Monday’s cigarettes

Here we go for a new week with Euroleague action. But today, we have a very special women’s cigarette for you…

• …because Sylvia Fowles came up with a breakaway dunk in the Euroleague game between Spartak Moscow and Schio.
• KK Split and Cibona Zagreb met this weekend in the Adriatic League. And the least we can say is that it was a hard-fought game.
• A crazy scoring weekend in the Spanish ACB where DKV Joventut scored 116 points on Bilbao’s court.
• Only eight minutes of play this weekend for Brandon Jennings, but it was enough to score five points.
• ALBA Berlin registered its new low in attendance for the season, with 8175 spectators for the game against Trier. But that’s still enough for an average of 12,036, an increase of 70% over last year.
• Panathinaikos wins the first derby of the season against Olympiacos.
• In Italy, everything looks as though the legendary Dino Meneghin will take over the basketball federation presidency.
• You know Guy Dupuy? He is generally considered the best dunker in Europe. Watch this new video from a show where he comes up with several spectacular dunks jumping over a car or going for a between-the-legs dunk off one foot.
• Ricky Rubio is still injured, but you want to see him in action? Check out this video of the Spanish sensation when he was playing with the Catalonian selection at the age of 14.
• A very bad story happened in Turkey last weekend; a basketball fan was shot dead before a game. Our Turkish friend Kerem expounded some on the incident:

The fan killing that occurred before the game last week was between the fans and the owner of a gas station. He was killed due to the disagreement between the gas station’s owner and group of fans which ended up with the owner shooting a fan with a shotgun to end the argument. The killing had nothing to do with either team’s organization but rather an unfortunate and a sad conflict between a group of fans and a gas station owner. The fan who was killed was a young university student who was traveling from Izmir to support his side Karsiyaka at Bandirma against Bandirma Banvit. Karsiyaka fans are known for their loyalty and passion for their team, but I guess too much of anything is a bad habit.

• The financial problems have reached Turkey, as Kerem also reports. Besiktas is facing financial problems but will be competing in the Eurocup this season. The team is currently 13th in the Turkish League. They’re a sad story this season, as two of their foreigners, Mario Austin and Jovo Stanojevic, have already left and there is talk that Mire Chatman might leave as well.
• The surprising story in Turkey, though, is Aliaga. Aliaga, who beat Besiktas last week, followed the victory up by beating another Euro contender at home, Fenerbahce Ulker, with Americans Chuck Davis and Aubrey Reese combining for a total of 58 points.
• Finally, Turk Telekom, who will also be facing Eurocup competition, is unbeaten in the league and will play Fenerbahce next week away at Istanbul. Their classic team play has brought them great success along with positive contributions from new additions Kennedy Winston, Rod Blackney and Turkish scorer Serkan Erdogan. It will be very fun to watch the team at a higher level, as they’re starting out their mission for a Eurocup Final 8 bid this week in Israel.

Yarone’s weekend Joints

Lots of three-ball action took place this week. Some went in with great accuracy. Others will have to pay for the rim damage. Lazos, Erceg and Childress are the most overpaid players of this week, the double OT in Istanbul had two sides, Spencer caught up, Nancy made history, Jennings made us proud, and one Emir Preldzic…

These are the stories of week 4 of Euroleague 2009.

In case you missed it… - CSKA tied the Euroleague record for most three pointers made with 18, and more amazingly they hit them at a 72% rate. Those who follow CSKA closely saw them only last week connect on 20 three pointers at 71.4% in a Russian cup game. Keep in mind that Holden and Smodis are injured and could probably add a couple more to the party. Do you still remember just a week ago the Euroleague champs scored only 58 points at Real and hit five three-balls at a poor 18.5% rate?

CSKA tied a record set by Lottomatica Roma, who went 18/34 back in December 2003, but it reminded me more of the most amazing three-ball display in Euroleague history: Efes’ unbelievable fourth quarter back in November 2006. In a home game against Olympiacos, the Jenkins-Nicholas-Erden-Haislip-Kuqo combination connected on 11 of 12 long-range shots in the final 10:04 of the game.

