Efes Pilsen 72
Euroleague 2010-11 groups set
Lebron who? Over here on The Continent, the biggest basketball news today is all about the pingpong balls which determined the groups for the 2010-11 Euroleague season. The 22 teams that have qualified for Euroleague play have been divvied up into the four groups who will duke it out in the regular season. Without further […]
Devotion down 3.5 percent: Final 2009-10 Euroleague attendance figures
During the 2009-10 Euroleague season, one of the most watched statistics was totally off-court; with financial stress pervasive throughout The Continent, most European basketball franchises prepared for the worst and tightened belts in expectation of lower turnouts. And once all was said and done, the results were … mixed. With last season’s biggest draw Alba […]
With new Turkish law, will Efes Pilsen be tossed aside like an empty can?
Teams all over Europe are fighting off economic realities and in some cases are installing desperate plans to keep their clubs afloat. But Turkey’s most celebrated team, Efes Pilsen Istanbul, may soon be closing due to public health legislation. A bill currently being mulled over by Turkish legislators would make sweeping changes to alcohol and […]
Representing the Continent in the 2010 Nike Hoop Summit
Portland, Oregon, will tomorrow see the tipoff of the 2010 Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, a showcase event featuring 20 of the world’s greatest youth basketball players going head-to-head in the 11th annual match between USA and “World” teams. As the official site and concomitant PR material likes to point out, the Nike Hoop Summit […]
The Frank Euroleague roundup: Top 16 finales
Better late than never (totally BiE’s fault, let me tell you) comes Ball in Europe’s dispatch from Francesco Cappelletti rounding up the week that was in Euroleague basketball. For your amusement and edification, Francesco discusses, among other topics, the Terrell McIntyre Backup Curse, which teams should sweep into the Final Four, why Maccabi Tel Aviv […]
SportingBet lines and odds for final Euroleague Top 16 games (advertorial)
Nice of the Euroleague to stack up nearly every game in the last round of the Top 16 on one night, eh? Sheesh, this is worse (or better, depending on viewpoint) than the weekend following the All-Star Game in the NBA. Of the seven games on the slate, six will still help shape the final […]
Ten spots filled for Jordan Brand Classic; two each to Turkey, France, Serbia
Another Jordan Brand Classic Camp is in the books, wrapping in Istanbul, Turkey, yesterday. The camp saw 40 European players dueling on the court (and, in a serious sign of our times, apparently also in media relations) over eight days – including an all-day “presser” – in order to gain an invite to the prestigious […]
The Frank Euroleague roundup: Top 16, week four
The critical week four of Euroleague Top 16 action is in the books, but Ball in Europe’s man in Italy, Francesco Cappelletti, is still musing on the shifts ‘n’ events thanks to these eight games. This week’s frank roundup wishes Panathinaikos bye-bye, gives mucho deserved props to Pini Gershon, and bestows an “accolade” upon Zabian […]
State of the nations: European basketball organizations today
While not interested in passing definitive judgment, we think it would be useful and fair to take a look at the European basketball panorama. There will be no ratings or rankings here, just a snapshot of what the most important ballin’ countries offer us. Ten years into the third millennium, it’s common to hear repeated […]
Bet365 lines and odds for Euroleague Final 16 week two matchups
Five games are on the Euroleague slate tonight; five outcomes are left to fate and more than one interesting storyline already unfolds in 2010. The feature matchup this evening, as far as oddmakers at Ball in Europe sponsor Bet 365 are concerned at least, would be Montepaschi at Istanbul. Efes Pilsen is one of three […]
Teodosic Euroleague player of the month; first great player of the '10s?
This season has already been seen as a “Next Level” step for the 22-year-old and with Euroleague officials of naming him Player of the Month for January 2010, the confirmation of Milos Teodosic as the first great new star of the ‘10s is here. After the youngster was named to the Eurobasket 2009 All-Tournament Team, […]
On the eve of the Top 16, revisiting Euroleague outright winner odds
Now that the Euroleague field has been thinned, Ball in Europe takes a brief look back at how well esteemed the favorites of fall 2009 are looking now. Similarly to the NBA situation going into 2009-10, the Euroleague field in October appeared to be a group of haves and have-nots with but a half-dozen favorites […]