*Los Angeles Lakers fans, over whom a huge cloud of doom hangs to start this season, excluded (sigh).

As in the Eastern Conference preview, BiE seeks to keep an eye on those players who contributed a stint in Continental ball this summer during the lockout period and even, to some, extent participants in Eurobasket 2011. BiE believes that the running start from real game-time situations plus the suddenly intensive NBA season will give the Euroballers an advantage in the short-term against more laggardly opponents not in “basketball shape.” And with the shortened regular season, a jump start will provide lasting effects.

To BiE, it looks something like this.

Northwest Division
It’s another case of ecstasy in being proven wrong: Since at least, what, the beginning of the 2009-10 Euroleague season, BiE has brazenly (though not Fearlessly™) told anyone who’d listen that Ricky Rubio would never play ball for the Minnesota Timberwolves, we’re just a day away from that very occurrence. The Human Highlight Clip went to work a couple times in the preseason and could start all 66 games this year.

But could Ricky even lead what GM David “Noonien Singh” Kahn likes to think may be a “steady rise to the top”? Wellllllllllllllllllllll, BiE wouldn’t necessarily go that far, though this is a scintillating, exciting lineup suddenly, with Kevin Love, Michael Beasley, Derrick Williams and J.J. Barea aboard.

But wait! From Europe are ‘Wolves Nikola Pekovic and – o, yeah – Darko Milicic. Does any realize that Minnesota is 19-90 (.174) since acquiring Darko? These two things can’t be related, can they? This dude is as good a passer as Vlade Divac, after all…

We’ll see early on as the Timberwolves get to play tomorrow night against the mighty scary-looking…

…Oklahoma City Thunder. European basketball fans can’t help but to have noticed Serge Ibaka in the past half-year, with the naturalized Spaniard going from the NBA playoffs to Eurobasket to Liga Endesa/Euroleague play with Real Madrid. And he’s looked mostly real good throughout.

As essentially the sole new member on Team Spain for the European championship, Ibaka typically got 15-20 minutes per game for Los Rojos. A couple of key performances came against Lithuania (15 points on 7-of-9 shooting with quite a few dunks and putbacks, nine rebounds, two blocks) and France (10 points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes of play) in early rounds, but the real badass came to play in the championship game. While scoring just four points, Ibaka controlled the middle whenever on the floor and totaled five blocks in denying Les Bleus access to the paint.

Chasing this, Ibaka merely contributing single-digit scoring with a block or 1.5 per game in Spain and in the EL for weeks, until suddenly unleashed and blowing up just as the lockout ended for back-to-back games of five blocks and 12 points against Spirou Charleroi, then a monster 15-point, five-dunk, nine-rebound, six-block tour de force against CAI Zaragoza.

BiE can’t wait to see this guy in a starting role playing a lot of minutes – any question he’ll win the block title this season? And, o yeah, the rest of the Thunder’s pretty good, too. Real good. Championship-level good.

The Denver Nuggets have an interesting roster happening, including lockout Euroballers Danilo Gallinari (with Emporio Armani Milano), Rudy Fernandez (Real Madrid), Ty Lawson (Žalgiris Kaunas) and Timofey Mozgov (BC Khimki Moscow Region). Gallinari is certainly getting the thumbs up from top-level pundits, with ESPN’s fantasy basketball machine proclaiming him “[maybe] the best player on the Nuggets this season,” while touting his “game-high 23 points in a game-high 34 minutes in the Nuggets’ preseason finale victory Thursday night. Gallinari’s shot was off (6-for-17 FG), but he was able to get to the line (9-for-9 FT) and knock down a couple of treys while also producing six boards, three assists and two steals.”

Indeed, Gallinari’s shooting percentage has been in a steady decline in the NBA since entering the league, a trend that keeps him away from all-star (or at least near all-star) status. Who knows? Maybe the lack of distraction will help.

BiE believes Lawson will be worth watching. Established as point guard with a swell stat line of 11.7 points on 50.3% shooting plus 4.7 assists per game, Ty will serve as the poster boy for BiE’s “ready to play” ideology. Plus, maybe he’ll tweet something interesting…

Then there’s Fernandez. Probably the last NBAer out of Europe, this guy has been pining to get out of American ball for some time. As the lockout ended, Real Madrid talked about attempting to keep Rudy aboard … then he had troublesome visa problems … let’s just hope the new team means a new start for the Madridista.

Finally! Enes Kanter suits up for the Utah Jazz! And with Mehmet Okur now dealt, Kanter should be seeing lots of quality time behind Al Jefferson – after seeing some nice continued development on Kanter’s part during Eurobasket, BiE anticipates the Turk’s season highly; with more confidence and work on ball-handling skills, this guy is bound to leave up to his ample promise. (Doing it in Utah, do you think anyone will notice…?)

Who can tell what the Portland Trail Blazers will do? And how much Nicolas Batum (SLUC Nancy) will be a factor? BiE loved what he did in Euroleague after another up year in the NBA…

Southwest Division
First up here: The champs, Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks. It would be so easy to choose the Mavs to repeat – after all, this is the NBA, where dynasties and mini-dynasties happen. All the time – but wasn’t there something of a lightning-in-a-bottle effect last season? A perfect storm of events that included an imploding defending champion and an arrogant up-and-coming contender? Remarkably free of injury late for a squad bringing so many key veterans (Jason Kidd, Peja Stojakovic, etc.), the Mavericks weren’t exactly lucky per se but as with championship teams, the breaks went their way.

None of this is to detract from Nowitzki’s remarkable 2010-11 season, however. Nowitzki entered discussions of “top 20 NBA players of all-time” and “top European players ever” last year, and justifiably so as everyone discovered that he’d been doing this for years. And years and years in Dallas. Imagine the talk triggered by a repeat…

So can they repeat? Well, the best deal of the offseason may ultimately go down as the Lamar Odom-for-soda crackers trade – what a great shot in the arm for this roster, and one that will allow Dirk’s range to be further extended with Odom inside. Scary.

In the European interest is the current development of Rodrigue Beaubois, now ready to garner more minutes (last season marked his career high of 17.6 per game) with the departure of J.J. Barea. Much more than expected, say, three months ago, of the onus to repeat will be on Beaubois in 2011-12.

Despite his 10 years in the uniform, it will be strange to see Tony Parker donning San Antonio Spurs gear again. After a half-year’s worth of status as undisputed team leader and center of hype for Eurobasket’s silver-medaling Team France followed by Eurocuppers Asvel Villeurbanne, Parker becomes yet another piece in the puzzle with the perpetual playoff team. Again, though, BiE thinks the European warmup will do Parker and thus San Antonio much good in the early going. If he’s looking like an all-star point guard by late February, will management be so willing to trade him as has been so often rumored?

Then there’s Tiago Splitter, the former Euroleague force with Caja Laboral Baskonia. Splitter got in late to the European game this autumn, thereby playing just a handful of games with Valencia BC, though he looked impressive in his element of endless waves of the pick-and-roll. BiE found Splitter quite frustrating in NBA play in 2010-11, however, as he looked far too often to contentedly plant in the high post and set the occasional pick. Splitter could help form the nucleus for this team’s future with a modicum of constructive aggression.