The Jennings report – Brandon Jennings, in one of the toughest arenas in Europe, explained why. Last week in a text written on this server, Jennings was asked, for the first time in his Euroleague career, to combine baskets inside and outside the arc, and right away he provided. The boxscore displayed 17 minutes on court, 13 points, 4-of-7 from the field, three assists and not a single turnover on the way to an index rating of 17. He played a key role in the third quarter when Tau pushed hard to take over, and made sure Roma stayed on top. Can’t ask for more from this kid.

Just imagine – Terrell McIntyre was 1-of-8 from long range in OAKA. Shaun Stonerook was 2-of-11 from the same distance, but Montepaschi still left Athens with only a five-point loss. If any of the above had shot at just a tiny bit better percentage…

Over? Under! – Four games into the Euroleague season and not only is Zalgiris Kaunas continuing to seek their first win, they’ve also failed to reach 70 points in a game: Their season high is 67 points at home, in the 26 point loss to Montepaschi. True, Kaunas lost Brown, misses Dean, and the go-to guy right now is the great Maciulis, who hasn’t fully adapted to the idea that he’s the main man this season. Nevertheless, it’s not that much we’re asking: In the next three games, Kaunas hosts Barcelona and Pao, followed by travel to Siena. None will be shocked to see them go 0-6, but if the Lithuanians can’t shoot to reach 70…

Standings – After four weeks, CSKA Moscow is the only undefeated team. Surprised? Group D, where CSKA play, is the only group in which just one team has reached three wins. Behind CSKA are four teams with a 2-2 record and in last is a team with no wins: Exactly the scenario predicted for this group from the first second after the draw. The only difference: Panionios was expected to be the winless team, while in fact it’s struggling AJ Milano.

It’s a close league after all – Four teams, one in each group, are still in search for a debut win, but that’s not a case of teams that are just too weak to win. All of them have already sensed a win in their hands at least once during the four weeks. Le Mans was close four weeks in a row, including an OT loss in Tel Aviv; AJ Milano has been in the neighborhood twice already and this week lost by a point; Olimpija lost once by a point as well and this week fell in double OT; finally, Zalgiris hasn’t been as close to success as the other three, but has lost their last two games by five points or fewer.

Index Morris – Last week, CSKA’s Terence Morris went 0-of-8 from long range in Madrid. This week he had three perfect hits from distance already after three minutes on the way to a 5-of-7 night.

Home sweetest home – 11 of the 12 games this week went in favor of the home team, including a double OT win for FenerUlker, a one-point win for Real, a two-point win for Alba and five-point wins for Nancy, Panathinaikos, Panionios and Avellino. The only team to drop the home game was Tau, considered one of the most difficult teams to beat on their home court, who lost by a small three-point margin.

Emir – If you’re a big prospect and want to make a break, then shower, shave, grab a bottle of water, some orange Tic Tacs, pack a small bag and go stand outside the house of coach Bogdan Tanjevic. Wait patiently, have some Tic Tacs and hope he’ll take you in. From there, you’re set. 18 points, more than 50% from the field, seven rebounds, five assists and just a single turnover: That’s the line Emir Preldzic produced this week. He’s playing inside Tanjevic’s system as much as a Bosnian can play inside a system, but also gets a lot of freedom from his coach to bring his skills and creativity to the floor. Follow this kid. He’s much more than just great numbers: He’s fineness and finesse.

Double OT, triple lead – The interesting thing about the game in Istanbul, only the third in Euroleague history to go 50 minutes, was that in all three crucial possessions FenerUlker were up. In regulation, it was a huge running three-pointer by Saso Ozbolt (Welcome back!) to tie the score. Then Damjan Rudez scored on a layup to force another overtime, and finally Vlado Illievski took the chance when down by two with a long distance attempt that went out.

Vlado + Saso > Europe – Olimpija’s Ilievski and Ozbolt played a double OT but still combined 79:50 minutes of play so they didn’t hold a much bigger margin on other backcourts. Nevertheless they took no less than 21 shots from long range (11 by Vlado). Those 21 attempts by only two players represented more three-point attempts than those taken by the entire teams of Panathinaikos, Panionios, Alba, Cibona, Maccabi, Barcelona, Prokom, Real, Avellino, Le Mans, Roma and Nancy this week.

