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Brandon Jennings signs with European club Virtus Roma

Here we go: Brandon Jennings makes history for officially signing with a Euroleague team straight out of high school. His team: Virtus Roma. Since I spent the last year in Rome, I’m not sure this city is a good environment for Brandon; basketball-wise, it could be a good fit, though. From Roma’s official statement, it seems Brandon is bringing over his entire family!

Roma will play against Spanish top club Tau Ceramica, Fenerbahce Ulker from Turkey, Olympia Ljubljana (Slovenia), DKV Joventut (Spain), and Alba Berlin (Germany) during the group stage of the Euroleague season.

Why is Roma interested in Jennings? Well, they just lost Roko Ukic to the NBA, but still has Ibrahim Jaaber at the point guard. It is more than obvious that Brandon wants to prove himself in Europe and then leave the club for the NBA.

Personally, I am excited … well, curious. I know that most Americans don’t think the Euroleague is competition for ANY American player, but this year’s Euroleague will be on a whole other level. What if Brandon doesn’t succeed - don’t forget this guy is still “only” a high school star - as Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and Kevin Garnett have…?

(Thanks to “name” who provided us with the link within our comments.)

Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2008: Day 3

Again, Kris Santiago, who is in Athens right now, gives us some live impressions, including Roko Ukic and Chris Kaman:

• Korea was close to upsetting Canada in the first game of the day. Samuel Dalembert decided not to play after an argument with Coach Rautins the day before, and Canada struggled mightily against the fresh Koreans, who controlled the second quarter although they had to play without giant Ha Seung Jin, sidelined due to a nagging knee injury (He could barely walk the other day, so no surprise here). Chun Jungkyu led the Koreans with 19 points, but the North Americans bounced back in the third and had their best in veteran Rowan Barrett, who was a steadily scorer for the Canadians ever since. With the support of Carl English, who netted 12 points but looked far from impressive, Canada managed to overcome Korea by two points (79-77) in the final seconds of the game to book their tickets to round two.

• In the second game of the day, Croatia had to rally from a 12-point deficit in the first quarter and kept on scoring until halftime without looking too flashy (Arroyo tried his best to repeat yesterday’s fancy performance but failed to make his teammates better, although he was constantly hitting his shots).

• Toronto’s Ukic made his first game in replacing Zoran Planinic, who was sidelined due to an infection, and Marko Banic was inserted with Damir Markota out of the tournament due to a knee injury sustained against Cameroon’s Boumtje-Boumtje.

• Both, Ukic and Banic were instrumental in Croatia’s 95-81 win, as Puerto Rico could not convert the important shots during the third quarter.

• Malaga’s Daniel Santiago was again a no-show for the Boriquas and J.J. Barea is far from his best days, while Marko Tomas had another strong outing for the Croatians (15 points) with Prkacin (Who was continually complaining about the calls) also in the mix with another 12.

• Puerto Rico would have lost by 20, but Coach Cintron brought in Rivera, Camacho and Mojica, who showed the willingness to outplay the starting five.

• Croatia now faces Canada, while Slovenia takes on Puerto Rico in the quarterfinals.

• Germany’s Chris Kaman started well into the game and scored on several occasions. New Zealand’s Pero Cameron converts his threes like always, and the Kiwis are leading by four so far. The gym is filling up with Greek supporters right now.

UPDATE 1:

• Germany crushed New Zealand in the second half thanks to Dirk Nowitzki, who executed well from mid- and long-range for 35 points, while Chris Kaman had a breakout game with 20 points for Germany in showing why he’s one of the better players currently playing in the NBA.

• Frankfurt’s Pascal Roller was very active but his shot wasn’t doing it for him (4 of 10 FG); I still see him in front of Steffen Hamann right now. Kirk Penney slowed down a little bit in the third quarter, but he  came right back in the beginning of the fourth and chipped in a total of 29 points. The Greek fans invaded the stands (Where Nowitzki’s personal coach Holger Geschwindner was sitting, too) to witness a 89-71 win for Germany in the end, and a possible opponent to Greece if they lose against Brazil today.

