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Live chat: Panathinaikos vs. FC Barcelona in Euroleague 2012 third-place game
Right, here comes the live chat! In addition to the witty and pithy comments from BallinEurope and its readers, we’ll also be running some favorite Twitterers during the session as well. Join in the fun throughout the game … we’ll be here for the second game, too. Euroleague third-place game (FC Barcelona-Panathinaikos)
Notes from the Nike International Junior Tournament, day two
BallinEurope took in a couple of Nike International Junior Tournament games today – namely, Crvena Zvezda vs. Anadolu Efes and Lietuvos Rytas vs. FC Barcelona. A few brief impressions gleaned follow. • Early on, Crvena Zvezda appeared intimidated by Anadolu Efes, a much more physical team than the previous day’s opponent, FC Barcelona – but […]
Live blogging Euroleague Final Four 2012: FC Barcelona vs. Olympiacos
Right, so who gets to meet Kirilenko, Teodosic and the CSKA Moscow boys in the Euroleague championship game? FC Barcelona and Olympiacos will be duking it out for the privilege in about 15 minutes — does Olympiacos pull off the upset their rival Panathinaikos couldn’t or does Barcelona set up what has appeared to be […]
Eclipse watching: All-time records under threat at Euroleague Final Four 2012
For all the history/stat junkies out there – including myself, as BiE readers know – BallinEurope today takes a look at what all-time Euroleague Final Four records might fall this year … and some that seem unbreakable. • Under assault could be the all-time free-throw mark of 56 held by Nikos Galis. Galis set this […]
Notes from the Nike International Junior Tournament, day one
As befits tradition, the 2012 Nike International Junior Tournament is running in parallel with the Euroleague Final Four competition in Istanbul. Eight youth league teams are competing for the grand prize – and, individually speaking, to garner some attention from club scouts as each player’s career burgeons on the big stage. In the bigger picture, […]
Game changer? Pascual hints that Navarro is questionable for Olympiacos match
Euroleague pre-event press conferences are typically pretty blah stuff, with the same old rhetoric about team play, the competitors’ greatness, even matchups, defense wins championships, ad nauseum. However, among FC Barcelona coach Xavi Pascual’s loquacious enthusiasm, the Blaugrana leader did drop in one scintillating note. Said Pascual, “Juan Carlos Navarro’s fasciitis problems have returned. At […]
Bertomeu: Euroleague doesn’t need NBA players, system (Welllllll…)
BallinEurope heads out to Istanbul this morning to join the scene at this year’s Euroleague Final Four and start pumping out four days’ worth of steady reportage, historical stuff, stats, quotes, video, etc. But BiE figured he’d leave you temporarily with some gauntlet-throwing type stuff by EL CEO Jordi Bertomeu. In what became a widely […]
Report: Olympiacos’ Papadopoulos to miss Euroleague Final Four
As though the underdogs of the 2012 Euroleague Final Four needed more obstacles to bar the way to what would be the tournament’s biggest modern-era upset, here’s another. According to Talk Basket, center Lazaros Papadopoulos will not be suiting up for the Reds in the competition. Reports the site: “Papadopoulos hasn’t trained for days now […]
Euroleague trophy comes to Istanbul, makes like a tourist this week
Euroleague officials announced last night that one of professional basketball’s most aspiring-to bits of hardware had arrived in Istanbul last night, Naturally brought to the EL Final Four host city via Turkish Airlines – official sponsor of Euroleague basketball. (Although one assumes that the trophy is the traditional cup-like object held by a TA employee […]
Euroleague Final Four: The video preview
And this week … the Euroleague Final Four! To get things started, BallinEurope presents a roundup of highlight clips from the seasons-that-were of CSKA Moscow, FC Barcelona, Panathinaikos and Olympiacos. (Wow, BiE wonders every time upon looking at that list just how the big league could have ended up with a more scintillating Final Four: […]
Early nominee, Eurocentric buzzer-beater of the year: Juan Carlos Navarro hits half-courter before halftime
Oh, Señor Navarro … you’ve done it again. Long since known as one of Europe’s great clutch players, Juan Carlos produced some more heroics for FC Barcelona yesterday. In the Liga Endesa week 33 game against superpowered rivals Real Madrid, the hosting Blaugrana looked sluggish early and looked to be inevitably suffering from a nine-point […]
CSKA Moscow takes VTB United League title; first in history-making triple crown?
Congratulations go out from BallinEurope to the 2011-12 VTB United League champions – to the surprise of few, CSKA Moscow. The Red Army’s 74-62 victory over Unics Kazan in a rematch of last year’s final represents not only its second VTB championship in three seasons of the league’s existence, but the first title in a […]