Joventut > Europe – Vlado and Saso weren’t the only ones. Demond Mallet and Luka Bogdanovic of Joventut also combined for 21 attempts from long range, and they played much less obviously. Luka was on a big night hitting 7-of-12 from long distance without taking a single shot inside the arc or the charity stripe. Mallet was a tiny bit less glamour at 1-of-9 from the same distance.

Both were merely executing Joventut’s game plan, or so it seemed on the court. Rudy’s former team took 23 shots inside the arc, but no fewer than 37 outside: a huge difference that hints at a lack of guiding hand and another reason to hang a “We miss you Ricky!” sign in the lockerroom. Joventut had the last ball of the game down by two at Alba, and take a wild guess what their play was…Wrong! Pau Ribas tried to find an open man for the three, but Alba did a great job in the passing lanes, forcing the young guard to go to the rim. He added one more miss to his pocket and Alba celebrated their second win.

All Blacks – OK, the national team of New Zealand isn’t playing in the Euroleague yet, but while I was watching Nancy-Zalgiris on Wednesday night, I suddenly noticed something refreshing: With Cyril Julian out due to injury, Nancy this week was a team composed of only black players, probably the first time ever in European basketball history. Quickly, Mr. Ney was sent to check the NBA rosters and figure how many NBA teams have only black players on the roster, and his answer was one: The Philadelphia 76ers, thus making the occasion in Nancy this week very unique indeed. From the Greer duo to the promising young Zaki, it was a refreshing occurrence. The fact they have won isn’t as exciting as the happenings in Illinois not too long ago, but certainly is a happy episode.

Double OT, triple miss – While Olimpija had to come back from behind time after time in the finals seconds, the Turkish side can be happy to win a close game, but proved he can miss time after time in these situations. Devin Smith had a decent shot from the three-point corner to win the game in regulation but missed. At the end of the first OT, Fenerbache had 6.5 seconds to win the game but managed to lose the ball, while at the end of the last overtime Marque Green missed his first free throw in the final seconds, leaving Olimpija a chance to win.

Whole story in one Zoran – Olympiacos paid around <!– /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –> €700,000 just to buy out Zoran Erceg from FMP Zeleznik. His contract probably isn’t cheap, either, and the buyout plus contract is worth around $1.5 million easily. This is more than Maccabi’s second-highest paid player. Erceg played less than seven minutes this week, and other than pick up one foul did nothing on the court. No rebounds, no shots taken, no assists, no turnovers. His team still won by 19, the second-greatest margin of the week. His story tells the difference between Olympiacos and a second-tier Euroleague team.

Frustrated Milanese - If you’ve ever had the chance to stop whatever it is you’re doing in your daily life and wonder what’s more frustrating, to lose a five-point lead in the last minute or a 23-point lead in the second half, well, your search for an answer is over! AJ Milano solved this riddle for you! Once again, one player shone above all: This time it was Michael Hall, who won the MVP of the week award, and once again Milano seemed on the sure path for a win. Answers shall be provided after the debut win.

Looking for Lazos – Not too long ago, in the summer of 2007, Lazaros Papadopoulos was a hot item in the market. At 210cm with post moves, decent rebounding and one of the smartest brains in the Euroleague chasing up a 14.8 ppg, 7.2 rpg and a season index rating of 20.3 with Dynamo Moscow. Then came a multi-season deal with powerhouse Real Madrid, who wanted to return to greatness. On that paper, it says Lazos will make more than <!– /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –> €2 million per season, but he never really proved worthy of it.

His decline already began last season, when his season numbers dropped to 6.9 ppg with 3.2 rpg and season index of no more than 7.8. If someone was waiting for Lazos to come back to life this season, well…maybe later. Right now, he’s finished two games in a row with no points, something that hasn’t happened to him in a European competition since January 9th, 2003. His index ratings in the past three games were 2, -2, and 2. His minutes dropped from 20 to 12 to five. Lazos is no longer a factor. Can’t wait to have him back in shape.