What should have been could have been Pau Gasol’s new team before the whole Chris Paul-to-the Lakers deal was cruelly and pathetically subverted voided, the Houston Rockets, still have some Europeans to look for. Luis Scola is still around, fighting for minutes with three other power forwards on the current roster, while BiE fears Goran “The Dragon” Dragic may starve for minutes behind Kyle Lowery.

The best re-signing of the offseason: It’s gotta be the Memphis Grizzlies reupping Marc Gasol, doesn’t it? And in terms of the preseason workout ethic, Marc and brother Pau may have made the best decision of the lot in merely training with FC Barcelona: With little chance of injury and mostly basketball-skills conditioning going on, aren’t the Gasols primed to play?

As for Jeremy Pargo, formerly memorably of Maccabi Tel Aviv, his two-year extension signed in December is a good sign he’ll stick around despite a crowd at point guard in Memphis.

In the short term, perhaps the best that can be said for the New Orleans Hornets in 2011-12 is that Chris Kaman is in a contract year. (What? He’s German, right?) And we’re cheering for Marco Belinelli, too. On those one or two occasions we watch the Hornets.

Pacific Division
All the hype going into the season is on the newly christened “Lob City,” a.k.a. Los Angeles, Clippers. And why not? What’s more exciting sounding that YouTube fodder feeder of Chris Paul to Blake Griffin. On the other hand, can BiE throw a little sobriety into the party? Look, after these two and Chauncey Billups, the roster gets pretty damn sparse. Do they really have no natural centers to back up DeAndre Jordan? After Griffin at power forward, they’re going to Ryan Gomes and Brian Cook? And don’t the Clippers have a history of bizarre knee ailments? BiE’d be holding his breath between gasp-worthy dunks if he were a Clips fan. Otherwise, enjoy the party.

For the Phoenix Suns, the battle at center: Robin Lopez vs. Marcin Gortat!

Message from Sacramento Kings: Come back, Omri Casspi! All is forgiven!

Golden State Warriors’ starting center Andris Biedrins is looking to bounce back from a couple injury-riddled seasons with the club. He’ll definitely be depended on from among a very slim frontcourt … And who’s this? Jeremy Tyler? And listed on the depth chart behind Kwame Brown … how utterly appropriate.

Then there are the Los Angeles Lakers. As a Lakers fan, BiE can tell you that two years removed from a title already seems like decades … and the season hasn’t even begun yet. What is this existential angst hanging over this team going into 2011-12? Of course, it’s all about The Trade That Was Never Made. It’s impossible to determine what exactly was the worst bit about that disaster – even if you keep it Laker-related. Maybe it was losing Odom for nothing to the team that smoked ‘em in the playoffs last year. Maybe it was having a vision of a clear future of excellence nastily snatched away in hours. Or maybe, as BiE fears, it was the effect on Pau Gasol’s psyche.

As the Lakers crumbled steadily in the playoffs before collapsing in Dallas, Gasol was the epicenter of rumor and implied blame; many stories revolved around a nasty breakup with a girlfriend. Whatever the cause, it didn’t take B.F. Skinner to see that Gasol was in shape but distracted, blessed with stamina but not willpower.

After the non-trade was announced, he reportedly felt “devastated,” probably, reasons the suddenly suicide-level pessimistic L.A. backers (you’d be too if your fourth-best player was Josh McRoberts), erasing any good an all-tournament team showing in Eurobasket and proper training with Barcelona. And, as a Laker fan, BiE will just stop before the keyboard gets too soggy with tears.

The Official BallinEurope Fearless Predictions™ for the Western Conference playoffs, in order of seeding: Oklahoma City Thunder, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves. Your Western Conference champions will be Oklahoma City, but they’ll lose to the Chicago Bulls in the finals.

To the games!

• Importance of remaining games. Of six games left to play, four are critical to shaping the knockout round while two feature battles of undefeated teams fighting for group supremacy and the no. 1 seed. Both Spain-France tonight and FYR Macedonia-Russia tomorrow determine the group’s top two finishers, while the Slovenia-Finland (definitely) and Turkey-Serbia (most likely) games will lock in the no. 4 teams from the groups.

• Valanciunas vs. Kanter. In terms of prospect-watching, these are the guys observers have their eyes on. In general, Toronto Raptors fans should be fairly stoked – even a tad miffed that the Lithuanian lad won’t be joining their club for the 2011-12 season (should it happen) – about Valanciunas’ progress.

After a rocky and/or blink-and-you’ll-miss-it start in games one through three of the tournament – playing a total of 22 minutes, including a DNP against Turkey and a five-turnover match against Poland – Valanciunas put in a performance that quite possibly we’ll someday remember as his breakout game against Spain. The sole bright spot of that game for Lithuania, the 19-year-old got lots more court time in substituting for the injured Marijonas Petravicius and looked like an old hand in matching up against The Gasol Boys while stymieing them with the ball as well. And since the Turkey game, Valanciunas has owned the paint, going a big 18-of-27 shooting, highlighted by his 8-of-19, 18-point performance against Serbia.

Kanter, on the other hand, still disappointingly falls into the “work in progress” category, especially after comparing him to Valanciunas’ and his common opponents. While Team Turkey is happy to let their youngest player dominate the key when applying a bombs-away strategy against squads like Poland, Portugal and Great Britain, Kanter has been outplayed and constantly out of position against NBA-heavy squads France and Spain. Valanciunas definitely won the head-to-head battle against Kanter in game three of pool play, as Kanter demonstrated his footwork on defense is not developed enough to handle a speedy big man like The Big V.

Sure, Kanter heartened Turkey (and Utah Jazz) fans with his cool effort against Chris Kaman and Germany in going 5-of-5 for 11 points in 19 minutes, but he sat to watch the game’s final eight minutes against one of the less physical teams in the tournament. Utahans, you’ll have to wait a bit longer for your guy to blossom, it seems – though BiE believes you needn’t be quite as critical as this guy. Raptor Nation, you’ll have to wait, too … but rest assured, you’re getting a good one in Valanciunas.

• The Clips Nation finds “mostly positive” things to report on Chris Kaman’s performance, while ESPN has Ricky Rubio’s stock dropping.

• Vive la France! Going into the Lithuania game, BallinEurope’s UK guy Sam Chadwick wrote BiE to ask theoretically, “If anyone can defend Tony Parker, it’s Sarunas Jaskevicus, right?” After the game, we can say, “well, yes and no.” While Saras may have the smarts to play Parker, the grizzled old veteran is about a step too slow for Parker, who’s about a half-step too slow for, say, the speedy PGs of Spain.

But while Parker is driving this team, the Lithuania game showed that France can play ball with a truly deep squad and that Les Bleus are no one-man effort. Team France is in an enviable position of being able to stock a lineup full of top-level specialists playing at top form. While the Spur was good for 19 points (his second-lowest game total in the tournament), Nando de Colo was better with 21 to accompany five steals after serving as a fill-in in the first six games. Joakim Noah has seemingly never been happier defending and grabbing boards: His 13 rebounds against Lietuva increased his EuroBasket average to an even 8.0 per game, including 2.6 per off the offensive glass.

