Kate Kevorken is playing her senior year with the University of Nevada, producing nicely for the Wolfpack after cracking the starting lineup in her second season with the program. The two guard bagged her first Western Athletic Conference player of the week award on December 19 thanks to a 25-point (including the game-winner), 11-rebound show against Oregon. Ten days later, “The Encyclopedia” broke her personal scoring mark with 27 points in a losing effort to Mississippi State.

Eastward, freshman Sarah Halejian’s game grows seemingly day to day with the Yale Bulldogs. Halejian went for her career-high 14 points in a 92-41 blowout win over St. Francis, sharing Ivy League Player of the Week honors for her efforts; she yesterday matched that scoring mark with another 14 in Yale’s 80-47 home win over Baruch.

Yale coach Chris Gobrecht has noted Halejian’s abilities as a “gifted offensive player,” stating that she’s “becoming a very strong defender as well” – and remember, folks, Yale awards no athletic scholarships, thus Halejian must be backing up her play with academic performance. The Bulldogs themselves currently occupy third place on the Ivy League table at 10-4.

As for this summer, Basketball Federation of Armenia president Hrachya Rostomyan is hopeful that Halejian and Kevorken can be infused into a team moving up on the European radar; Team Armenia placed second in the 2010 FIBA European Championship Women Division C tournament behind MVP Christina Kepenekian and all-tourney Amanda Jackson.

Said Rostomyan: “We look forward to Halejian and Kevorken possibly joining the women’s national basketball team in 2012. After our silver-medal performance [in 2010 ...] the potential impact of players like Sarah and Kate would be invaluable to Armenia.”

Joanna Barnes, currently playing with the PAOK Women’s team, blew off some steam in that favorite 21st-century virtual venting arena, Twitter. Tweeted Barnes this morning:

A part of me wants to say F bball, b/c of the under payment & the b/s the put you through for it. #frustrated

BallinEurope figures not too much should be made out of one tweet whipped off on a Saturday, but this seems something of a departure from the optimistic, mission-driven picture Barnes painted on her Facebook fan page last November: “Thank you for supporting me and my page. I am continuing to work hard because this is a dream of mine I always had. People doubted that I could make it overseas, people doubted that I would be any good in college, and people did not see me being ‘as good’ in high school. I plan to continue to live life for me and prevail in this game because this is my drive. All those doubters are being proved wrong every day and I don’t do it to prove them wrong, but it sure feels good along the way.”

Barnes has amassed quite an interesting run in basketball thus far and likely will have a career path to follow after she does walk away from the game. After starring for her Washington, D.C. high school team, Barnes attended Fresno State for a year before going on to a leading role with the American University team and compiling honors and accolades.

Post-graduation, Barnes didn’t play the game on any level while studying physical therapy instead. In 2007, she decided to make a comeback, starting by averaging a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds in Estonia. After a year in Switzerland, Barnes was OOB (out of basketball) for 2009-10 but returned in 2010-11 for a turn in Cyprus. Her play there earned her a shot with PAOK for this season.

While Barnes isn’t quite the stat machine she was in other countries (She averaged 25 points, nine rebounds and five assists per game in Switzerland? Whoa), her 10.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game in Greek league play seem respectable. And she’s one of six PAOK players getting 32 minutes or more of court time per game.

BiE for one is hoping things work out for Barnes. As for the money thing, well, it *is* Greece in 2011…

• In his regular-season debut for SLUC Nancy, Nicolas Batum played all 40 minutes, scored 20 points and grabbed six rebounds in his team’s 76-70 victory over JDA Dijon. The Portland Trail Blazer’s first suiting-up for France’s Euroleague side went down last week for an exhibition match against Chalon/Saône.

• On opening day (“or Opening Day, depending on how you feel about it” – Jim Bouton, Ball Four) in Spain, Caja Laboral Baskonia bested Cajasol, 73-60, yesterday. Mirza Teletovic was the stud for Baskonia, going for 20 points and seven rebounds. Also in double-figures for the victors were Kevin Seraphin, Brad Oleson and Pau Ribas, all with 11 each.