Weekly battle – After Bluthenthal wrote a landslide last week, it was time for Dewarick Spencer to retort. This week, the US guard won the “let’s see who shots more” battle 15-4. Le Mans, no news, lost a close game in Italy. Overall score: Bluthenthal 2, Spencer 2.

Shooting Josh – If you think Lazos is the most overpaid player this week, well, Josh Childress is giving him good competition. The $7 million man finished the game against Maccabi with four points on 1-of-6 from the field and five turnovers. Maccabi gave him a lot of space to shoot from long range, and Josh didn’t punish. The tale from Piraeus is that after the game, while media walked around the lockerroom, looking for Childress, the US swingman went back to the court to work on his jumpshot, to make sure no team will bet on his shots again. Time will tell…

Three-ball Rawel – Cibona’s Rawel Marshall arrived to Malaga with a 7/17 ratio from long range. He finished the game 7 of 10 from that distance. Cibona scored only one additional three pointer. Unicaja combined for a team total of six three-pointers.

Marshall hit just a single bucket inside the arc. Each and every one of his long balls is worth a look. He showed great diversity making off dribble and catch and shoot attempts, eith with a hand in his face or wide open, right on the arc or a step behind…

Euroleague: DKV Joventut Badalona, Spain

Luis Fernandez can truly be considered as one of best experts in terms of youth basketball in Europe. He writes for Draftexpress as well as for acb.com and so we are more than happy to have his opinion on one of the most talented teams of the Euroleague when it comes to young prospects.

Overall record prediction: 5-5

It happens all the time: some teams qualify for the Euroleague after delivering an excellent season in their national championships, and then get weaker when it comes to actually play in the top European competition. They just can’t retain –often can’t afford- those top players that allowed them to perform at such a great level. DKV Joventut is just another example in the line. After being easily a top-8 team in Europe last season, playing some of the most spectacular basketball seen across the Old Continent, they had to suffer the departures of Jerome Moiso, Lubos Barton and especially the team superstar Rudy Fernández. Even the head coach, Aíto García Reneses packed his bags.

So it’s quite a new story this season, but still a lot of the old one. Showing less potential –it hurts to lose arguably the top player in the continent- Joventut is willing to keep alive most of the vitals that proved so successful during the last campaign (good enough for Copa del Rey and ULEB Cup titles). Fast tempo, perimeter oriented offense –relying heavily on three pointers- and aggressive defense are the staples of this team’s game.

If we talk about fast tempo, it doesn’t only mean to run the floor, but also to take quick shots. The objective is to get open looks, and fire as soon as the players find them, so Joventut ends up playing a lot of transition ball where players jack-up jumpers before the defense is established. We don’t need to mention that Ricky Rubio will be key here. Actually, he’s expected to become the leader of this core now that Rudy is out, and in a context of transition game, his decision making should emerge crucial to keep things under control for his team while it gets out of control for the opponents.

In the set offense, Joventut suffers a clear shortage of players able to disrupt defenses by themselves. Again Ricky Rubio and the new signee Bracey Wright –who has somehow come to play some of Rudy’s role in the team- should be the main facilitators to come up with individual solutions in the offensive end, Ricky officiating more as a distributor and catalyst, while Wright being more of a scorer (although he can pass the ball too and, for example, nicely executes the pick and roll). Demond Mallet is another option here, although a step behind, while Pau Ribas can provide some pick-and-roll creation.

If you look at the rest of the roster, it’s mostly finishers and role guys, and there are no legit low post threats to run the offense through them (youngster Henk Norel is clearly the most skilled post player, but he’s physically not ready to be more than a complimentary contributor yet). So virtually the whole offensive flow will be generated from the perimeter. Eventually finishers such as Eduardo Hernández-Sonseca or Pops Mensah-Bonsu will execute from around the rim, but expect much more regular long-distant production off the ball movement.

The best proof of the team’s willingness to continue being a major threat from the arc is this summer signings. Getting a couple of specialists such as Simas Jasaitis (who should improve his performing level enjoying a bigger role in Badalona than he had back in Vitoria and Tel Aviv) and Luka Bogdanovic provide a clear message on the issue. They will join forces with Demond Mallet, Jan Jagla, Bracey Wright, Ferrán Laviña or Pau Ribas, enabling the team to occasionally come up with massive scoring outbursts.

