The first 20 will listed by competition, followed the top five runners-up and the champion jam of the year. Who will be no. 1? Read (and watch) on to find out…

Euroleague
• The Dunking Ninja. Of course, you knew Jan Vesely was making this list, so we’ll dispense with the formalities quickly. Here’s a nice, wide-open alley oop that earned him dunk of the in February during the Euroleague’s Top 16 round. Vesely started the 2011-12 as a first-round draft pick with the Washington Wizards, thereby immediately entering into the conversation of coolest NBA nicknames – though one wonders just how many ninja there are in the Czech Republic…

• Pargo-go-go! Another must-have representative of Euroleague jammery, Jeremy Pargo turned in this YouTube-able masterpiece was only number three from an EL Top 16 round game against Virtus Roma. Like Vesely, we’ll see this guy in this list again.

• EL, meet AK-47. European basketball in 2011 will be remembered for the impact of locked-out NBA stars in the early going of the season. Andrei Kirilenko was particularly useful to CSKA Moscow’s fortunes in Euroleague round one, beginning on opening night in Lithuania. (And what’s this? He’s coming back for another tour of duty with the Red Army? Look out, Europe…)

• Sonny Weems for Žalgiris Kaunas, episode one. One NBAer who couldn’t/didn’t reemigrate to North America once the lockout was lifted was the former Toronto Raptor. As a free agent, Weems was one of the first such to sign in Europe for 2011-12, and boy are Žalgiris backers happy. Here’s Weems going to work against Unicaja Malaga…

• Sonny Weems for Žalgiris Kaunas, episode two. … against Brose Baskets Bamberg …

• Sonny Weems for Žalgiris Kaunas, episode three. … and finally in the win-or-go-home Euroleague game 10 against KK Zagreb. The man’s 17.5 points and 5.9 rebounds per EL game ain’t too shabby, either.

NBA
• Pau, when the Lakers looked invincible. Remember the days when these no-look pass from Lamar Odom to Pau Gasol was so routine? Seems like a long time ago, dunnit?

• Jolly good, Mr. DeRozan! The big league came to play in London in March, and whoo boy, did fans get bang for their pounds sterling: The Saturday night game ended up a triple-overtime thriller between the Toronto Raptors and New Jersey Nets. Though the Nets ended up with the W, Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan contributed a worth-the-admission-price dunk late.

European domestic leagues
• Bryce Taylor’s “Monsterdunk” in Bundesliga championship game five. Slamming home perhaps the jam of the season from Germany, the former University of Oregon contributed this two for Alba Berlin in the decisive championship game while utterly posterizing Predrag Suput. Nevertheless, Suput’s Brose Baskets Bamberg took the game, the title and Germany’s Euroleague spot for 2011-12.

• “Le poster absolut”. Speaking of posters, check out what Diabate Souleyman did to Cliff Hammonds back in early January for Chorale Roanne. As the man says, < >

• Kerusch crushes. And one more. This time the victim was Olympiacos’ Kyle Hines, beaten badly by current rookie Sergio Kerusch of Aris Thessaloniki.

• Kevin Harley: King of the skies, pain. Playing with the Poitiers Basket junior team, Harley got YouTube junkies (ahem) sitting up and taking notice with this insane liftoff … and splashdown. The youngster was “more frightened than hurt” and was able to finish the game.

• Hendrix kisses the sky. In October, while seemingly every other European player was still finding the rhythms, Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Richard Hendrix blasted off in a Chance Cup game against Barak Netanya. With the Euroleague side already well into a laugher and up 81-41 in the third quarter (final score 117-66), Hendrix goes…

Dunk contests
• Dar Tucker takes two dunk contests in one year. Yesterday in the slam-dunk festivities in France, Tucker reportedly smoked his competition, easily notching top scores in all three rounds to take the title. This trophy will look nice on his shelf set next to the D-League slam dunk championship he bagged in January. After the contest, Tucker said, “I was very surprised at the level of the competition. There are very good dunkers in France. Max [Kouguere] was particularly good!” (BiE thinks he was just being polite.)

• Two from Poland. Yeah, yeah, the car and the choir were great, yadda yadda. But let’s see Blake Griffin try to reproduce either the visual tribute to His Airness Himself executed by Cameron Bennerman of Energa Czarni or the six-cheerleader leap by winner Łukasz Biedny.