• The OAKA is finally looking packed, and I am looking forward to covering the game for you guys as well…

UPDATE 2:

• Big game right here at OAKA, the gym is PACKED, and it’s 18-17 in favor of Greece thanks to Spanoulis, who scored eight points in the first quarter while Splitter and Garcia are leading Brazil with seven and six points, respectively. Marcelinho Huertas is displaying great ball-handling skills while Tiago Splitter had a marvelous block against Tsartsaris and is staying cool under the boards to finish  his hook shots in style.

UPDATE 3:

• The best game so far at OAKA, Greece could not profit from three consecutive offensive rebounds,  but Papaloukas brought the crowd to their feet when he threw an alley-oop pass to Fotsis, who dunked it for a 22-19 lead. Sofokles enters the game and earns a standing ovation from the fans. Spanoulis sends Huertas to the ground after pulling down a rebound, but receives no call … Huertas comments with harsh words.

• Marcelinho Machado misses his third three and is not really letting the ball rotate in the air. Greece is now up by eleven points and starts to control the game, while Brazil turns the ball over a few times to give Greece the edge. By the way, Araujo entered the game: He’s supposed to be out with food poisoning … he should have eaten a gyros pita on the street instead of taking his meals in a cheap hotel…

UPDATE 4:

• No chance for Brazil. Greece made it look easy, thanks to the duo of Papaloukas and Fotsis, while they forced Brazil to turn the ball over a couple of times. Huertas has four fouls and can’t help that much on defense while Splitter is having a hard time in the post but steadily scores to keep the deficit at 16 points. The rest of Team Brazil is currently vacationing on the beaches of Athens.

• Fotsis made a spectacular play by tip-dunking a missed shot, while Diamantidis netted a three at the right moment to keep the South Americans within striking distance.

• 68-55 to start the fourth quarter. Zisis is excelling as well and hits a mid-range shot from the left side. Brazil is still not beaten, although I doubt that they can manage to reduce the 15-point difference.

• Greece kept their fast pace and destroyed Brazil in the fourth quarter to win the game, 89-69. Tsartsaris received another block from Splitter but had also a beautiful dunk thanks to a Diamantidis pass into the zone. Alex Garcia scored late on a tip-dunk and screamed out all of his frustration. Even with the second team on the court, Greece dominates against the disappointed Brazilians who now must take on Germany in the quarters.
• Fotsis leads Greece with 18, Spanoulis adds another 14, while Bouroussis and Zisis clinched 10 points for the winning side. Brazil had Tiago with 15 and Tavernari with 14, while JP Batista remained on the bench in the last quarter with 13 points to his credit.
• Greece is going to have a match against the Kiwis right after Germany-Brazil at around 2.30pm Berlin time.

Live from the Olympic Qualifying Tournament

Kris Santiago, a FIBA.com blogger, is in Athens right now, following every game of the pre-Olympic tournament. Here are his notes from today:

• Slovenia is getting better from game to game and could be facing Puerto Rico or Croatia (but I would go with Puerto Rico, as they are looking quite good on the perimeter) in the quarters. Lakovic is solid while Nesterovic feels comfortable attacking the boards. Slokar showed a good all-around game, hitting shots and doing the little things right (Finally some positive news about Uros). Becirovic completes the team that received some help from Miha Zupan in the first game.

• Canada played weaker than expected. Former Skyliner Dave Thomas stepped up during the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough as Carl English and Samuel Dalembert could not repeat their performances from the test games against Germany. Veteran Rowan Barrett is a steady scorer, but the team looked bad on the defensive end.

• Cape Verde is the first team to fly home. The “Trindade” got pounded again, this time by Germany. Young talent Jeff Xavier certainly has some upside (a solid shot and good ball-handling) but is a shoot-first point guard and had some problems adjusting to the game. If his dreams of playing in the NBA don’t come true, he may play in Europe. In order to be effective, Xavier really needs to work on his passing game.

