To wit, in 2011, we enjoyed:

• an exciting round of Euroleague playoffs which included FC Barcelona’s surprising tournament-round exit and culminated in storied franchise Panathinaikos bagging its third EL trophy in five years;

• in domestic leagues, another weird Bundesliga playoff tournament, another controversial Greek tourney, and from Italy and Spain second-place shockers Bennet Cantù and Bizkaia Bilbao Basket advancing;

• lots of European superstars battling it out in the NBA playoffs, particularly on the Western Conference side, with Tony Parker, Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng and of course Dirk Nowitzki proving so key to their teams’ successes (or lack thereof);

• the Eurobasket 2011 tournament hosted in the world’s basketball-maddest country which ultimately inspired Team Serbia coach Dusan Ivkovic to opine that “this has been the strongest European Championship in history…” (and, judging only from the star content alone, BiE would probably agree, despite a general loathing for such hyperbole directly after an event);

• some awesome schadenfreude-laced moments as NBA refugees came to play on the Continent during the player lockout, plus all the incredibly amusing speculation on names beginning with Kobe Bryant; and finally

• the close to the 2011-12 Euroleague regular season with a week 10 that featured some crazy dogfights for entry and positioning in the Top 16 round, including a great do-or-die game between Emporio Armani Milano and Partizan Belgrade.

Olympic Games or no, how can basketball year 2011 be topped? On the first day of the new year, BallinEurope takes a last brief look back at the most popular stories we ran in 2011. Relive one killer 365 days of European roundball once more below.

1. Eurobasket 2011 Power Rankings: First take. With nine days to go before Eurobasket 2011 tipped off, European basketball fans were clearly focused on the international tournament. While power rankings are not designed to predict the final outcome of a given competition, history shows that BiE’s first assessment was decent, at least up top. Three of BiE’s first four did eventually get through to the quarterfinals. Lithuania, Serbia and Greece were placed too high, Croatia was way too high. But note Finland in the top 16, though! And whereas your bracket surely had FYR Macedonia getting a 2012 Olympic bid, nine days before the tournament, the BallinEurope Power Rankings had them … (gulp) 23rd?

2. Top salaries in European basketball, 2011-12. Soon after Deron Williams signed up for a $5 million-or-so salary with Beşiktaş JK in July, the intrigue began along with fandom’s burgeoning panic about what David “El Jefe” Stern would later dub the NBA’s “Nuclear Winter.” The numbers posted on BallinEurope drew a much attention as we all speculated on just which European clubs might be able to afford who … ultimately nearly creating some strange bedfellows indeed.

3. Ron Artest to play in Finland. No, really. Actually, in reality, not. But today’s Metta World Peace isn’t really about reality, is he? No matter, #15 is one of the funner, funnier tweeters out there and for a short while we believed (or wanted to believe) in this madcap plan – and later that he’d be suiting up for the Cheshire Jets. How droll!

4. Highlights from Ty Lawson’s epic Twitter venting. What can be said about this that hasn’t already been tweeted? October 25, 2011, might have gone done as notable date in European basketball tweeting history if, you know, the collective consciousness regarding Twitter lasted longer than 24 hours or so. For two hours, Lawson tossed the 141-character ball back and forth with mostly Lithuanian fans. Despite having to deal with some of the shadier side of fandom, Tweeter Ty stayed honest, truthful and even pithy throughout.

5. Report: Deron Williams to Beşiktaş Cola Turka. BallinEurope was one of the first English-language sites to break this story: BiE’s luckiest break of 2011, perhaps. Unfortunately, the Zaza thing never worked out, but the results vis-à-vis D-Will’s performance there certainly were nice.

6. Yi gods! Jianlian throws it down over Barac, Croatia. Team China didn’t have much to celebrate vis-à-vis their participation in the London Invitational Tournament in August – even losing to theretofore winless Britain – but at least Yi made the highlight reel in his team’s 30-point blowout loss to Croatia.

7. Ricky Rubio: An object of faith. Let’s face it: Even the most ardent worshippers in the Church of Rubio noted that on the offensive end at very least, Ricky’s 2010-11 was not at all impressive. Seeing a downturn in essentially every statistical category, muttering from the US (with an epicenter in Minneapolis-St. Paul, where Minnesota Timberwolves fans were probably greater each other with “Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!” in lieu of “Hello”) wondered about Rubio’s lost jump shot – or if he’d even had one in the first place. He seemed to be improving on defense both in Euroleague and ACB play, but it didn’t take keen observation to note that the second place finisher for 2010 EL defensive MVP honors was nowhere near the finalists the following season.