Naturally, much will be revealed in the Spain-France game tonight – in fact, BiE’s got Spain winning – but you’ve got to like Les Bleus as a top-four side right now at least.

• Speaking of the France-Spain contest, these two countries have quite the rivalry going in recent years. Back in 2005, Parker and Team France humiliated Spain the third-place game of this tournament, 88-68. Spain returned the favor in EuroBasket 2009, knocking out Parker’s guys in the quarterfinals by nearly the same score at 86-66. In the 2010 FIBA World Championship, France presented Spain with a bit of a speed bump, taking out the Spaniards on day one, 72-66. And of course, though friendly games don’t matter, Les Bleus certainly haven’t forgotten the thrashing Les Rojos handed them in August.

Better yet, with the way these teams are playing, we may see this matchup again – in the finals.

• With their approximately 3,743 draft picks stashed in Europe, San Antonio Spurs fans had a number of reasons to watch this EuroBasket – even beyond Tony Parker. Project Spurs provides a glimpse of Team Georgia’s Viktor Sanikidze, selected by the team in 2004 and perhaps the least likely European to ever join the NBA club at this point…

• While the marquee game is Spain vs. France, most likely the only crucial game vis-à-vis the knockout round tonight is Turkey vs. Serbia. Assuming a Lithuania win against Germany in the late game, the Turkey-Serbia throwdown will determine the no. 4 spot in Group E.

You want a clash of styles? How about Serbia’s second-high scoring team (83.0 ppg) vs. the big Turkey defense (fifth-best among remaining teams at 67.7 ppg allowed)? Team Serbia will have its hands full in attempting to slow down Omer Asik, who has seemingly found his rhythm after inconsistent play in the first round: He’s gone for 11 boards in each of the last two games, including seven offensive in both. However, Turkey has been dogged by general inconsistency and horrible three-point shooting from most of the backcourt (Ender Arslan, Kerem Tunceri and Cenk Aykol have combined for a 7-of-47 – just under 13% – “success” rate); clearly Asik won’t be enough, particularly should Nenad Krstic be keeping him good and busy underneath the rim.

In case you’ve forgotten, this game also represents a virtual rematch of the 2010 FIBA World Championship showdown. After an incredibly hard-fought, evenly-matched battle, Turkey emerged with the right to take on Team USA for the title after a second-half comeback and last-second heroics by Tunceri – heroics that probably should have been whistled dead before they happened.

Think Serbia wants revenge, badly? Think Milos Teodosic, whose brilliant 11-assist performance in that semifinal match will set out to torture Kunceri et al is this one? O, yes.

• How about that FYR Macedonia? Not only is Team Macedonia thrilling in EuroBasket 2011 with its stirring run as dark horse, they’re also causing broken hearts and heart attacks along the way. After taking care of Slovenia last night, that team is now forced to control its destiny against Finland tomorrow – a game in which all the pressure is on the traditional basketball power.

So how is FYR Macedonia doing it? A steady diet of Bo McCalebb (maybe this tournament’s most alpha of alpha dogs with Luol Deng’s Britain out holds a stat line of team-leading 21.3 points, 4.1 assists and 2.4 steals per game), of course, but also an ingenious plan built around the naturalized citizen’s game. McCalebb, Pero Antic and Vlado Illievski have combined to take 57% of all the team’s shots and nearly 88% (73-of-83) of all Macedonian assists.

Macedonia has been playing a disproportionate amount of one-on-one challenges and shot-creation with the ball, a neo-American approach that is frustrating seemingly better defenses (Greece, BiE’s looking at you…), while dividing up rebounding chores among a stable of workhorses. Plus, FYR Macedonia’s turning the ball over just 10.4 times per game, best among remaining teams.

Tomorrow’s game will determine the top seed in Group F and, though this side is perfect 5-0 in September (last losing to Montenegro in the EuroBasket opener in overtime on August 31), BiE nevertheless has Russia penciled in. While this would most likely set FYR Macedonia up with Lithuania in the knockout stage, not even the hosts should take such a game for granted right now.

1. France (2-0) – Les Bleus had their sights on nothing less than taking this thing when the tournament began and pretty much brought an all-star game to do so (luckily for them, La Republique could foot the bill for insurance on five locked out NBA players). With Tony Parker going for 23.2 points per game through five – second-high in the first round after Luol Deng, who was forced to do it all for the thin British squad – and Joakim Noah grabbing 7.8 rebounds per, these guys have proven to be the class of EuroBasket thus far, bringing a big one-game advantage into Group E.

2. Russia (2-0) – In nipping Slovenia in the final game, 65-64, Russia capped the first round of play with the fewest points allowed in the tournament so far at 64.2 points per game – albeit against perhaps the tournament’s weakest group. No matter: David Blatt’s outstanding defensive game plans combined with speedier play and some great individual performances on offense (Vitaly Fridzhon leads all players at 12-of-18 three-point shooting to fight for the unofficial tournament deadshot award with France’s Mickael Gelabale and Serbia’s Marko Keselj; Andrei Kirilenko’s putting in 16.4 ppg) make Russia one of the scariest teams remaining – particularly if they can show the clutch play as against Slovenia.

3. Serbia (1-1) – If Spain has had one bad quarter in this tournament (see below), Serbia’s first team has had about one slightly subpar minute: Specifically, the final 50 seconds or so of France’s OT win to close out the tourney. Yes, BiE knows all about that “close” win against Israel in game three, but come on! These guys flicked the switch and it was over. After an opening-day loss, Poland head coach Ales Pipan remarked that perhaps only Serbia could beat Spain in this tournament … he may yet prove prophetic.

4. Spain (1-1) – Sure, one could attribute the game-five loss – really due to an insane 16-0 run compiled by Turkey in the fourth quarter – to the absence of Pau Gasol, but doesn’t this show a fundamental weakness in the defending champions? Sure, none of these teams would be the same without its marquee player, but the sans-Pau Spain was incredibly weak in 2010 as well, given the all-star roster they otherwise boast. Right now, they’re backing into Group E, though the second-round opener against Germany should get España back to business-as-usual.

5. Lithuania (1-1) looked bad enough against Spain in the first half of game four that all-time great Arvydas Sabonis left his front-row seat vacant for the second 20 minutes … but otherwise this side has been a force to be reckoned with. Lithuania fans have got to love the way their youngest players Martynas Pocius and Jonas Valanciunas have come to the fore in this tournament; better yet, this team has looked dominant in the open-court game (well, maybe not against Spain) and is spreading the shooting and scoring among their many options. Plus there’s that 13th man … after experiencing the madness somehow contained in the 5,500-seat Cido Arena in Panevezys, BiE can’t imagine what the 14,500-capacity Žalgiris Arena will be like for the opposition. Except loud. Really freaking loud.

6. FYR Macedonia (2-0) – Say what you will about topsy-turvy Group C, FYR Macedonia exceeded expectations in handling teams that were forecast as superior, i.e. Croatia and Greece (particularly the latter, which Macedonia handled throughout the first three quarters to shock ‘em by 14), and otherwise did what was necessary to advance. You gotta love the way this team didn’t merely back in to Group F when they could have rested up against Bosnia & Herzegovina after clinching a spot in game four, plus the wins over Croatia and Finland in which team leader Bo McCalebb had off performances. BiE’s dark horse rides on!

