Euroleague: Asseco Prokom Sopot, Poland

For some reason, it is hard to find people that like basketball in Poland. We have been trying to establish a contact in Poland for two years now, but nobody really seems to care.

My journey took me from Rome, Italy to Gdynia, Poland which is not even five kilometers away from the Asseco Prokom arena - well do they have an arena?! I have really tried to get in contact with any Sopot official to get a media credential so I can get a view on the team and talk about it.

After writing several unanswered emails and probably even as much phone calls, I did finally get an response that I have to follow the rules of the Polish league and Euroleague to be able to get credentials (If anybody speaks Polish - let me know!)

Now for the fans - each team gives away the credentials for each game during the normal play of the Euroeleague. I never had problems with getting to cover games for our readers - nowhere in the Euroleague and not even to cover NBA finals - but in Prokom for some reason it seems to be a problem.

We will se how it goes since I really wanted to live blog the game next week of Asseco at home. Any response from a Sopot official will be highly appreciated.

Overall record prediction: 3-7

So how about the team. Since I had to wait to see some play of Asseco until now, when Sopot plays against Siena, this is our last preview of all the 24 Euroleague teams.

I do remember Ronny Burrell and Koko Archibong from Germany, where Burrell played for Cologne two seasons ago and was pretty impressive in the Euroleague. Koko was with Bamberg that year and then went to play for Frankfurt, where he was injured for a long time. Both get some help - well major help from David Logan, who is probably the main scorer on the team, along with Daniel Ewing who totally failed to prove he is an important player during the game against Montepaschi.

A few days ago Asseco announced the new signing of Pat Burke, and Irish guy who also played in the NBA a few years ago - as the Euroleague TV announcer calls it - unsuccessful.

Overall Prokom has a good group of players that will play mainly American basketball, since this is all they have to offer - run and gun with many three pointer - even Pat Burke made a three in the game against Montepaschi Siena.

In a group where Barcelona, Panthinaikos and Siena are waiting, it will be hard to steal a win against one of the big guys. Prokom will have to win both games against Zalgiris and even try to get the first home win next week agains Rod Benson and SLUC Nancy.

Final Four participants: FC Barcelona, CSKA Moscow, Panathinaikos, Siena

Final Four winner: FC Barcelona

Euroleague: Zalgiris Kaunas, Lithuania

What would we do without Jonas? Without Jonas, we would not have been able to give our shirt of our EuroGuy vs. Ramunas Siskauskas (see the logo) to Ramunas himself at the Final Four in Madrid this past summer. Jonas has always been a true friend to BallinEurope and has sent in many reports and previews from Lithuania. We are very happy to call Jonas and basketnews.lt our friend.

Once again, he will give his view on Zalgiris Kaunas.

Overall record prediction: 5-5

Zalgiris Kaunas made some strong movements in players market this summer. They resigned Jonas Maciulis and Paulius Jankunas for contract extensions that were highly unlikely after last season. Both players were said to be too expensive for Zalgiris, but team gave players what they wanted. Maciulis (800k euro per season) became all time best paid Lithuanian league player. Huge amount of money (750k euro) was spent for Loren Woods, who came back from NBA to sign a two year contract. Kaunas lost its most charismatic player in DeJuan Collins and signed former ULEB Cup scoring machine Willie Deane. The game pace with new point guard changes dramatically. Willie is athletic guard who promises to show some Top10 worth dunks. Marcus Brown stays after last season, but at the moment he is the only 2 guard in Zalgiris. Marko Popovic left and no one is still found to replace him. Mantas Kalnietis was supposed to take his place, but got injured and will be out until mid-November.

Zalgiris seems to be extremely strong in the paint, with Ratko Varda and Eurelijus Zukauskas coming of the bench and Woods playing in starting 5. But one (or more) guards should be added as soon as possible in order to compete in Euroleague.

Final Four participants: Montepaschi, CSKA, Olympiakos, Barcelona.