On defense, it remains to be seen if Joventut stays as aggressive on the passing lines as in the past. You can count on Rubio gambling there, but after losing both Rudy Fernández and Lubos Barton (with Ricky, the top three ball thieves in the whole ACB League last season), the team might opt for a little more conservative approach. Anyway, they have plenty of size with Sonseca, Jagla, Norel and especially Mensah-Bonsu to intimidate around the rim and cover the perimeter’s back, allowing their teammates to take risks. Still expect different kind of defenses, a variety of zones and full-court pressures. After all, the new coach, Sito Alonso, had been Aíto’s assistant for a few years. All in all, the defense should be the first source of fastbreaks and transitions plays.

In the end we’re talking about an exciting team, limited talent-wise, but still able to battle and beat any opponent if their shots are falling, and yet probably inconsistent for the same reason. Nevertheless, there’s enough meat here to get into the Top-16 without struggles, and perhaps battle for a quarterfinal spot. Much of Joventut’s forecast depends on Ricky Rubio. This should be the season when he establishes himself as a star in the Euroleague, and his habitude of exceeding expectations might carry the whole team in the same direction.

Final Four participants: Montepaschi Siena, CSKA Moscow, Panathinaikos, Olympiacos

Euroleague winner: CSKA Moscow

written by Luis Fernandez

Please note that this preview has been written before the injury of Ricky Rubio. Luis wants to mention that his absence could severely hurt his team options.

Euroleague transfer analysis: Group C

The next group in BallinEurope’s continuing analysis is Group C, as A and B have already been discussed. While A will be called the Childress Group, in C we’ll have the Jennings Group then. But let’s see what the teams have done so far in terms of transfers.

Read more

Ricky Rubio will play in Olympics

Today, Spanish national team coach Aito Garcia Reneses announced the twelve guys that will compete for the current World Champion in the Summer Olympics in Beijing. And super-talent Ricky Rubio is among the twelve that will travel to China.

Read more

The Euroleague group draw 2008

Yesterday, the Euroleague proceeded for its annual draw in Berlin. After several speeches and awards, the big moment was coming close with the draw of the current Euroleague groups. Here is my analysis of the results.

Read more

Euroleague Transfers Table 2008/2009

France Transfers - Spain Transfers (acb.com) - Germany Transfers - Turkey Transfers

EUROLEAGUE TRANSFERS

Updated: 29/11/2008 00h49CET

Want to be up to date with Basketball news - add our RSS feed!

NB: Please note that names in bold are confirmed transfers. Others listed are rumors published by various media or online discussion forums. The Budget numbers are either official announced figures or estimations. The names in italic are those that have been updated within the last 24h.

