BallinEurope, the European Basketball news site

Cinderella, March Madness, instant history, the excitement of college hoops, etc. etc. So Florida Gulf Coast University destroyed what was left of BallinEurope’s NCAA Tournament bracket after the (sigh) University of New Mexico debacle plucky Harvard victory on Thursday with a thrilling 78-68 win over heralded no. 2 seed Georgetown. Unfortunately, the troika of FGCU’s European players didn’t do much, but who cares? The basketball upset of 2013 has been accomplished.

Therefore, the immediate YouTube-based reaction and clips, for posterity’s sake.
First off, let’s give props to a guy named Hebrew Hammy. Ol’ Hammy went on something called Collision Sports Talk a couple of nights ago, making the truly fearless prediction of the Eagles overcoming the mighty Hoyas. At least this part of the guy’s bracket ain’t broke…

And sure, here’s the dunk everyone’s gonna be discussing, posting, tweeting and retweeting today. Welcome to your 15 seconds of viral fame, Mr. Chase Fieler!

All right, fellow amateur bracketologists, see below the break for BallinEurope’s filled-out NCAA Tournament bracket. Full disclosure: BallinEurope used much more heart than head in formulating these predictions — so sure, In BiE land, Gonzaga can take the whole thing and New Mexico can finally bag that elusive Elite Eight bid (taking out Ohio State in the process, no less). BiE does not recommend application of sentiment in filling out brackets. Unless you just want to prolong a dream…

P.S. Go Lobos!

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After trawling the rosters of teams invited to the 2013 NCAA Tournament, a.k.a. The Big Dance, a.k.a. the cause of March Madness, BallinEurope has decided to divide its loyalty among three European-accented college squads.

And you? Who do you like in the big bracket? Vote below, vote early, vote often. And let the Madness begin!

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Can Harris, Gonzaga continue to ride the wave?

The easy choice for the European basketball fan would of course be Gonzaga. With a realistic shot at winning the whole enchilada and having perfected that up-tempo style for which this basketball program has become known, why not get on the bandwagon? After a topsy-turvy season during which it felt like a new no. 1 topped polls weekly, the Bulldogs finally emerged atop the ratings, only to see that ranking immediately erased thanks to bracket-building.

Of course, one could eliminate the Zags from contention for your Tournament-time devotion on a technicality. Guy Landry Edi’s hometown according to the NCAA and media sources is Paris, France. However, serious followers of FIBA ball will recall that, after playing with Team France in the U16s, he then suited up – thus changed his eligible nationality in FIBA terms – for Côte d’Ivoire in the 2010 FIBA World Championship (and subsequently the 2011 FIBA Africa Championship).

So could it be that Edi is finally worn down? Or, put another way, what happened to this guy in 2013? Since the New Year’s Eve game at Oklahoma State, Edi has totaled nearly as many personal fouls (11) as points (16, including seven in the Seniors Day Game blowout against Portland). Heck, he hasn’t scored a point since January 24, since going 0-for-13.

BiE wonders if we’ll ever see this player again (and thinks, yeah, maybe in Pro A next season):

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OSU’s Della Valle: It’s gotta be the hair…

Fans of international ball will be pleased to note the distinct foreign accent in the 2013 NCAA Tournament: 47 of the 60 sides with spots clinched in the competition list non-U.S. players on the roster. And while Canadians and Australians (including three on Albany and two with Luc Longley’s alma mater the University of New Mexico) lead the bunch, 18 European players remain on tourney team rosters.

Below runs a brief look at the first half of Europe’s representatives in the big bracket; with the other nine set to play for one of three tournament teams, BallinEurope will pay particular attention to these guys in an upcoming article.

First up: The two guys listed on rosters who will not see action. Notre Dame’s Eric Katenda (France) announced this summer that he was ready to get onto the court for the Fighting Irish after suffering a freakish potentially career-ending eye injury while still officially a recruit. Unfortunately, this comeback story has only a bittersweet ending thus far: While coach Mike Brey has stated that Katenda’s scholarship will be honored, the Frenchman did not suit up for the team this season.

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BallinEurope would like to wish a very merry Christmas to the readers out there, with hopes that your holiday season is loaded with food, drink, love – and basketball!

While the NBA is making this last item a reality with a swell slate of five games and a special Christmas-themed episode of the “Taking the Charge” podcast series will be posted later today, BiE brings even more season’s greetings from throughout the basketball universe. Among those sitting on BiE’s virtual mantelpiece are the following.

Among some great stuff for the holidays, BiE’s favorite must be “The 12 Dunks of Christmas,” a production from The NOC featuring streetballer Special FX.

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In case you missed it, here’s a tale of an American team bonding while on a European tour – though the reportedly highly effective tactic is unlikely to be deployed by the Doc Riverses of the basketball world any time soon.

Though mostly kept quiet at the time, an August trip to Paris taken by the University of Virginia featured an incident in which all 12 Cavaliers were trapped in a single elevator for 45 minutes. Head coach Tony Bennett explained that, while the capacity limit for the lift was marked as 13 or fewer passengers, “Twelve of them is probably the equivalent of, I don’t know, 15 normal people.”

Maybe they meant *metric* people, coach…?

The harrowing experience was handled well by all and Bennett was able to leverage the incident for team gain: “We talked about team bonding and being close. I think that’s as close as you can get for an hour in that tight a spot.”

University of Virginia Athletics yesterday posted a video of the Cavaliers’ mishap which has yet to become embeddable, but the claustrophia-inducing clip may be seen here. (Don’t worry: It’s been trimmed to just over one minute.)

So let’s see the Boston Celtics try this!

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Auda “will be a big factor” for Seton Hall

O’Connell has written for NCAA basketball for the Associated Press since 1978 and has just recently completed his 3,000th game writeup for the wire service. His CV is way too long to detail here, but let’s just say it culminates with entry into the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Hall of Fame in 2002.

So who better, BiE figured, to get some insight from on a handful of European prospects in American college basketball in 2012-13? Below run O’Connell’s insights into Patrick Auda of the Czech Republic; Patrick Heckmann and Elias Harris of Germany; Deniz Kilicli of Turkey; and Will Yeguete of France – plus video clips!

(Teaser: O’Connell reckons one of these guys is destined for an all-American-level year…)

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A bit of news from the fledgling basketball program of Armenia – the federation there is looking to FIBA Europe Division C play in 2014 – was recently passed to BiE … Somewhat belated congratulations go out to 18-year-old PF Gor Plavchyan, who’ll be playing ball with Glendale College for the 2012-13 season.

Plavchyan’s CV includes an impressive stint with Grant Hill School, with averages of 18 points and 12 boards to go with two blocks per game and a second all-Los Angeles Team nod. Plavchyan also played for Armenia’s U16 team in 2007.

Story as reported by Asbarez runs below.

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In celebration of certainly still the most significant year in international basketball history, BallinEurope today begins the “Twenty years ago today” series in which we’ll peer back in time through the lens of YouTube to that era of morphing European national teams and Dream Team dominance.

In the wake of that Greatest Basketball Team Ever Assembled, much of the 1991-92 professional seasons themselves get the short shrift in the history books, but some quite interesting stuff was nevertheless happening on the Continent.

• The Euroleague boasted a cliffhanging thriller in Partizan Belgrade vs. Joventut Badalona. Badalona brought Harold Pressley (with averages of 20.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per EL game) and Rafael Jofresa, while the Black-and-Whites boasted local products Predrag Danilovic and Aleksanda Djordjevic. It was the latter who’d deliver the European championship to the storied franchise for its first and, to date, last such title ever.

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