In March, with FC Barcelona’s bouncing from the Euroleague’s elite eight round and Rubio’s ho-hum Eurobasket play still ahead, BiE wrote: “It’s as though Rubio becomes an object of faith, a representation of European basketball itself as the single most exciting product to come out of The Continent since at least Dirk Nowitzki. Can this wunderkind baffle with his ball-handling in America? To say ‘yes’ is to meet with derision and charges that the viewpoint’s holder underestimates one-on-one defense in the NBA; to say ‘no’ is seemingly to continue denying that top European players are among the tops on the planet.

Now? Heck, BiE wonders if maybe Rubio’s off-year was all about daydreaming of playing in the NBA the whole time. The Spaniard’s play for the Minnesota Timberwolves early on has exceeded expectations.

BiE’s closer on this piece went as follows: “Opinion: Rubio may be slightly overrated (representing a change from the traditional BiE stand, which was heavily involved in helping overrate him – though he did have a great season in 2009-10, gotta admit). On the other hand, perhaps he’s having an off year.

“BallinEurope will choose to believe the latter for now. And before the vitriol rises and the mad keyboard punching begins, BiE will paraphrase Soren Kierkegaard with the closer, “The existence of Rubio’s superhuman talent is founded in our minds not on the basis of logic or reason, but purely on faith.”

Good news, then, devotees, our faith would seem to be getting rewarded.

8. Highlights: Deron Williams in “all-star mode,” goes for 31 points in Eurochallenge win; Besiktas now 7-0. After drawing a bit of criticism for his early play with Beşiktaş, D-Will soon heated up, producing this eye-opening gem against Armia in mid-November. And by the time this guy was scoring 50 a week-and-a-half later, we were already taking performances like this one for granted.

9. Live blogging EuroBasket 2011: Turkey vs. Lithuania (a.k.a. the big match). After what were basically warmup matches for the home team, Team Lithuania finally got a true test in Eurobasket game three with Turkey the opposition. And wow, this game didn’t disappoint with awesome up-tempo play, a controversial flagrant foul call with less than 1½ minutes to play, and a packed house that brought the noise throughout.

10. Return of the Bulldog: Adam Morrison goes for 30 against Union Olimpija. Who knew Morrison was so popular? The former Gonzaga Bulldog became one of the feel-good stories of 2011 in the resurrection of his career with Red Star Belgrade. Folks back ‘Stateside truly began to sit up and take notice after this aggressive 12-of-18 barrage in Adriatic League play. After experiencing a slump in the last two games (going for a combined 3-of-16 overall shooting), Morrison’s Adriatic League averages for 2011 read 15.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per game.

11. Hey, who wouldn’t want to be like Dirk? Well, in 2011, who? And a happy 2012 to all!

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.

Below, BallinEurope presents some links, highlight clips and like on some of the competing teams starring Igor Rakocevic, Tiago Splitter, D.J. Strawberry and that Williams guy, among others. O, if only BiE had time to properly cover all this basketball … sorry, the NB-what?

• Rod Higgins of the Basketball Post provides much food for thought going into Montepaschi Siena’s game against Unics Kazan on how Igor Rakocevic affects the Italian side’s game plan: Has Ferdinando Minucci sacrificed trademark defensive trickery at the cost of a faster game with another shooter?

On the other hand, perhaps Minucci’s master plan with Rakocevic is just crazy enough to work … tonight provides another nice litmus test: Unics Kazan is middle of the Euroleague table in terms of turnovers at 13 per game while Montepaschi is fifth in team scoring at 84.0 points per game.

• Once resembling a super team, CSKA Moscow entered last week’s PBL game against Krylya Samara short-handed; with Andrei Kirilenko now out for two games minimum, the situation approaches near-critical mass as the Red Army hosts Žalgiris Kaunas. Will a holey CSKA still have enough against the outmatched-on-paper Žalgiris?

Said head coach Jonas Kazlauskas in the post-game: “The thing that worries me is that Kirilenko is injured seriously. [Milos] Teodosic is injured. Taking into account that [Darjus] Lavrinovic is not practicing with the team yet, [Nenad] Krstic had a high temperature … I don’t want to get back to the difficult situation we had last season.”

