BallinEurope, the European Basketball news site

Beşiktaş Cola Turka, briefly known as the team employing Allen Iverson (remember him?), has reportedly agreed to terms with another, perhaps more reliable American NBA baller. Turkey-based sports news outlet NTV Spor announced today that Deron Williams of the New Jersey Nets will be joining the TBL club for the 2011-12 with an out clause, should the NBA lockout end.

Williams stands to earn some $16 million with Mikhail Prokhorov’s team, should a season be played.

Update: A few hours after NTV Spor reported this story, the website added that the Atlanta Hawks’ Zaza Pachulia, too, would “in principle” be suiting up for the Eagles in ’11. And Besiktas coach Ergin Ataman has now gone on record as saying that Williams would be a bigger coup for Turkish basketball in terms of star power than that Iverson guy…

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For bonus points, identify this player

The quiz is multiple choice and is European- and NBA-centric in topic. It is multiple guess choice, and so choose the one answer that best completes the phrase or answers the question. You may use any writing implement at your disposal to fill in the answers – as long as you don’t mind marking up your screen, that is. Good luck. You may begin the exam now.

1. In the 2010-11 season, Dirk Nowitzki became most known for:
a) Being a clutch player, despite an arguably disappointing past history.
b) Entering the conversation as one of the NBA’s top 20 players of all-time.
c) Passing 22,000 career NBA points.
d) Take Dat Wit Chew.

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BallinEurope apologizes for the recent two-day drought of content in an attempt to catch up on “the day job” since returning from the Euroleague Final Four tournament. To (hopefully) make up for this dearth a bit, and in honor of Panathinaikos’ stirring win in the big league, BiE today presents an updated version of its List of 2010-11 European Champions.

See below for a roundup on the current situation in regular seasons and/or playoffs in the Continent’s domestic leagues. This list will be updated whenever possible.

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More details have been released about Allen Iverson’s recent conflict with Atlanta police and the subsequent impounding of his Lamborghini last week – or, according to the man himself, one of his 11 or so Lamborghinis.

The Associated Press is today running a story in which law enforcement officials describe Iverson as “angry” to “irate” when pulled over by police on March 30, repeatedly asking “Do you know who I am?” in the midst of an estimated 20-minute rant (imagine that).

Reportedly, Iverson later apologized to the police officers for his disrepect and stated that he was just upset about the state of his club Beşiktaş Cola Turka, currently fighting for a TBL playoff spot.

Nah, BiE’s just kidding about that last bit. A.I. actually “stated he was just upset about his car.”

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Hmmm, it doesn’t appear as though Allen Iverson is any closer to Turkey … and in fact this morning is one Lamborghini short of his complete set.

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Finally, some news of Allen Iverson’s return to Beşiktaş Cola Turka! ESPN.com reports that A.I. is expected to receive clearance from Dr. James Andrews to rejoin the Turkish side after a checkup on his progress from rehabbing after discovering a growth on his leg.

“He’s going to start rigorous training as soon as he has clearance. He’s determined to get back to playing” said Iverson’s business manager Gary Moore.

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No word on Allen Iverson’s return from injury and to Turkey to resume playing for Beşiktaş Cola Turka, but negative press is out on Mr. Answer this week.

The Denver Post first reported – in a story later picked up by several sources – that Iverson had stopped paying off a $3 million-mortgage on a Colorado home; the house will be foreclosed on in April. A BET.com blogger added that such a tab is something that “someone without a job probably can’t afford.”

(So is A.I. no longer with Beşiktaş after all…?)

Aforementioned blogger went on to snarkily remark that “Can someone get him a reality show already? Or some new legs? I’d say a rap contract, but I remember that one single he had. Yeah, that won’t work, so let’s shoot for something else. Anything really … I hate to see this dude go out like this.”

Back to reality, in any case. Iverson’s on-again, off-again Twitter feed has said much on either subject recently. His last tweet as of this writing came on Saturday:

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So the envelopes have been opened and the celebratory parties in Tinseltown have yet to truly begin as Hollywood’s version of the NBA All-Star Weekend draws to a close. BallinEurope spent most of the weekend flipping between the ACB, NBA, “Black Swan” and “The Kids are All Right,” and is thus in perfect mindset to present the 2011 Oscar (Robertson) awards for cinematic basketball excellence.

Wait, did BiE say “cinematic”? That particular adjective may be slightly inaccurate for the films of 2010, especially considering the key noun “excellence” is also involved: In terms of basketball movies, the good news/bad news summation for last year’s roundball cinema subgenre informs that, while the volume of full-length features, documentaries and short videos was up in 2010, a single force dominated in terms of quality. And that force was ESPN. And last year’s best basketball films were, simply put, all on TV.

First, the field in the race for the “Best Dramatic Full-Length Feature” Oscar (Robertson).

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Ogilvy all smiles after upset

In what was not exactly a shooting clinic – Beşiktaş (10-7 in TBL play in 2010-11) collectively was “good” for 35% overall shooting on 20-of-57 while Efes Pilsen (13-4) managed 37.5%, including a woeful 4-of-15 success rate on threes – the Eagles did not miss their American headliner, who will be sidelined for some time yet by injury.

Team Australia’s A.J. Ogilvy contributed one of his best games in weeks with a 19-point, 11-rebound effort for Beşiktaş, while the only other double-digit scorer was the Brewers’ Igor Rakocevic with 12 points.

No video highlights are yet available, but you might want to keep half an eye on the official video site of the Turkish Cup.

In today’s matches, it’ll be Galatasaray Café Crown (13-4) vs. Olin Ederne (9-8) and Fenerbahçe Ülker (15-2) vs. Banvit (14-3), the latter of which features the top two teams in Turkish basketball. Beşiktaş will square off against Trabzonspor in the ‘Cup quarterfinals tomorrow night.

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A day after Oliver Lafayette failed a team medical test, Beşiktaş Cola Turka officials have announced the transfer of Marcelus Kemp from Virtus Bologna to occupy the roster spot left vacant by the injured Allen Iverson.

Kemp has played professional basketball in Italy since playing four years with the University of Nevada Wolf Pack and ultimately receiving all-WAC conference honors, coming over to Legadue squad Basket Livorno for the 2008-09 season. In 2009-10, Kemp moved to Dinamo Sassari, where enjoyed a season which culminated in a championship title and Sassari’s promotion into Serie A.

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