Traditional advisory warning: These ratings are pretty much highly subjective, as they are formulated from one source, i.e. BiE, and are based on the way teams are trending at present. While play in other leagues was considered, emphasis was put on Euroleague performance especially, and particularly on the two games each has registered in Top 16 play.

And on to the rankings!

The undefeated
1. (↔) CSKA Moscow (12-0 in Euroleague play overall; 9-1 in VTB United League, 8-1 in PBL)
2. (↔) FC Barcelona (9-1 EL; 13-3 ACB)
3. (↑) Montepaschi Siena (10-2 EL; 13-5 Serie A) – No surprises here, unless you count the emphatic statement wins recorded by each of these elite teams in week two at Maccabi Tel Aviv, vs. Anadolu Efes, and at Real Madrid, respectively. NBA fans are chattering about a shortened season? Ha! With each of these teams at 2-0 and having knocked off the no. 2 contender within their groups, they’ve all made the 2011-12 EL Top 16 round a hell of a lot more urgent for nearly every side in the big league.

4. (↑) Unics Kazan (9-3 EL; 10-1 VTB; 4-3 PBL) – Two exclamatory questions: One, who would have thought that the most important American player in Russia this season would be Henry Domercant? And two, how ‘bout this dark horse, huh? Right now, Bad Henry is penciled in on BiE’s Euroleague All-Star squad, and he’s certainly to be worth watching tonight against Emporio Armani Milano after his amazing 7-of-11 overall shooting display for 21 points at Panathinaikos in week two.

The undeterred
5. (↑) Galatasaray Medical Park (5-7 EL; 13-3 TBL) – Unlike other sides that squeaked through into the Top 16 (Olympiacos, Milano, BiE’s looking at you…), Galatasaray has shown itself to be capable of playing with the big boys after all. The inspiring overtime win against the Reds in week resulted in a huge step toward the tournament round and a big jump in these power rankings. Of course, with the Big Red Machine hosting this Turkish side tomorrow night, this may be as high as Galatasaray ascends on this table.

6. (↓) Real Madrid (9-3 EL; 15-3 ACB) – Perhaps BiE is calling this one a bit early, but could the disappointing home loss to Montepaschi – to be fair, one of the few teams in Europe who can keep up with this season’s free-shooting, fast-running Real – indicative of the team’s traditional late-winter swoon that annually seems to set them firmly in second place at home and abroad behind FC Barcelona? (Unfortunately, ACB wins against Caja Laboral Baskonia and at Fuenlabrada don’t tell us especially much.)

7. (↓) Panathinaikos (8-4 EL; 14-1 ESAKE) – Every week this Euroleague season, BiE measures his estimation of PAO’s true standing on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 represents utterly superstitiously believing that the Greens can’t advance to the EL championship and 10 represents the faith that clever coach Obradovic has his boys playing possum and conserving energy for later rounds, NBA-style. After the six-point loss to Kazan in which “the Greens allowed a Euroleague opponent at OAKA the most points in the regulation 40 minutes in [just over five years when] Partizan won there 93-80 on January 24, 2007,” the meter’s around a 3.5.

8. (↓) Maccabi Tel Aviv (8-4 EL; 17-1 ABA; 12-2 Ligat Ha’al) – BiE can’t decide which loss is more perplexing: The crazy 26-point beatdown Barcelona handed them last week (with Juan Carlos Navarro limited by injury, no less) or the five-point upset by visiting eight-place Maccabi Ashdod back home on Monday night. What is going on in Tel Aviv…?

The undefined
9. (↑) Gescrap Bilbao Basket (6-6 EL; 9-9 ACB) – Still hanging on in its inaugural Euroleague bid with a sweet win against the reeling Unicaja Malaga, Bilbao must face Real in Madrid tonight for the second time in three days … and on Sunday, Madrid delivered a 22-point defeat.

10. (↔) Anadolu Efes (6-6 EL; 14-2 TBL) – Yet another backer-in, Anadolu is now in complete stumbling mode after the drubbing handed them by CSKA Moscow last week. This Turkish side is a disappointing 1-3 in its last four Euroleague games and pretty much needs to win against Olympiacos to keep in the race for the tournament. No word yet on Tarance Kinsey, whose playing time has been limited in January due to a minor injury.

11. (↑) Bennet Cantu (6-6 EL; 11-7 Serie A) – Like Anadolu Efes, Cantu is on a 1-3 “run,” with its own losing streak snapped thanks to the heart-stopping one-point win against Zalgiris Kaunas. Like Galatasaray, this week’s ranking could represent the peak for this team in 2011-12.