Final Four winner: Montepaschi Siena

written by Jonas Mikolvas

Euroleague: Cibona Zagreb, Croatia

To give you the preview on Cibona Zagreb, there was only one address we could ask. Not because there is nobody else but Karlo Dzeverlija is considered as the main reference about Croatian basketball. He is the author of kosarka.hr (crobasket.com) and also the editor in chief of Basketball magazine “Croatian basketball”.

Overall record prediction: 4-6

After the complete failure in the 2007-08 campaign, Cibona made it clear that big changes are about to happen. But after the worst season in recent club history, Cibona remained standing on its old foundations (without significant changes in the club management), while it was only the roster that suffered the majority of changes. But let’s face it, renewing the bigger part of last season’s roster is something Cibona repeats every summer.

The club prolonged the contract with Marin Rozic prior to adding a trio of Croatian National Team players - Davor Kus, Nikola Prkacin and Branimir Longin. Croatian NT power forward Damir Markota also signed a deal with Cibona, but he forced the club to release him after he voluntarily failed to show up for the trip to St. Peterburg. At the same time, Cibona struggled with another runaway - American PG Earl Calloway - who returned to the US without telling anyone in the club. Calloway eventually returned to the team after a ten-day absence so Cibona managed to overcome its first, early crisis.

In the meantime, Cibona added Rawle Marshall, who’ll present a serious shooting danger from the perimeter, while Markota was replaced by Jared Homan only a week before the start of the new Euroleague season.

The biggest positive change as opposed to last season happened on the bench, where Ivan Sunara was replaced by Velimir Perasović as the new head coach. The European basketball fans know him well as once a fantastic scorer for Jugoplastika Split and Taugres or as head coach of Spanish clubs TAU Cerámica and Estudiantes more recently. “To play modern basketball you need aggressive players, guys who can play in high tempo both offensively and defensively”, Peras said back at the start of training camp, revealing his preference for aggressive defense. That should be the trademark of Cibona this season.

What does Cibona expect?

All-time highest club budget (estimation - about four million euros) has secured a quality nucleus of the team. But short bench might prevent Cibona from achieving a surprisingly good result in the Euroleague. Same as every year, the club counts on no more than advancing to Top 16, which is a realistic goal. The focus will be on the regional Adriatic League, where Cibona needs to finish in front of Zadar. That way Cibona would earn more points from the ULEB and secure another contract with the Euroleague. That is the club’s primary goal of the season. On the other hand, the fact that its budget is really big for Croatian standards (twice the budget of No.1 competitor Zadar) means that winning the Croatian championship and national cup is the ultimate goal. Basically same as every year.

Assessment?

In spite of sudden roster improvisations late in the preparation period, Cibona has the right to aim at advancing to Euroleague Top 16 in front of Air Avellino and Le Mans. Club’s history, experience in the Euroleague, hostile home court and eventually the concentration of quality players is what gives Cibona the advantage of the Italian and French representatives in Euroleague’s Group A. Four or five victories in the first group stage seem to be a reasonable ambition when you have favorites such as Olympiakos, Unicaja and Maccabi in the group as well.

Final Four participants: Panathinaikos, CSKA, Olympiakos, FC Barcelona

Euroleague winner: Panathinaikos

written by Karlo Dzeverlija

Euroleague: Armani Jeans Milano, Italy

Dario Marra has already written a great preview of his home town team from Roma. He also offered to send us his view on Armani Jeans Milano, which we are really appreciating. Dario and his team at basketcentral has helped us a lot as we can only tell you to visited their web site a lot this year since all eyes will be on Brandon Jennings and the Lega A, which will be covered by basketcentral.

Basketcentral will also supply us with news in English soon, so anybody who is interested in the Italian league has to add this site to his RSS feed or at least bookmark list.

