BallinEurope, the European Basketball news site

The eminently quotable Sonny Weems was in fine form before his club’s matchup with Olympiacos in Euroleague Final Four play. See below for his talk with media members in which he downplays the revenge factor going into tonight’s game (of course, Sonny was not one of the half-dozen players who ended up on the wrong side of the big league’s biggest championship upset ever) and speaks of the difference between playing for CSKA Moscow and Žalgiris Kaunas.

And finally, for those who assume that any player worth his salt would automatically eschew European basketball for the NBA, watch to the end for a hint on Weems’ future with the Red Army. (Hint: CSKA fans should be stoked indeed…)

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So does a status as titleholder tend to give a defending champion extra confidence or put extra pressure on the team? Here’s an answer from Kostas Papanikolaou of 2012 Euroleague champs Olympiacos…

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Talk about your focus. It was evident at media day that CSKA Moscow’s Aaron Jackson couldn’t wait to get down to the business of prepping for his team’s Euroleague Final Four game against Olympiacos. Nevertheless, he elaborated for about 20 seconds on the prospect of facing his highest-level one-and-done tournament game since his days at Duquesne…

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Olympiacos’ Josh Powell is fearless. Faced with the prospect of meeting CSKA Moscow’s talented and towering bigs in today’s Euroleague Final Four match, the former NC State Wolfpack/Los Angeles Lakers forward exudes confidence while feeling no trepidation at all…

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A sober and thoughtful Milos Teodosic spoke with media in the leadup to his CSKA Moscow’s Euroleague Final Four meeting with Olympiacos. The mercurial Milos relates that his team, despite rumors, is not overconfident heading into the match and takes a Nietzschean stand on The Red Army’s shocking loss to the Greek side in the 2012 championship.

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See? There *is* a reason to check out Nike International Junior Tournament games even if you’re not into youth ball. While the Euroleague Final Four hasn’t yet tipped off, the NIJT started today — and on hand to lend support to his former club Joventut was none other than Ricky “La Pistola” Rubio. Just look at this fan access!

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While BallinEurope has been focused-to-obsession on the Euroleague and NBA playoffs, basketball marches on all over the world. BiE buddy Adi Micinic of Romania-based Total Baschet, for example, recently told us of a bit of a controversy in the season-ending tournament in his country. Warning: Those intolerant of refereeing errors should not read further. First off, a clip produced by DigiSport…

Romanian basketball is in the international news these days after a controversial whistle by international referee Marius Ciulin during overtime in Game 2 of the semifinal playoff series between CSM Oradea and CSU Ploiesti.

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Is there poetry in an empty basketball court? BallinEurope doesn’t know about that, but here in London, the O2 Arena at least has Le Freak. (C’est chic!) Thirty hours and counting ‘til tipoff…

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Episode #34 of the BallinEurope/heinnews co-produced “Talking the Charge” podcast series is now available online and is downloadable from iTunes.

With the Euroleague Final Four overshadowing all else in Continental hoops this week, Dave Hein and yours truly were naturally set to chat up the big tournament – after BiE tees off on a sports-related pet peeve (Hint: Go Washington Redtails!), that is.

Just skip the first 10 minutes of the ‘cast if you’re not particularly enamored with American football, as Britain-based John Hobbs of TalkBasket.net discusses the impact (if any) this tournament will have on the British sports landscape. Plus, he offers his take on the CSKA Moscow-Olympiacos match happening tomorrow and BiE is forced once again to defend his choice for 2013 Euroleague MVP.

All this plus a review of one of the best worst basketball movies BiE’s ever seen (and that’s saying something), the hilariously-entitled Michael Jordan: An American Hero.

Check out the entire podcast here or to subscribe from this episode ad infinitum, enter http://heinnews.com/feed/taking-the-charge/ into iTunes or any podcast aggregator.

Thanks for listening and talk to you next week!

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So your Euroleague bracket got busted at some point during the quarterfinal round — No problem! BallinEurope offers a shot at prognosticatory redemption today. We want to know: What’s your prediction for the 2013 Euroleague championship game?

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