• Europe’s unlikeliest dunk champion. In Germany’s All-Star weekend festivities earlier this year, it was an against-all-odds storyline as Salu Benjamin Tadi took the crown. Why such a longshot? Well, in the unique format of the BBL’s dunk contest, a qualifier is held among second-division amateur players prior to the main event; the winner gets to compete against the Bundesliga pros in the final. You can catch a few rough drafts of the winning jam by clicking here, but the hangtime achieved in the contest ender by the 6’0” Tadi is truly Jordanesque.

Eurobasket 2011
• Yi gods! While August was mostly devoted to national teams participating in friendlies leading up to Eurobasket and other continental tournaments, there wasn’t a lack of highlight clips. Here’s Yi Jianlian contributing one of Team China’s sole happy moments in the London Invitational Tournament against Croatia. That’s mostly Stanko Barac on the receiving end.

• Enes Kanter learns Bill Walton’s dictum. One of the great pleasures of Eurobasket 2011 was studying the performances of exciting up-and-comers such as Team Turkey’s Kanter going up against concentrations of the world’s best talent. While Kanter was hot-and-cold in the tournament, the sidelining of Pau Gasol for the Spain-Turkey match allowed the young Turk to do some damage against brother Marc. And his team stayed alive in the tourney with the win. Throw it down, big man!

• Boom, goes Batum. Nicolas Batum against Russia – damn, has he always been that quick?

• Hometown lad makes good. Things ended disappointingly for Team Lithuania, but the youngest player on the squad, prospective Toronto Raptors Jonas Valanciunas was inspirational. Inspirational enough, in fact, to inspire a song.

Five runners-up
• Beaver brazenly breaks backboard. During the summertime lull, the Oregon State University basketball time visited some teams in FYR Macedonia and thereabouts for exhibition games and general goodwill. And then Roberto “Maybe I’m Strong” Nelson took it to the hole … one wonders in OSU Athletics picked up the tab on the destruction – not to mention the 20 stitches Nelson’s face required.

• The return of the Dunking Ninja. Jan Vesely. Euroleague Top 16 round. Game four. What else do you need to know?

• Air Pocius strikes for Team Lithuania. BiE just loves Martynas. Does this guy actually have invisible wings?

• Dirk dunks a dagger. It’s tough not to give Nowitzki top honors in this “Year of Dirk,” but the big (and now beringed) guy can rest easy with the memories of blowing past Lebron James and The Evil Empire on the baseline in game five of the NBA championship; this one came in the fourth quarter, naturally.

The dunk of the year
• Jeremy Pargo in the Euroleague Final Four. Just look at the way Pargo has to work his way through Real Madrid’s half-court defense. Just look at where he takes off. Just admire the landing. This one would get a 10 from any judge – maybe even Charles Barkley. All things considered, this was the dunk of 2011.

Group A
Cibona Zagreb (4th, Croatia)
Hapoel Jerusalem (3rd, Israel)
BC Donetsk (2nd, Ukraine)
BCM Gravelines Dunkerque (3rd, France)

Group B
BC Khimki Moscow region (2nd, Russia)
PAOK BC (3rd, Greece)
Cholet Basket (2nd, France)
VEF Riga (champions, Latvia)

Group C
Aris BSA 2003 (4th, Greece)
CEZ Nymburk (champions, Czech Republic)
BC Rudupis (3rd, Lithuania)
Gas Terra Flames (champions, Netherlands)

Group D
Valencia Basket (5th, Spain)
Telenet Oostende (4th, Belgium)
Asvel Basket (4th, France)
Lukoil Academic (champions, Bulgaria)

Group E
Gran Canaria 2014 (6th, Spain)
Lokomotiv Kuban (4th, Russia)
Banvit BK (3rd, Turkey)
Fraport Skyliners (3rd, Germany)

Group F
Lietuvos Rytas (2nd, Lithuania)
Le Mans Sarthe (8th, France)
BC Azovmash (5th, Ukraine)
Krka Novo Mesto (2nd, Slovenia)

Group G
Benetton Basket (4th, Italy)
Spartak St. Petersburg (7th, Russia)
Cedevita Zagreb (2nd, Croatia)
FC Bayern Munchen (champions, German second division)

Group H
Alba Berlin (2nd, Germany)
Dexia Mons-Hainhaut (3rd, Belgium)
KK Buducnost (champions, Montenegro)
PGE Turow Zgorzelec (2nd, Poland)

Songaila: Best hope for Galatasaray upset?