Overall record prediction: 4-6

There’s a thin red line between Rome and Milan. Why? Well, not just because those are the most important (and biggest) cities in Italy, but mostly because during the summer the Armani’s (since July the new official owner of Milano) best player, David Hawkins (28 pts, 10/12 fg in the first victory against Scavolini Pesaro), came straight from Rome, along with the new AJ assistant coach Guido Saibene. You can add some other stories, like Piero Bucchi, the new Armani coach, who spent two years and and a half in Rome, or Dejan Bodiroga, who was an incredible player for the old Sefanel Milano and now is Lottomatica’s GM.

All nice stories, but Milano-Roma will mean, as usual, one the biggest rivalries in Italy, with Armani Jeans trying to get back to the glorious past with a new front office and a completely new roster.

The most important players of the last season have left: Gallinari is enjoying New York, while Watson, Booker, Sesay, Shaw are now playing for different teams (actually Booker is even thinking about retirement…). The only confirmed player was Mindaugas Katelynas (Massimo Bulleri started last season in Milano but ended in Virtus Bologna): the Lithuanian will be the back up PF of Mike Hall jr. The American player  from George Washington likes to play like a small forward, enjoys 3p shooting, without giving any inside presence and was very disappointing during this first part of the season. Right now, he’s the biggest question mark in Bucchi’s roster, who’ll certainly enjoy the good defensive attitude of his group: David Hawkins (if he wants to…) is an ace as a deffensive stopper, while Mordente (who came from Treviso), Jobey Thomas (last season in Montegranaro) and Rocca usually give a great effort on the deffensive end.

Beside those, the point guard’s spot looks promising: Luca Vitali, after a great season in Montegaranaro, he  showed all his potential by leading a big team like Milano and will share minutes with Massimo Bulleri, who had many ups and downs during the last three seasons. Another option might be Yhoann Sangare, who has yet to crack the rotation.

The front court has many options (Mike Hall, Katelynas, Pape Sow and Rocca) but none of them has the attitude to play the low post game, while they’re very good in rebounding and playing both pick and roll (Rocca) and pick and pop (Katelynas, Hall). Sow will help with his athleticism but has to improve with staying focused on both ends.

The first game against Pesaro has shown the best and worst of this team: Milano has few players who can create their own shots on a regular basis (Hawkins and Thomas, great in catch and shoot and in playing off the screens), but many players know how to fight for a win and there is a nice italian core (Bulleri, Vitali, Mordente, Rocca), which will certainly help coach Bucchi. The only doubt, eventually, is the amount of talent of the team (and how the team fits together on the offensive end), which might be a problem especially at the Euroleague level. As the new front office has said many times this team is not built up to wins right now and surely it’s not ready to fight for the final victory at the European level, but gaining the access to the top 16 should be a normal target for a team which has won 9 international titles…

Final Four participants: Cska, Siena, Pana, Efes

Final Four Winner: Cska

written by Mario Darra

Euroleague: Montepaschi Siena, Italy

Francesco Cappelletti does not need an introduction anymore. Francesco works for Montepaschi Siena and has written many great articles for us, such as things about Brandon Jennings and league previews for Italy, Spain, Greece and Russia. This time, Francesco gives us his insight on “his” team - Montepaschi Siena.

Overall record prediction: 8-2

For a team had never faced the Euroleague until 2002, three Final Four appearances (Barcelona 2003, Tel-Aviv 2004, Madrid 2008) is a laudable result. But this is not the final stop because, in the words of last year’s Euroleague Executive of the Year, Ferdinando Minucci, “Siena is raising the bidding,” and is about to take its final step in the race to the Euroleague throne.

Critics say that Montepaschi is not improved its weakest point – small-sized power forwards and centers – but they don’t know how coach Pianigiani, despite a sad bottom ranking in rebounds, loves this type of roster, one not anchored to the paint and with a long backcourt rotation. This is why Siena did not land a player such as Marc Jackson, reaching agreement instead with a top-level in Domercant and the true MVP of 2007/2008 Serie A, Morris Finley. This duo provides Pianigiani of someone more dangerous than Ilievski and Thornton to attack man defenses, and takes some pressure off McIntyre and Kaukenas, two key players who have entered their 30s are coming off back-breaking seasons and serious injury.