7. Greece (1-1) – Greece has bounced back after the Macedonia stunner, but BiE’s still not quite sure about these guys … while allowing just a stingy 64.8 points per game – good to tie for second-best in the category for round one – this team averaged a surprisingly low 72.0 on offense. And if your leading scorer is Antonis Fotsis (at 13.0 ppg in round one, he was ranked no. 28 on the table in this stat), there might be a problem.

8. Slovenia (1-1) – Playing fantastic defense throughout round one at just 64.8 ppg allowed has gotten this team this far – and Erazem Lorbek has been well noteworthy (averaging 12.6 points and 5.6 rebounds, plus a 14/5/5 against Russia) through five. Slovenia even acquitted itself fairly well against Russia, its first true test in the tournament, by leading the Group D winners for literally 99.92% percent of the contest … but a loss is a loss, and this one was even more egregious, as it gets carried forward into Group F play.

9. Turkey (1-1) – Somebody had to be this low on the pole, and it is Turkey. Look, BiE hasn’t forgotten the back-to-back losses to Lithuania (in which the Turks were bent to the home side’s will) and Poland (a classic case of “looking to the next game”), not to mention the way the Pau-less Spain mostly handled them for three quarters. Perhaps the most maddening team in the tournament has been riddled with inconsistent individual play as well: While some growing pains are expected from young Enes Kanter (fantastic against the Group A bottom tier, almost a non-factor against Lithuania and Spain), how to explain the on-again, off-again performances of Omer Asik and Hedo Turkoglu? On paper, this is one of the best teams left. In reality, well, it’s day-to-day.

10. Germany (0-2) – The good news: Chris Kaman has been awesome with a tournament-high 10.0 rebounds per game and Dirk is still Dirk. The bad news: After these two, only Heiko Schaffartzik is averaging double-digit scoring and the bench of this razor-thin roster has contributed a sorry 17.6 points per game. The worse news: The Group E opening game has Team Deutschland drawing mighty Spain.

11. Finland (0-2), the 23rd of 24 teams to qualify, was the surprise of round one (well, maybe after FYR Macedonia), scaring group mates Macedonia and admirably taking care of Montenegro in game five to earn advancement. At 14.0 ppg, Petteri Koponen appears to have recovered from his stress fracture injury and BiE would be remiss if he didn’t pay heed to Lithuanian compadre Karolis’ favorite EuroBasket player: Hannooooooo Möööttöööööööööööölaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

12. Georgia (0-2) has advanced in its first-ever EuroBasket tournament, and that’s about the best one can say about this side thus far, which lucked out with a Ukraine win after losing handily to in game five (yeesh). Team anchor Zaza Pachulia has looked lost against both sides throwing big bodies at him (Russia, Ukraine), not at all a good sign for these upstarts.

And one more…

13. Great Britain – After notching its first-ever win in a major FIBA tournament, Britain defied BiE’s expectations by doing it again the very next day against Poland. Congratulations still go out to this up-and-coming national program; should this side return Pops Mensah-Bonsu and (finally) bag Ben Gordon for the 2012 Olympics, basketball might yet get on the radar of U.K. sport.

• BiE’s games of the day? Today, Spain-Lithuania; tomorrow, Serbia-France. All four squads are undefeated through three and only Lithuania has truly been tested in any game thus far (BiE’ll discuss Serbia’s illusorily close win over Israel below). Beyond this fact, these games are also key to the next round and ultimately to the final elimination bracket round.

In the top-heavy groupings for EuroBasket 2011, the three survivors of Groups A and B will meet for five games in reformed Groups E and F. This half-dozen appears to be set as comprised of Lithuania, Spain and Turkey from Group A, and France, Serbia and Germany from Group B. Plus, both of these matchups will be repeated in Group E games, thereby utterly determining the final bracket.

• Note on tonight’s Lithuania-Spain game: Coach Kestutis Kemzura confirmed after last night’s practice that center Marijonas Petravicius is a scratch for the remainder of the tournament due to some sort of lung ailment (!) – good thing the hosts have about 87 big men on the roster already.

• Who are the early winners due to the format of this tournament? Team Macedonia and BiE fave Bo McCalebb, of course.

After the first five games, the top three finishers in each of the four groups will advance to the semifinal round. These 12 sides will carry their win-loss records with them, but only those games against advancing teams count. Thanks to a pair of wins over Croatia and Greece – really the only two serious upsets recorded thus far – FYR Macedonia is in the bizarre position of potentially going 2-3 in pool play, but moving into “Group F” with a 2-0 record should Croatia and Greece (currently both 2-1) also move forward.

BiE would also like to extend a “thank you” to Bo and the boys for some partial redemption: After confidently prognosticating a whiffer in that “No shocking upsets will happen in the first round,” this writer’s Fearless Prediction™ that FYR Macedonia would advance suddenly looks prescient.

• Speaking of prescience, please allow to BiE to tootle his own horn a bit further: Tony Parker is proved to be, as supposed on these pages, the most important player in this tournament. All the Spur is doing in EuroBasket is leading the competition in points (28.0), two-pointers (8.0), and overall field goals made (9.7). And his third-best marks in assists (7.0), free-throw attempts (8.3) and free-throws made (7.0) show the complete game Parker brings to Les Bleus. He’s already notched two games of 30-plus points and was really the only consistent player on both ends of the floor in Friday’s match against Team Germany.

As Parker goes, so goes France (though Joakim Noah’s 7.7 rebounds per totally helps, too). And right now, La Republique looks to be going far.

• While the Montenegro-FYR Macedonia game on day one went into overtime, for BiE’s money, tops in this tourney thus far was Friday night’s Turkey-Lithuania battle. Much of that can be ascribed to the insane eardrum-shattering atmosphere putting Turkey into the pressure-cooker in Panevezys, of course, as can be witnessed directly below (in addition to several good looks at the revelatorily lovely ladies of Lithuania).

The game highlights demonstrate the scintillating contrast of styles between the two sides nicely.

Below is a look at the post-game revelry. Yes, BiE can assure you that it’s been like this every night in Panevezys. After the opener against Great Britain, this observer had flashbacks to Vancouver during the 1994 Stanley Cup. Quick! Here’s an SAT analogy-formatted one question quiz!

Lithuania : basketball ::

(a) Canada : hockey
(b) Brazil : soccer
(c) New Zealand : rugby
(d) Baron Davis : dessert

• Those following the play-by-play or merely checking out the game capsule from Serbia’s 89-80 victory over Israel on Friday may be wondering how in the name of Naismith the unheralded underdogs managed to take a lead into the fourth quarter against a top EuroBasket team – trust me, BiE couldn’t figure things out from the scoring updates provided the media here.

But take a closer look at the boxscore. Until the fourth quarter, coach Dusan Ivkovic allowed none of his players other than Euroleague stud point guard Milos Teodosic more than 16 minutes of court time. Once the big boys – Teodosic, Marko Keselj, Kosta Perovic, Dusko Savanovic and Nenad Krstic – came back to the playground for the fourth, Serbia pulled away with a 15-point difference in the final 10 minutes.