12. (↓) Fenerbahce Ulker (7-5 EL; 11-5 TBL) — The return of Roko Ukic was enough to get Fenerbahce past Milano last week … barely. There doesn’t seem to be much chance of them holding Panathinaikos to just 32 two-point attempts tomorrow night, either.

The underwhelming
13. (↓) Olympiacos (6-6 EL; 14-1 ESAKE) – Vassilis Spanoulis’ Euroleague stat line: 31.0 minutes, 19.4 points, 4.5 assists, 0.5 steals per game. The best marks posted by other Olympiacos players: 21.0 mpg (by Georgios Printezis), 9.4 ppg (Printezis again), 3.1 apg (Lazaros Papadopoulous), 0.8 spg (Lucas Kalin, Evangelos Mantzaris). The solution to the Reds’ woes: Clone Spanoulis three times over and put them on the floor with, say, Pero Antic.

14. (↔) Zalgiris Kaunas (4-8 EL; 5-6 VTB; 9-0 LKL) – Poor Zalgiris. Into a tailspin in VTB United League competition, Zalgiris caught a nasty case of Lebron’s Disease for the EL Top 16 round, first managed to play Maccabi tough in Lithuania and secondly running up a double-digit lead on Cantu in Italy before falling apart in the fourth quarter each time. Zalgiris is still in the running, one supposes, but a miracle – like maybe the return of Ty Lawson and not this sort – will indeed be needed with a Barcelona back-to-back on tap.

15. (↓) Unicaja (4-8 EL; 12-6 ACB) – The power rankings are all about trending … and BiE dares say no high-level team outside of Washington, D.C., is trending worse than Unicaja right now. After starting the season at a combined 8-2 in combined Euroleague and Liga Endesa play, this Spanish side has bottomed out to go 2-5 in 2012 thus far for an overall mark of 16-14, sinking into a fourth-place tie on the ACB table and essentially facing EL elimination vs. Montepaschi Siena tonight.

16. (↓) Emporio Armani Milano (5-7 EL; 11-7 Serie A)BiE’s said it before and BiE’ll say it again: “So much talent on paper, such limited success on the court…” Are all fingers officially pointed at Sergio Scariolo yet?

Once again, the caveat emptor-ish bit: These ratings are formulated from once source (namely yours truly) and are based on the way teams are trending at present. While play in other leagues was considered, emphasis was put on performance in the latter bits of the EL season.

To the rankings!

Top dogs
1. CSKA Moscow (10-0 in Euroleague regular season; 8-1 in VTB United League, 7-1 in PBL) – Remember the date December 10, 2011: That’s the last time the scary Red Army lost, in falling to BC Khimki in Russia while getting just seven minutes out of Andrei Kirilenko. The Red Army’s only loss before that was exactly one month prior when they fell in a squeaker at Spartak St. Petersburg in their VTB opener. Considering the starting team alone – an all-star squad of Kirilenko, Milos Teodosic, Nenad Krstic, Ramunas Siskauskas, Viktor Khryapa – BiE has to wonder what non-NBA team could beat ‘em. Even after the star power, the CSKA Moscow bench contributed 43.2 points per game in Euroleague play while the team leads in overall performance rating, assists and assist-to-turnover ratio. This has got to be considered the team to beat in 2012.

2. FC Barcelona (9-1 EL; 13-3 ACB) – While standing mostly pat with the core that has made Barca a Final Four threat for years, the team’s sole headline acquisition – Marcelinho Huertas in lieu of whatshisname now with the Minnesota Timberwolves – has turned out just fine and dandy as the Blaugrana appear headed for at least the final eight tournament. Of course, all this depends on the return of Juan Carlos Navarro…

3. Maccabi Tel Aviv (7-3 EL; 15-1 ABA; 11-1 Ligat Ha’al) – Though a 33-5 overall record is nothing to scoff at (as Adriatic League teams would surely agree), BiE gets the feeling that Maccabi still hasn’t hit its rhythm – not to mention the fact that this side has done more roster shuffling over the past 2 ½ months than any other EL side save Zalgiris, with three key members of their ranks (Omri Casspi, Jordan Farmar, Jeremy Pargo) re-emigrating to the USA. BiE’s giving David Blatt & Co. the benefit of the doubt here, but much may depend on how soon Demond Mallet is integrated alongside Keith Langford on this suddenly frontcourt-heavy squad.

