Of the three major European club tournaments, the tightest Final 16 stage in 2009-10 has been held by the Eurocup competition. With the last night of “Last 16 2010” happening tonight, only three teams (Aris BSA, Bizkaia Bilbao Basket, Panellinios) have qualified for the quarterfinals already and five (Benetton Basket Treviso, Brose Baskets Bamberg, Galatasaray Café Crown, Le Mans, Turk Telecom) squads have been altogether eliminated; additionally, the no. 1 seed has not been determined for any of the four groups.
Mar
0
Hashing out Eurocup quarterfinals qualification scenarios
Feb
0
Lollis: Too many foreign players in Bundesliga
In German club basketball, too many foreign players are allowed; in fact, carrying eight or nine American players on a single roster certainly hurts quite a few Bundesliga teams and may be undermining most. Such an opinion is often heard these days about the free-for-all state of BBL contract rules, but rarely does a player affirm such a few … would you believe this is the view of a veteran U.S. player?
But 36-year-old Quadre Lollis, currently with EnBW Ludwigsburg, has garnered quite a lot of wisdom on the European game and the American players therein, with a CV that includes stints with Vanoli Soresina, AEK Athens, ALBA Berlin, Fenerbahce Ülker, Galatasaray, Oyak Renault Bursa, Oostende and now Ludwigsburg, after his NCAA career with Montana State University.
In an interview with Germany-based Basketball Akademie, Lollis advances just such an opinion, even going so far as to say that the success enjoyed in the 2008-09 season by Alba Berlin (of which Lollis was a member) was due to the *few* American players filling its roster.
Lollis goes on to expound on the proliferation of Americans in the German league, attitude versus experience, the European game in the last decade, and the origin of his (sort of) Spanish name.
Click here to download the interview with Quadre Lollis in MP3 file format.
Thanks to Christophe of European Prospects for the tip!
Feb
11
State of the nations: European basketball organizations today
While not interested in passing definitive judgment, we think it would be useful and fair to take a look at the European basketball panorama. There will be no ratings or rankings here, just a snapshot of what the most important ballin’ countries offer us.
Ten years into the third millennium, it’s common to hear repeated concepts about European community and a sense of brotherhood, but the idea of “European basketball” elicits language only indicating something is wrong. Disunity: That’s the main word for the variety of ways to develop basketball in Europe. European basketball was well on its way until five to six years ago, when internal division began to decrease European ball’s opportunity to become a serious alternative to a NBA bereft of stories and talent to sell – yes, that was before Lebron James’ era.
Feb
0
(Slightly biased) highlight clip: Alba Berlin vs. Aris BSA
Just in case you missed it, following the text break is a (biased) highlight clip from last night’s Aris’ 65-61 away win at Alba Berlin in Eurocup competition. The win moved Aris BSA up to 1-2 in Eurocup Last 16 play; Alba Berlin dropped to 2-1, resulting in a wide-open Group I with groupmates DKV Joventut at 2-1 and LeMans at 1-2.
Jan
3
The Euroleague Boss on fantasy: Final 16, week one
Qyntel: Did he make Meet The Boss...?
Due to an unfortunate series of tragic events, the deadline for this week’s fantasy tips column was missed. However, in the interests of satisfying The Euroleague Boss’ fans, were running this column with half the Final 16 week one games in the books; it’s valuable to see what Meet The Boss did, even if you were wavering on his word regarding Qyntel Woods…
Hello everyone, this is Javier Gancedo as always – and even more these busy days – from the Euroleague headquarters. And here comes the Top 16, ladies and gentlemen! If the first round is halfway as exciting as Eurocup’s, we are set for a classic start.