So, Krstic’s back tonight while the other three above-mentioned won’t be suiting up; adjust your Euroleague fantasy rosters accordingly.

• Speaking of playing/not playing, Da’Sean Butler won’t be on the VEF Riga roster for the team’s Eurocup game against BC Khimki Moscow region – indeed, BiE believes Butler hasn’t yet left the ‘States and is not even 100% sure that the “European team” the locked-out San Antonio Spur’d claimed to have signed with is in fact Riga – but he’s anxious to get there.

• Which naturally leads to Butler’s NBA teammate Tiago Splitter; he’ll be making his 2011-12 Eurocup debut when his Valencia Basket host Telenet Oostende. Splitter went for an impressive 12 points and 10 rebounds in his team’s squeaker of an 86-83 win at UCAM Murcia in ACB play.

• In the leadup to the Anadolu Efes-Partizan game, um, here’s a picture of Sasha Vujacic:

• More seriously, Anadolu Efes claims they’re close to signing locked-out Dallas Maverick Jose Juan Barea.

• Incredibly, Hapoel Jerusalem posted its first win against Maccabi Tel Aviv in 21 years in a 78-64 shocker on Sunday – and D.J. Strawberry says it “wasn’t even our most important game of the week.” According to Strawberry, that would be Jerusalem’s Eurocup match against Cibona Zagreb.

Reports the Jerusalem Post: “Hapoel’s 80-71 defeat at BC Donetsk in its Eurocup opener means its situation inGroup A is already complicated just one game into the regular season, making a home win against Cibona crucial to Jerusalem’s hopes of finishing in the top two and advancing to the last 16…

“Zagreb’s streak of 20 straight years in the Euroleague ended this season and its Eurocup campaign got off to a nightmare start when it was thrashed at home 101-71 by BCM Gravelines of France.

“We need to win our home games in Europe, starting on Tuesday,” Jerusalem coach Oded Katash said. “There is good reason to celebrate after the win against Tel Aviv, but I told the players to put the party on hold until we beat Cibona.”

• Yet another Spur isn’t playing. Tony Parker’s shoulder injury will keep him out of Asvel Basket’s game against Lukoil Acadmic in Sofia; this will mark the first time Asvel plays without Parker since his arrival. Said head coach Pierre Vincent, “We still have a team capable of playing. It is certain that Tony makes a difference, especially in the pick-and-roll. We’ll see if others can take over. And there are other solutions to implement.”

Incidentally, the guard/team executive stated that he and Boris Diaw “have already spoken. If the season is canceled, I will make him an offer for him to come play with me and Ronny [Turiaf].”

• Deron Williams and his Beşiktaş Milangaz meet BG Göttingen in Eurochallenge play tonight. From the In Case You Missed It Department, the Eagles’ troika of D-Will, Semih Erden and Marcelus Kemp wasn’t quite up to spec in TBL play on Saturday; Erdemir handed heretofore undefeated Beşiktaş its first loss of the season by a score of 88-84. Williams went 6-for-16 overall in scoring 16 points and contributing eight assists, Kemp was 5-of-15 for 15 points and Erden battled foul troubles throughout, seeing less than 16 minutes of playing time. In that one, Erwin Dudley (!) was the top scorer for Beşiktaş with 19 points and Zoran Erceg (!!) had 16 points to go with his team-high six rebounds.

It’s been a rough 2011-12 in Göttingen, meanwhile. The team sits dead last in the Bundesliga at 1-8 while going 0-2 in Eurochallenge play, last losing to ZZ Leiden, 80-71, at home in EC play last week.

• No, Linas Kleiza isn’t getting with Lietuvos Rytas any time soon.

Unics Kazan vs. FC Barcelona Regal – An easy one to start with, then. BiE will go with Barcelona, 79-64. There’s an interesting non-basketball tangent for this one, as the Britain-based Daily Mirror reckons the Euroleague game tonight could have an effect on Europa League football: “Spurs will benefit from the fact that the 26,000-seater stadium is expected to be half-full due to a clash between the city’s basketball team, Unics Kazan, who are hosting Barcelona’s basketball side.” Hmmm…

Fenerbahçe Ülker vs. SLUC Nancy – Tell you who’s rooting for Fenerbahçe in this one: Caja Laboral. If Nancy loses tonight, a nasty four-way tie results in the race for positions 3 and 4 in Group A. With Akin Akingbala likely to sit out with an ankle injury, surely the Turkish side will have enough to make it so. Official BiE Fearless Prediction™: Fenerbahçe Ülker 77, SLUC Nancy 67.

