” McKinney. Derrick Allen has also been going off in this tournament, ending up game high scorer four times out of nine thus far peaking in a 26-point, nine-assist performance to finish off Alba Berlin.

Nevertheless, the fearless prediction here says “Pleiss, Pleiss, baby.” No one’s stopping the upswing of the young German and his Brose Baskets, who are on a 20-2 run since February. (Who knew?) Bamberg wins game one easily.

The fairly reliable website My P2P should be carrying the game live online for those outside of Germany.

So how about a nice cheesy music video about Bamberg…? Ah, come on, it’s even got the Michelin Man in it!

• EΣAKE championship series, game four: Olympiacos vs. Panathinaikos, 9.45pm CET (3.45 pm EST). The quadruple-header gets bigger and bigger, with those old rival Greek powerhouses adding another chapter to the basketball history books tonight: a history that has overwhelmingly favored Panathinaikos, even over the huge-budget Reds of recent years.

To wit, Panathinaikos goes for its eighth consecutive championship, a fairly incredible run considering the quality of play in Greece and the perpetual presence of high-level clubs like Maroussi BC, Panellinios, and, well, Olympiacos. But PAO just keeps winning titles – and this year seems to be no different, evidenced by game three of this series alone. In short, Olympiacos blew a 14-point third-quarter lead and a nine-point advantage going into the fourth to lose handily, 79-70.

The Reds played their distressingly habitual near-listless, emotion-free game (OK, maybe not Theo Papaloukas, but even he can’t keep up the intensity anymore and gave up six turnovers in game three) that showed just how much talent Olympiacos has and how much they simply need *someone* who knows how to win titles – likesay Sarunas Jasikevicius.

And don’t even get me started on the league MVP/All-Euroleague First Teamer, certainly in the running for BallinEurope’s MDP (Most Disappointing Player) for 2009-10. Kleiza “contributed” 10 points on just 4-of-12 shooting, three rebounds, and zero trips to the foul line in 32 minutes of play for Olympiacos in game three; how can a guy averaging over 14 points and five boards per game look so invisible? What’s that? His offensive rebounding, steals and assists are basically negligible? Oh.

Fearless prediction: Yeah, Panathinaikos closes it out tonight and the Angelopoulos brothers immediately break out the ouzo to try and deduce where all their money went.

To watch the Greek playoff game online, you have a few options. The picture and feed at EllinarasTV.net are quite good, and the full-screen option has been added, it seems. The game should also be available on ATDHE.net as well, and maybe on Stream 2 Watch, though BiE hasn’t caught any of the games there thus far. Live streaming stats may be had courtesy of Galanis Sports Data.

And yes, this game indeed starts at 9.45 CET (3.45 EST), thereby begging the question, “Don’t Greek folks ever sleep?” Of course, this is actually quite a clever time to stage a game if you’re a basketball fan, because with a tight game between Reds and Greens, it’ll segue nicely into the pre-game hype for…

• NBA Finals, game two: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Boston Celtics, 2am CET (9pm EST). You may have heard about this one; you know, it’s got Pau Gasol and Sasha Vujacic in it…? Check, as they say, your local listings.

If for some reason your market isn’t getting the game or you’d like to watch the whole game in its entirety at a more civilized hour, you’ll have to pay. The good news is that the live streaming product offered at NBA.TV is quite good. Add in Marv Albert calling the games (sometimes) plus access to those rubberneckingly bad American television commercials and it’s worth the euros.

Fearless prediction: Celtics make the home team grind out every point, but Kobe hits the buzzer-beater to give L.A. the 87-85 win.

In EΣAKE land, the championship series again features those perpetual rivals Olympiacos and defending champions Panathinaikos. Panathinaikos is up 1-0 – make that a big 1-0 – after taking care of business at home on Thursday night, 73-54.

Surely, the pressure cooker will be turned up ever higher on Olympiacos’ big names as PAO has in the past couple of years broken the Reds’ hearts in title quest after title quest. Game two of the EΣAKE championship series on Sunday night at 9.45pm local time (8.45 CET, 2.45 EST).

As for watching Olympiacos-Panathinaikos online, BiE received some advice in response to the recent plea posted on these pages. It goes something like this: Seemingly, the most reliable stream (at least it was last year) can be found at EllinarasTV.net. The sites Stream 2 Watch and ATDHE.net typically carry tons of European sports streams, including the Greek League playoffs thus far.

The best coverage is reportedly provided by Woop.gr, but this requires a Greek-based IP; your computer’s IP address can apparently easily be changed, though BiE is a tad too faint-hearted and technologically ignorant to mess about with his local settings.

Happily, seeing the already-tense Real Madrid-Caja Laboral Baskonia series is a lot easier. While FC Barcelona is handily smoking Unicaja Malaga in the other semifinal bracket (the Blaugrana won the first two games by margins of 14 and 13), game one of this series resulted in a tight 62-60 sneaking by of the no. 2 seed.

Today’s ACB semifinal game tips off at 12.30pm CET (6.30am EST). ACB has scheduled this round in most excellent fashion, supplying one game per day (or night) straight through to May 6 if necessary. All the games may be seen on the ACB’s highly-recommended ACB 360 service. The only downside here is that the games may only be viewed live.

Fearless predictions? Sure, why not? BiE will take Olympiacos to defend home court, but barely; say two points. And over in Iberia, Baskonia stuns Madrid, 75-72 to put Ettore Messina’s boys on the ropes.

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.