On the Continent, Coach Dusko is known as one of the top five or six strategists in European basketball and his rotations in this game are a perfect example of why. Realizing that even a loss would most likely be irrelevant, assuming that Israel wouldn’t advance into Group E (and they won’t now for sure, mathematically eliminated with this L), Ivkovic simply rested his key players while allowing the Markovices and Rasices a chance to find their game. The no. 1 reason Serbia will go far in EuroBasket 2011: Smarts.

• Just for fun, check out the NBA roster you could build from the prospective Group E: Omer Asik, Nicolas Batum, Boris Diaw, Chris Kaman, Joakim Noah, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Kevin Seraphin, Darius Songaila and Hedo Turkoglu, plus recent draft picks/prospective future stars Enes Kanter, Jonas Valanciunas and Tibor Pleiss. Should Italy get past Germany in Group B, Nowitzki and Kaman could be subbed out for Andrea Bargnani, Marco Belinelli, and Danilo Gallinari. Not too shabby, and what’s even more badass is that the powerful Team Serbia has exactly zero NBAers on their current roster with Nenad Krstic playing for CSKA Moscow in 2011-12.

Group A

1. Spain should top the Group of Death, with a formidable line-up featuring both Gasols, Serge Ibaka, Rudy Fernandez, Juan Carlos Navarro and Ricky Rubio, I don’t think anyone will challenge them for supremacy, though I’m sure team no. 2 will try its luck.

2. Lithuania – Jonas Valanciunas has been playing phenomenally as of late; look for him to continue his good form throughout this tournament. Lithuania will of course have home court advantage and, based on last year’s Under-18 European Championship final, the atmosphere will be electric.

3. Turkey – It pains me not to put Great Britain in at no. 3 but after a 23-point blowout to Latvia on Sunday, I had to put the Turks in the show position, with Enes Kanter, Hedo Turkuglo, Ömer Asik and Ersan Ilyasova plus a good showing at last year’s FIBA Worlds, this team could make some noise.

4. Great Britain – With no true elite point guard, Britain will struggle against pressure defence: The Latvian full-court press suffocated our offence and forced turnovers – and Latvia ain’t that good. We had too many turnovers and limited offence, and our highest scorers finished with eight points. As well as the poor offence, our defence made numerous mistakes with little help being played at all.

5. Portugal should be able to beat Poland and could also potentially beat Great Britain. Look for it to be a close finish between nos. 4 and 5.

6. Poland – Without Marcin Gortat, Poland is in for some trouble. Look for them to finish bottom of Group A and while posing little/no competition against the likes of Lithuania and Spain.

Group B

1. France – Tony Parker could potentially lead France to its best-ever finish at Eurobasket, with Joakim Noah, Kevin Seraphin, Nicolas Batum, Mickael Pietrus, Boris Diaw, etc. – a lineup that could put France into the final against the Spanish. France went undefeated at the London Prepares Series against Serbia, Australia, China, Croatia and the hosts.

2. Italy – This is a tough group, as Italy are bringing the big guns this summer, with the likes of Danilo Gallinari, Andrea Bargnani and Marco Belinelli. Italy recently won the Acropolis Tournament in Greece against solid competition. With some players bosting little Eurobasket experience they may struggle against Germany and Serbia, but they definitely have the firepower to reach the second round.

3. Germany – They may be having bonding problems, but Dirk will always come through under pressure; with another decent big man on the squad in Chris Kaman, Germany could surprise us all, much like Dallas did in the NBA Championships.

4. Serbia – A disappointing finish at the London Prepares Series gives me worries about Serbia, as they lost to France and nearly fell to Great Britain without Luol Deng. They have a solid lineup, but I’m not sure if they can beat the Italians and the Germans … only time will tell.

5. Latvia – After demolishing Great Britain by 23 points on Sunday, Latvia may be surprised by the competition in Lithuania, and with an opening game against France this team could get completely blown out. The consolation prize is that they should beat Israel comfortably.

6. Israel – Without Omri Casspi, this team has little hope. Every side should rip them to shreds, enough said.

Group C

1. Greece – Despite missing some key players, Greece should still win what is considered one of the weakest groups, although they may struggle in the second round. Montenegro, however, could provide some tough competition.

2. Montenegro – With Nikola Pekovic back in the lineup, Montenegro have a solid squad who will challenge Greece for first place in Group C.

3. Croatia – This is though based on play at the London Prepares Series, Croatia will not contend well in this tournament. They will beat the likes of Bosnia & Herzegovina with ease, but Finland, who were the top qualifier for Eurobasket, could be a surprise and make this group a little bit more competitive.

4. Finland – Fine, they had to qualify to actually get to Lithuania, but Finland are a solid squad; with the likes of Petteri Koponen, Teemu Rannikko and Shawn Huff, they should be able to drain it from long range and again should find it fairly easy to beat Bosnia & Herzegovina.

5. FYR Macedonia – I know little about Macedonia, but I do know that they won’t contend with the Greeks but should be able to handle the Bosnians. If Bo McCalebb is playing, they could potentially beat the Finns.

6. Bosnia & Herzegovina – They are here to be annihilated. That is all.

Group D

1. Russia – This was close. The Russians and the Slovenians are close, but I’m giving the edge to AK-47 and the Russians. With Timofey Mozgov playing well at centre, this team could surprise all the people who think they’ve passed their prime.

2. Slovenia should provide some solid competition for the Russians and could steal first in Group D depending on how well they play, as they should easily beat the remainder of the group with no real threat from any of the below teams.

3. Georgia – Zaza Pachulia puts this team in third place; he alone will beat the Belgium national team and Ukraine should also be swept to the side with ease.

4. Bulgaria – Now it gets a little harder. The bottom three teams in Group D are all relatively bad, and Bulgaria should have the strongest of the three.

5. Belgium – With D.J. Mbenga off the squad anything is possible! I’m joking – they still suck.

6. Ukraine – Much like Bosnia, this squad boasts little talent and should be sent home early.

The finals
Unlike many others, I am predicting a final of France versus Spain, with Spain winning. I don’t see anyone beating this team, as their front court is just too dominant and with both Marc and Pau, they are basically unstoppable. Adding Ibaka just makes Spain too damn scary for any opposing guards to venture into that lane without getting blocked. The back court is also a scoring machine, with Juan Carlos Navarro and Rudy Fernandez. Last but not least, they have Ricky Rubio, who may have struggled for FC Barcelona this year but should be able to provide Spain with solid PG skills and rack up assists. France’s Tony Parker will be key for France in the final and thus the matchup with Rubio is key, but with no Ronny Turiaf, the French frontcourt will struggle to match up with the Spaniards.

Although Lithuania is the home team, I only see them finishing with a bronze medal, with just not good enough a squad to beat the Spanish or French.

Sam Chadwick is a university student, part-time sportswriter and a coach in the Solent Kestrels organization.

Last week, BiE guested on podcasts with the indomitable Freaknick over at the always fun and insightful Euroleague Adventures. We spent more than enough time going over each of the groups and expounded on various related (and not necessarily so related) topics related to EuroBasket 2011, so links are provided for when you want to kill a little have some time to listen in.