Maccabi Tel Aviv vs. Real Madrid – Israel-based Haaretz reports that Maccabi head coach David Blatt is “wary ahead of Real Madrid game,” but he seems fairly long-term minded and relaxed about his team’s lackluster start in this Euroleague season: “Maccabi has undergone some serious changes this season and we’re building ourselves slowly. We might not be at the peak of our game, but with some serious and professional work, we’ll get there. It will just take us some more time.” This week might be good in this game with long-term implications for Group C, but Madrid is just too hot right now. Official BiE Fearless Prediction™: Real Madrid 82, Maccabi Tel Aviv 78.

Bennet Cantu vs. Bizkaia Bilbao Basket – Tweeted Euroleague scribe Javier Gancedo earlier today on this one: “Difícil de pronosticar. Más talento el Bilbao, más experiencia Cantu, con una afición increíble. Ojo Leunen vs Banic.” BiE’ll take the experience and the home-court advantage, saying Cantu by six points.

Partizan Belgrade vs. Spirou Charleroi – Partizan has yet to beat a Euroleague team this season in three chances. That will change tonight. Official BiE Fearless Prediction™: Partizan Belgrade by 16. Bonus prediction: Nikola Pekovic is your EL player of the week for week three.

Emporio Armani Milano vs. Anadolu Efes – Said Efes point guard Kerem Tunçeri: “Last week, by losing to Belgacom Spirou, we lost an important advantage. Emporio Armani Milan is a new team like us. They have very good players.” True, all true … except Tunçeri forgot to mention that Milano has gelled rapidly to become one of the better teams early on in the Euroleague season, while Efes has turned the ball over 32 times in two games, a number “topped” only by Zalgiris Kaunas, KK Zagreb, Partizan and Bizkaia Bilbao. BiE says Milano keeps rolling, Efes keeps stumbling; Milano 90, Anadolu Efes 76.

Brose Baskets Bamberg vs. Unicaja Malaga – After the Maccabi-Madrid match, this should be the one to match with two evenly-matched sides and three tiers perhaps already established in Group B.

BiE admits to a bit of a copout here and so went to Germany-based heinnews for thoughts. Says Mr. Hein: “Well, this is an early must game for Bamberg, who can’t afford to lose the home games if they want to advance. It appears to be a three-way race for third and fourth place. Zagreb are not at the same level, so that means you need to beat Unicaja, especially after the blowout against CSKA. They want to show they are not that bad. Tibor Pleiss and Marcus Slaughter will have to do a good job on Joel Freeland, who appears right now to be in great form.” (Indeed, Freeland was named the ACB’s player of the month for October.)

On the plus side for the German side, Hein notes that “Bamberg got healthy, though, with a 30-point blowout at Phoenix Hagen” in Bundesliga play. Can Pleiss and Slaughter together with Brian Roberts, Julius Jenkins and Karsten Tadda bring enough defense to slow Freeland, Kristap Valters and one deep Unicaja team? Ah, BiE don’t call ‘em “Fearless Predictions” for nothing … Brose Baskets Bamberg 78, Unicaja Malaga 75.

Once again, advisories in effect: These ratings are formulated from once source (namely yours truly) and are based on the way teams are trending at present, i.e. Bennet Cantu is not necessarily *better* per se than Fenerbahçe Ülker, et cetera, et cetera, ad infinitum. While play in other leagues was considered, emphasis was put on performance in each team’s pair of EL games thus far, i.e. BiE knows Union Olimpija is 5-0 in the Adriatic League.

Without further ado, then, let’s get to the rankings! (Žalgiris fans, you may want to consider before clicking “Read More.”)

• Cream of the Crop
1. (↑) Panathinaikos (2-0 EL; 2-0 in domestic league EΣAKE) – In a rare reversal of opinion, the essentially obligatory no. 1 spot traditionally kept by the defending champion has been restored. Despite the bigger-named, better-hyped rosters of FC Barcelona and CSKA Moscow, newcomer Steven Smith together with the Greens’ nucleus has reminded the league who the boss is in dispatching Unicaja Malaga and KK Zagreb in Euroleague play. European basketball fans again await the first meeting between PAO and Olympiacos slated for November 17.

