BallinEurope, the European Basketball news site

The hottest team in Europe right now (not named CSKA Moscow, that is)? BallinEurope figures Radnički Kragujevac could be in the discussion. After stumbling to a dismal 1-6 start in Adriatic League play, the recently reformed club has enjoyed a complete about-face and is clawing its way back up the ABA table, currently sitting in seventh place at 9-8. Back home in Serbia, they’re considered one of the favorites (behind Partizan Belgrade, that is) in February’s Serbian National Cup tournament.

Marko Savkovic today takes a look at Radnički’s comeback, particularly in light of exciting things from American players David Simon and Michael Scott.

“Until one’s star fades the other does not begin to shine,” goes a well known Serbian proverb. While news of the week depicted Hemofarm’s imminent collapse, the players of Radnički Kragujevac meanwhile reserved their time under the spotlight. After a disappointing start, they have beaten the likes of Red Star Belgrade, Cibona Zagreb and Partizan, to mention just a few, and are a strong – some even argue the strongest – contender ahead of the Serbian Korac Cup.

Continue Reading…

Courtesy the Euroleague folks, BallinEurope brings a compendium of facts and figures spanning history and record books regarding tomorrow night’s slate of a half-dozen games – plus lines on the games and highlight clips. Enjoy!

CSKA Moscow vs. Anadolu Efes Istanbul
• CSKA leads the all-time series between the teams, 8-7.
• Nenad Krstic has scored in double figures in each of his last 16 Euroleague appearances dating back to the 2003-04 season.
• Andrei Kirilenko and Nenad Krstic lead the Euroleague in index rating with at averages of 27.8 and 21.5 per game, respectively.
• Kirilenko also leads the Euroleague in blocked shots (3.2 bpg).
• Milos Teodosic is ranked second in the Euroleague in assists this season with a career-high 5.6 assists per game.
• Darjus Lavrinovic needs three more blocks reach 100 for his Euroleague career. With his next block, Lavrinovic will tie former CSKA big man Terence Morris for 12th place all-time.
Continue Reading…

Here’s a bizarre image from Zagreb, where a mystery person or persons made a slight temporary addition to the statue outside the Drazen Petrovic Memorial Museum. Big deal; BallinEurope bets he still made the shot.

(Tip of the hat to Eurostep for uploading the pic.)

Update: Savas Birdal over at Eurostep reveals that the handiwork was perpetuated by Cibona Zagreb fan or fans, who also left a note at the scene reading ”Kapetane, ne gledaj ovo” (or “Captain, don’t watch this”) in reference to the last season and a half of dismal play from Petrovic’s former club. Cibona Zagreb is 7-6 in Adriatic League play thus far in 2011-12 and did not advance to the Top 16 round of Eurocup play after going 0-6 in the first round.

Continue Reading…

“No basketball anymore”? Are you serious? The next two days will see some 34 games played out in the top three European basketball competitions: Euroleague, EuroCup and FIBA Eurochallenge.

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?

Continue Reading…

With two Euroleague games in the books for each team and something of an overall picture developing, BallinEurope unleashes the November edition of its ever-“popular” power rankings for the two dozen squads. For reference, edification and jollies, the preseason edition of the ‘rankings may be seen here.

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.”)

Continue Reading…

This just in. Chandler Parsons has decided to leave Cholet Basket, tweeting just about an hour ago, “Thank you to Cholet for the opportunity to play during the lockout. It was a great experience that I’ll never forget. Back home tomorrow!”

Continue Reading…

The EuroCup draw for groupings went down at 1pm CET today; below the break, BallinEurope runs the results of said draw. Information in parentheses indicates last year’s finish in domestic league play. So how’s your team’s group looking…?

Continue Reading…

Right, then. With the last teams advancing into the Euroleague two dozen for the regular season and a break in the Kobe-to-Bologna soap opera today, BallinEurope breaks out an old favorite: power rankings!

Once again, the BallinEurope Euroleague Power Rankings are based on current trends, i.e. who’s hot, who’s not. For this edition of the list, also taken into consideration are offseason acquisitions and a dash of expectations vis-à-vis how these squads will look when the games really start to matter. Let the arguments begin!

1. FC Barcelona – Heard it before? Well, you’ve probably heard about the core of the Barca roster before, too: Juan Carlos Navarro, Pete Mickael, Erazem Lorbek, Victor Sada, Boniface N’dong, Kosta Perovic and Fran Vazquez; getting to add Chuck Eidson and Marcelinho Huertas doesn’t seem fair. In going 8-0 thus far this preseason, the Blaugrana have added to their trophy case with Lliga Catalana and Supercopa Endesa titles and Navarro in particular is still in EuroBasket form. Right now, BiE says this is the team to beat.

Continue Reading…

Songaila: Best hope for Galatasaray upset?

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

Continue Reading…

For bonus points, identify this player

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

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

Continue Reading…