BallinEurope, the European Basketball news site

BallinEurope will leave the questions about just how Dennis Rodman ended up taking his distinct breed of basketball diplomacy to Italy after a less-than-uncontroversial visit to North Korea with a few Harlem Globetrotters…

Instead, we’ll just let Taiwan-based Next Media Animation explain things; apparently, The Worm’s mission involves some NBA Jam-esque two-on-two in a match featuring himself and retired Pope Benedict XVI against a roster of priests, evil lawyers, a high-jumping altar boy and possibly a unicorn…

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Episode 25 in the Taking the Charge podcast series is now available online, and in general this one reflects the wackiness of the week in basketball just gone by. So Bill Simmons’ “B.S. Report” over at Grantland is described as “a free-flowing conversation”? Co-host David Hein of heinnews and yours truly sail our own stream of consciousness this time out, touching upon diverse subjects including the Harlem Shake phenomenon, Dennis Rodman’s basketball diplomacy in North Korea, Tim Ohlbrecht in America, the ever-interesting behind-the-scenes happenings in Greece, and, in our sports movie review of the week, the all-time classic Space Jam.

A bit of gravity – but just a wee bit – infuses the show in an interview with our first guest, Ratiopharm Ulm’s Per Günther. Günther tells us about his club (arguably one of the most notable European underdogs in 2012-13 who currently find themselves near the top of the Bundesliga table and in the Eurocup elite eight) and the prospects for Team Germany in Eurobasket 2013.

Also joining us is Sportando co-founder Emiliano Carchia, who offers some insight into the recent towering success of the European basketball-centric website.

And in the first-ever Taking The Charge promotion, earn a chance at winning a T-shirt absolutely free – tune in to find out (Don’t worry: Details are just a few minutes into the ‘cast).

Finally, we’re pleased to announce that Taking the Charge podcasts are now available through iTunes; subscribe by entering the following into the aggregator: http://heinnews.com/feed/podcast. Alternatively, the entire episode may be heard here.

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This one has little to do with European basketball but is simply too bizarre to go without reportage – of course it is: Dennis Rodman’s involved.

In a move that’s quite a far cry from U.S. president Barack Obama’s famed “basketball diplomacy” and which may finally redefine the term “reality TV,” Rodman, a trio of Harlem Globetrotters and “a film crew from the Vice media company are visiting [North Korea] to shoot footage for a TV show set to air on HBO.”

Said TV show will feature the activities of a kids’ sport club run by the four ballers and “competing alongside North Korea’s top athletes in an exhibition match they hope will be attended by the leader, Kim Jong-un.”

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Former Detroit Pistons/Chicago Bulls/Torpan Pojat power forward and Pro Basketball Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman was in Bulgaria this weekend to help that nation’s league celebrate its all-star break and oh yes, he left his mark.

Ireland-based The Score reported somewhat hyperbolically that the appearance was part of a full-on comeback to the game by the financially-troubled Rodman, but such reports may be greatly exaggerated (more on this below). Via the ‘site, though, here’s a YouTube in which a decidedly civilized and erudite Worm thanks the Bulgarian people for the opportunity, somehow finding a comparison between the country and Texas in that both locations are “very raw” and “very cool.”

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How do you say “Here comes the Worm” in Bulgarian? Folks in Sofia may just be needing that expression as the Hall of Fame NBA rebound master Dennis Rodman touched down in Bulgaria’s capital last night.

Bulgaria-based Novinite quoted Rodman as stating “I learned a bit about your country on the internet. Your women are very beautiful.”

(Naturally, BallinEurope wonders exactly what kind of sites ol’ Tennis Ball Head was checking out.)

Rodman is slated to appear as part of the Bulgarian domestic league’s all-star festivities which begin on Saturday. Arvydas Sabonis is also scheduled to be there, though as of late has suffered some health problems which may keep him from attending.

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BallinEurope just received word from Hippo Taatila (via BiE pilgrim father Christophe, now of European Prospects) that Ron Artest may have topped himself in wackiness yet again – and this within a week of the announcement of his imminent name change to Metta World Peace. Reports Taatila:

“Finland’s top league Korisliiga will witness some serious NBA talent in September 2011, when Los Angeles Lakers forward/multipersonality Ron Artest will join league newcomer LoKoKo Loimaa.

“The 31-year old Artest has three years left in his Lakers contract, but that doesn’t seem to bother LoKoKo sports director Aleksi Valavuori, who backs up the rumor in Tuesday’s Ilta-Sanomat newspaper.

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Happy Monday, everyone. To get that week started right, BallinEurope has compiled a healthy-sized video play list at which you may goggle over morning coffee. From all corners of Europe (and Portland, Oregon) came the action last week as the barrage of title-awarding begins on The Continent.

• 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…

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BallinEurope sends out huge, 7’3” congratulations this morning to all-time great Arvydas Sabonis, finally inducted into the Professional Basketball Hall of Fame alongside luminaries such as Chris Mullin, Dennis Rodman (whoa, that’s still weird), Artis Gilmore, Tex Winter, “Goose” Tatum, Tom “Satch” Sanders, Tara Van Derveer, Herb Magee, and Teresa Edwards.

A tribute in the form of career retrospective to the pride of Lithuanian basketball follows – in the finest fashion BiE knows: video clips! Quite a collection of rare Sabonis footage exists in the collective consciousness of YouTube, an ideal jumping-off point for that burgeoning bunch of basketball fans who’d never seen the man play or even experienced a world in which the Soviet Union exists.

Thanks for the memories, Sabas!

• 1979-1989 (and again from 2000-2005): Žalgiris Kaunas
From Sabonis first getting into the professional system with hometown club to courtside videocam shots of his final pro season back with his first team, this Lithuanian-language clip is loaded with rare footage.

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BallinEurope promised you superstars for this five-pack in The 35 Greatest Basketball YouTubes of All-Time: Are you ready for M.J. and a lotta other studs? If so, you’re in for a treat from BiE TV today. Once again, here are the so-called rules employed in fashioning this list.

And what better way to fill out number 10 on the list with…

10. Michael Jordan’s ESPN top 10. Imagine if His Airness had peaked in the YouTube era … How many zillions of these videos would there be? Would Jordan have had to sue the ‘Tube? Would Nike have bought it? Weird.

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Whoa, the Final Four starts in two days? Almost unbelievable. But enough digression! Yesterday, BallinEurope presented a brief position-by-position rundown of Friday’s FC Barcelona-CSKA Moscow game. Today, a consideration of the late game, Partizan Belgrade vs. Olympiacos.

Similarly to the early game, Partizan-Olympiacos also features a matchup between classic plucky underdog versus season-starting prohibitive favorite. Just like CSKA, Partizan wasn’t even “supposed” to be in Paris for the Final Four this year but don’t tell them; this one will be all about guile vs. slick weaponry.

The head-to-head matchups look something like the following.

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