Group A – Perhaps the easiest group to forecast, this bunch has three obvious monsters now that Team Turkey seems to be coming together after some initial identity-searching. In the podcast, we debate whether FIBA is sending a message that the wants of a few dozen business interests in the U.S. outweigh the needs of certain fledgling national basketball programs now forced to perform without their keystone players thanks to multi-million dollar insurance issues. The sole EuroBasket-related question for BiE comes in the Spain-Lithuania match, to wit: Can the homecourt advantage will the hosts to victory and a possible 5-0 mark going into round two? Sure. Official BallinEurope Fearless Prediction™ of order of finish: Lithuania, Spain, Turkey.

Could Benzing be the difference-maker?

Group B – BiE has already taken some flack for suggesting that either Serbia or Italy will not advance out of this group, but France looks great and Germany is no longer a one-man show with the burgeoning Tibor Pleiss and Robin Benzing ready for international prime time. And in the Euroleague Adventures podcast, BiE takes some hits for his already outdated Eurobasket Power Rankings. Official BallinEurope Fearless Prediction™: France, Serbia, Germany.

Ah, what to make of Group C? After the pair of traditional powers heading up this group, who wins the dogfight among Montenegro, Macedonia and Bosnia & Herzegovina? Podcast-wise, listen in for a rant from yours truly regarding the crazy 24-team field in this tournament; seriously, do you realize there were 49 federations under consideration by FIBA for this thing? Do you recall who the last team eliminated was? And seriously, half The Continent gets to play for all the marbles? Or at least pretend to… Official BallinEurope Fearless Prediction™: Greece, Croatia, Macedonia. Why Macedonia? Why not? Bo knows international ball! (Though Freaknick makes a strong case for Montenegro’s advancement.)

Group D – Might Georgia and the currently red hot Zaza Pachulia be the most compelling team in the first round? If you’re seeking upsets in a mostly top-heavy tournament, these might be your guys. Also touched upon in the Euroleague Adventures podcast: The difficult question of naturalization. Where does one draw the line vis-à-vis passports for international play? While few would debate now-retired longtime CSKA Moscow stud J.R. Holden’s dedication to Team Russia, should Serge Ibaka really be playing for Spain when so many prospects could fill the 12th spot? Should Bo McCalebb be representing a country he’s never lived in? And then there’s Chris Kaman, suiting up for coach Dirk Bauermann, who has fought for years to improve the German situation domestically … what’s your take? Official BallinEurope Fearless Prediction™: Russia, Slovenia, Georgia.

Enjoy the tournament, and BiE’ll be reporting from the great basketball state of Lithuania soon!

In general, the clip is a bit of a lovefest for that face of German basketball, Dirk Nowitzki. High praise is given to the big Maverick by coach Dirk Bauermann and Chris Kaman; Kaman a bit ruefully remarks on Nowitzki’s instant recognizability among fans all over the world.

Nowitzki himself notes that the partying in Dallas in the post-NBA championship afterglow was awesome, while Bauermann saliently points out that Dirk’s play in the FIBA tournament will be even made even more notable by the fact that Nowitzki took just five weeks off between the NBA closer and starting training with Team Germany – not including the traveling and celebrations.

Finally, while BiE has Germany going far in this tournament and they’ve generally looked good in August, Bauermann still stays the chemistry isn’t quite right. See the clip below the break.

Once again, a reminder to readers: These ratings are based only on how the teams are trending and are no indication of prognostication for Eurobasket. (The BallinEurope Fearless Predictions™ will be released soon enough…)

1. Spain – Yes, they lost to Lithuania in the grand opening of Kauno Arena, but BiE is sticking with Team Spain in the top spot. As defending Eurobasket champions, this team is chasing history and public perception has them on the rise, i.e. “El rival de España en el Eurobasket es España.” Plus, the side got back on track in tournament warmups, dispatching Slovenia on Sunday despite shooting 2-of-10 on threes and under 66% (21-of-32) from the free-throw line.

2. Greece – What controversy? Team Greece is up to their old tricks in European play – with or without Ioannis Bourousis and Sofoklis Schortsanitis – going 3-0 at the BEKO Supercup tournament over Turkey, Belgium and Germany; earning a like mark against Russia, Israel and Poland in the European Basketball Tour 2011 in Cyprus; and finishing 2-1 in the Trofeo Tassoni against Bosnia & Herzegovina, Italy and Poland. This is an interesting Greek team, with more of an emphasis on speed than in recent years, but they look just as good early on.

3. Russia – Timofey Mozgov may have washed out of New York last season, but he’s been right at home with Team Russia, going for 18- and 16-point performances to lead the way in a pair of August victories over Team Lithuania. And Andrei Kirilenko doesn’t appear to have missed a beat, either, as Russia’s enjoying a 4-0 run – though that includes two wins over Latvia – since losing to Greece on August 7, and they’re 6-1 for the month.

4. France – Since getting smoked by Spain on August 10, France is 6-0 after cruising through the London Invitational Tournament undefeated. Les Bleus’ impressive play was capped with a win over Serbia, as Tony Parker contributed a huge 24-point, six-rebound, three-assist performance. With Joakim Noah rounding into shape, this could be the best French team in six years.

5. Lithuania – Sure, the Eurobasket hosts are just 2-2 since playing Spain in Madrid on August 14, but if the debut game in Kauno is any indication, Lithuania is simply not to be trifled with in the tourney. Once again, Lithuania appears to be bringing a squad with insufficient height and few playmakers on paper, but this team is living proof of the old cliché’s veracity: “They don’t play the games on paper.”

While the star of this show is Jonas Valanciunas, it was nice to see a spreading the wealth to the likes of Mantas Kalnietis and Simas Jasaitis against the Spaniards as Lithuania continually demonstrated nifty passing to the tune of 20 assists; in the recent loss to Russia, Paulius Jankunas and Rimantas Kaukenas were top scorers. Beware this team’s depth – and if you’re a Lithuania fan, pray for the speedy return of Robertas Javtokas and Darius Songaila.

6. Croatia – With an impressive-enough second-place showing in the Adecco Ex-Yu Cup registered, BiE wondered if Team Croatia would be ready to play against more powerful teams after the team’s uneven, lackluster play in the first two games of the London Invitational Tournament. Problems were rife: Croatia shot a dismal 1-of-17 on threes versus France as they collapsed in the second half, while in their stunning 12-point loss to Australia going just 16-of-50 inside the arc and scoring 19 points in the first half. One has to be concerned … what’s that? They took the last three in London, including avenging the loss to Serbia in the Adecco? All right then.

7. Serbia – While Team Serbia looked impressive in the Adecco Cup, they’ve since reversed paths with Croatia, losing to France and Australia in London while requiring a fourth-quarter comeback to overcome Britain in the London Invitational Tournament. They’ll certainly come to play at Eurobasket but for now … ouch.

8. Germany – Dirk Nowitzki’s team performed well enough as they hosted the BEKO Supercup tournament, closing things out with a win over Turkey; German fans had to be particularly cheered by the play of Chris Kaman in the third-place game, as he led all scorers with 16. This chased the German win of the Spor Toto World Cup tournament, in which Deutschland held on to earn an impressive victory over Serbia.