The same goes for most of the players that never played at such a high level in FIBA-organised competitions and struggled against bigger guys like Femerling or Kaman.

• Germany used the game as another test, and had no trouble finishing from the three-point line or under the boards. Kaman is not looking fluid in his actions, as he is still trying to find his niche in the German game. Demond Greene hit some 3s in the beginning, making it crystal clear which team was supposed to win. Young gun Philip Zwiener was the surprise of the day, as he made the starting five and showed off a solid performance, which could lead to a permanent starting job. I personally like Konrad Wysocki; he should be getting more time on the court, getting six points in ten minutes and was ready for more. Oh, I forgot to mention Dirk Nowitzki, who was not flashy but left his mark, was able to rest a lot due to the big lead and should be more tested more against New Zealand tomorrow.

• Puerto Rrrrrico is getting the best out of Carlos Arroyo (Flashy as ever … behind the back, no look, you name it) and … (A real surprise to me) Ricky Sanchez, who was left open at the three-point line and scored at will. Daniel Santiago got some minutes but was not nearly effective as in Malaga, and P.J. Ramos looked better (Well, not his look but his game) against Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje. J.J. Barea is having some trouble displaying his scoring qualities but does his job which includes passing and defending.

• Cameroon is here with a bad karma. They were angry and disappointed regarding their government which failed to support them in a professional manner. Now Harding Nana had a good first game but struggles to find his shot against Puerto Rico. Boumtje-Boumtje is fighting like a bull on both defense and offense, but Cameroon really sometimes lacks the IQ on the court, as they repeatedly left Sanchez alone instead of guarding him closer and made mistakes when switching the player in the wrong moments. Parfait Bitee looks ready for Europe, as he is really doing a great job here, scoring mostly from outside and keeping Barea and Arroyo constantly under pressure. Brice Vounang is a short-sized center with a wide body and knows how to bang but may need to lose some weight in order to perform faster around the basket.

That’s all for now. I’ll keep you posted…

UPDATE: Kris just sent us some more thoughts:

• Cameroon’s Harding Nana got his shot back in the second half and Parfait Bitte, who may land a contract in Europe soon (The D-League is not an option, and his agent Keith Glass is already receiving offers), did his part to bring Cameroon back into the game, but it was Larry Ayuso’s three-pointer that killed Cameroon’s hopes of advancing.

• Cameroon’s coach Lazare Adingono was certainly disappointed with the way things ended for his team, and hopes that the government has seen the positive outing of his team in Athens and tries now to support the team financially so they may bounce back with another strong outcome at the 2009 African Championship in Libya.

• George Felton, director of player personnel, scouted Alexis Wangmene (Texas University) closely these days to see if he is capable of playing against bigger competition. Wangmene was not a big factor offensively while helping out well in limited minutes on the floor on the defensive end, but has a long road to go if he wants to make it to the NBA.

• Brazil is currently destroying Lebanon, and they look quite confident on the floor with Marcelinho Huertas and Murilo Becker da Rosa having already reached double digits in scoring. Now all the players are set to score, and even NBA bust Baby Araujo is doing well on the floor, having no trouble scoring in the paint at all.

The NBA Finals game 3

So I made it to Los Angeles. After a long! cab ride to the Staples Center, I picked up my media credentials and went into the arena at about 2:30 .. and never left it until about 10.30 local time. Yes, I spent seven hours in a basketball gym. And it was worth it! Read more

BallinEurope goes to Hollywood

BIEGTH - RELAX don’t do it! Everybody knows this hit from the 80s. We’re not from the UK and the UK is not part of the European Union but well - BallinEurope goes to Hollywood, too!

Thanks to FIBA (yes, you Nic!) and the NBA (Rachel Walsh) I will fly to Los Angeles and watch the Euro-Lakers battling the Boston Celtcs in this year’s NBA Finals.

I just booked my flight (and a hotel) from Philadelphia to Los Angeles on June 10th to watch game three and game four on the 12th. learned a few lessons already, as I was at the NBA Finals last year in Cleveland, and even from the Euroleague Final Four. I will not book a flight that arrives three hours before the game starts: You might not get your bags. Second thing: I booked a room in a hotel RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET from the Staples Center.