2. (↔) FC Barcelona (2-0 in Euroleague play; 4-1 ACB) – Biggest point differential in the Euroleague after two games? That would be the Blaugrana with a big +49 after beating up on Olimpija and Asseco Prokom. Barça’s 4-1 mark in Spain is somewhat impressive in this season of extreme parity over there, and optimism can even be found in the team’s sluggish 66-56 victory over Fuenlabrada last weekend as Juan Carlos Navarro and killer addition Marcelinho Huertas again led the way on both ends of the court.

3. (↔) CSKA Moscow (2-0; 2-0 PBL; 3-1 VTB) – Excellent coach, well-stocked roster, Andrei Kirilenko … yeah, this looks like a Final Four team. BiE finds it very difficult to place them third.

• Right Up There, Right Now
4. (↑) Real Madrid (2-0 EL; 4-1 ACB) – Well, BiE knew these guys could score but come on: They’re shooting 52.8% overall! They’ve got four guys (Rudy Fernandez, Jaycee Carroll, Felipe Reyes, Sergio Llull) averaging double figures in points through two and a fifth (Martynas Pocius) good for 9.5 in just 18 minutes per game! They’ve registered the only 100-point game in the EL thus far! Sorry for the excessive exclamation points, but this is the most exciting Real team in years!

5. (↓) Montepaschi Siena (2-0; 3-1 Serie A) – It’s business as usual with Siena. Europe’s answer to the “small-market” clubs in the ‘States has turned one of their NBA lockout casualties (David Anderson) into a viable force in EL play, and the team’s traditional reliance on speed is still working. Rebounding might become a concern further down – only four big-league teams have fewer boards through two – and it would be nice for them if Ksistof Lavrinovic could get more going down low. Can Shaun Stonerook and his EL lifetime average of 5.1 rpg really be expected to continue to put in 7.5 throughout the season?

And then there’s Bo McCalebb. Some Siena competitor’d better inform Bo that EuroBasket 2011 is over and that he can settle down a bit: The man is shooting 12-of-16 overall from the floor, going 8-of-8 from the charity stripe, kicking in 3.5 assists per game and once again orchestrating some seriously interesting ball movement. He just might will another overachiever into the top four in 2011-12…

• Should Get Better
6. (↑) Olympiacos (1-1 EL; 2-0 EΣAKE) – Common wisdom believed the Reds’ 2011-12 performance would be hampered by front-office shakeups. O, don’t Žalgiris Kaunas fans wish they’d experience something similar right about now … again, November 17. Mark those calendars.

7. (↑) Emporio Armani Milano (1-1 EL; 3-1 Serie A)
8. (↓) Maccabi Tel Aviv (1-1 EL; 3-0 Ligat Ha’al; 5-0 Adriatic) – BiE went back and forth in ranking these two for a while … Though Milano is coming off a loss to Real Madrid, BiE gives them the nod here over the thus-far underwhelming (at least in Euroleague play) Maccabi Tel Aviv due to the Italian side’s 89-82 week one victory. And it seems Milano’s signing of Danilo Gallinari for what we’ll call the lockout portion of the EL season was among the best in Europe

On the plus side for Maccabi is the team’s decent run in the Adriatic League; David Blatt’s guys are topping the league at 5-0, including a nice 97-point show against Cibona Zagreb and a second victory over Partizan Belgrade. But expectations are high for this club in 2011-12 and its two Euroleague performances haven’t yet wowed anyone; consider these guys the sleeping giants at present.

9. Caja Laboral Baskonia (2-0; 3-2 ACB) – The workmanlike opening-week win at Fenerbahçe Ülker got Baskonia’s EL season off to a flying start and the ACB club chased this in defending home court against Bennet Cantu. You particularly have to love this ball-minded defense averaging 10 steals per game, and BiE will conveniently ignore losses to Zaragoza and Valencia.

10. Unicaja Malaga (1-1 EL; 4-1 ACB) – BiE’s still not entirely convinced Unicaja can play with the big boys, with losses this season to Panathinaikos in a blowout and last weekend to Valencia in Spain. Things will get dicey for these guys in a couple of weeks. After games at Brose Baskets Bamberg, vs. Blancos de Rueda Valladolid and vs. KK Zagreb, they get Real Madrid at home and CSKA Moscow away on November 13th and 16th, respectively. This may be the highest Unicaja ascends in 2011-12.