Lietuvos Rytas vs. Galatasaray Café Crown Galatasaray looked impressive in dispatching Asvel Villeurbanne (O, Tony Parker, où êtes-vous?) and putting up 93 points, the highest total registered in qualifying round games thus far. Better yet, the high-profile additions to the already solid Turkish team’s roster appear to be working perfectly: Jaka Lakovic and Darius Songaila contributed a whopping 40 points combined in the win.

On the other side of the court, Lietuvos Rytas has taken care of business against both opponents faced – KK Buducnost and Cibona Zagreb – with their margins of victory 19 and 16 points, respectively. L.Rytas started the match with the intriguing and somewhat unexpectated combination of Jonas Valanciunas and Vilmantas Dilys at the forward spots, showing the depth this team brings; security they’ll surely need against the long roster of Galatasaray – heck, on paper, the Turkish team may actually have *more* talent man for man.

But there’s no way BiE can go against a Lithuanian side after the heartbreak of EuroBasket 2011; the Official BallinEurope Fearless Prediction™ here has Lietuvos Rytas 90, Galatasaray 87 … but another performance like yesterday’s by Songaila and Galatasaray might just sneak past.

Spirou Basket v. CEZ Nymburk. Is Nymburk ready to make the step up to the big league? After holding Banvit BK to a qualifying-round low point total of 57, the Czech side handily beat frequent Euroleague participants BC Khimki Moscow Region, 86-79, in what the EL official site calls “the biggest upset of the season so far.”

Or was it? Against Khimki, Nymburk simply showed its strengths while keeping the battle for the boards irrelevant. A nice barrage of jumpshots from the likes of Tre Simmons and Pavel Pumprla got the team off to a 21-3 lead, a deficit few teams (including the so-cold Khimki) could overcome. Nymburk showed amazing ball movement and displayed excellent judgment in finding the open man – more often than not, one of the aforementioned deadshots.

Spirou Basket, meanwhile, has the distinct home-court advantage; indeed, after surviving quite a scare against BC Donetsk, the Belgians are now 5-0 in the Euroleague Qualifying Round in the past two seasons on their home floor. And luckily for them, they found their game against Alba Berlin in the final 25 minutes or so of yesterday’s 74-63 win – the defense was solid, the experience players shone, and it all without Mickael Gelabale – to appear ready against the Czech Republic’s plucky underdogs. Official Fearless Prediction™: Don’t call it boring, call it stoic. Hometown Spirou wins, 73-67.

For your amusement and edification, then, BallinEurope presents a collection of highlight clips, quotes, previews and notes for of games played and to be played … and we’re doing this TrueHoop Network-, i.e. bullet-, style. Enjoy the games!

• A decent English-language preview of tonight’s BC Khimki Moscow region-PGE Turów game is up on the former club’s official website, though BiE suspects the Thomas Kelati quotes went from English through Polish on their way back to English.

A representative sample: “The upcoming meeting with Turow certainly arouses in me only positive emotions. … Nicely to meet with former partners and coaches. But I understand well that it’s just emotions and wonderful memories. At the court there will be fight. I defend the colors of BC Khimki and will do everything for our victory and going further.”

Sure, it’s understandable, but perhaps something was lost in the translation of the translation.

• The serious underdogs of Turów, meanwhile, assure fans that they “Won’t lay down” for the former Euroleague side.

• A Czech-language version of an interview with CEZ Nymburk head coach Ronen Ginzburg has the interviewer asking, “[The Euroleague Qualifying Round games are] played at the very beginning of the season. Is it a little strange when one of the highlights of the season will come before the team’s regular schedule?”

While Ginzburg quickly defers into talk about “an honor just to be here,” the coach does state that “this game should be one of the highlights of the season.”

For an American, such tournaments – particularly a one-game knockout competition to determine qualifiers – are one of the outstanding oddities of European basketball. Although BiE wonders if the NBA will have to adapt this format for the 2011-12 “season” … it would at least put the Charlotte Bobcats fans out of their misery early. And the end result can’t be any weirder than the 1999 final featuring the Ewing-less New York Knicks versus the San Antonio Spurs.