However, Montepaschi remains the same at 8 of 10 spots: consistency that could be more relevant than a huge summer renewal, as shown by Olympiacos, Maccabi and CSKA. Even more, several are getting closer to their last chance to win a Euroleague title (McIntyre is 31, Stonerook is 31, Lavrinovic is 29, and Kaukenas is 32): another reason to consider Siena a favorite to win the championship.

If they have learned the lesson provided by Maccabi last year, and if the desire, ambition and – most of all – physical integrity are still the same, Siena can succeed despite the most difficult Italian domestic league field in five years, a certain energy drain for Montepaschi. But ask Minucci what championship he would rather win: No doubt he would answer Euroleague.

Final four participants: Montepaschi, Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, CSKA.

Final Four winner: Panathinaikos.

Euroleague: Olympiacos Piraeus, Greece

Akilas is another great guy who wrote his second preview for BallinEurope. I guess this season we will read much more of him, since Olympiacos has a promising team with National hero Papaloukas. No, my American friends, it is not Josh Childress - and even is he will average 30 points a game - Papaloukas will be the idol of Greece. Maybe this is why Akilas chose RED as the man color on his great blog. Thanks Akilas!

Overall record prediction: 8-2

Before Euroleague starts Olympiakos Piraeus seems able to return to the Euroleague Basketball Elite.
The financial transactions by the red team and especially the acquisition of Childress surprised not only the fans of the team who bought 9.000 season tickets, but also the NBA. The 9.000 season tickets is an extraordinary number for the Greek basketball and the officials of Olympiakos work hard to satisfy growing interest of the fans for more. The marketing department of the team has prepared a lot of surprises this year for everyone who will be in the Peace and Friendship Stadium.

The fact itself that the total budget of Olympiakos is estimated to be almost 33 million euros (approximately 26 million Euros only for expenses related to players) has raised great expectations but according to “All Star Basket” magazine only 40% of the total budget can be covered by the annual income.
Eight newcomers (Papaloukas, Childress, Erceg, Halperin, Milocevic, Pelekanos, Vujcic and Vougioukas) were signed this year for Olympiacos and together with Greer, Bourousis, Teodosic, Printezis, Vasilopoulos and Schortsanitis form one of the best rosters in Euroleague. The roster of Olympiakos is for a consecutive year a mixture of well-known players and of young players who are going to compose the core of the future team of Olympiakos. The coach Panagiotis Yannakis can now create a team that will reflect his philosophy and if we believe Theodoros Papaloukas the dominant element of Olympiacos will be the tough defense.
We can’t assess the performances of the team during preseason games because a lot of players couldn’t play due to their participation in the Qualifying rounds for the Eurobasket.

At the moment, Olympiakos doesn’t seem to be ready and is obviously affected by its brand new roster and its absences. Fortunately the draw for the regular season was very good for Olympiakos but the fact that Olympiakos is not ready yet, combined with its difficult programme in the beginning of the first round can endanger the lead for Group A.

Nevertheless, in the long run these problems might very well be solved  and success be achieved. If Olympiakos fails to participate in the 2009 Final Four in Berlin, the team European will suffer a big blow with unknown consequences.

Final Four participants: CSKA, Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, Real, Barcelona

Final Four winner: CSKA Moscow

written by Akilas

Euroleague: Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv, Israel

Just as last year we got our man Yarone Arbel from Israel on BallinEurope, presenting us his unique view on Maccabi. If you have been on BallinEurope and even read some stuff Yarone Arbel sent us to publish here, you will be more than happy to read his preview and expectations he has in Maccabi this year. Yarone is well known as one of the best basketball journalists throughout Europe and we are happy to have him on BallinEurope.