• Added bullet! Since the Greece-based Hoopfellas want to self-promote on BallinEurope, BiE’ll give ‘em a hand: Here’s a piece on the evolution of the point guard position at Caja Laboral from the late 1990s to the present, tracing the styles through Elmer Bennett (“The Legend”), Jose Manuel Caldera (“The Best”), Pablo Pritzioni, Marcelinho Huertas, and Thomas Huertel. It’s in Greek only, but some translation software will give you the main idea.

• Team USA women’s basketball were defeated by Czech Republic champions/FIBA Euroleague Women contender USK Prague last night, 83-77; this chased Friday’s USA 77-48 victory over Italy’s defending titlists Familia Schio. Today, the American ladies come to BiE’s homeland to take on UE Sopron. Sounds like a grueling schedule? Get this: They came on their European tour with just eight players, and now that Danielle Robinson has rejoined Ros Casares, they’ll be playing with seven in Hungary, including Swin Cash, Tina Charles, Renee Montgomery, Cappie Pondexter and Sophia Young.

Video of the Prague game may be seen here.

• First it was the Gasol Brothers … now Jose Calderon will also be training with FC Barcelona as the NBA lockout continues. Two things are for certain about the defending ACB champs: The team practices will start to look a lot like Team Spain’s and, regardless of the Euroleague success, Barca will be well ready to compete in the next NBA Europe tour … whenever that may be.

• The suddenly massive VTB United League – Would you believe 18 teams are competing in 2011-12? – has already played a few games, but there’s no reason BiE can’t let them introduce the season again. Gotta love the “Rocky” theme song still getting play 35 years on…

• American networks and the blogosphere have just been teeing off on Deron Williams, haven’t they? Here’s CBS, NBC and Sporting News weighing in … “unimpressive” and “disappointing” are big adjectives in describing Williams’ first few performances.

See for yourself below in clips of Williams’ (unimpressive) (disappointing) 3-of-13 performance against Dexia Mons-Hainaut in Beşiktaş’ bouncing from 2011-12 Eurocup play, but do heed the words of appropriately-named YouTube user SidelineBasketball: “Some people questioned Deron Williams’ legitimacy based on this performance. We, as ballers and fans, should remember that a few bad games have nothing to do with a player’s body of work.”

• Finally, this last clip has nothing to do with anything, except perhaps to warn the world that Australia is threatening to become a world-class power in unicycle basketball.

Graced with a sweet cover (see the excellence at right), Revista Basketblog no. 3 features a recap of and commentary on all matters NBA, ACB, Euroleague, Euroleague Women, FIBA World Championship, FIBA Eurobasket Women and beyond on a fat 110 mostly text-filled pages. While most of the publication is Spanish-language only, interviews with basketball writers Emiliano Carchia of Sportando, Jeff Fox of HoopsManifesto, Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld, Ben Osborne of Slam and yours truly are presented in both English and Spanish – all in all, this is a bilingual basketball bonanza.

The entire issue of Revista Basketblog in PDF format may be downloaded here.

• Sue Bird, Seattle Storm
• Tamika Catchings, Indiana Fever
• Cynthia Cooper, Houston Comets
• Yolanda Griffith, Indiana Fever/Sacramento Monarchs/Seattle Storm
• Becky Hammon, San Antonio Silver Stars/New York Liberty
• Lauren Jackson, Seattle Storm
• Lisa Leslie, Los Angeles Sparks
• Ticha Penicheiro, Los Angeles Sparks/Sacramento Monarchs
• Cappie Pondexter, New York Liberty/Phoenix Mercury
• Katie Smith, Seattle Storm/Minnesota Lynx/Detroit Shock/Washington Mystics
• Dawn Staley, Houston Comets/Charlotte Sting
• Sheryl Swoopes, Tulsa Shock/Houston Comets/Seattle Storm
• Diana Taurasi, Phoenix Mercury
• Tina Thompson, Los Angeles Sparks/Houston Comets
• Teresa Weatherspoon, Los Angeles Sparks/New York Liberty