SPAIN	Arrivals	Departures
Real Madrid	Marko Tomas (Fuenlabrada) Jeremiah Massey (Aris TT Bank) Pepe Sanchez (FC Barcelona) Quinton Hosley (Karsiyaka) Ratko Varda (Zalgiris)	Kerem Tunceri (Triumph Lyubertsy) Michalis Pelekanos (Olympiacos) Blagota Sekulic (Aris) Charles Smith (Efes Pilsen) Pablo Aguilar (Granada)
TAU Ceramica	Stanko Barac (Pamesa Valencia) Fernando San Emeterio (Girona) Ariel Eslava (Rivadavia) Guilherme Gitterer (Gandia) Mustafa Shakur (Sopot) Dusko Ivanovic (head coach)	Zoran Planinic (CSKA Moscow) Simas Jasaitis (Joventut) Neven Spahija (?) James Singleton (Dallas Mavericks)
Regal FC Barcelona	Juan Carlos Navarro (Memphis Grizzlies) David Andersen (CSKA Moscow) Lubos Barton (DKV Joventut) Victor Sada (Girona) Andre Barret (NBDL) Daniel Santiago (Unicaja)	Denis Marconato (Bruesa) Pepe Sanchez (Real Madrid) Gary Neal (Benetton Treviso) Alex Acker (Detroit Pistons) Albert Moncasi (Gran Canaria) Mario Kasun (Efes Pilsen)
Unicaja Malaga	Robert Archibald (Azovmash) Omar Cook (Crvena Zvezda) Thomas Kelati (Zgorzelec) Joseph Gomis (Valladolid) Aito Garcia Reneses (head coach Badalona)	Sergio Scarolo (head coach) Bojan Popovic (Bruesa) Melvin Sanders (Gran Canaria) Davor Kus (loaned to Cibona) Daniel Santiago (Barcelona?)
ITALY	Arrivals	Departures
Montepaschi Siena Budget: 13M€	Morris Finley (Rieti) Henry Domercant (Dynamo Moscow)	Bootsy Thornton (Efes Pilsen) Drake Diener (Avellino) Vlado Ilievski (Olimpija) Hector Romero (Udine) Luigi da Tome (Roma)
Lottomatica Roma	Sani Becirovic (Panathinaikos) Brandon Jennings (High School) Primoz Brezec (Toronto Raptors) Andre Hutson (Efes Pilsen) Angelo Gigli (Benetton) Luigi da Tome (Montepaschi)	David Hawkins (AJ Milano) Erazem Lorbek (CSKA Moscow) Roko Leni-Ukic (Toronto Raptors)
AJ Milano	Pier Luigi Bucchi (head coach) Mason Rocca (Eldo Napoli) Luca Vitali (Montegranaro) Jobey Thomas (Montegranaro) Yohann Sangaré (ASVEL) Ariel Filloy (Rimini) Marco Mordente (Benetton) Sam van Rossum (Ostende) Massimo Bulleri (Virtus Bologna) Pape Sow (Prokom Trefl) Mike Hall (Pesaro) David Hawkins (Roma) Joey Beard (Veroli)	Sam van Rossum (loan to Pesaro) Pietro Aradori (Biella) Danilo Gallinari (New York Knicks) Travis Watson (Hapoel Jerusalem)
Air Avellino	Zare Markovski (head coach) Daniele Cinciarini (Biella) Chris Warren (Cibona Zagreb) Tamar Slay (Capo d’Orlando) Marko Tusek (Unics Kazan) Dan Dickau (LA Clippers) Antonio Porta (Spartak St. Petersbourg) Travis Best (Virtus Bologna) Drake Diener (Montepaschi) Mike Nardi (Napoli)	Devin Smith (Fenerbahce) Marques Green (Fenerbahce) Daniel Cavaliero (Montegranaro)
GREECE	Arrivals	Departures
Panathinaikos Budget: 25M€	Nikola Pekovic (Partizan) Antonis Fotsis (Dynamo Moscow) Dimitris Verginis (PAOK) Drew Nicholas (Efes Pilsen) Dusan Kecman (Partizan)	Sani Becirovic (Roma) Andrija Zizic (Galatasaray) Kennedy Winston (Pamesa?) Nikola Prkacin (Cibona) Dejan Tomasevic (PAOK) Dimos Dikoudis (Pamesa Valencia)