Overall record prediction: 6-4

Very few teams in Europe can make it to three big finals in one season and still consider that season as a huge failure. That was the case with the 2008 Maccabi that managed to lose all three finals, the most aching one was a one point loss to newcomers Hapoel Holon in the Final Four of the Israeli league. That was the first time since 1993 and the second since 1969 Maccabi didn’t win that title. It’s still a debate for some which was the “real face” of Maccabi last year – the team that made it to the Euroleague finals and came 20 minutes from the title, or the team that lost more domestic league games than any other Maccabi team in the history and eventually finished a season with no titles.

For some the 2008 Maccabi was the worst team in a Euroleague finals since AEK Athens in 1998 (and those two are probably the worst ever), but that only shows how strong and unbelievable is the tradition of this club. Walking around the Final Four media center in 2007, trying to figure out from the best specialist and journalists what brought Maccabi to the finals resulted in 99% the answer and it had nothing to do with basketball skills or tactics - “It’s Maccabi…” they said and such answer basically says both everything and nothing.

Welcome to the 2009 version. This is a totally new Maccabi team. In so-so-so-so many ways. First, after more than 40 years, Elite is no longer the Maccabi sponsor. Get used to Maccabi Electra. Next, Moni Fanan, the legendary team manager in the past 15 years, is no longer with the team due to disagreements with other forces in the team. If you were ever at a Maccabi game, home or road, you couldn’t miss a short, mostly bold guy, almost always dressed in black that jumps like crazy on the bench and sometimes even on the court. That was Moni, and one of Maccabi’s symbols is now gone. His replacement is former player and Euroleague champ Gur Shelef, who even as a player didn’t jump as high as Moni did on the bench, which says it all about the totally different approach he brings. With that in mind, it’s time for some real basketball discussion.

On the bench you’ll see a new face – Head Coach Effi Birenboim finally got the most prestigious chair in Israeli basketball. Very few know him in Europe, but in Israel he’s very famous and respected, known only by his first name – Effi. He coached everywhere but Maccabi and his teams were over-achievers many times. A veteran coach who is a real basketball animal. Very emotional and active during the games, with his players but also with the refs. Often you will see him jump on the people in orange, sometimes even “asking” for a technical that would hopefully wake up his players. Most times it works. He has a great sense for his players and for the game. The fact he has never coached in such level would probably stand against him in the first games, and expect Maccabi not to be a great road team this year, as the case is usually with “virgin” Euroleague coaches, but if Maccabi’s bosses will have the patience, they could earn a great coach that until this summer was famous most of all for being the strongest opposition to Maccabi’s dominance in the local scene. Oh, one more thing. Effi is also the only Israeli coach ever to beat Ettore Messina, and who cares it was around 15 years ago.

On court it’s what you won’t see that is the big news. For the first time in six years Nikola Vujcic won’t wear Yellow. The most Israeli foreigner in Maccabi’s history had to depart as he became too expensive for a club that isn’t as rich as many people in Europe think. Yotam Halperin is also gone as well as Marcus Fizer (Still not recovered from his injury last season so Maccabi cut him), Will Bynum, Vonteego Cummings, Alex Garcia and David Bluthenthal.

To take their spot arrived seven new players – Dror Hagag got his first chance in Maccabi and will be the back up point guard. Center Yaniv Green came back after one year in the cold Russian team from Samara. The rest are foreigners.

PG Carlos Arroyo, PF Rodney White, C/PF D’or Fischer, SF/SG/PF Jason Williams and SG/SF Tre Simmons. What they have in common? No Euroleague experience at all (if you ignore three games of Arroyo for Tau back in 2002…). How would that effect them is yet to be known, but it doesn’t sound like a good start.