4. Real Madrid (8-2 EL; 13-3 ACB) – Currently in a statistical tie in Spain with FC Barcelona, Real Madrid closed its Euroleague with an impressive six wins in a row after losing a one-point squeaker at Partizan Belgrade on November 10th. After years of futilely courting big men to body up with Barca’s, Madrid did an about-face for 2011-12 in a game plan calling for stretching the floor in a Montepaschian wide-open court. The results? The highest-scoring team in the ACB and the EL, and one of either league’s most exciting to boot. But, as Madridistas scarcely need reminding, there’s some way to go yet before the finals.

5. The fits-and-starts course Panathinaikos (7-3 EL; 11-3 ESAKE) is taking in 2011-12 ain’t fooling BiE. Sure, on the surface the Greens appear to be sporting a rapidly aging roster (oldest in this edition of Euroleague, as a matter of a fact) and having benefitted from relatively light competition in the first EL round, but all BiE can see is innovative coach Zeljko Obradovic producing more than the sum of this (three-time champion in the past five years) team’s parts – Seriously, do you realize just three Panathinaikos players – Dimitris Diamantidis, Steven Smith and Romain Sato – started in all 10 EL regular-season games?

6. Montepaschi Siena (8-2 EL; 12-4 Serie A) doesn’t appear quite as dominant back home as they have been for a decade or so; could parity be returning to Italy or are Euroleague-first economics finally catching up to Ferdinando Minucci’s side?

The X Factors (at least early on)
7. Olympiacos (6-4 EL; 11-3 ESAKE) – New management reshaped the Reds with a conspicuous lack of overexpensive name players for 2011-12 and it may be that this team is finally coming together – just in time to incorporate the sure-to-be-welcomed Partizan Belgrade’s Acie Law, though one wonders how well the run-and-go Law will fit with an Olympiacos side that prefers halfcourt play. At 11-1 overall since starting 1-3 in EL play, Reds backers are surely praying for a smooth transition.

8. Unics Kazan (10-1 VTB; 3-3 PBL) – Damn right, BiE went there. Look, this Russian side is clearly the second-best team in the VTB League and closed Euroleague regular-season play proving they’re for real by winning six of their last seven, including a nice 79-73 victory over Siena in Italy. Fans have got to be loving the acquisition of Bostjan Nachbar to give Unics much more mobility (plus hopefully rebounds and blocks – the team was woefully middle-of-the-road in both categories in 10 EL games) in the paint. All in all, BiE’s penciling these guys in as the no. 2 seed out of Group G…

9. …though it could easily be Fenerbahce Ulker (6-4 EL; 10-5 TBL), although the Turkish side is in the midst of an underwhelming season which has them in a lowly (for them) sixth place in Turkey going into the weekend. Worst of all for Fenerbahce is the injury to point guard Roko Ukic which will sideline him for minimum two Euroleague games. Given the increasing importance the playmaker position tends to take as European competitions reach conclusion and the opening-night opponent Unics, Fenerbahce’s Top 16 run could effectively end quite quickly.

Outside, looking in
10. Anadolu Efes (5-5 EL; 13-2 TBL) – Tops of the table at home, Anadolu Efes backed into the Euroleague Top 16 with losses at Tel Aviv and vs. Madrid. While this team’s capacity for clampdown D was (mostly) admirable in the regular season, the low-watt Efes continually fought to score. With only two active players with double-figure averages (Sasha Vujacic, Dusko Savanovic) and Tarance Kinsey out in the short-term due to injury, how will this team compete in the high-scoring Group E?

11. So much talent on paper, such limited success on the court … Emporio Armani Milano (4-6 EL; 10-6 Serie A) is definitely the enigma of this Euroleague season. The key question: Should we take the inspiring win at Pionir as a sign that they’ve righted the ship after a disastrous four-game EL losing streak?

12. Unicaja (4-6 EL; 12-4 ACB) – On the plus side, Unicaja’s playing more competitively in the ACB than they have in years. On the minus side, the team’s 4-6 Euroleague mark in 2011 obfuscates a 3-1 (!) start. And now Joel Freeland’s out for at least two games.

13. Gescrap Bilbao Basket (5-5 EL; 7-9 ACB) – After starting 1-3 (and 2-4), Bilbao came back strong to close out its inaugural Euroleague regular season with wins against Fenerbahce and Caja Laboral Baskonia … but that may be all she wrote for last year’s plucky ACB runners-up.

