BallinEurope, the European Basketball news site

Episode number (sexy and) 17 of the Taking the Charge podcast series is now online. Admittedly, BallinEurope and heinnews deviate a bit from the Continental hoops with this show’s emphasis on Asia. However, our return interview with Jon Pastuszek of China-based NiuBball is certain to be of interest to any fan worth his/her salt. Get the lowdown on the progress of a number of notables playing in or coming from the big country, including:

• Tracy McGrady, he who wanted to increase the potency of his brand with the Qingdao Eagles;

• Now three-year CBA veteran Stephon Marbury;

• Gilbert “Agent Zero” Arenas (and yeah, BiE’s still using that moniker under the believe that, when one prolifigates one’s own nickname, one is stuck with it forever);

• Quincy Douby, formerly of Rutgers, the Sacramento Kings and UCAM Murcia, who recently set the CBA record with 75 points in a single game;

• Charles Gaines, who contributed a 60-point, 29-rebound performance for the opposition in Douby’s record effort; Continue Reading…

Seriously hardcore readers of BallinEurope (plus possibly Azusa Pacific University alums and Armenians) may faintly recall the name Mike Danielian. Danielian nicely pumped up his CV with his play in the Fifth Pan Armenian Games in Yerevan, capping the show with a ridiculous 49-point performance for the L.A. side in the championship basketball game.

Good news for Danielian today then, as his signing with German club SG MTV/BG 93 Wolfenbüttel (or “Wolfenbüttel” for “short”) was announced. Congratulations go out to Mike from BallinEurope!

Official press release (and video) follows.

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For longtime readers of BallinEurope, here’s a brief trip down Memory Lane … we’ll call these “Tuesday cigarettes,” a collection of quotes, links and YouTubes (especially YouTubes) focused on the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Inhale and enjoy!

• Team Russia head coach David Blatt, who “was one of those kids crying when the American team lost the game in the Olympics when [Sergei] Belov made the shot at the end after the three replays,” weighs in on the 1972 Olympics at True Hoop … and reaches a surprising conclusion.

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With just days to go before 2010 NBA Draft. BallinEurope’s man in the U.K., Sam Chadwick is frantically formulating and reformulating his mock draft board. Today, Chadwick forecasts the first 15 choices in round two, including his homeboy/new best buddy Ryan Richards…

31. New Jersey Nets: Jerome Jordan (7’1”, C, Tulsa, Senior). New Jersey picks up another big man to come off the bench behind Lopez, giving the Nets a starting unit of Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, Chris Douglas-Roberts, prospective no. 3 overall pick Derrick Favors and Lopez, with a second unit of a free-agent PG, Terrico White, Terrance Williams, Yi Jianlian and Jordan.

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BallinEurope today presents round two of our 2010 NBA Draft mockup; there’s a pleasing European accent to the list, with the big Belarusian Artsiom Parakhouski figuring to go in this round (see to whom in this projection and quiver) and the tantalizing possibility of Kevin Seraphin potentially becoming the 12th French player in the NBA.

And then there’s Ryan Richards. Much to the chagrin of BiE’s man in the U.K., Sam Chadwick, Richards seems personally hellbent on proving wrong those who, ahem, assessed him as just another European designed to waste away on NBA benches.

In any event, we present the official BallinEurope 2010 NBA mock draft 2.0 round two below. Round one can be found here.

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In case you haven’t heard, Partizan Belgrade pulled off a wicked 67-66 upset of FC Barcelona this week to end another notable winning streak while creating an instant classic. In other news, the NBA All-Star Game is bearing down full steam ahead and the hype machine appears to be set for full blast come Monday. So guess what this week’s “Best of the (Basketball) Net” is about? Read on!

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Mickael: Baller, blogger, gravity-defier

Quite the busy week in basketball land this week, eh? Even if you did follow the slew of happenings over this seven days – the opening weeks of Euroleague and Eurocup Final 16 play, the naming of NBA All-Star teams, FC Barcelona’s streak ending in the ACB, the Greg Oden and Paul Shirley scandals, as well as the usual highlight-reel play from LeBron James and Kobe Bryant – surely some stuff from the bloated blogosphere and cram-packed interweb escaped even the most thorough web surfer’s notice.

A few stories and videos for your week-ending amusement follow.

• The best player blog to follow out there right now is probably Pete Mickael’s. Not only does Mickael manage to regularly post two to four entries per month, his entries are well-written, insightful and thoughtful; Mickael may comment on the state of Euroleague attendance, the Gilbert Arenas flap, living in Europe, or just plain playing ball in the ACB and Euroleague. This week’s post features his take on the Valencia-FC Barcelona game: Barça’s first loss in 26 games.

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Got time on this Sunday? Great to hear it! Ball in Europe has a nice handful of video clips and stories to guide your surfing with another edition of “Best of the (Basketball) Net.”

Buzzing on the interwebs this week in stories not involving a certain bunch of Washington Wizards were Euroleague, FIBA, FCB, and NBA play. We recap, you enjoy (we hope) … happy Sunday!

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“When it’s all said and done Dirk will end up being the greatest European basketball player to ever play in the NBA, if he isn’t already.” So ran the tangential line from within a story at Bleacher Report entitled “A New Decade: A New Future.”

Though this contention is taken for granted in the U.S., in this instance the mention of Nowitzki’s preeminence was a stopper. Perhaps it was the prospect of reading more on the really very awful New Jersey Nets or just the simple acknowledgement of a mostly utterly non-clutch player (in the NBA) as the league’s finest ever, but such a premise deserves further inspection.

To the straight-up statistics first – we’ll talk intangibles and relative career success a bit further on – shows one monster compilation of stats indeed. Nowitzki’s career highlights in the NBA include:

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(image courtesy SITV.com)

Who wants more Gilbert Arenas? Hey, who doesn’t? But after Agent Zero shut down his Washington Post-hosted “Gilbert’s Blog” last year, internet missives from probably the greatest jock-blogger ever have been non-existent and Arenas himself has kept a low public profile.

Yesterday, however, Zero’s fellow Washington Wizard JaVale McGee went on Twitter to state that Arenas will again indulge in tweeting – if he reaches 1,000,000 followers (a mark which should heretofore forever be known as “The Ashton Kuchter Line”) *first*.

Right, then, Ball in Europe readers: Your mission is clear. Go here, follow the Wizard and hope that magic Kuchner line is approached. (As of this writing, the dude has only 2,171 followers – time to break out the European support, eh?

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