Arroyo signed the biggest contract in Maccabi’s history – around 2.3 million USD, and he’s going to be the main barometer of the team. He’s the boss, the leader, the man that calls the shots, even if it’s an NBA range 3pt shot out-of-nowhere sometimes in his case. As any Puerto Rican, well maybe other than PJ Ramos, he likes to first of all run, and this is going to be the face of Maccabi this year. When Arroyo and Maccabi will execute their running game it will be difficult to stop them and very nice to watch. When not…things will be a little bit more complicated.

Simmons arrives after two great season in Israel. His experience outside the holy land in Paok and Gran Canarias, weren’t of the good type, and so far he struggles in Maccabi as well, and could be cut soon unless he finds the way to score again. Williams played for Effi in Bnei HaSharon the past two years and will take the spot of Garcia – an energetic player that can play in many positions, not the most skilled around but plays tough with big energy.

Rodney White arrives from China after playing already in ACB and LEGA2 where he most of the time showed some of the reasons that made him a 9th pick in the NBA draft, but his adjustment to Maccabi is slow, and don’t be shocked if White will need to find a new team somewhere around November/December. Fischer was the MVP of the league in Belgium as well as the top rebounder and shot blocker. For the Euroleague he’s a decent back up inside player who can hit the jumper and finish around the rim but shows no post up game. As long as he brings the blocks, rebounds and some points Maccabi would be happy with him.

The ones who did survive from last season are Tal Burstein, who after two years of long injuries, finally opens the season with his team-mates. The everlasting Derrick Sharp, who showed in the semi-finals vs. Montepaschi how dangerous he can still be in his age (37 – 13th season in Maccabi), Esteban Batista who doesn’t seem to be on top of Effi’s favorite players but is still a big force in the paint most Euroleague teams would like to have and two local forwards with a dream to be the first Israeli in the NBA – Omri Casspi and Lior Eliyahu. The first showed already last season his potential but only in few games or short stretches of the game. This year he’ll need to show he has some more offensive tools and more consistency to prove he can be more than a very hard nosed energetic and athletic player. Eliyahu spent most of the past season on the bench and would try to use this one to re-establish his spot.

Expect Maccabi to be a strong home team, and so-so on the road. A team that will try to run a lot and will have difficulties on the set game, when needed to think. Maccabi should easily make it to the Top16, and from there it’s all about the draw. Their legacy should make the difference to bring them to the Top8 and nothing more than that.

In the Euroleague there are four “divisions”. The first contains CSKA, Pao and Olympiacos – these giants can’t afford anything less than Final Four, and if they don’t then it’s earthquake time in European Basketball as it was last season with Pao. The following contains teams that really want to be in Berlin but could still show their face in public in case they don’t – All Spanish teams other than Joventut, Montepaschi, Maccabi and Efes. Two of them won’t make it even to the top eight, and that would be something these clubs can’t bare to imagine. Next are the teams that hope to make it to the quarter-finals but dare to dream of Berlin only if nobody is watching – Roma, Milano, Ulker, Partizan, Zalgiris, Cibona, Joventut. The rest will be satisfied with a Top16 spot.

For the second division, where Maccabi lays, it all breaks down to one cloudy noon after the Regular Season – the Top16 draw. If you get two of the three giants in your group and the parallel group, then your chances to make it to Berlin are close to none. The fourth team in Berlin would most likely come from the series which presents the team that topped the giant-free Top16 group. That would probably be the only “open battle” in the quarter-finals. If your team has a chance to play there depends on nothing but the Top16 draw, and that would be the case with Maccabi as well.

Final Four Participants: CSKA Moscow, Panathinaikos Athens, Olympiacos Piraeus, Montepaschi Siena/Efes Pilsen.

Final Four winner: Ballineurope.com (editor’s note: Thanks man!)

written by Yarone Arbel

Euroleague: Real Madrid, Spain

Alberto Notario publishes some of his articles for Basket-net.com, a web site, that “cares about the real basketball fan allover the world”. And this is really true. The web site actually publishes news in English as well as in Spanish - not too many European web sites do this up to this point. Alberto already sent us his preview for last season and we are happy to have him on board again, since Alberto covers European basketball for quiete a long time now and is one of the true experts in Europe.

