BallinEurope, the European Basketball news site

Krepsinis.net lets us know about the possible offer from big-time club CSKA Moscow to get Krilenko back to Russia.

These are the facts: Kirilenko has not yet signed with the Utah Jazz, at least as far as the public knows.

Since there are no other facts, besides the great strength Kirilenko brings with him to any team, let’s start the speculation.

CSKA certainly has the money to offer Kirilenko the kind of defal they would offer a NBA star of his caliber – Ben Gordon, for example. Before you start thinking “WHAT?! Ben Gordon=Andrei Kirilenko?!,” no, but it was also a rumor that CSKA is interested in Ben.

There goes the big advantage: Andrei will not take up a foreign or US spot so he can be on the floor at all times, no matter if there are any other Americans or Europeans.

Does CSKA really want somebody like Andrei Kirilenko? I am sure the question is not one of want, but need. With players such as Smodis, Siskauskas, Holden, Lorbek, Langdon and Morris, every Euroleague coach would probably say, “Thanks, but I would be happy to have one of those.” Well, CSKA has them and could think: Well, we do not need somebody like Kirilenko to win it all again, but hey, why not? Some popularity for bringing a Russian player back home – some national pride – nothing else such as media attention is not wanted or needed for the rich people of CSKA anyway.

In case you have never been to the CSKA web site, make sure you do now. This is actually pretty funny, cool, and weird at the same time – unless you understand Russian, of course.

All over the internet has the rumor spread that Ben Gordon has been offered €5.5 million Euros to join a team that already looks like they can win the Euroleague. As always, CSKA is denying this. It is also said that Ben Gordon would take an European offer of at least €7 million.

First off, what passport does or could Ben hold? This might be crucial to find out if his paycheck can actually reach €7 million per season. Remember, there are restrictions in the Euroleague and in each European domestic league regarding how many Americans can be on the team and even on the floor.

Ben’s parents are Jamaican and he was born in London, but is an American basketball player, according to Wikipedia. After all, Ben is holding a UK passport.

If I’m Ben Gordon, I’m just looking at Josh Childress and his contract. Josh averaged 7.1 points and 5.7 rebounds, while Ben scored 18.6 points, grabbed 3.1 rebounds and had 3 assists per game. According to the statistics, I might pick Ben over Josh – having in the back of my mind, of course, the kind of players Josh and Ben are.

Looking at the numbers, it is said that Josh is making about $20 million over three years – $6.6 million a year or about €4.6 million presently. Remember: Ben was offered €5 million and wants €7 million. If you ask me, CSKA, give him the six he really wants and score a great player.

According to the stats, Ben is the bigger deal; in terms of money, he also should be a bigger deal; and within the NBA vs. Euroleague battle, he should be a even bigger deal, right?

We’ll see what happens within the next few days …

Mario Kasun is probably (99.9%) leaving FC Barcelona, Continue Reading…

Air Avellino, an Italian club that just made it to the Euroleague for the first time, named Dan Dickau their new point guard. According to club President Vincenzo Ercolino, Air Avelino was looking for Dan, because of their aim “to find a player that could make a difference and dictate the tempo of our team. He is a serious professional with NBA experience. We have nothing to envy of any other playmaker that arrived in Italy this year.”

I am sure, some US media will think about Dan again as a role NBA player, that is not worth p(l)aying in the NBA anyway – so let him go to Europe, but his 12.2 points and 5.2 assists he averaged with the New Orleans Hornets in 2004-05 promise a great signing for Avellino.

Virtus Bologna’s agreement with Earl Boykins is only the latest sign: It is now clear that the Italian League is ready to return to its past and glorious times of the 1990s when Bologna was called “Basket City” and the whole movement was at the top in Europe. Serie A is on the rise again, just in time before a season that scares many general managers because of controversies and possible changes to regulations on the use of Italian players currently left at the ends of benches. The reality, however, says Italian players can’t bring you to a Euroleague title. Many countries have looked overseas and to the best European leagues to renovate their teams, and return ambitiously to Europe. Analysis of the best Italian teams shows a huge number of credible contenders; Siena and Roma aren’t alone anymore.