• Naturally, Lietuvos Rytas fans have been dutifully posting videos in the afterglow of their team’s victory over Buducnost Podgorica; directly below are the red-and-black-centric highlights.

• For those of you who only have eyes for Jonas Valanciunas, this one compiles his nice 11-point, eight-rebound, two-assist, one-steal performance against the Montenegrin side – a measure of revenge for the bouncing handed his Team Lithuania at the hands of FYR Macedonia in the Eurobasket quarterfinals, perhaps…?

• A quasi-inspirational promotional for the virtues of Asvel Basket fandom appears on the French club’s website, but just two questions: When did Asvel Basket ever “rule the world”? And is the team mascot’s jersey number really 69?

• Before tonight’s game, surely the most important event of the week in Galatasaray land was the visit paid to the club by Kobe Bryant earlier in the week. No word on whether a contract offer was made or if Kobe is willing to play in TBL ball this season…

• Here’s Lucca Staiger in the post-game press conference after Alba Berlin’s 82-60 immolation of BiE fave VEF Riga.

• And how about a fight song? Here’s Lietuvos Rytas’:

After all, Galatasaray played for the TBL title in 2011 after a hard-fought season in which the team placed third overall – one spot ahead of perpetual big league contenders Anadoule Efes (a.k.a. Efes Pilsen) – at 22-8. Plus, the EL Final Four will be held in Istanbul and, um, it *is* called the “Turkish Airlines Euroleague,” is it not?

In any case, BiE feels further vindication for the argument today, as the FC Barcelona official website is announcing former Blaugrana player Jaka Lakovic’s signing with the Turkish side.

The Slovenian joins what is seriously resembling a bona fide Euroleague roster, with new additions in Jamont Gordon, Ender Arslan, Cevher Ozer and Furkan Aldemir already on board.

Newly-remolded Galatasaray begins the 2011-12 season playing in the Euroleague Qualifying Rounds; BiE says if there’s any justice, these guys will grab one of those two available spots in the EL … and have something to do with Milano’s elimination, too.

BallinEurope’s gut reaction, at least on a visceral Eurocentric level? Cool! Bring on the empty stadiums and bring in the players to Europe! Whisperings since 2010-11 tipped off had some top clubs claiming to be stockpiling cash for NBA players should the lockout happen; combine this awareness with the desire for some of these guys to, you know, just *play* somewhere, America’s loss could truly prove to be The Continent’s gain – at least after the 2011 FIBA Eurobasket tournament, for which, not so incidentally, the NBA may also have a profoundly negative affect.

During this offseason, BiE will definitely have one eye on the NBA lockout, passing on news and speculation regarding NBA players to (and, in some cases, back to, Europe). In all seriousness, while it would be a shame to see an entire season fall by the wayside (and brutal to see another 50-game season, though BiE’d certainly bet the Miami Heat couldn’t take a title in such circumstances), a year in which the indisputably top professional basketball was being played in the Euroleague would be, basically, awesome.

Yesterday, writer John McMullen of The Sports Network concluded that “Europe is no panacea for locked out NBA players” in a look toward The Continent. CSKA Moscow addition Nenad Krstic is quoted heavily in the piece after a Boston Herald story, with the key lines going as follows.

“I don’t think you will see a lot [of NBA players] coming here … Europe is not in a great situation financially. There are only four or five teams now that can offer much to NBA players, and those teams right now are almost full.”

Here’s to guessing Krstic’s four or five might be FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, CSKA, Efes Pilsen and Fenerbahçe Ülker … maybe…? However, outside the Red Army, few of these rosters appear “almost full.” Hmmm…

But perhaps a sheer cash outlay isn’t the point for some. In recent NBA times, some veteran players – a few not even named “Shaquille O’Neal” – have shown the willingness to shed a few million off the contract for a chance at a ring. In the post-2011 lockout world, the willingness of NBA players to come to Europe for the upcoming season depends on their seriousness to stay fit and/or national pride. And possible a chance at a triple crown somewhere.

Gasol flashback: 2000-01

“But I know I don’t want to have [and empty] year if the season is suspended, something that would seem very strange to me, given that the NBA is in a good period.”