Overall record prediction: 7-3

Time will tell, but Real Madrid’s pride has to get back in the European basketball scene. No problems, no aims, no mistakes for an historical team which has the second chance to complete his way to the Final Four. Back to zero and start again for a powerhouse which has only lifted one Euroleague trophy since 1980.

But it wont be easy. Real’s coach Joan Plaza has been criticized by the local fans during the summer and the preseason games results didn’t help so much to earn more respect. Acclaimed around the Spanish league, Plaza has enough credit to take part of the new “white” challenge. The team also has maintained the bench depth of the last year, including the retainings of Louis Bullock, the main scorer of the squad, or Felipe Reyes, the zone owner for the capitals.

Real Madrid’s new mission is well founded: be at the Final Four of Berlin in the next Spring. The summer addings of the ex-AEK american power-forward european star, Jeremiah Massey, the argentinian point guard ‘Pepe’ Sánchez and the forward Quinton Hosley, the last Turkish league sensation, where brilliant. Also, the back of the croatian international Marko Tomas after a good year in Fuenlabrada, gives to the European winningest club the authority to make true his dream about continental crown award.

The team roster is completed by the belgian warrior, Axel Hervelle, who probably has the chance to prove all of his 100% this season, after being involved in rumors of americas. Alex Mumbru, at the time, will have the same task coming of the bench: hard work and witness. Raúl López will have to compete with Sánchez for the starting lineup and also, at the guard, the teenager Sergi Llull will fight for respect.

At the frontcourt, Hamilton and Papadopoulos are back. First of them, product of an cruel injury, but the Greek is supposed to be rised from the ashes. Papadopoulos has prepared strong the last weeks and he looks more athletic and versatile. By the moment, the white giant has proved that his performance during the preseason has shown good feelings.

Probably, the starting five will be guied by ‘Pepe’ Sánchez as the titular PG, Louis Bullock at SF, Quinton Hosley at F and Massey (PF) & Reyes (C). A good and strong lineup that will defend the white honor during the next months.

After the last year disappointment, Real Madrid is searching again the correct way to get in Berlin. Plaza has another chance to lead the team to a new successful era but the departings, the player adding and the money doesn’t confirm the exit in the Euroleague, a competition where the heart, the experience and the strong work are valuable but doesn’t make miracles.

Final Four:

Winner: FC Regal Barcelona

written by Alberto Notario

Euroleague: Panathinaikos Athens, Greece

Drazen93 and scire10 first sound like some PlayStation3 nick name, but over the years we found out that basketball people in Greece give themselves nick names. I maybe should ask one day what the reason for this is.
Drazen and Scire have provided us with a great preview last season and do it again this year. We are glad to have the two guys, who run DoubleTeam.gr, with us again and give us their insight about the holy Panathinaikos.

Overall Record Prediction : 8-2

Last year offered Panathinaikos another title in the Greek League (the tenth in the last eleven years and the sixth in the row..) and another Greek Cup (the fourh in the row..), both of them versus the rival “enemies” of Olympiacos.. But the Euroleague experience (and the effort to make the “repeat”) turner into a nighmare at top16..This year the “greens” return with angry moods.. The aim is the same as every year.. To win the Greek League, the Greek Cup, to qualify to the final four (at least) and to win the Euroleague title (which would be the fifth during the last 13 years..)
So, this summer coach Obradovic (who renewed his contract for two more years) made some changes to the roster, always with the financial support of Pavlos and Thanasis Giannakopoulos (the club’s owners). Panathinaikos signed Nikola Pekovic (maybe the most promising center in Europe), Drew Nicholas (a “serial-killer” in the court and Euroleague’s first scorer in season ‘05-’06), Dusan Kecman (a remarkable defender and rebounder) and Dimitris Verginis (a very promising Greek guard). Forward Dusan Sakota returned to the team, after helping Panionios to qualify to Euroleague. Last but not least, Antonis Fotsis returned (for the third time) to the team that established him as one of the best European forwards..