However, given the fact that some 13 of these ladies have contributed outside of the WNBA (including one or two who haven’t played for Spartak Moscow) combined with the Eurocentric attitude of this blog, BallinEurope prefers to think of the list this way:

• Sue Bird, Dynamo Moscow/Spartak Moscow region
• Tamika Catchings, Spartak Moscow/Lotos Gdynia/Galatasaray
• Cynthia Cooper, Samoa Bétera/Parma/Alcamo
• Yolanda Griffith, DJK Wildcats Aschaffenburg/Lavezzini Basket Parma/UMMC Ekaterinburg
• Becky Hammon, Trentino Rovereto Basket/Rivas Ecópolis/CSKA Moscow/Ros Casares Valencia/Orenburg/Spartak Moscow
• Lauren Jackson, Spartak Moscow
• Lisa Leslie
• Ticha Penicheiro, Team Portugal/Spartak Moscow
• Cappie Pondexter, Fenerbahçe Istanbul/UMMC Ekaterinburg
• Katie Smith, Lotos Gdynia/Fenerbahçe Istanbul
• Dawn Staley
• Sheryl Swoopes,VBM-SGAU Samara/Taranto Cras Basket/Esperides Kallithea
• Diana Taurasi, Spartak Moscow/Fenerbahçe Istanbul/Galatasaray
• Tina Thompson, Rovereto Basket/Spartak Moscow/Municipal MCM Târgovişte
• Teresa Weatherspoon, Busto Arsizio/Magenta/Como/CSKA Moscow

Such a list brings to mind a question: Where is the Euroleague Women equivalent to the WNBA roster? With the association having celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1959 and the modern era set to mark its 20th in 2012, how about forming at least a “Top 20”for the longest-running international women’s league?

Disappointingly, it seems no such honor has even been advanced by FIBA, even despite a campaign launched in 2007 announcing the “Year of Women’s Basketball,” during which creation of an all-time team would seem to be a natural.

Therefore, BallinEurope will take it upon himself to formulate the all-time Euroleague Women roster. The process for nominating is now open … so who do you think deserves to be among the greatest ever, BiE readers…? Post opinions in the comments section of this post and look for more in August!

As what is slated to be the first in a series of Europe-based international tournaments, EuroJam will feature six men’s teams and two women’s teams to play over the three days of the event, which also promises an entire “Sport Experience” for fans and professionals.

Competing on the men’s side of the bracket will be national teams from Georgia, Israel and the Netherlands; this quartet will be joined by the Villanova University squad. The women’s “tournament” actually consists of two games pitting the Netherlands’ team against the Boston College Eagles.

In terms of fan experience, two clinics are to be held in conjunction with Eurojam 2011. Henk Pieterse, local hero (he played alongside Rik Smits for Team Netherlands in the 1987 Eurobasket tournament) and international clinician, will be holding several tutorials on the weekend for players of all ages and skill levels; see the below video for an example of Pieterse’s tutelage for youngsters.

While entertaining as part of the tournament action, the Djalita Dancers will also be holding a cheerleading clinic. Djalita is an outgrowth of the now-defunct Amsterdam Admirals Cheerleaders team and today the ladies perform at various sports events and concerts in addition to providing instruction.

A percentage of ticket sales generated by EuroJam 2011 will be donated to charity organizations KiKa and the Esther Vergeer Foundation.

BallinEurope will be following the behind-the-scenes progress of EuroJam 2011 in coming weeks, including the introductory press conference scheduled for 2pm EST today. For ticket information and/or reservations – the price for a standard three-day pass is a reasonable €50 – visit the Eurojam official website. And you bet they’ve got a Facebook page; it’s here.

Official FIBA writeup follows.