Of course we will try to cover the Euro-Lakers and the NBA Finals 2008 as much as we did the Euroleague Final Four in Madrid this May - from our very own European prospective.

You might think, “What does a European basketball blog do in the US, especially at the NBA finals? Take a look at our BallinEurope Guy - doesn’t he look a little bit like Pau Gasol? We never tried to make him look like that but people told us so. I will try to get a hold of Pau and see what he thinks of our guy.

Another reason: To follow the Euro-Lakers! Starting with Italian superstar Kobe Bryant (please get the joke) to Spanish superstar Pau Gasol to all these other European sharp shooters.

Last but not least - We have to follow the enemy: Big, bad American basketball that is all about show and nothing else! (Once again, I am just kidding - I like entertainment :)).

The best thing about this US trip? I get to meet many cool people such as Lang Whitaker from SLAM and Henry Abbott from ESPN. I even planned to visit Henry Abbott at his office in New Jersey later this summer.

10 days to go! Yaaaay!

By the way is anyone else who reads this blog going? I would LOVE to meet up with anyody who reads, likes or hates BallinEurope. Please post a comment if you are!

Dirk Nowitzki sightings in Germany

I am sure every German, even every Mavericks fan would rather not see Dirk Nowitzki in Germany right now: They all wish Dirk were playing the Lakers right now in the Western Conference Finals. If you look at this picture of Dirk,visiting a home game of German first division and Euroleague team Brose Baskets Bamberg, close to his home town of Wuerzburg, it looks like Dirk does not want to be there, either, or is at least thinking about the NBA Finals. Oh well, Dirk - sh*t happens - and two years in a row for you now …

Also with Dirk: his mentor Holger Geschwindner on his right side and his sister at left.

Many thanks to photographer Daniel Loeb and brosebaskets.de for permission to use this picture.

Michael “Air” Jordan gets his own documentary

.. and of course it will be directed by Spike Lee. Why are we writing about this? Because Spike Lee hopes to show the documentary about the best basketball player ever in Cannes, France next year at the annual movie festivals.

Spike Lee announced at Cannes on Monday (May 20) that he is directing a feature-length documentary about basketball superstar Michael Jordan, which he hopes to bring to next year’s Cannes Festival. The project will feature previously-unseen footage shot by NBA cameras during the final two years in Jordan’s career, the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons.

If you like Michael Jordan, and I bet 100% of the people that read this blog LOVE MJ, this is a must-see; you might even consider flying to the South of France to see the premiere of this movie about Michael Jordan. At least I am.

[VIA EW.com]

General questions about international and European basketball

Over the last few weeks, we’ve received a few interesting questions from Luke T. Johnson of the “China Daily ” and we decided to make them open to the public. Here you go:

1. How have international teams from Europe and South America managed to close the gap on the US?
I am a huge European and South American basketball fan, but I would not say the gap is closed yet. In terms of marketing and especially investing into the sport, basketball in the United States is still a step ahead. Over here in Europe, you will only find basketball diehards to invest money into a team. If the team is not successful or if the investor does not like the decisions made by the coach or president, he pulls back and the club is no longer a top team. Since there is no draft in the NBA, the teams also do not get the opportunity to get great talented players like Cleveland’s Lebron James, who took his team to the NBA finals last year. In Europe, the best players are on the wealthiest clubs — CSKA Moscow, Panathinaikos, Real Madrid …

2. What has been the most significant factor (or factors) that has enabled the rest of the world to catch up with the US?
Basketball overseas has been made interesting for good basketball players mostly by the money they are able to pay now. Players that do not get that much playing time on a NBA team can become important players on Euroleague teams. This makes the sport more attractive to fans that follow the NBA mostly. With the recent wins of European teams against NBA teams in exhibition games, domestic fans have seen that it’s worth cheering for their home team again.

