Monday’s cigarettes
October 20, 2008 by Christophe · Leave a Comment
Here we go for the opening week of the Euroleague. So if you need all the information, you are right here in the right place.
- Solobasket now offers content in English, too.
- Hedo Turkoglu told the Orlando Sentinel that he could imagine moving back to Europe after this season, when he becomes a free agent (found via basket-ball.com).
- Rasheed Wright wins it at the buzzer for Poitiers in the French ProB and gets naked. By the way, Rasheed greets his family (in French) in the post-game interview, says that it was the 10th buzzer-beater in his career and that he scored most of them. But why is the camera zooming on his body the whole time?
- Finally, Danilo Gallinari is back at practice. However, Mike d’Antoni thinks that Danilo will start the season in the D-League with the Reno Big Horns. Well, let’s hope “il Gallo” doesn’t get too desperate and spends all his money in the Biggest Little City in the World.
- Where a boy named Dirk happens.
- During the trip to Los Angeles for the American tour of Euroleague teams, the president of FC Barcelona Joan Laporta declared that he is in favor of the creation of a Global League including Euroleague teams, NBA teams and eventually Chinese squads.
- The German Bundesliga sees ALBA Berlin at the top. Not a real surprise for the new favorite for the best attendance in Europe (more than 13,000 fans on average after the first three games). The surprise of the season so far is Giants Nördlingen, who have a 4-1 record and are in second. The team coached by just 32-year-old Andreas Wagner is playing great basketball so far and beat former Euroleague team Brose Baskets in their arena this Sunday — a Brose Baskets team that currently only has one win in five games.
- Do you know who are the two best scorers of the Spanish ACB after the first three game days? Well it’s Brad Oleson and Paolo Quinteros. While the former, who holds by the way a German passport (hello Mister Bauermann) is still at the top, the latter was not as efficient in the duel both players had this weekend. Still, ACB TV had a nice clip to present the two of them.
- The weekly Brandon Jennings watch tells us: 14 minutes, 3 points (1/5 FG, 1/2 FT), 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 turnover).
Who sells the most jerseys in Europe?
October 8, 2008 by Christophe · 4 Comments
The NBA recent published the official ranking of its players that sell the most jerseys in Europe. Additionally, you get to know that
The NBA’s merchandising business in the region has doubled in the last five years to include over 60 partners distributing NBA products to more than 16,000 retail locations. International sales account for more than 25 percent of the league’s overall global merchandise business.
Looks like the business is rolling. So who are the most popular then? Well here is the list:
1. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
2. Kevin Garnett, Boston Celtics
3. Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers
4. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
5. Tony Parker, San Antonio Spurs
6. Allen Iverson, Denver Nuggets
7. Andrea Bargnani, Toronto Raptors
8. Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat
9. Marco Belinelli, Golden State Warriors
10. Jose Calderon, Toronto Raptors
As you can see, five of the top 10 players come from Europe. And it seems that Paul Gasol fans are particularly very active. This may be the result, however, of his recent trade to the Lakers, with fans wanting the new jersey. What surprised me, though, is that Dirk Nowitzki is not among the first 10. The reason for this may be that Dirk has played for the Mavericks for years now and nearly every German or European Nowitzki fan already has his jersey. So Dirk, if you want to boost the sales of your gear, get traded…
Anyhow, how would this ranking look like if there would be one for Europe? As the merchandising here in Europe is far behind the US standards, such a ranking is of course impossible to establish. But the following is my guess 
1. Ramunas Siskauskas, Lithuanian NT
2. Sarunas Jasikevicius, Lithuanian NT
3. Arvydas Macijauskas, Lithuanian NT
4. Linas Kleiza, Lithuanian NT
5. Ramunas Siskauskas, CSKA Moscow
6. Sarunas Jasikevicius, Panathinaikos
7. Jonas Maciulis, Zalgiris Kaunas
8. Arturas Jomantas, Lietuvos Rytas
9. Robertas Javtokas, Lithuanian NT
10. Darjus Lavrinovic, Lithuanian NT
After the Olympics: What’s the future of Germany?
September 14, 2008 by Christophe · 4 Comments
The oldest European team in Beijing showed during the tournament that it has come to the end of a cycle. Several German players will end their career in the national team after this tournament, and coach Dirk Bauermann has now four years to rebuild a team to remain competitive.
Today’s Chinese cigarettes
August 23, 2008 by Christophe · 4 Comments
The Olympic Basketball tournament is coming to an end with the ladies’ finals today and the men’s tomorrow. Let’s take a look at some of funny stories from the last few days.
Today’s Chinese cigarettes
August 18, 2008 by Christophe · 1 Comment
The final day of the group phase has started, and here are the latest stories from and around the Wukeson Arena of Beijing.
Olympics: Team USA vs. Germany LIVE
This might be one of the most sad games in Germany’s basketball history. Pascal Roller, Germany’s starting point guard announced that he will stop playing after the Olympics. Another German seems to follow him now: Dirk Nowitzki. Of course Nowitzki will keep playing for the Dallas Mavericks, but this might be his last appearance with the German national team ever, meaning somebody else will leave too: Chris Kaman. No Nowitzki, No Kaman - that easy.
After the terrible loss against China, Team USA - a team that even convinced or suprised the biggest “haters” - is waiting in the last game of group play. Sportingbet’s odds for a win of Germany is 15.00 - a US win equals to … 1.00 - meaning you will not make a dime on betting on Team USA.
At least Germany is not the only team with bad odds like that - another team is Angola .. way to go Germany!
Stiil, here is the live blog of Pascal Roller, Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman’s last game wearing the German “Adler”.
Today’s Chinese cigarettes
August 12, 2008 by Christophe · 1 Comment
The first day of the Olympic Men Basketball tournament is history and this night started the 2nd day of the competition. Here are the latest short stories we found around the net.
European review: Olympics day 1
August 11, 2008 by Tobias · 12 Comments
Beijing Basketball 2008 Olympics
ACB launches the Olympic Fantasy League
August 8, 2008 by Christophe · 6 Comments
The organizers of the most popular European Fantasy League, the Spanish SuperManager, have set up an Olympic Games fantasy league, too. So if you want to build your own Olympic Dream Team, just go ahead.
Today’s Chinese cigarettes
August 7, 2008 by Christophe · 3 Comments
With the highly awaited Olympic basketball tournament approaching, here are some of the thoughts I found throughout the internet about the mega-event in Beijing.