Olympiacos	Michalis Pelekanos (Real Madrid) Nikola Vujcic (Maccabi Tel Aviv) Zoran Erceg (FMP) Theodoros Papaloukas (CSKA Moscow) Yotam Halperin (Maccabi Tel Aviv) Igor Milosevic (Crvena Zvzda) Josh Childress (Atlanta Hawks) Kosta Sloukas (Mantoulidis)	Qyntel Woods (Fortitudo Bologna) Roderick Blackney (Turk Telekom) Loukas Mavrokefalidis (Maroussi) Renaldas Seibutis (Bilbao) Kosta Vasiliadis (PAOK) Jake Tsakalidis (Phoenix?) Panagiotis Kafkis (?) Arvydas Macijauskas (?)
Panionios	Alexander Trifunovic (head coach Lietuvos Rytas) Goran Nikolic (ALBA Berlin) Branko Cvetkovic (Girona) Miroslav Raicevic (Crvena Zvezda) Aaron Miles (Cajasol) Makis Dreliozis (Gkiziakos)	Vladimir Jankovic (loanded to Mega Aqua) Adanas Kavaliauskas (Kavala) Nenad Markovic (?)
FRANCE	Arrivals	Departures
Le Mans-Sarthe Budget: 5.63M€	J.D. Jackson (head coach) Maleye N’Doye (Dijon) Pape Badiane (Roanne) Dee Spencer (Efes Pilsen) David Bluthenthal (Maccabi) Brian Chase (Besiktas) JP Batista (Lietuvos Rytas)	Nicolas Batum (Portland) Sam Clancy (?) Phil Ricci (Naharia?) Vincent Collet (head coach ASVEL) Luka Bogdanovic (Joventut) Raviv Limonad (Irony Naharia) Nebosja Bogavac (?)
SLUC Nancy Budget: 4.98M€	Steed Tchicamboud (Cholet Basket) John Cox (Le Havre) Lamayn Wilson (ASVEL) Michel Morandais (Estudiantes) Rod Benson (Dakota Wizards)	Zabian Dowdell (Monferrato) DJ Harrison (?) Mike Bauer (Ostende) Pape Philippe Amagou (Kavala)
TURKEY	Arrivals	Departures
Efes Pilsen	Milos Vujanic (Dynamo Moscow) Sinan Guler (Besiktas) Charles Smith (Real Madrid) Ergin Ataman (head coach) Bootsy Thornton (Montepaschi) Kaya Peker (Besiktas) Engin Atsür (Benetton) Michalis Kakiouzis (Sevilla) Preston Shumpert (Besiktas) Mario Kasun (Barcelona) Dwayne Jones (Orlando Magic) Predrag Drobnjak (Besiktas)	Serkan Erdogan (Turk Telekom) Ermal Kuqo (Pamesa Valencia) Drew Nicholas (Panathinaikos) Dee Spencer (Le Mans) David Blatt (Dynamo Moscow) Rashad Wright (ALBA Berlin) Scoonie Penn (BC Kiyv) Andre Hutson (Roma) Kenny Gregory (PAOK)
Fenerbahce Ülker	Devin Smith (Air Avellino) Marques Green (Air Avellino) Gordan Giricek (Phoenix Suns)	Will Solomon (Toronto Raptors) James White (?) Tarence Kinsey (Cleveland Cavaliers)
LITHUANIA	Arrivals	Departures
Zalgiris Kaunas Budget: 6M€	Willie Deane (Lukoil Academik) Loren Woods (Houston Rockets) Tadas Klimavicius (AEL Larisa) Ratko Varda (Menorca) Tomas Masiulis (Prokom Sopot) Ronalds Alijevas (CSK VVS) Tryout	DeJuan Collins (Lokomotiv Rostov) Goran Jurak (Biella) Mamadou N’Diaye (?) Marko Popovic (Unics Kazan) Vladimir Stimac (Crvena Zvezda) Donatas Motiejunas (Aisciai-Atletas) Damir Markota (Vive Menorca) Marcus Brown (Maccabi Tel Aviv) Ratko Varda (Real Madrid) Loren Woods (?)
RUSSIA	Arrivals	Departures
CSKA Moscow	Victor Keyru (Unics Kazan) Sasha Kaun (Kansas-NCAA) Terence Morris (Maccabi) Zoran Planinic (TAU) Erazem Lorbek (Roma)	Theodoros Papaloukas (Olympiakos) David Anderson (FC Barcelona) Thomas van den Spiegel (Azovmash) Marcus Goree (Triumph Lyubertsy) Anatoly Kashirov (loan to Spartak)
SLOVENIA	Arrivals	Departures
Olimpija Ljubljana Budget: 4M€	Damjan Rudez (KK Split) Jaka Klobucar (Geoplin Slovan) Vladimir Golubovic (Vojvodina) Vlado Ilievski (Montepaschi) Jonathan Wallace (Georgetown) JaJuan Smith (Cleveland) Frank Robinson (Cal. State Fullerton) Ivica Jurkovic	Goran Dragic (Phoenix Suns) Hasan Rizvic (BC Kiyv) Ronnie Taylor (AEL) Chris Booker (?) Sasa Doncic (?) Jan Mocnik (?) Maurice Bailey (Spartak Primorie)