9. Italy – So let’s see … Italia, with its collection of NBA players, Euroleaguers and the odd naturalized citizen or two, first loses to Bosnia & Herzegovina in the opener of the Trofeo Tassoni tournament in Rimini, squeaks past Poland in the second game, and then manhandles Greece for an impressive 82-73, tourney-winning victory. In other words, Team Italy is up to its old unpredictable tricks again.

10. Turkey – Ah, fickle Turkey. Entering the summer with more big men than an NFL team and a roster as good as anything they’ve put on the floor in a decade, Team Turkey was flat-out disappointing in the BEKO Supercup, losing to Serbia early and dropping the final game to Chris Kaman (!) and Germany. Enes Kanter has once again been as good as advertised in friendly matches, but ball movement has generally been slack in August matches.

11. Slovenia – Matjaz Smodis, still at the peak of his game, may not be enough for Team Slovenia to compete with the big boys … of course, BiE has underestimated them in the past. After leading his side to a third-place finish in the Adecco Cup tournament – though in the team’s best game, all they could do was keep things competitive with Croatia – Smodis wasn’t enough this weekend as the Slovenians could only hang with Team Spain through one quarter before too much of the Gasol Brothers rapidly put the game out of reach. Goran “The Dragon” Dragic still appears to be a bit sleepy as well; worse yet, Miha Zupan, squad member since 2006, has been declared out of the Eurobasket tournament.

12. Georgia – Georgia is looking tuned up after going 3-0 in the inaugural Eurojam basketball tournament, though can Israel, Netherlands and Villanova University really be considered a challenge?

13. Ukraine – Team Ukraine most recently bagged a nice 81-67 win against Germany to close out the Spor Toto World Cup tournament there, but a couple of caveats should be applied: Germany, not needing to win the game to take the round-robin competition, sat Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman for most of the 40 minutes; secondly, Ukraine still finished last on the table.

14. Finland
15. Portugal – Sure, beating up on Team Hungary in the Eurocup Qualifying Round is no big deal for either side, but surely the adrenaline is flowing in these countries. Finland gets the edge here, having topped Portugal in a squeaker in pool play, but the teams meet again on Wednesday.

16. Great Britain – BiE has always been a proponent of awarding Team Britain an automatic bid to the basketball tournament for the 2012 Olympic Games by dint of the country’s status as host. After the London Invitational, however, BiE’s of two minds about FIBA worries regarding the state of British Basketball. On the one hand, Britain played well enough in losses to Australia (if you don’t mind the defense giving up 95 points to a slower team) and Serbia (even outrebounding the Serbs 41-38), but these guys still kinda feel like also-rans.

While Team Britain cannot be blamed for the NBA/FIBA insurance snafu keeping Ben Gordon out of international play in 2011, one can’t help but guess that the challenge will be limited to winning a single game in Group A. Is this really an Olympic qualifier?

(P.S. You gotta love the way Joel Freeland’s been playing lately.)

17. Belgium – Bad news/good news about Belgium in the BEKO Supercup: The bad news is that the team went 0-3 in tourney against fellow Eurobasketeers Germany, Turkey and Greece; the good news is that every game was close, with Belgian losses of six, six and nine points. Yes, that *is* the good news.

18. Bulgaria – After going 1-2 and defeating only an “exhausted” Israel side in the European Basketball Tour, Bulgaria was spanked by Spain, 96-59, on August 16. They haven’t been heard from since…

19. Israel – How badly does Team Israel need Omri Casspi? Very. In defeating Poland (without Marcin Gortat and Maciej Lampe), this side “improved” to 2-5 in warmup games, an ominous sign for the underdog in Eurobasket’s “group of death.” Up next: red-hot Russia on Wednesday night.

20. Poland – As expected, playing without Marcin Gortat is painful for Team Poland, which went 1-2 in the Trofeo Tassoni, managing to beat only Bosnia & Herzegovina. Worse yet, they decisively dropped the opener of the Israel-based leg in the European Basketball Tour against the hosts on Sunday. And they get Russia on Tuesday night.

21. Bosnia & Herzegovina – They’re probably still buzzing in Bosnia about the national team’s win over Italy in the Trofeo Tassoni tournament last week; all the better to forget an ugly 87-68 loss to Poland the next day…

22. Montenegro – Nikola Pekovic and Omar Cook are helping Montenegro get some good results, including a 78-72 win over Team New Zealand in the Trofej Makedonija tourney on Sunday. However, this marks just the second win this summer for the side; the sole other victory came against FYR Macedonia in the Adecco Cup.

23. FYR Macedonia – Macedonia finally snapped out of its tailspin on Saturday by taking out Montenegro, 79-74, in the first game of the 2011 Trofej Makedonija tournament after a woeful 0-3 performance in the Adecco Cup. BiE, for one, is just happy to see Bo McCalebb back on the court for FYR Macedonia…

24. Latvia – Not ready for prime time? Team Latvia is 0-4 in August with losses to Lithuania, Russia twice and Slovenia. If only Andris Biedrins were here … well, they’d probably still be 0-4, but a more competitive 0-4.

• First up: BiE offers congratulations to Žalgiris Kaunas, who took the Baltic Basketball League title over VEF Riga, 75-67. Tadas Klimavicius was the stud for the “Green White Boys” with a team-high 15 points to go with nine rebounds; Trevon Hughes was game high scorer, contributing 16 for Riga as well as five boards.

The BBL is infuriatingly short on video coverage – even on YouTube – but, um, here’s a swell clip of some rabid fans in that distinctive mode of European basketball…

• In losing to Riga the previous day, Lietuvos Rytas would not be granted a chance to avenge its recent loss to LKL rivals Žalgiris in yesterday’s final. The Lithuanian side did take the BBL third-place game, however, upending BK Ventspils, 84-80.

• And here’s a performance from Riga’s cheerleaders, just because.

• Congrats are also due Halcón Avenida, which bagged the FIBA Euroleague Women’s title yesterday. With the 68-59 defeat of Sparta & K, the Russian club’s four-year reign of the big league’s champions ended. Check out Halcón closing things out below – Spanish basketball announcers rule, by the way – followed by a few words from captain Silva Dominguez, who put in 16 points.

• Even if BiE didn’t habitually include an ACB highlight clip among such compilations, this one would still made the grade: Real Madrid 77, FC Barcelona 72, read the score, and the rivals are now tied for first atop the ACB table at 23-5. Whoa, what’s up with Barça lately? BiE’s still mulling that one over and promises to get back to you on it.

• Incidentally, Gran Canaria’s Jaycee Carroll chased up last week’s 32-point performance – then a career best – with 35 points against DKV Joventut in Jornada 29. Do they actually say “¡Ay carumba!” in Spain? If they do, they were this weekend in Badalona…

• Here’s a brief clip from Saturday night/Sunday morning’s Nike Hoop Summit; unfortunately, no action from Europe’s top player in the game, Mateusz Ponitka:

• And BiE told you Bismack Biyombo was gonna blow up, explode in online popularity, go viral and whatnot after his triple-double performance in the ‘Summit game. YouTube contributor NetScoutsBasketball is calling the toast of Congo “a world sensation” already, and why not?