The bottom three
14 (tie). Bennet Cantu (5-5 EL; 10-6 Serie A)
14 (tie). Galatasaray Medical Park (4-6 EL; 12-3 TBL)
14 (tie). Zalgiris Kaunas (4-6 EL; 5-5 VTB; 9-0 LKL) – Commonalities between this trio: All three needed closing-night tiebreakers to advance, all should be looking forward to their respective national championship tournaments, and all will most likely join the “non-contenders” list fairly quickly. How did they get here? Bennet Cantu backed in with convincing losses at Olympiacos and vs. Fenerbahce; Galatasaray went 0-6 against Top 16 qualifiers, slipping into advancement by beating up on Union Olimpija and Asseco Prokom; and Zalgiris was nearly as unimpressive, going 1-5 against second-tier squads. BiE won’t quite say “Wait ‘til next year” yet, but that wish is coming soon…

And here’s another: Enjoy the games!

Gasol’s FC Barcelona, which also included the just-about 20-year-old Juan Carlos Navarro, ultimately fell to Aleksandar Đorđević and Alberto Angulo’s Real Madrid in five games.

(Has it really been that long…?)

This year sees the London Olympic games, a shortened NBA season, another year of Euroleague basketball and the NCAA Final Four – what more could we possibly ask for? Happy new year…

• NCAA Final Four winner: University of North Carolina
Why: I know they have lost, and I can see they have some tough opposition in Kentucky, Ohio, Baylor, Indiana, and a lot of other strong NCAA sides across the States. My reason for picking UNC is experience: This team was stronger than expected in March last year when they surprised a lot of people; this year the Tar Heels were no surprise, ranked no. 1 in the preseason. This line-up has determination written all over it, every single player on this team does not want to lose.

• NCAA Final Four runner-up: University of Kentucky
Why: Sitting at 14-1, the Wildcats are one of the NCAA’s strongest and most well-coached sides. Guys like Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Doro Lamb and Marquis Teague are all massively talented players who should lead this side to yet another final four appearance – add potential top five NBA draft pick Anthony Davis atop all this and this team screams NCAA Finals and possibly even NCAA champions.

• NCAA third-place finishers: Baylor
Why: Still yet to lose a game, Baylor with Quincy Acy, Quincy Miller and top-five draft pick Perry Jones III could go all the way to the Final Four in Atlanta. Their use of athleticism, speed and conditioning make this team formidable, and we all know what Jones can do when the game is on the line. It was hard to pick the Bears over the likes of Ohio State but I couldn’t leave them out.

• NCAA fourth-place finishers: Indiana
Why: This team has beaten some pretty tough opposition such as Ohio State and Kentucky. Cody Zeller has been phenomenal, leading the team in both scoring and rebounding, while teammates Christian Watford and Jordan Hulls have helped the Hoosiers to a solid record so far. It’s safe to say that this team has turned it around after a few years of scandal and mediocrity.

• NCAA Most Outstanding Player: Harrison Barnes
Why: If Barnes manages to carry his team to the Final Four and another championship, if he lives up to his potential, if he avoids injury, his determination alone will not let his team lose … Let’s see if his body will do the same.

• Euroleague Champion: CSKA Moscow
Why: Have you seen this team? And you still need to know why? Andrei Kirilenko is playing with pride, passion and energy, doing everything for this team willing to do everything for him. Kirilenko is a leader, a veteran and possibly the best player in Europe (cue angry fans of La Bomba in the comments section). Serbian guard Milos Teodosic has played superbly, while big men Sasha Kaun and Nenad Krstic form a formidable front court which could score against anybody. In addition Alexey Shved is one of Europe’s top young point guards, who spent this summer on international duty with the Russian national team. An overall excellent roster.

• Euroleague runner-up: FC Barcelona
Why: Juan Carlos Navarro is the Euroleague’s all-time leading scorer and continues to increase his gap at the top of the list; he’s alongside a point guard who has been capable of filling the gap left by Ricky Rubio in Marcelinho Huertas, who is averaging 9.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game while hitting 42% of his three-point attempts.

• Euroleague third-place finishers: Montepaschi Siena
Why: We all know that Bo McCalebb can do some magical things, things like guide Macedonia deep into Eurobasket: This year he’ll carry his side to the Euroleague Final Four thanks to his injury not being as severe as first thought. A battle for third place between Siena and Panathinaikos should be an interesting watch.