(FIBA Europe) – It wasn’t the smoothest of rides but a rampant Russia finally reached their destination to top the podium and be crowned EuroBasket Women 2011 champions.

Their stuttering and unconvincing start to the tournament was little more than a distant memory as they swept aside Turkey with a classy and powerful performance to make up for missing out on top spot in the Final two years ago.

The victory also ensured their remarkable sequence of podium success woven during previous years continued. Having won alternate silver and gold medals since 2001, the pattern had hinted at gold this time around and they duly delivered.

Led by veteran Maria Stepanova and tournament MVP Elena Danilochkina, Russia pretty much controlled the game from start to finish as they used their strength in the paint and all-round depth of their roster to great effect; Turkey found it tough going against an imperious Russian defence right from the first moments.

A superb early play by Birsel Vardarli was a rare highlight but not a sign of things to come, since Team Turkey couldn’t penetrate or make a shot from outside and consequently trailed 19-8 after ten minutes.
Russia increased their advantage to 16 points but Turkey kept the faith. They came storming back into contention as consecutive three-pointers by Bahar Caglar and Saize Ivegin sparked them into life and helped cut the gap to just five points with a stunning 15-4 run.

However, Olga Arteshina settled Russian nerves shortly ahead of the interval when she drooped a three-ball and helped restore the double-digit advantage.

Turkish fans, hoping their team would return to the floor and muster the kind of revival witnessed midway through the second quarter, were left disappointed. With each passing minute during the second half, Russia began to look more and more like champions in waiting.

As hard as Turkey tried, they could make no real impression and a surprise comeback never materialised as Russia cruised home for yet another EuroBasket Women title.

At stake is an automatic bid in the 2012 Olympic Games, but one can’t help imagining both of these sides to be playing in London next year: The losing team is already set to play in the Olympic qualifying round, along with Croatia, the Czech Republic and France.

Turkey overcame defending champions France in the semifinal in a 66-62 overtime thriller, leading to what center Nevin Nevlin calls “a huge moment for Turkish basketball. It’s history. We’re part of it. We’re very proud and we know 70 million people back home are proud of us.”

The upstarts will have to find a way to disassemble the Russian machine, however, but this edition of the team appears not quite as fearsome as some from EuroBasket tourneys past. While Team Russia has gone 6-2 in the tournament overall, two of those Ws came in squeakers over Slovakia and Britain, two teams the Russians were supposed to have well outclassed. On the other hand, Russia did claim an emphatic 80-65 win over Turkey on day three of the competition.

Now, in the spirit of ESPN TrueHoop blogging, a few bullets for you.

• The official FIBA Europe video preview of the match is here.

• Team Russia center Maria Stepanova says that “The main thing is mentality” and reemphasizes that her team has eyes set on the automatic Olympic bid. “[I]n reality, we just do not want to play in the Olympic qualification, because the champion [of the EuroBasket tournament] gets to London directly.”

• Wales takes pride in Haydn Jones, the first Welshman ever to referee at this level of basketball.

• Team Turkey head coach Ceyhun Yıldızoğlu is seeing his three-year plan come to fruition.

• These two teams met have met in this tournament on a couple recent occasions. Back in 2005, Russia won a pool play match in Izmir, 91-87, on the way to the silver medal and an MVP nod for Stepanova. In 2009, Russia again bested Team Turkey in the group round, 74-61.

• And even at Eurobasket, they’re talking about the NBA lockout.

• Tipoff of the 2011 FIBA EuroBasket Women championship game is set for 8.30pm CET tonight (2.30pm EST) tonight. You can watch live online via FIBA TV for a few Euros.

In the land of Nowitzki, another crazy Bundesliga tournament will be finished tonight as Brose Baskets Bamberg hosts Alba Berlin in the decisive game five for the BBL title and a Euroleague bid for 2011-12.