Jan
2
Staiger gives up on NBA ambitions, team; returns to play for Alba Berlin
Staiger comes home
When the Iowa State University Cyclones fell to the Texas Tech Red Raiders last night, 78-71, the biggest presence may well have been the missing one, namely German guard Lucca Staiger. Staiger had been ISU’s third-high scorer this season at 9.4 points per game to go with a 42.5 percent three-point shooting rate and even put the finishing touches on an ISU win Sunday night, but suddenly left the team on Tuesday to play for Alba Berlin.
“An opportunity to play professionally in my home country has come my way and I’ve decided to pursue it right away,” said Staiger via ISU-issued statement.
Local press, teammates and coach Greg McDermott were stunned by Staiger’s decision, one the player explained by saying “I came to the United States with the hope of playing professional basketball in the NBA. After the past couple of seasons in college, I’ve realized that dream has become less likely…”
McDermott theorized that “A lot of it has to do with the timing and the fact that Lucca didn’t feel comfortable enough to share his feelings with us as coaches or even some of his friends that are his teammates.”
The Alba Berlin front office has yet to officially announce the addition of Staiger to the club or its active roster.
Jan
1
The Frank Euroleague roundup, week nine
Ataman on the hot seat?
With just one more week to go in first-round play, Francesco Cappelletti touches on some issues regarding those teams positioning themselves for the Euroleague Top 16. Also examined frankly: Ergin Ataman’s tenuous position in Turkey, Zoran Planinic and Nikos Zisis embracing their positions on potential Final Four clubs; and bucking for position on Real Madrid.
Extreme situations
Only a week remains to this Euroleague first stage, but the situations in many groups are still complicated. In Group A, Regal FC Barcelona lies in waits for Montepaschi with a +19 taken in Siena, testifying to the shape of Xavi Pascual’s players. This should be an interesting game, maybe balanced for nearly 40 minutes, but hardly vincible for the Italians. About the same men that last year started the game with a 25-3 first-quarter run for David Andersen and teammates … the final two positions have no owner.
Next week, a devastated Fenerbahce Ulker (unified against Bogdan Tanjevic: that’s the problem) hosts Zalgiris Kaunas, apparently better under new coach Ramunas Butautas; Asvel meanwhile goes to Zagreb to play a high-pressure game in which defenses are going to take control. Fenerbahce and Asvel (3-6) have one more win than Zalgiris and Cibona, but the feeling is they are not favourites to reach the Top 16.
Jan
2
L’Hospitalet: Round two of Nike Junior Tournament qualifiers tips off
Tipping off today is the 31st Torneig de Básquet Júnior “Ciutat de L’Hospitalet,” a.k.a. the second Euroleague Nike International Junior Tournament qualifiers.
The L’Hospitalet tournament pool consists of 12 junior teams, including eight from Spain: DKV Joventut, Basket Valencia, and KK Split will square off in Group A; Alba Berlin, Regal FC Barcelona, and Estudiantes are in Group B; Unicaja Malaga, Caja Canarias, and tournament defending champions/NIJT runners-up Lietuvos Rytas play in Group C; with Cajasol, Real Madrid and hosts CB Hospitalet make up Group D.
Dec
1
Best of the (Basketball) Net: Rants ‘n’ quotes edition
Darko will be back...
Wrapping things up for the weekend here at BallinEurope means mostly one thing: a rundown of some of the best basketball stuff made available online this week. Some news, quotes and video for this week starts now.
Starting off with a well repeated, now-definitive story, then: Namely, the New York Knicks’ Darko Milicic will be returning to Europe for 2010-11: “It’s 100-percent certain. I have to be real and not lie. I’m not going to get it done in the NBA. I’m not going to get another opportunity and there’s nothing wrong with going back to Europe. I don’t want to create a bad atmosphere here, but it’s not working in the NBA.” (Any early bidders…?)
Nov
0
FIBA EuroChallenge capsule previews: Group G
In the seventh of eight groups competing in FIBA EuroChallenge 2009-10 play — Group G — facing off are formidable programs and traditional tournament contenders from Antwerp, Artland, Tartu and Wels. Briefs follow the break.