• Euroleague fourth-place finishers: Panathinaikos
Why: Last year’s reigning Euroleague champs look to reach the final fours yet again; I don’t see them being as strong as CSKA or Barcelona, but a third- or fourth-place finish is always a positive. Nick Calathes is a born winner and will look to add more silverware for this team.

• Euroleague MVP: Andrei Kirilenko
Why: Andrei Kirilenko is dominating European basketball once more. His return to the EL was a 17-point, 15-rebound, five-assist beatdown of Žalgiris Kaunas; since then, he has gone on to average 13.8 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per Euroleague game while hitting 57% from the field and 60% on threes. Even his free throws are going in at an 81% rate. While these numbers are impressive, if he can lead his side to a victory in the Euroleague finals, I’m sure he will be a more than deserving MVP.

• NBA champions: Miami Heat
Why: The strongest team in the NBA, as much as I hate to say it: Lebron James, Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, James Jones, Shane Battier … This team is literally insane, undefeated until narrowly losing to the Atlanta Hawks, in a game they probably shouldn’t have. This team is just too talented to lose it for the second straight year.

• NBA runner-up: Oklahoma City Thunder
Why: The West got a new bandwagon this off-season in the Los Angeles Clippers, but there is no denying the strongest squad in the Western Conference is still the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder may be young but, for their age, their experience is second to none, including a conference finals appearance last season. Kevin Durant is back better than ever; add that to an ever improving James Harden and Russell Westbrook, and the Heat may struggle come finals time.

• NBA finals MVP: Lebron James
Why: He wants to silence the haters, all those people that said he lost it in the finals last year against the Dallas Mavericks. He wants revenge, he doesn’t care who he plays he’s going to go after it, whether its carrying his team’s scoring load, grabbing rebounds or dishing assists. Lebron can do it all.

• NBA regular-season MVP: Ask again later
Why: I honestly can’t decide … my top three (in no particular order) run below.

Why Derrick Rose: Rose continues to lead the Bulls to one of the best records in the Eastern Conference; he has been a scoring force but has not forced his shot as much as last season. Thus far, his assist numbers are solid, and he outplayed Chris Paul in L.A. in a big way, scoring with ease while also dishing when needed. Rose’s teammates are stepping up, whether it be Luol Deng hitting game winners or new addition Rip Hamilton. If Rose can keep it up while leading the Bulls to another first- or second-place finish in the East, the votes may go his way for the second straight year.

Why Lebron James: Have you seen his numbers? Once you have, you’ll understand why I don’t need to justify Lebron as a consideration.

Why Kevin Durant: This season, K.D. will probably lead the league in scoring again, will hopefully improve both his rebounding and assist numbers, and will drive his team to the no. 1 seed in the Western Conference faster than anyone (including myself) expected. Durant has been in the running for MVP the past few years, but 2011-12 could be the season in which his team does some *serious* damage.

• NBA Rookie of the Year: Ricky Rubio or Kyrie Irving

Why Rubio: He is the best guard on one of the West Coast’s rising young teams, a team that has beaten the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks while taking their 4 losses by an average of 3 points per game, including a 4 point loss to the Thunder, a 2 point loss to the Heat and a 4 point loss to the Grizzlies. Rubio has been phenomenal, yes he isn’t scoring like Blake Griffin did last year, but his assists come with such beauty and pinpoint accuracy it’s hard not to drop your jaw … his behind-the-back passes, his alley-oops to fellow rookie Derrick Williams, it’s all just too perfect. Other rookies may score more but Rubio does it all with style. As of this writing, Ricky is averaging 9.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game while his team stands at 2-4.

Why Irving: Honestly, not many rookies have impressed me so far in this very young NBA season; the incoming draft class has a lot fewer stars than that of John Wall and Blake Griffin last year. Kyrie is one of the few who have just done what’s needed of him. Playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have a pretty bad lineup but have yet to go on some kind of ridiculously long losing streak *but* wins against bottom-dwellers such as the Charlotte Bobcats and New Jersey Nets. So far this season, Kyrie is averaging 14.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game while his team stands at 3-3.

• 2012 Olympics, gold-medal winner: United States of America
Why: Team USA won the last Olympic games with the ‘Redeem Team’ back at Beijing 2008, while a young but solid USA side won the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey behind the likes of Kevin Durant, Chauncey Billups, Lamar Odom, Derrick Rose, Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook. This summer the team will be even more talented with the likes of Dwayne Wade, Lebron James, Derrick Rose, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, and Blake Griffin all improving since the last Games. Together with a few key names, the London Olympic basketball finals may be one of the best to ever take place in an international tournament, so make sure you tune in and watch.