Beyond them, there are: the four-time Euroleague Defensive Player of The Year (Dimitris Diamantidis), the guard with the highest IQ in Europe (Sarunas Jasikevicius), the very effective Vassilis Spanoulis, the precious Kostas Tsartsaris, the “multitool” Nikos Chatzivrettas, the very promising Stratos Perperoglou and of course the “nuclear weapon” Mike Batiste. Special mention has to be made to the captain Fragiskos Alvertis at his 19th continuous year at the club..

P.S. Don’t be suprised if Panathinaikos suddenly adds one more player to the roster..

Final 4 Predictions : Panathinaikos, CSKA Moscow, FC Barcelona, TAU Ceramica

Winner: Panathinaikos

written by Drazen93

Euroleague: Efes Pilsen, Turkey

Evin Demirel, from theglobalhook.blogspot.com, who worked with the Turkish National Team as a website translator in 2007, is our expert for Efes Pilsen this year. Evin has been a faithful reader from day one and has brought in some very interesting insights to BallinEurope.

Overall record prediction: 6-4

It’s not so much a Turkish takeover as an Anatolian reclamation project. Last year, Efes Pilsen, the face of Turkish basketball for the last two decades, attempted to reclaim its spot as Turkey’s premier pro team with a red, white and blue injection. Six Americans hit the hardwood for the team last fall. But, for a variety of reasons, they didn’t mesh well with the man who strode the sidelines, American coach David Blatt. The season ended in flames, as Efes failed to make the Turkish league finals for the first time since 1995. It also lost its last five games in the Euroleague’s Top 16 playoffs. So the team toned down the American blue and amped up the Turkish red and white.

This fall, six Turks take the floor for the team, and the man at the helm - coach Engin Ataman - happens to be the last, and only, coach to lead Efes Pilsen to a Euroleague Final Four. Eight years later, he takes over a team brimming with size, experience, and talent - a winning cocktail if ever there was one. Turks Kaya Peker and Kerem Gonlum bolster a front line starring Croat Mario Kasun, two years removed from employing his athletic frame with the Orlando Magic, and Greek Michalis Kakiouzis, a solid, if unspectacular, skillful center. Kakiouzis played on the Ataman-led Montepaschi Siena squad that took 3rd in the Euroleague in 2004.
Sharp-shooting Serbian Milos Vujanic, although plagued with knee injuries, still brings an impressive resume to Istanbul. He led the Euroleague in scoring five years ago. Efes fanatics will see a familiar face - the team’s prodigal son of sorts - the unquestionably talented, but still erratic swingman Cenk Aykol. If Aykol - who left the team after more than three years last December due to a spat with Blatt - can develop dervish-esque defense to accompany his smooth stroke, he will greatly strengthen Efes’ guard play.
Steady point man Ender Arslan enters his eight season with the team while Engin Atsur returns to the team after seven years. The solidly-built, defensive-minded guard looks to jump-start his career after a disappointing season at Benetton Treviso. Americans will once more play a vital role in this team’s fortunes, despite last year’s woes.

Look for veteran shooting guard Charles Smith to fill up the basket again as he did two years ago for Efes, when he averaged 12.2 ppg in the Turkish League. Flanking him is Bootsy Thornton, who helped Montespachi Siena to the Euroleague Final Four last year en route winning second-team All-League honors. On the wings waits Preston Shumpert, who scorched the nets to the tune of 17.7 ppg last year for rival Beşiktaş Cola Turka.

With eight new players this season - some new, and some old - Efes Pilsen hopes to once more find a winning formula under a hand that has mixed it before.

Final Four participants: FC Barcelona, DKV Joventut, Olympiacos , CSKA Moscow

Euroleague winner:

written by Evin Demirel

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