• Biyombo got to do a post-game presser as well; check out how his coach praises the big man for wanting to … practice. He’s talking about practice.

• Though most will remember the Naismith Hall of Fame’s Class of 2011 as that of Dennis Rodman’s entry, BiE will naturally always recall Arydas Sabonis’ induction. (The summary on Sabas starts at right around 1:40 in the video below.)

• Speaking of European greats, this swell retrospective on 40 years of Croatian player-cum-coach Rusmir Halilović’s career was posted this week.

• …as well as one on Žalgiris club history.

• Not only did Woody Paige give props to British basketball on ESPN’s “Around the Horn” a short while back, he also registered one of the flubs of the week with his description of that special relationship between coaches and fans. Note to those studying English: There is a big difference between “discourse” and “intercourse.” And yes, Paige is reportedly a native speaker.

• An extensive interview with D.J. Strawberry by the ever-reliable Erildas Budraitis runs over at RealGM; well-worth reading, it also gives BiE an excuse to run an old highlight clip plus a truly ill happy-smiley kinda bit from back when Strawberry had a cup of coffee with the Phoenix Suns.

• In these days when Chris Kaman can join a national team based on matrilinear connections, it seems odd that longtime Efes Pilsen great Petar Naumoski, a Macedonian who played under the Turkish sobriquet Namık Polat whilst with the Istanbul team, never even thought about getting with Team Turkey in the 1990s.

So says the former Nash-like guard in this morning’s Zaman; see “Naumoski: It never occurred to me to wear national team’s jersey.” Also see the rare video in which Eurosport recaps Naumoski leading Efes Pilsen to the 1996 Korač Cup title; the below clip of the Turkish side’s 76-68 over Stefanel Milano includes bonus sightings of Ronaldo Blackmon, Dejan Bodiroga and Conrad MacRae.

• Finally, the Euroleague PR department is excited about the Final Four … are you?

To wit, check out a pair of trivia questions, courtesy of BallinEurope:

1. In the 2010-11 Euroleague regular season, which was the only team to sell out every game?
a) Maccabi Tel Aviv
b) Partizan Belgrade
c) Žalgiris Kaunas
d) Brose Baskets Bamberg

2. The ACB leads European domestic leagues in both overall attendance and attendance per game? Which league is second? (Hint: It’s the only league to have seen an increase in overall attendance statistics for nine consecutive seasons – and seems set for at least two more.)
a) The French LNB
b) Russian Superleague
c) Ligat HaAl
d) Bundesliga

The answer to both questions is of course D, an outstanding reflection of some fantastic organization and marketing – especially impressive when considering that BBL officials expected cuts to every team’s budget for both the 2009-10[/caption]Pommer is also credited with requiring a minimum €1 million budget for any BBL team, an action which resulted in some enviable parity the past couple of seasons, though Bamberg is freakishly dominating the competition thus far in 2010-11. The ultimate goal for the CEO is to position Germany as the no. 1 European domestic league by 2020: A suggestion that might have seemed ludicrous six or seven years ago but today feels even viable.

The most exciting story within German basketball in 2010-11 must be the unqualified success of the revamped Bayern Munich franchise. Already graced with a strong brand name (BiE understands there’s a historical Bayern Munich team in some other sport…), Bayern also boasts a first division-sized arena, a two-game lead over s.Oliver Baskets for the lead in Pro A, a four-game lead on the third team in the running for promotion, and one of Germany’s best-ever coaches in Dirk Bauermann.

In terms of international competition, the German Basketball Federation (DBB) has just announced its fascinating proposal for hosting Eurobasket 2015, a plan that would see France, Belgium and Holland hosting games alongside Germany.

Team Germany couldn’t quite exceed expectations in the 2010 FIBA World Championship thanks to a disappointing loss to Angola in the pool-play round, but youngsters such as Tibor Pleiss, Robin Benzing and Lucca Staiger surely give Deutschland fans much optimism for the immediate future – add Jan Jagla and Demond Greene to the pledged Dirk Nowitzki (plus possibly Chris Kaman, Batman to Dirk’s Robin), and you’ve suddenly got a serious contender to go deep into Eurobasket 2011.

Except for one small matter: Bauermann’s very success with Munich in the second division may actually *prevent him* from being allowed to coach Team Germany in Lithuania.

Thanks to current bylaws, no Bundesliga coach is allowed to coach the national team. As the regulation stands – and said regulation was put into effect two years ago with much backing from Pommer – Bauermann, Bayern Munich and indeed the entire Bundesliga face an incredible catch-22.

If Munich were to successfully finish in a top two spot in the second division (and it seems very little can stop this eventuality at this point), the franchise would earn promotion to Bundesliga ball when the 2010-11 season concludes and, by the letter of German basketball law, Bauermann would be ineligible to coach Team Germany.

On the other hand, less than a second-place finish by Munich would certainly be detrimental to the medium-term Bundesliga financial success: No matter how much profit BBL coffers are enjoying these days, the Bayern München brand would surely fatten them further.

Brenscheidt: "Yes it is."

DBB secretary-general Wolfgang Brenscheidt shot back to German media today, however, that Pommer’s “statement is false. This entire discussion would not exist at all if the Beko BBL had not decided that coaches in the Beko BBL could not coach a national team. The DBB did not make any decision, but rather must deal with the decision of the Beko BBL. Therefore I feel it is unacceptable for Mr. Pommer to reject responsibility with his statement. Apparently there is a problem with perception.”

Apparently. But said perception is now on the clock, with just months left in the Bundesliga season.

How extreme could things get? According the Bayern München club president Uli Hoeness, “Without Bauermann we will not continue this project. We simply need someone who can push things forward. And Bauermann is someone like that.”

By “project,” Hoeness is referring not to the basketball program in general, but instead the recent big-money investment plans that were able to bring in Bauermann along with veterans such as Greene; while Bayern basketball would not die with a Bauermann departure, reality says that the club would have to go back to scraping together sponsors in a depressed economy.

Bauermann himself is a bit confused on the issue, too, it seems. The key question was touched upon in an interview by David Hein, BiE’s main contact for all things German basketball back in December:

Bauermann: "It's hard."

Here, this year there is such a sense of urgency because we have to be successful this year. So what we do here is we only talk about the present, the precious present. We don’t talk about next year. And we talk about the things that we have complete control of. And that’s how hard we play, if we play as a team, how hard we practice. That’s what we focus in on. And not what happens next year and the year after because it’s just not in our control.

Happily, though, the powers-that-be on all sides in Germany are remaining positive about the future. Hein yesterday informed BiE that the official stance at present at BBL offices is that “we will have a talk with Munich [officials] in February and then we will see more. At the moment, so much is being speculated upon and asked about. We’ll have to wait to see what Bauermann actually wants in the end and how Bayern and the DBB position themselves.”

Hoeness concluded his own talk to media with “But I am optimistic. When it’s time, we will sit down together and talk out everything calmly.” BiE hopes that sanity prevails and that this European basketball success story isn’t derailed before fruition.