The back-and-forth series saw game four won handily by Alba Berlin, 87-67, after a shaky first quarter. Derrick Allen led the way for Berlin with 18 points in knotting up the series at 2-2. Game five is available for watching live online via the German-language Sport 1 YouTube channel. Tipoff is set for 8.30pm CET (2.30pm EST).

In Italy, Euroleague third-placers Montepaschi Siena go for the five-peat tonight against Bennet Cantu, having amassed a three-games-to-one advantage in the best-of-seven series.

After suffering an upset in game three, MPS jumped out to a 42-28 halftime lead and held on for the 69-65 in last night’s game four. Bo McCalebb showed no signs of the nagging foot injury that’s been bothersome for much of 2011, going for 21 points and four assists in 28 minutes of court time.

Cantu indeed has their work cut out for them as, in racking up a 48-10 overall record in 2010-11, Montepaschi has lost back-to-back games in any competition just once this season – and that was back in January, in games to Efes Pilsen Istanbul and Real Madrid.

The 2011 Eurobasket Women tournament tips off this afternoon in Poland, with 16 teams in running for the title of top national squad in Europe. Typical of bookmakers, the Sporting Bet website lists four teams as clear favorites in the tournament: Russia (which gets “outright winner” odds of 7/5), defending champs France (41/20), Spain (27/10) and Belarus (11/1).

As for an Official BallinEurope Fearless Prediction™, BiE’s gonna go with Spain. This side brings back two veterans from Team España’s bronze-winning Eurobasket 2009 campaign – Anna Cruz and Laura Nicholls – and includes five players from Euroleague Women champions Halcon Avenida in Silvia Dominguez, Marta Xargay, Anna Montanana, Sancho Lyttle and BiE fave Alba Torrens. (BallinEurope is a big believer in including club teammates on national teams.) In addition, the señoras will start in group play against relatively unheralded German, Polish and Montenegrin squads.

You can watch all the games throughout the Eurobasket Women tournament on FIBA TV for a single price of €11; click here for the landing page.

With his Dallas Mavericks again in the NBA Finals, this surely won’t be the last Dirk Nowitzki mix you’ll see anytime soon. But this one, dubbed “The Giant Killer,” well, it’s really operatic.

And the Dastardly One has been playing so dreamily in the big league’s playoffs that he managed to sneak his way into the subconscious-centered epic Inception. Well, sort of…

In case you needed a little more hype – or once again want to marvel at the oddity of a tournament in which both Dirk and Lebron James have suddenly and stunningly become known for clutch play – here’s a bombastic clip previewing the 2010-11 NBA Finals. (Hey, this may be the last American rah-rahing we get until autumn 2012, right?

In Spain, despite Bizkaia Bilboa Basket’s shaking up of the bracket early on, another FC Barcelona-Real Madrid final looks to be on tap. On Friday night, youngsters Ante Tomic (15 points, seven rebounds) and Sergio Llull (20 points) led the charge for the Whites in topping Bilboa, 78-67.

Before celebrating the city club’s victory over Manchester United in that other sport last night, Friday night saw the Blaugrana basketball side easily handle Caja Laboral Baskonia, 86-71.

Further south, Maccabi Tel Aviv surprised no one in smoking Galil/Gilboa, 91-64, to retake the Ligat HaAl title in Israel on Friday night.

Guys, next time you take your lady to a game, get her to do this. Women, decorating yourself like this is sure to win the guy’s heart…

The LKL playoffs may be over in Lithuania, but you know folks in “The Heart of Basketball” are looking forward to the biggest hoops event ever to hit the country, i.e. Eurobasket 2011.

Incidentally, here’s Žalgiris fandom basking in the afterglow of retaking the Lithuanian title from rivals Lietuvos Rytas:

Of course, last week saw Panathinaikos end Olympiacos’ notable run in EΣAKE play with a 75-70 win in the Reds’ house in game one of the Greek League finals. In preparation for tonight’s game two, here’s a highlight clip from the first game, with emphasis on the dunking…

Finally, rest in peace, Malgorzata Dydek.