Jonas Valanciunas 91
Euroleague Qualifying Round bullets: First round
With Qualifying Round victories achieved by Cibona Zagreb, Lietuvos Rytas, Alba Berlin and Belgacom Spirou – and BallinEurope congratulates each potential Euroleague team for surpassing this first step – four other games go off tonight. For your amusement and edification, then, BallinEurope presents a collection of highlight clips, quotes, previews and notes for of games […]
Jonas Valanciunas plays first two games for Lietuvos Rytas (yes, highlight clips included)
For all those interested – ahem, Toronto Raptors fans – no. 5 overall 2011 NBA draft pick Jonas Valančiūnas donned his #17 jersey for Lietuvos Rytas twice this week in a pair of exhibition games against Belgian side and fellow Euroleague qualifying round contenders Charleroi Spirou. In the first day of the back-to-back games (and […]
Official Fearless Predictions™: Spain vs. Slovenia, Lithuania vs. FYR Macedonia
Now things are getting interesting. Eight teams remain in EuroBasket 2011, and tonight two will be eliminated from contention for the European championship. These teams will join with the losing teams of Thursday play in a playoff round to determine the all-important no. 5 and no. 6 finishers; this two sides will join nos. 3 […]
Profile: Enes Kanter, Utah Jazz' no. 3 overall draft pick
With Team Turkey bounced from Eurobasket 2011, BallinEurope’s Sam Chadwick takes a brief look back at the play of prospective Utah Jazz big man Enes Kanter during the tournament — and a look forward to speculate on what he can do in the NBA. Will he be a Al Horford type? Can he compete against […]
Eurobasket 2011 round two: Impressions, links, notes and highlights
With just two days (and one game per team) remaining in 2011 EuroBasket round two, BallinEurope takes a brief look at some issues and trends going down in the tournament – plus links and YouTubes, of course. Read on for quips, quotes and clips. • Importance of remaining games. Of six games left to play, […]
EuroBasket power rankings, post round one edition
The 2011 FIBA EuroBasket tournament gets things started again today, after the 12 advancing teams get in a couple days’ worth of hard-earned rest. With the dust now settled, BallinEurope takes a look at how the dozen sides look going into the second round of play (numbers in parentheses represent each team’s win-loss record brought […]
Rapping about Jonas Valanciunas
Naturally, everyone in basketball-rabid Lithuania has their own favorite on the national team, but the overwhelming devotion attractor right now is unquestionably Jonas Valanciunas. As the future of Lithuanian basketball itself – he’s six years and one month younger than the next most junior member of the national team – it’s not too much of […]
Eurobasket 2011: News, notes and clips going into day five
After a bit of a free day (not 100%, though, BiE can assure you) for BallinEurope, we get back in the game – so to speak – with a few notes, links and of course YouTubes for your perusal before FIBA EuroBasket games tip off today. • BiE’s games of the day? Today, Spain-Lithuania; tomorrow, […]
Reflections after EuroBasket day one
Though only one day of the 2011FIBA EuroBasket tournament is in the books, it’s never too early to make some kneejerk reactions, right? While a few suspenseful games played out last night, most prognosticators were certainly able to score a 12-0 record in picking winners in first-day games. (BallinEurope went 11-1, but that’s only due […]
Live blogging Eurobasket 2011: Great Britain vs. Lithuania
So, what to look for in this game? BallinEurope sat in one some of the Great Britain practice session today and must say the team looked pretty loose, but will imperviousness to pressure be enough? After all, the specter of the missing Ben Gordon (and, as Ogo Adegboye pointed out to BiE yesterday, Pops Mensah-Bonsu) […]
Eurobasket opener bullets: Pnini vs. Dirk, Spain's competition, Kanter's rust, more
Hours remain until Eurobasket 2011 tips off here in Lithuania. As a warmup this morning, BallinEurope brings a roundup of some chatter from around the world regarding the big tournament; in ESPN TrueHoop tradition, we’ll bring it bullet-style. • Poor Israel, one of the more unheralded teams in the tournament … not only are they […]
Eurobasket 2011: A brief roundup
On the eve of Eurobasket 2011 (finally), BallinEurope’s man in the U.K., Sam Chadwick, makes his own version of BiE’s patented Fearless Predictions™ with his own brief take on the tournament contender’s chances. And if you don’t think these prognostications are indeed fearless, just scroll down to the bottom to see who he’s got taking […]