POLAND	Arrivals	Departures
Asseco Prokom Sopot	Piotr Szczotka (Slupsk) David Logan (Zgorzelec) Ronald Burrell (Telekom Baskets Bonn) Koko Archibong (Frankfurt) Aleksej Nesovic (Olimpias) Daniel Ewing (Khimky) Pat Burke (Khimky)	Simonas Serapinas (Azovmash) Milan Gurovic (Galatasaray) Pape Sow (AJ Milano) Christos Harissis (PAOK) Jovo Stanojevic (Besiktas) Mustafa Shakur (TAU Ceramica) Donatas Slanina (?) Tomas Masiulis (Zalgiris)
CROATIA	Arrivals	Departures
Cibona Zagreb	Robert Troha (Helios Domzale) Velimir Perasovic (head coach) Branimir Longin (Oldenburg) Nikola Prkacin (Panathinaikos) Earl Calloway (Fort Wayne) Damir Markota (Zalgiris) Davor Kus (loaned from Unicaja) Rawle Marshall (Hemofarm) Jared Homan (Slask)	Ivan Sunara (head coach Krka ?) Chris Warren (Air Avellino) Sam Hoskin (China)
ISRAEL	Arrivals	Departures
Maccabi Tel Aviv Budget: 17-18M$	Jason Williams (Bnei Hasharon) Dror Hagag (Hapoel Jerusalem) Yaniv Green (Samara) Effi Birenboim (head coach) Tre Simmons (Hapoel Holon) Rodney White (Arecibo) D’Or Fischer (Bree) Carlos Arroyo (Orlando Magic) Marcus Brown (Zalgiris)	Nikola Vujcic (Olympiakos) Terrence Morris (CSKA) Yotam Halperin (Olympiakos) Will Bynum (Virtus, Detroit Pistons) Vonteego Cummings (Estudiantes) Zvi Sherf (?) David Bluthenthal (Le Mans) Alex Garcia (Bruesa) Marcus Fizer (?)
SERBIA	Arrivals	Departures
Partizan Belgrade	Jan Vesely (Geoplin Slovan) Luka Basta (Beovuk) Aleksandar Rasic (ALBA) Vukasin Aleksic (Takovo) Žarko Rakočević (Buducnost) Joao Soares (Portugal) Stephane Lasme (Miami Heat)	Nikola Pekovic (Panathinaikos) Milt Palacio (Khimky) Dusan Kecman (Panathinaikos) Dejan Borovnjak (Vojvodina)
GERMANY	Arrivals	Departures
ALBA Berlin Budget: 7.5M€	Adam Chubb (Artland Dragons) Steffen Hamann (Brose Baskets) Rashad Wright (Efes Pilsen) Ansu Sesay (AJ Milano) Casey Jacobsen (Memphis Grizzlies) Dragisa Drobnjak (Krka)	Goran Nikolic (Panionios) Phillipp Heyden (Ludwigsburg) Dijon Thompson (Azovmash) Aleksandar Rasic (Partizan) Mladen Pantic (?) Goran Jeretin (BC Kiev) Bobby Brown (Sacramento Kings) Nico Simon (Ehingen)
ULEB CUP WINNER	Arrivals	Departures
DKV Joventut	Sito Alonso (head coach) Luka Bogdanovic (Le Mans) Simas Jasaitis (TAU) Henk Norel (return from loan: Alicante) Pops Mensah-Bonsu (Benetton) Bracey Wright (Aris)	Rudy Fernandez (Portland Trailblazers) Jerome Moiso (Khimky) Lubos Barton (Barcelona) Dmitry Flis (Lleida)Aito Garcia Reneses (Spain NT)

ACB remains leader in attendance

UPDATE (16/6/2008): BallinEurope checked the attendance figures of the different European leagues and has compiled some stats based on the averages. We didn’t see any big surprises, as Spanish ACB still tops the list.

Read more

The BallinEurope playoff round-up

As the playoffs are running across Europe, BallinEurope will give you some regular updates about series in the different countries and the stories that you don’t read in the box scores.

Read more

Monday’s cigarettes

The playoffs have begun and there are already big surprises in various European leagues.

Read more