You know who’s enjoying some schadenfreude and slightly salivating in anticipation of a cancelled 2011-12 NBA season? FC Barcelona fans. Gasol has clearly had a 2011-12 season in Barcelona in mind for some time, having stated in a Marca.com interview in May that “Barcelona would be my first option…”

And then there’s Nowitzki. Since February or so, three German clubs have been thought to be in the running to land the big Maverick in case of this lockout: Alba Berlin, just-promoted Bayern München, and 2011 BBL champions/2011-12 Euroleague contender Brose Baskets Bamberg.

With Alba Berlin not guaranteed to play in the big league in the upcoming season, this would empirically seem to be a dead option; however, the always-excellent Germany-based heinnews has Bayern president Uli Hoeness stating yesterday that “We could get [a Nowitzki contract] done.”

Hoeness is being quite conservative publicly any such giddy notions, though: “…the signing of German superstar and NBA champion Dirk Nowitzki is not really an issue at the moment. ‘That is not planable. We don’t need to talk about unlaid eggs,’ said the Bayern boss, who added, ‘Naturally we would very much like to see Dirk here. And if we had the opportunity we would also get it done.’”

Finally, a Britain-based website sees much darker and more expensive implications of the NBA lockout for international ‘ball, based on … insurance policies.

According to the MVP magazine website, the lockout temporarily suspends a compact between FIBA and NBA with regard to insuring against career-ending injuries. National organizations from all over Europe will have to provide this money for their NBA-associated national players.

For Team Britain, this is crucial, with key members Luol Deng and Ben Gordon now needing this coverage. MVP notes that in 2008, Deng alone cost British Basketball some £272,000 (approximately €354,550/$540,000) and, according to the ‘site, “British Basketball performance director Chris Spice admitted that the governing body has now begun its quest to ensure the pair are cleared to play.

“‘We’re trying to secure insurance coverage,’ Spice revealed. ‘FIBA Europe has also looked into it on behalf of all the nations who have NBA players. We’ve look at their coverage as well as taking one out independently. The issue is that we have two players. The thing now is that we’re taking to insurers about what the conditions would be to bring the premiums down.’”

In the midst of the final game of the BBL season between Brose Baskets Bamberg and Alba Berlin, Taylor and teammates found Bamberg unset on defense after a fast break; Taylor utterly took advantage of the chaos by taking a pass and driving to the hoop.

Predrag Suput was woefully unprepared for his imminent posterization and, first victimized then stared down by Taylor, appears in the video to be adding to the definition of the word “stunned.” Suput’s feeble, perhaps ultimately unverbalizable, protestations were for naught.

Nevetheless, the Serbian and his teammates got the last laugh, taking the title with a 72-65 victory. Video of what they call in Germany a “monsterdunk” follows.

In game one, Bamberg pulled away from Berlin to defend home court, 90-76, after pulling away behind some big shots by Brian Roberts in the third quarter to open up a double-digit lead. Kyle Hines was huge for the ‘Baskets with 15 points, six rebounds and four blocks.

Happily, the BBL and the Sport 1 television network have discovered the power of YouTube; tonight’s Bamberg Brose Baskets at Alba Berlin game may be seen on the video channel. Click here to watch the game live at 7pm CET (1pm EST) tonight.

In other Bundesliga news, Germany-based heinnews recently reported on a couple of key stories there. First and foremost, the conundrum regarding Dick Bauermann’s holding head coach positions with both Team Germany and the just-promoted Bayern München – domestic rules state that the national team coach cannot be employed by a first-division team – has been solved quite simply. Bauermann has agreed to stick with the national team through the Eurobasket 2011, after which he’ll forego the final two years of his three-year contract with Team Germany to rejoin Bayern: Good news for German ball on both counts there, then.

And for 2011-12, Deutsche Bank Skyliners will be no more. Thanks to a sponsorship change, the team will be known as Fraport Skyliners; this actually makes the team name a bit more appropriate, as Fraport is the company which runs Frankfurt International Airport.

According to New Zealand-based The Press, national team member Thomas Abercrombie will eschew playing in Europe as he has re-signed with the Breakers for 2011-12. The 23-year-old Abercrombie had reportedly seen European ball as a stepping stone on his path to the NBA but also reckons he’ll get oodles more playing time for his NBL team.

Clarke went on to state that Team New Zealand sharpshooter Kirk Penney has also reupped for another season, but that the player’s contract has an out clause should Penney sign with a European club before August 1. Penney played in Europe from 2005-07 in stints with Maccabi Tel Aviv, Žalgiris Kaunas and Alba Berlin.