3. What do you think about the reported World Club Championships for next year? Will it actually happen? Will NBA teams compete? How would the Euroleague clubs match up against top NBA clubs?
The Word Club Championships will happen, simply because FIBA just announced so, but will it be successful? Will NBA teams and even Euroleague teams participate? Under the circumstances FIBA released this new championship, probably not. Neither the NBA or the Euroleague will participate with the schedule produced by FIBA; without the best teams from those leagues, it won’t be successful. Even if both leagues can agree on a better date, I doubt that we will see the matchup of CSKA Moscow against the 2008 NBA Champions - although I think this would be a very interesting game, if both teams play with they best players, but right now this is only a big dream.

4. As someone who seems to have seen a lot of both the NBA and Euroleague, how would you compare the two experiences — not just the game itself, but how popular it is, how fans react, the personalities of the players, the rivalries, and so on?
If you want to see passionate fans, come to Europe and watch the Euroleague. Actually you don’t even have to come to Europe. Last year’s NBA vs. Euroleague preseason games proved how passionate European fans are, when they filled the arena in Houston, Texas, for Panathinaikos playing the Rockets. Rivalries are more comparable to NFL rivalries, where some fans really hate each other and being a fan is not just putting on a basketball jersey and taking the kids to see a basketball game for two hours: You live your life for this club.

Another big difference between the NBA and the Euroleague: Players aren’t the most important and most known thing - it is all about the team. When Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and Kevin Garnett are the trademarks for the NBA, you will see names such as CSKA Moscow, Real Madrid or Maccabi Tel Aviv in Europe representing the league. This has been formed over the years through the basketball culture in Europe and reflects on how fans see teams: team basketball.

5. What do you think of the FIBA rule changes? How will this impact the global game?
Finally the NBA has no chance to complain anymore! Oh, I am sure they will complain that their ball is smaller … NO - I am just kidding - both leagues will profit from these rule changes when it comes to national team play. Hopefully the European leagues will be able to adapt the rules quickly and we will see at least every first division team in Europe use them. Don’t forget: Only 30 NBA teams have to bring the three-point line closer, while thousands across Europe alone must - Time to open a business to print these lines on basketball floors!

6. Basketball outside of North America is known for its passing and team-first approach. Is there another explanation for the “international style” than just a foundation in soccer?
The explanation for the “international style” being linked to soccer is new, too. At least, I never though about it. In my opinion, the style played by European basketball teams is firstly linked to a different approach to the game. While the US system promotes the stardom and the 1-on-1 play through its rules and media, the European basketball doesn’t face this type of promotion. In Europe, you talk more about CSKA or Panathinaikos than about Siskauskas or Diamantidis.

With this “education,” European players don’t have much intention to develop into individual superstars. The fact that in younger years, the European player normally gets the whole package in terms of basketball fundamentals also favors this type of basketball. If you have centers that can pass, that gives a whole different game than a situation in which the big guys merely set picks and dunks.

7. Who do you predict will be in the final game in Beijing?
I think that Team USA will make it to the Final. The second team to qualify is very difficult to predict because already you don’t know all the teams that will be there. But I think that Russia will have a good chance to qualify. Argentina I don’t think that they are strong enough to qualify for the Final as their generation is getting older. The same counts for Greece. If Lithuania really gets Zydrunas Ilgauskas to play, they can also be contenders for the Gold Medal.

8. Are there any countries you think will be “surprise teams” in Beijing?
Here again, it is difficult to say as not all the teams are known so far. Angola can eventually be a surprise by beating some of the “established” teams as they did in the 2006 World Championships. Another team that can go for some surprising wins may be Australia who a generation of young players growing in important roles.

9. Any else you’d like to add about the international landscape?
The International basketball is closing the gap to the US basketball but the general basketball fan is still considering the US basketball way above. When you live in the United States, the fan is more concerned about high school basketball than the Euroleague. Even the losses of NBA teams in the preseason against Euroleague teams did not change the superiority complex of American basketball fans.

Taking pictures: the European way

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Zeljko Obradovic stays in Athens for two more years

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