Montepaschi wants to give itself the opportunity to win the Euroleague and, to be sure of competitiveness against teams like Panathinaikos, Olympiacos, Barcelona and CSKA Moscow, signed last Serie A’s top scorer Morris Finley and expert guard Henry Domercant from Dynamo Moscow: two important moves which follow the confirmations of McIntyre, Lavrinovic and Sato, three key members of the 2007-2008 title run. 

To break Siena’s power, Roma has worked very well on the market, adding great names (Jennings, Becirovic, Brezec, Hutson) to a group that made it to the finals. If the rumors on David Hawkins’ return are true (the former Temple guard is going to decide between Milano and Roma), Dejan Bodiroga has to be satisfied with his creation. 

No less important is what Milano is doing, thanks to new property controlled by Giorgio Armani. Armani is a man with the faculty and desire to invest money in his team, and is able to answer with great local signings: Vitali, Mordente, Rocca will be cornerstones for the future, while Thomas, Sow and Sangarè are solid role players. 

The most encouraging news for Italian basketball, however, comes from Bologna, where both Fortitudo and Virtus’ fans could enjoy again positive and winning seasons, after some disastrous years. Fortitudo has one of the most amazing potential offenses in Europe, with Forte, Huertas, Woods (also Slokar). Virtus has bet on Boykins – the deal is worth $3.5 million! – to come back in the Euroleague, but there’s not only the 5’5” point guard from Eastern Michigan, because players like Langford, Ford, Arnold are capable as well. 

Such are the contenders’ situations. Behind them, some clubs have the choice to put themselves among the teams longing for a championship. Avellino dreams of another third-place finish and although the element of surprise is gone, its roster is not so bad (Warren is an Euroleague player, Slay has the skills to play in NBA). Treviso has built a strong starting five (Wood, Neal, Soragna, Wallace, Nicevic), and Pesaro has lined up some interesting young players (Stanic, Akindele). 

And what happening in the littler centres of Serie A? Capo d’Orlando has found its new idol after Pozzecco’s retirement in Tyus Edney; Biella keeps up its excellent scouting skills and has signed Plaisted and Gist; Caserta, the 1991 Italian champion and back in Serie A after 14 years, expects a lot from Diaz, Butler and Foster.

That’s the Italian situation. As we can see, there are many signs pointing to a more balanced Serie A than in the past two years, when Montepaschi’s control was embarrassing. At the same time, the Italian league is returning to prominence in Europe, where Siena, Roma, Milano and Avellino will face the Euroleague; Fortitudo Bologna, Capo d’Orlando and Treviso will play in the Eurocup. Though some teams which have serious economic troubles (the entire budget for Rieti and Napoli is about $1.5 million each) and some are obliged to reduce ambitions (Montegranaro has lost the unforgettable last season’s heroes; Udine has picked up its players from Legadue), this is generally one of the most interesting championships in the last five years. Maybe Italians owners aren’t able to invest a great deal of money like in Athens, Moscow or Barcellona, but the level is very high, like only in ACB. CSKA can’t lose at Samara or Surgut; Olympiakos can’t lose at Larissa or Rodi; but Siena (or one of the other top teams) can lose at Pesaro or Biella. That’s the great difference coming from Italy.

This article has been written by Francesco Cappelletti.

Being at a basketball camp 24/7 right now does not help in staying on top of things: Today there are 129 new emails in my inbox and a lot of new developments going on. I guess I’m lucky to be at the 76ers camp, where the director has great connections and informs me about current events from time to time.

Wearing this shirt initiated the latest news tough. As you can imagine, Shawn Kemp is a pretty big deal for Europe. Especially if you grew up in that era with him and Gary Payton. Shawn Kemp was THE deal, right?

Well, Shawn has been offered a contract by Italian club Premiata Montegranaro and if you know a little bit about Shawn’s recent problems, you might want to believe that he be would be more than glad to take this offer.

My five cents: If Shawn Kemp signs in Europe, I am buying season tickets for that team!