• WTF?
11. (↓) Anadolu Efes (1-1 EL; 3-0 TBL) – BiE’s still wondering what went wrong against Spirou Charleroi…

• Overachievers or Contenders?
12. (↑) Galatasaray Medical Park (1-1 EL; 3-0 TBL) – As of this writing, Eurobasket.com has Galatasaray at no. 2 in its “Top 100 Teams in Europe” listing, actually in a mathematical tie with CSKA Moscow. BiE loves the 2011-12 edition of Galatasaray but wouldn’t put them quite that high … The loss to Unics Kazan might have been a reality check for the Red-and-Yellow, as Kazan generally uglied up the match, forcing bad turnovers and winning the battle of the boards: Achilles’ heels for Galatasaray. Next up on the Euroleague schedule: at Montepaschi Siena, at Union Olimpija, vs. FC Barcelona. Yikes.

13. (↑) SLUC Nancy (1-1; 4-0 LNB)
14. (↑) Bennet Cantu (1-1 EL; 3-1 Serie A) – Whoa, Group A is crazy … certainly one of these two teams wants the inside track for the no. 4 spot (assuming Fenerbahçe gets it together, that is), but which is it? Cantu handled Nancy in the opening week, teeing off with 21 three-pointers and making 10. However, the 6-of-21 from long range killed them against Baskonia … This team looks frighteningly like employment of the “live by the jump shot die by the jump shot” philosophy is in full effect. And BiE says those teams don’t go far.

Meanwhile, the defending French champions appear to have recovered from the Cantu defeat, taking care of business against Bizkaia Bilbao Basket in week two while going undefeated in LNB play. BiE was concerned about Nancy’s lack of depth going into the season and it’s still there: In the win over Bilbao, over six players contributed more than one bucket, four starters played more than 29 minutes, and there were three DNPs. On the other hand, a little Nicolas Batum is going a long way…

15. (↑) Brose Baskets Bamberg (1-1 EL; 5-0 BBL) – Test of adversity time: Bamberg tonight hosts Unicaja Malaga in a winnable game. How will they respond after the 20-point drubbing administered by CSKA Moscow last week?

16. (↓) Unics Kazan (1-1 EL; 1-1 PBL; 3-1 VTB) – The Euroleague’s second Russian entry needs to ride the momentum of their three-game winning streak. In addition to coming back against Galatasaray in the fourth quarter last Thursday, Kazan topped Enisey the Monday previous and VEF Riga in the VTB United League on Sunday. The weird thing is that Unics’ only real stud this season has been Henry Domercant with 23.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per EL game.

17. (↓) Bizkaia Bilbao Basket (1-1 EL; 3-2 ACB) – This talented side dug itself something of a hole in losing to SLUC Nancy and things aren’t looking brilliant back in Spain, either. Perhaps the rebounding-by-committee system isn’t working so well…?

• Should Be Better (in Euroleague)
18 (tie). (↑) Partizan Belgrade (0-2 EL; 4-1 Adriatic)
18 (tie). (↓) Union Olimpija (0-2; 5-0 Adriatic) – Both of these teams are reflective of the omnipresent “current economic situation,” bringing fewer marquee names than in recent seasons. So whose losses are worse, then? Partizan currently owns the dubious distinction of being the only non-ACB club to go 0-3 against Euroleague teams, thanks to a loss against Maccabi Tel Aviv in Adriatic League play – though the unheralded Black-and-Whites did manage to stay competitive in both EL losses.

Olimpija, meanwhile, got a quick lesson in what it means to be a top EL team in 2011-12 in losing by a combined 44 to Barcelona and Montepaschi Siena. Ah well, at least they have the NLB…

20. (↓) Fenerbahçe Ülker (0-2 EL; 3-0 TBL) – BiE still has these guys penciled in as a Top 16 team, but the truth is they may be facing the first must-win match of the Euroleague season in hosting upstarts SLUC Nancy tomorrow night; a loss there is disastrous.

• Bottom-feeders
21. (↑) Spirou Charleroi (1-1 EL; 4-1 BLB) – Nice win against Anadolu Efes could be parlayed into a 2-1 win against Partizan tonight … at Pionir. Yeah, probably not.

