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Rose: "It's not up to you to save me, Jack."
As ‘Tuber TheSuperAngelBlue explains, “Le basketteur Derrick Rose, des Chicago Bulls s’est payé un sacré gadin la semaine dernière. L’occasion pour les internautes d’enfoncer un peu le clou avec ce mashup Titanic hilarant.
Can Jack Dawson save Derrick Rose Dewitt Bukater? Will their hearts go on? And once more: How brilliant is YouTube, anyway?
BallinEurope’s man in Italy, Enrico Cellini, today gives us a few choice quotes from Italy’s man on the New Orleans Hornets, Marco Bellinelli. In an interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport weekly, Bellini decries the relative drawing power of his NBA compatriots Danilo Gallinari and Andrea Bargnani as opposed to himself; plus, there’s a further comment that a certain Chicago Bull might not dig too much…
In an interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport weekly magazine Sportweek, New Orleans Hornets guard Marco Belinelli went through his supposed inferiority complex toward the other two Italian kids in the NBA, Bargnani and Gallinari.
In slightly contradictory fashion, Belinelli says, “I never felt I’m competing with them. Sometimes people talk more about someone else, it happens. Sure, I’m not pleased that Italian journalists and fans keep on considering Il Mago and Il Gallo more important [than me]. I can’t do anything about it but I feel a little bad.
“So why do the other two guys have more appeal? Just because they score more points or because they sell themselves better?” [It’s gotta be the market, Marco. Or the lack of flashy nickname... – Ed.]
Belinelli argued that status as high NBA draft picks paved Bargnani and Gallinari’s ways to smooth entrances and then reckons, “In the past, I’ve been penalized for being considered just a shooter, but I’ve showed I can do much more. I’m not a Kyle Korver type of guy, someone who shoots and that’s it: I can pass, do pick-and-rolls, drive the lane.”
As the Gazzetta dello Sport journalist desperately tried to portray him as a superhero with icebreaking questions on the order of “How could you turn from zero to hero?” and “Do you feel like a monster?”, Belinelli finally surrendered: “Well if it means that I never surrender and that I will fight to become the best player possible, then yes, I am a monster.”
Take take, Kyle Korver!
Zdovc suspicious
According to Spain-based SoloBasket, these were certainly enough oddity for the losing side, Spartak St. Petersburg, to file an official protest in the wake of the 82-73 loss to Triumph Lyubertsy.
At that time, BiE wondered whether this was an “epic display of flopping, personal vendetta or match-fixing conspiracy.” Clearly head coach Jure Zdovc has at least personally eliminated the “flopping” option.
Here’s one for the basketball sneaker junkies out there. Tweeted the Team France/San Antonio Spurs’ power forward Boris Diaw this morning: “another nice win tonight. here is the shoe i made last night on Nike ID. it’s simple but got swag. what do you think?”
As for the nice game itself, the Western Conference matchup saw the Spurs outlast the Phoenix Suns, 110-106. Playing without superstars Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, Diaw got the start and managed three points, four rebounds and four assists in 21 minutes of court time. Former Liga Endesa stud and BiE fave Tiago Splitter led all scorers with 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting in just 20 minutes.
Despite some sordid (and reportedly not exactly consistent) allegations against him, former longtime Syracuse University assistant coach Bernie Fine has found employment in Israel. Marc Stein of ESPN is this morning reporting that Fine has been hired by Maccabi Haifa BC as a consultant to the team. The decision is expected to be announced today.
Fine, whose professional career in basketball coaching goes back to 1970, ultimately specialized in working with big men for Syracuse. Notable names emerging from his tutelage include Rony Seikaly and John Wallace, the latter of whom European basketball fans may recall from his season with Panionios. The coach’s resume also includes a World Maccabiah Games title earned in 1993 with that tournament’s Team USA squad.
Here’s something to get you started on Saturday (yeah, BiE knows it’s, like, noon CET, but hey): A pair of clips taken from the halftime show at last week’s double-overtime masterpiece between Bayern München and Brose Baskets Bamberg over in Germany’s Bundesliga.
Check out a band identified only as “Die Crazy Dunkers” executing acrobatics that would give even Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Blake Griffin pause…
BallinEurope’s friends over at online language tutoring site English Baby recently managed to enlist another Continental star into assisting some students with their second-language studies: At right about the time Ersan Ilyasova was taking NBA Player of the Week honors, English Baby “asked him to teach the English learning masses about [offensive rebounds and second-chance points]. We also talked with him about learning languages.”
Bonus: The quadralingual Ilyasova also provides us with the Turkish word for “tip in.”
Criticizing the referees is the international pastime for fans of every sport as losses are bemoaned and shortcomings blamed on those unloved (and allegedly) myopic zebras. Nothing new here.
Cynicism and conspiracy theorizing are particularly rife in this part of formerly Soviet-influenced Europe, with anything up to and including Eurobasket losses. Again, nothing new here.
A PBL match of last Wednesday saw playoff-contending Spartak St. Petersburg lose at Triumph Lyubertsy, 82-73, in a crucial match involving a few other clubs. This immediately spawned at least one nicely edited clip of referee miscues from the game which may have cost Spartak the much-needed win. One more time, join in if you know it: Nothing new here.
But.
Youth basketball fans will definitely want to take advantage of Germany-based Deutscher Basketball Bund website’s generosity today: Live-streaming on the ‘site this afternoon the 3rd-place and championship game in the annual Albert Schweitzer tournament. At 2pm CET (8am EST), it’ll be Turkey versus Germany for the bronze-medal finish while at 4.15pm CET (10.15am EST), the final pits Spain against Serbia.
This morning, Team USA managed a seventh-place finish in the 16-team tournament by upending France, 87-81.
And for some nice thorough coverage of the tournament, be sure to check out European Prospects, with Continental youth-basketball expert Christophe Ney live and watching/writing up the action from Mannheim.
BallinEurope scored an exclusive interview with Ayron Hardy, a graduate of Jacksonville University currently in the midst of his rookie professional campaign with Leicester Riders. The former Dolphin racked up the accolades and trophies in his four years at JU, getting named to the Atlantic Sun Conference All-Freshman team in 2008 and the 2010 Pre-Season Atlantic All-Conference Team, plus a nod as the Atlantic Sun Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2009. His senior year saw him average 12.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game.
For the Riders in 2011-12, Hardy is enjoying an star-level year, including a ridiculous 20-point, 15-rebound, 13-assist, four-block performance against Sheffield Sharks. Hardy chatted with BiE’s British basketball specialist Sam Chadwick about his toughest opponents, why he chose to test the waters of the British Basketball League and the internet-based voting which has him in the lead for league MVP.
