All of the editor’s Devotion to…

The masses (well, a few of you anyway) have weighed in and i’ve tossed around a few considerations as to my favorite Euroleague team since opened for discussion here at BallinEurope.com and over at Facebook last week.

As you no doubt have noticed, it’s Partizan. The arguments pro and con were weighed, but most impressive was the sales pitch delivered on behalf of the Serbian team.

Longtime BallinEurope loyalist UHG80 noted Partizan’s tradition, mid-range budget, excellent fanbase (well evidenced by response to my posts) and good chance at the Final 16 – all even though he’s “pretty much neutral”! Plus, UHG80 also mentioned one of this b-ball fan’s favorite words, “Divac”; this ultimately may have put Partizan over the top for my heart.

Stefiva, apparently also not a Partizan fan as her comment went without mention of such, described getting in with Partizan as tantamount to “cheering for Golden State Warriors only much more satisfying.” Big plus points there.

Finally, Facebook user Ivan Wani Molerovic from within the hardcore fanbase declared, “Let die everyone who don’t love PARTIZAN … Partizan iz more than a club, it’s our life, hope and biggest love … Forever together…” All right, then, that’s settled.

Runners-up for this fan’s attention included:

•  Maccabi Tel Aviv. I loved the display on Maccabi history at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Massachusetts this summer and damn, you gotta dig that yellow-and-blue color scheme. Plus, they do have a killer website in English, great fans, and what NBA fan could easily resist a chance to cheer for Carlos Arroyo and Marcus Fizer?

•  Lottomatica Roma. One of this traveler’s favorite cities in the world, fandom would surely give me a great excuse to visit la Città Eterna again, no? Figure in Brandon Jennings with those sweet deep red unis and Roma was tough to pass up. But surely losing Jennings and probably missing the Top 16 in 2010 will suck, and who wants to be around for that?

•  Montepaschi Siena. Francesco Cappelletti, BallinEurope’s man in Italy, sent me an email which read, “choose Montepaschi! Not only because it is my team, but also because they probably play the best European basketball after CSKA Moscow, and because Italian basketball was born in Siena in 1871!” Tobias himself also pointed out that Siena is not affiliated with any football club, surely a rarity in Italy. It was tough to pass on these guys, particularly since their play in Euroleague 2007/2008 was so enjoyable, but if I’m siding with an Italian team, it would be Roma.

•  Le Mans. Since I’m residing in Hungary, a country with apparently little hope of improving its basketball program within the next 137 years, Le Mans would probably be the closest thing i have to a home team, less than 150 km from the family’s ancestral homeland of Poitou-Charentes. Unfortunately for Le Mans’ hopes, i dithered on this decision until last week, meaning Le Mans had plenty of time to sink in the Euroleague standings and in the race for my Devotion.

Despite these worthy contenders, however, Partizan it is – and what a time to join, eh? Right on the eve of hosting the monsters from Moscow; we’ll see about that awesome home crowd. Go black and white!

Shawn Kemp, Jason Kidd, Earl Boykins and Europe

Being at a basketball camp 24/7 right now does not help in staying on top of things: Today there are 129 new emails in my inbox and a lot of new developments going on. I guess I’m lucky to be at the 76ers camp, where the director has great connections and informs me about current events from time to time.

Wearing this shirt initiated the latest news tough. As you can imagine, Shawn Kemp is a pretty big deal for Europe. Especially if you grew up in that era with him and Gary Payton. Shawn Kemp was THE deal, right?

Well, Shawn has been offered a contract by Italian club Premiata Montegranaro and if you know a little bit about Shawn’s recent problems, you might want to believe that he be would be more than glad to take this offer.

My five cents: If Shawn Kemp signs in Europe, I am buying season tickets for that team!

Earl Boykins finally took a deal in Europe which many believe he should have done much earlier, like last season, when BallinEurope was already discussing the possibility. Now, Earl has signed with Virtus Bologna, a team which struggled mightily with their Americans last season - Delonte Holland, that is.

As you see, there is no need to speculate, especially when you hear the birds in Olympiakos telling people that even LeBron James is an option in 2010 when his contract is over; let’s talk about that … in 2010.

Let’s keep it realistic - like Jason Kidd realistic. Talking to basketball experts, a Jason Kidd move to Europe would not surprising to them at all, since nobody is a real fan of him for being on the Olympic team. We might have to talk about Jason Kidd in Europe pretty soon - pretty seriously!

That’s all from the deep deep Poconos in beautiful Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Live from the Olympic Qualifying Tournament

Kris Santiago, a FIBA.com blogger, is in Athens right now, following every game of the pre-Olympic tournament. Here are his notes from today:

• Slovenia is getting better from game to game and could be facing Puerto Rico or Croatia (but I would go with Puerto Rico, as they are looking quite good on the perimeter) in the quarters. Lakovic is solid while Nesterovic feels comfortable attacking the boards. Slokar showed a good all-around game, hitting shots and doing the little things right (Finally some positive news about Uros). Becirovic completes the team that received some help from Miha Zupan in the first game.

• Canada played weaker than expected. Former Skyliner Dave Thomas stepped up during the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough as Carl English and Samuel Dalembert could not repeat their performances from the test games against Germany. Veteran Rowan Barrett is a steady scorer, but the team looked bad on the defensive end.