22. (↓) Žalgiris Kaunas (0-2; 4-0 LKL; 2-2 VTB) – Žalgiris’ ranking in BallinEurope’s preseason power rankings elicited much consternation and derision, even in the Lithuanian press. “How could they be ranked lower than Brose Baskets Bamberg?” rang out the outcry. “Who writes this?” demanded the masses. “What are you smoking?” came the implications. Well, two Euroleague losses, some generally lackluster play in the VTB, and one reassumed front-and-center position of Vladamir Romanov later, here’s the Greens’ new spot. Still plenty of basketball left to play, though…

23. (↓) Asseco Prokom (0-2 EL; 2-2 VTB) – And BiE laments the conclusion of the Devin Brown Era in Poland…

24. (↓) KK Zagreb (0-2 EL; 1-4 Adriatic) – After the week one results poured in, BiE caught one tweet asking something to the effect of “Is KK Zagreb the worst team in the Euroleague?” This may have been a rhetorical question.

You know Tony's coming over...

First, BallinEurope would like to a couple more American players to The Continent, as Milwaukee Bucks second-round draft pick Jon Leuer has signed with the Bundesliga’s Frankfurt Skyliners to play during the NBA lockout and undrafted Colorado State University forward Andy Ogide has joined the ranks of LEB club Breogán.

But as the BiE schadenfreudometer works overtime, the Euroleague Transfers Table loads up with NBA names (Hello, Mr. Farmar and bienvenue to you, Monsieur Batum!), and the working assumption currently figuring the big league to be playing an abbreviated schedule in 2011-12 at best, BallinEurope admits that he’s becoming spoiled about new news on NBA players jumping the Atlantic to play ball here.

And so, without too much hard fact recently on NBAers, marquee or otherwise, making said leap, BiE today presents odds on some players rumored to be plying their wares in Europe soon. Readers should note that these odds are offered at no bookmaker service and are completely arbitrary (which is to say mostly made up).

Dirk Nowitzki: 3/5. The incredible story of the Bayern München basketball club’s resurrection to primacy would be made complete by signing Dastardly Dirk, hero of the 2011 NBA Finals.

Last season, national team coach Dirk Bauermann took up the reins of the second-division club and promptly won that league going away. In an explicitly marketable move, FIBA then made the unprecedented decision to award the just-promoted team a spot in the 2011-12 Eurocup. With the underlying and legitimate premise that what’s good for Bayern München, perhaps the country’s most internationally recognized sports organization, is good for Bundesliga basketball, this club is certainly wooing agents and rubbing magic talismans in hopes of getting Nowitzki to come home to Germany.

Nowitzki is still playing coy with his decision (or maybe that should be “Decision,” with Dirk launching the Bizarro version of the Lebron James brouhaha on German TV) at present, recently stating that he’d delay any such announcement until after Eurobasket 2011. Here, however, we’re still taking to heart his much-run quote: “I’ve always said I’m too old to sit around for a whole year. I still can’t see this being a long lockout, but if it is, I’m going to find somewhere to play.”

Tony Parker: 1/1. Let’s see … Parker owns a share of Asvel Villeurbanne and could thus be writing his own (preferably dirt cheap) paycheck while virtually assuring sellouts for every game, taking an LNB title and applying a little NBA-learned marketing strategy to make his Asvel jersey *the* hot worldwide seller for, let’s say, a percentage? These odds are way too high.

Mehmet Okur: 3/2. BiE’s going out on a bit of a limb with this one, as this line is solely based on reportage that Fenerbahçe Ülker was in negotiations with the Utah Jazz big man followed by a big cone of silence since. The move does seem somewhat natural for Okur with Fenerbahçe a potential Euroleague Final Four team, though of note is the fact that Okur started his professional career with three other Turkish clubs, including Efes Istanbul.

Patrick Mills: 2/1. Speaking of Turkish basketball … not only could Mills use a spell in Europe to enhance his skills after playing just 12.2 minutes per game with the Portland Trail Blazers in his first full season, he was also the target of gossip having him already signed with Anadolu Efes for one season. While this rumor was debunked, Mills’ agent stated that his client had received offers from “many” clubs and the player himself stated that “My intention during this lockout is to look at offers from Europe and Australia.”

Pau Gasol: 8/1. While Gasol has made clear his intentions to consider playing with FC Barcelona or some other ACB team, this Los Angeles Laker has also eschewed extra play in recent years, citing grueling schedules and wear on the body. With brother Marc reportedly *not* going to play in Europe this season (see below) and Team Spain looking at the possibility of a run deep into Eurobasket 2011, won’t Pau be seriously considering a vacation? BiE would be surprised to see Gasol suiting up for any European club on opening day.