Earl Boykins finally took a deal in Europe which many believe he should have done much earlier, like last season, when BallinEurope was already discussing the possibility. Now, Earl has signed with Virtus Bologna, a team which struggled mightily with their Americans last season – Delonte Holland, that is.

As you see, there is no need to speculate, especially when you hear the birds in Olympiakos telling people that even LeBron James is an option in 2010 when his contract is over; let’s talk about that … in 2010.

Let’s keep it realistic – like Jason Kidd realistic. Talking to basketball experts, a Jason Kidd move to Europe would not surprising to them at all, since nobody is a real fan of him for being on the Olympic team. We might have to talk about Jason Kidd in Europe pretty soon – pretty seriously!

That’s all from the deep deep Poconos in beautiful Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Within the last 24 hours we’ve gotten about 1000 search requests within our in-site search engine about Gordan Giricek. Why?!

Well, Gordan Giricek played for the Phoenix Suns last season, averaging 3.4 points per game and 1.4 rebounds per game. So what makes the 198cm Croatian so interesting? Well, probably the fact that he is Croatian and playing in the NBA. Every single European NBA player has been linked to leaving the NBA for an Euroleague or Eurocup team this season.

Christophe has the guard of the Phoenix Suns already among his possible moves for 2008/09 and puts him on the shopping list of Unicaja Malaga, Spain. But he also seems to be on the table for David Blatt and his Dynamo Moscow team.

This would not be the first trip to a Euroleague team for Gordan, as he has played for big-time teams such as CSKA Moscow before.

Here is my rating for Gordan coming to Europe:

(At least this is what our sources tell us…)

It is no surprise that almost-NBA champion Sasha “The Machine” Vujacic has been contacted by several European teams. Kobe Bryant tells us that he would not be surprised if Sasha takes the money and runs, just because he won’t get that much money from the Lakers or any other NBA club.

So once again, money is supposed to be the reason? NO! If Sasha is treated like this by his favorite MVP, his American idol (let’s just call him Sasha’s GOD), he has to leave. Watch this:

Oh well, Sasha, Kobe doesn’t love you like you love him … but it looks like a few more people don’t like you that much, either. Like Manu Ginobili, Andrew Bynum, Carmelo Anthony, Baron Davis and even the entire Cleveland Cavaliers team. He can’t even join the New York Knicks anymore! Would you want to stay in this league when nobody likes you and you get hurt all the time? I don’t know.

Does Europe want a guy like that? I guess not – well, hold on – the Euroleague might need a substitute for that guy who made us all laugh last season, even though he knew what he was saying to make us laugh: Sasha probably doesn’t know.

If everything fails, Sasha, why don’t you look into coaching and teach some people “how to look like a hero on the court” as well as “how to fly like a mosquito bite next to you”? Nope – no typo – watch this:

After Carlos Delfino signed a nice contract with Eurocup team BC Khimki, it looks like the Khimki managers wanted more from the Raptors than “just” Delfino.

A few hours ago, the club and the Eurocup website announced that Jorge Garbajosa has signed a two-year contract with Russian club BC Khimki.

It also looks like another American player is leaving his home country: Carl Landry from the Houston Rockets is rumored to be signing with Spanish club Tau Ceramica – We will keep you updated.

According to Lithuanian basketball web site krepsinis.net (thanks to Zaidaw), Josh Childress has signed with Olympiacos. To make it less a rumor, but a more reliable note: See here (for a picture of Josh actually signing), here and here are also reports and “photo evidence” of his signature in Greece with Olympiakos.

If you are an expert in the European lifestyle – I repeat, lifestyle – and not a basketball expert, you can be almost certain that Panathinaikos needs a signing like that, too (BIG rivalry between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos). Too bad Panathiniakos needs a shooting forward. What was that guy’s name from Chicago again? The guy who was looking for a deal? Wasn’t that Luol Deng…?

Don’t be surprised, if that’s the next thing reported on US web sites…

Side note: To make your day even worse (as a US basketball fan) or even better (as a European basketball fan), Pat Riley would rather spend his time in EUROPE in France watching the Tour de France..