Of course, the shooting guard was last seen in Europe last year for the 2010 FIBA World Championships, a tournament in which he racked up quite the nice stats, highlighted by an opening-game 37-point barrage in a loss to Team Lithuania.

Penney has also played 1½ seasons’ worth of D-League ball plus cups of coffee with the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Clippers in the 2000s. Though invited to the San Antonio Spurs’ camp in 2010, Penney could not land a position there.

On his stud guard, Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis said that, “We will wait until we know for sure he is returning and while at the moment we are planning on having Kirk back, we have to be flexible if he does decide to head to Europe.”

Six other players were announced to the squad, and the Breakers may yet sign more big names before 2011-12: “Also affecting the [roster] situation at the moment is the potential NBA lockout and what effect that will have on the quality of imports available,” Lemanis said.

Ready for some serious do-or-die action in Spain, Lithuania, Romania and Germany? Read on!

In Spain, what should be one heck of a dogfight (BiE still can’t believe Euroleague club Unicaja Malaga had to fight for the no. 8 seed) tips off tonight with the Malagans taking on FC Barcelona in the ‘Palau at 8.30pm CET (2.30 EST). The ACB brain trust has put together quite the interesting promo for the Spanish playoffs entitled “Canastas imposibles.”

Forget Dude Perfect and his ilk: The Nikola Mirotics, Louis Bullocks, Ricky Rubios and Josep Franches of the world can make the monster circus shots while bringing a complete game as well. (Hey, when’s the last time the ‘Dude went for a double-double in Spain…?)

Over in basketball-mad Lithuania, Žalgiris Kaunas has avenged the snapping of its 27-game domestic league winning streak by reeling off three wins in a row to take a commanding 3-1 lead over perpetual rivals Lietuvos Rytas with last night’s 83-71 victory. This may be the 13th straight time these two monsters have met in the LKL finals, but it doesn’t mean the Green Death is any less stoked.

And in Romania, the playoffs roll on; once again, Adi Micinic of TotalBaschet.ro recaps some action for us.

Last weekend, the finals of the Romanian basketball championship started. In the best-of-seven series between seven consecutive-time champion CSU Asesoft, and three-time runners-up U Mobitelco BT Cluj-Napoca, the score is even at one game apiece after the first two games played at Ploiesti.

Saturday, in Game One, U Mobitelco scored 29 points in the decisive fourth quarter while Asesoft responded with only 13, for the final score of 89-79 in favour of Cluj-Napoca. Former University of New Orleans Privateers forward Kyndall Dykes scored 36 points for Cluj-Napoca, while Romanian national team captain Mihai Silvasan added 26 with 6-of-9 three-point shooting.

On Sunday, in Game Two, CSU Asesoft prevailed by a final score of 82-69. Kevin Ford was top scorer with 20 points, while TotalBaschet regular-season MVP Catalin Burlacu added 16 points and nine rebounds. Also, former Bentley guard Jason Westrol contributed 16 points and seven assists.

Games Three and Four are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday and will be played in Cluj-Napoca.

Meanwhile, in Romania’s unique best-of-three playoff to determine third place in the league, Steaua Turabo Bucharest took two straight to earn the bronze. Bucharest topped Gaz Metan Medias in game one, 90-73, by closing out the game on a 16-0 run. Last night, the Bucharestis closed things out with an 83-77 win behind Virgil Stănescu’s 28 points.

Finally, Euroleague fans will certainly be keeping one eye on the Bundesliga playoffs in Germany. Who will represent Deutschland in the big league for 2011-12? Based on last season’s insane tournament in which all four of the top seeds were bounced in the quarterfinal round, not even BiE is foolish enough to make a Fearless Prediction™ in this one.

Things are a bit saner in 2011, with the favorites – Brose Baskets Bamberg, Artland Dragons, Deutsche Bank Skyliners and Alba Berlin – all advancing. Despite Bamberg’s domination of the regular season at 32-2 (a full six games better than the Skyliners), BiE wouldn’t be surprised to see any of these four squads playing EL ball this fall.

Following are a couple of clips to get you into the schwing of things; check out the play of the night from Alba Berlin’s 81-80 squeaker over the Skyliners and some highlights from the quarterfinal round … who needs those dudes in South Beach, anyway?