Four-armed player with first win in EuroCup 2008/2009

On opening night of the newly created EuroCup, Lietuvos Rytas beat ASVEL Villeurbanne easily, 95-74, in front of 7500 spectators and Euroleague CEO Jordi Bertomeu. Matthew Nielsen is no longer playing for the Lithuanians, as he signed a new deal with Pamesa Valencia and will probably leave in the next days.

The story of the game, however, was the first-ever four-armed player to be used in an official competition. You may think that we have drunk too much Svyturys and/or Stumbras, but check out the picture below to believe what we say.

Picture had to be deleted - so if you haven’t seen it - you won’t understand the story. bite.lt, according to Roman von krepsinis.net, stole the picture from them.

It’s no surprise that Zalgiris fans are now crying again and claiming that the ULEB should take a closer look at this case and not allow stereoids or other doping methods in order to give an unfair advantage to their eternal rivals from Vilnius. We’ll follow this case very closely here at BallinEurope.com…

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.

Carlos Delfino makes his way to Europe

It looks like the Toronto Raptors are this year’s NBA club to deal with European players and clubs. Roko Ukic joins the team, Jorge Garbajosa leaves the team: While Jose Calderon re-signs in Toronto for the Raptors, Carlos Delfino will leave the Raptors for a new adventure in Russia.

Delfino signed a three-year deal with BC Khimki, a team slated to participate in the new Eurocup. Yes, the Eurocup, not the Euroleague.

I’m not sure what has been promised to Carlos, but to make him join a team that does not even play in the highest league in Europe, BC Khimki must have come up with something special - like $$$ or even better some major €€€. (Rumored, in fact, to be €8.5 million over three years.)

Carlos signed for three years with the club, although this will not be his first time in Europe; Carlos has already spent a few seasons in Italy.

Here is Carlos’ reason to come to Europe again:

“I really wanted to return to Europe. Khimki is an ambitious club that will soon become one of the strongest in Europe. I will do my best to make it possible.” (via eurocupbasketball.com)

Additional note: The NBA should no longer have an NBA Europe. The Raptors spent too much time in Europe - Everybody wants to play here now!