Kobe Bryant: 10/1. The main barriers to the NBA’s fiercest competitor playing in Europe? Money and China. (And thus does Bryant become a metaphor for the American economy.) Despite an incoming rule barring opt-out contract clauses, Chinese clubs are reportedly aggressively pursuing Kobe; on the other hand, even beyond the protectionist new bylaw, most recent stories say the price tag is around $1 million per month and Bryant’s most recent demand to Besiktas Cola Turka had him asking for $1.5 mil per.

Amare Stoudamire: 12/1. What happened to all this talk, anyway? After playing the will-he-won’t-he game for a week or two, Stoudamire has recently become relatively quiet on the issue of playing ball in a foreign country – at last count, Spain, Turkey, Israel and China. This New York Knick might not want to wait too long or he just might find European basketball budgets gone dry before he takes something; Stoudamire made just under $16.5 million last season and if the Nowitzki-Bryant ceiling is set at $1 million per month, Stoudamire’s personal budget will certainly be taking a hit anyway.

Kleiza to L.Rytas? Wellllllllllllll...

Linas Kleiza: 20/1. This one goes out to all BiE’s Lietuvos Rytas-loving readers, specifically Kevin. This rumor was destined to be (created) started by a Lithuanian and so props for the foresight, Kevin! But would you care to place a wager…?

Marc Gasol: 25/1. In probably the most shocking news vis-à-vis logical European news, Marc Gasol told CBS Sports emphatically that having a stint with FC Barcelona only to opt out would be “selfish.” But still, after his breakout season and playoff performance, does Gasol The Younger really want to sit around while Pau plays?

Ricky Rubio: 25/1. Now that FC Barcelona seems close to signing Marcelinho Huertas to fill up the guard roster spots, the whispering about Rubio’s return has been muffled. And since his probable second choice and former team DKV Joventut presumably does not have the budget for a player of Rubio’s cachet, the Spanish wunderkind could end up one of the biggest losers of the 2011 NBA lockout fiasco after an off-season in which he declined in nearly every statistical category.

Carmelo Anthony: 28/1. Seemingly certain to be a Europe-jumping superstar, this line has increased as of late, with Anthony speaking more frequently of destinations like China and … Puerto Rico? Yes. Sayeth Carmelo (as translated by SB Nation): “…with the lockout, and if things continue, I would not rule out playing in Puerto Rico. I’m keeping that option open and we’ll see what deals there are.”

Such a declaration raises an interesting possibility for NBA players, as teams would only begin to require their services for February training and a March tipoff; by then, all will certainly know whether the entire 2011-12 season is off and can still get a few months’ playing time to sharpen up for the presumed 2012-13 campaign.

Allen Iverson: 40/1 to sign a contract, 80/1 to come close to fulfilling it. Last we heard from Mr. Answer on his prospects for playing in Europe (or anywhere) came in this interview with Slam Online – you’ll definitely want to click to see A.I.’s outrageous headwear.

Said Iverson in the piece when asked about his playing prospects: “Obviously for me, I want to be in the NBA. Obviously, I want to be closer to my family, but my whole thing is to go somewhere where people want me, somewhere where I will truly be accepted. I just want to be wanted. That’s my whole thing. I want to go somewhere where they want me to help their team win.” But gee, weren’t Besiktas Cola Turka fans, like, 1000% behind their new guy before his strange disappearing act after 10 games?

Enes Kanter: OFF. If Ricky Rubio is looking like an early loser due to the lockout, Enes Kanter may well be the poster boy for this snafu. You know, if they made posters of guys whose chances at a viable NBA career were undermined even before they began.

Kanter of course missed the entire 2010-11 NCAA season due to the sudden scruples exhibited by Fenerbahce officials which surely had nothing to do with a potential hefty transfer fee due the club or even Kanter’s father’s assertion that the team was “trying to set an example with my son to coming generations in Turkey, so they can control and use the talent and youth any way they like.”

Still, there’s no hiding talent, even in the University of Kentucky stands: Despite playing in zero games on the season, Kanter went no. 3 overall in the 2011 NBA Draft and got Utah fans jazzed at the prospect of this multi-talented youth playing strong in the paint.

But after a cancelled NBA season and two years of sitting on the shelf, how good will Kanter look in 2012-13? BiE implores: Come back to Europe, Enes, before the rust collects!

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.

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.

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.

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?