• Cape Verde is the first team to fly home. The “Trindade” got pounded again, this time by Germany. Young talent Jeff Xavier certainly has some upside (a solid shot and good ball-handling) but is a shoot-first point guard and had some problems adjusting to the game. If his dreams of playing in the NBA don’t come true, he may play in Europe. In order to be effective, Xavier really needs to work on his passing game.

The same goes for most of the players that never played at such a high level in FIBA-organised competitions and struggled against bigger guys like Femerling or Kaman.

• Germany used the game as another test, and had no trouble finishing from the three-point line or under the boards. Kaman is not looking fluid in his actions, as he is still trying to find his niche in the German game. Demond Greene hit some 3s in the beginning, making it crystal clear which team was supposed to win. Young gun Philip Zwiener was the surprise of the day, as he made the starting five and showed off a solid performance, which could lead to a permanent starting job. I personally like Konrad Wysocki; he should be getting more time on the court, getting six points in ten minutes and was ready for more. Oh, I forgot to mention Dirk Nowitzki, who was not flashy but left his mark, was able to rest a lot due to the big lead and should be more tested more against New Zealand tomorrow.

• Puerto Rrrrrico is getting the best out of Carlos Arroyo (Flashy as ever … behind the back, no look, you name it) and … (A real surprise to me) Ricky Sanchez, who was left open at the three-point line and scored at will. Daniel Santiago got some minutes but was not nearly effective as in Malaga, and P.J. Ramos looked better (Well, not his look but his game) against Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje. J.J. Barea is having some trouble displaying his scoring qualities but does his job which includes passing and defending.

• Cameroon is here with a bad karma. They were angry and disappointed regarding their government which failed to support them in a professional manner. Now Harding Nana had a good first game but struggles to find his shot against Puerto Rico. Boumtje-Boumtje is fighting like a bull on both defense and offense, but Cameroon really sometimes lacks the IQ on the court, as they repeatedly left Sanchez alone instead of guarding him closer and made mistakes when switching the player in the wrong moments. Parfait Bitee looks ready for Europe, as he is really doing a great job here, scoring mostly from outside and keeping Barea and Arroyo constantly under pressure. Brice Vounang is a short-sized center with a wide body and knows how to bang but may need to lose some weight in order to perform faster around the basket.

That’s all for now. I’ll keep you posted…

UPDATE: Kris just sent us some more thoughts:

• Cameroon’s Harding Nana got his shot back in the second half and Parfait Bitte, who may land a contract in Europe soon (The D-League is not an option, and his agent Keith Glass is already receiving offers), did his part to bring Cameroon back into the game, but it was Larry Ayuso’s three-pointer that killed Cameroon’s hopes of advancing.

• Cameroon’s coach Lazare Adingono was certainly disappointed with the way things ended for his team, and hopes that the government has seen the positive outing of his team in Athens and tries now to support the team financially so they may bounce back with another strong outcome at the 2009 African Championship in Libya.

• George Felton, director of player personnel, scouted Alexis Wangmene (Texas University) closely these days to see if he is capable of playing against bigger competition. Wangmene was not a big factor offensively while helping out well in limited minutes on the floor on the defensive end, but has a long road to go if he wants to make it to the NBA.

• Brazil is currently destroying Lebanon, and they look quite confident on the floor with Marcelinho Huertas and Murilo Becker da Rosa having already reached double digits in scoring. Now all the players are set to score, and even NBA bust Baby Araujo is doing well on the floor, having no trouble scoring in the paint at all.

Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2008: Day 2

Day one is in the books and the first two games weren’t that surprising at all, right? New Zealand, most famous for its pre-game dance, won their game against Cape Verde by 27 points. Why does this matter? Because on day 2, Cape Verde will play Germany.

Why does Germany matter? You’re right, just because of Dirk Nowitzki and the Germanized Chris Kaman, who will play his first game for head coach Dirk Bauermann. It looks like Chris is pretty excited to play for Germany and even thinks the German eagle on his chest is “cool.” Basically Chris is trading in this eagle for that one.

Should be an easy first game for Chris unless Cape Verde is that mad because of losing to New Zealand by 27 points - It won’t happen; these guys are pretty chilled.

Less “chilled” should be Samuel Dalembert, who plays for the Philadelphia 76ers, in the first game for Team Canada, playing against Slovenia. Slovenia and Rasho Nesterovic won their first game against Korea by 12 points, thanks to Nesterovic’s 26 points and 9 rebounds. Slovenia still managed to score 88 points although two stars - Sani Becirovic and Jaka Lakovic - had bad shooting nights.

The third matchup features Cameroon and Puerto Rico. Cameroon just lost their opener against Croatia by 14 points, and I am sure Puerto Rico won’t give them an easy chance to win their first game of the tournament. With players such as Daniel Santiago, Juan Jose Barea (Dallas Mavericks) and Carlos Arroyo (Orlando Magic), Puerto Rico has one goal in mind: to qualify for the Olympics. I am pretty sure that Cameroon won’t be the team to stop their mission.

The last matchup for Tuesday night is Lebanon vs. Brazil. Even without a Leandro Barbosa, Brazil is good enough to easily beat Lebanon. Players such as Tiago Splitter and Alex Garica are enough to beat a team on which the tallest player is “only” 6′9″ (205cm).

Game to watch: Germany v. Cape Verde.