• 2012 Olympics, silver-medal winner: Spain
Why: I wish I could say “Great Britain, home-court, everyone involved, Luol Deng, Joel Freeland, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, maybe Ben Gordon, Devon Van Oostrum, Ryan Richards…” the talent is there, but the experience is not. Teams like Spain and Russia should be able to get by us and into the quarterfinals and finals. My choice for runner-up is Spain: their dominant performance at Eurobasket 2011 with Serge Ibaka aboard; plus potentially Nikola Mirotic to make this team even better than it currently is; the existing front line of Marc and Pau Gasol is already a formidable force; the improvement of Rubio; and veteran talent Juan Carlos Navarro and Rudy Fernandez … thinking about it, these players might even surprise for gold…

• Player to Watch: Ricky Rubio
Why: A season of playing in the NBA against the world’s best opposition while being able to continue to work on his jump shot will work wonders for the Spanish point guard. His confidence had dropped after being removed from the national team’s starting lineup, but with the added confidence the NBA season brings him, look for Rubio to be one of the best players to watch in London.

That just about sums up my predictions for 2012. I’m hoping it will be a great year for all of you and don’t forget to continue reading BallinEurope; this year is going to be even more exciting than last!

Sam Chadwick is the co-head coach of the Solent Kestrels U14 basketball team, along with dividing the remainder of his time among an assistant quantity surveyor job, university studies and sportswriting. Chadwick is now a contributor at BBLfans.com, and you can follow him on Twitter at @chadwick9.

In Madrid, Real went on a 13-2 run early to take a 19-8 lead in the first quarter and never looked back on the way to an 83-61 victory over Manresa (now 5-7 and tied for 11th place). Red-hot Nikola Mirotic contributed his Liga Endesa season high with 20 points in just 23 minutes of play.

Meanwhile, Barcelona went to Basque Country only to come away with just their third loss of 2011-12. In what the Liga Endesa’s official website is calling “Baskonia’s best game this season,” Caja Laboral held the haggard-looking Barca to just eight points in the first quarter and Juan Carlos Navarro scoreless for the game: The first time the latter has happened since November 2008.

In fact, Navarro was pulled from the game in the 12th minute. In more bad news for Blaugrana backers, coach Xavi Pascual told media that La Bomba had been suffering from plantar fasciitis problems and that Pascual had considered sitting him out before the game.

Milko Bjelica led the way in Baskonia’s 71-60 win, putting in 17 points on 8-of-11 overall shooting along with four rebounds.

In closing out the calendar year, Barcelona hosts Manresa while Madrid plays at FIATC Mutua Joventut (4-8, tied for 13th) on December 28th and 29th, respectively. The real date to mark on the calendar, however, is January 4th when the league leaders face off in Madrid. Could Barcelona find itself in a rare no. 2 position to start 2012?

The process of elimination went the following way, in reverse order of finish, and garnishing with highlight clips.

10. Dimitris Diamantidis, Panathinaikos. Yes, Double-D was the Euroleague MVP and the Euroleague Final Four MVP for 2010-11. Yes, he thus established himself as one of the five or six greatest of the EL modern era. But Diamantidis did not play any international ball, whereas all other nine nominees participated in Eurobasket 2011 and most where instrumental to their team’s successes. Dimitris simply has the shortest CV of a very talented ten.

9. Dusko Savanovic, Power Electronics Valencia/Anadolu Efes/Team Serbia. Savanovic may not have even been the best player on an ultimately disappointing Serbian side that lost six of its last seven games to finish eighth in the Eurobasket tournament. (Nenad Krstic? Milos Teodosic, anyone…?) Savanovic seemed to get swamped with the tide as Serbia sank late, only managed to top 4-of-9 shooting twice in that seven-game stretch.

This is not to say that Savanovic can’t be clutch. After all, he live on forever in Valencia BC annals for the game-winning shot that put the Spanish side into the Euroleague Top 16…

8. Nicolas Batum, SLUC Nancy/Portland Trail Blazers/Team France. How old is this guy? What? He’ll be 23 on Wednesday? BiE guess we’ll have to call his 2010-11 NBA season (of 12.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists per regular-season game) as his coming of age on the international stage, with the 2011 Eurobasket tournament and subsequent play with SLUC Nancy during the lockout the icing of that reputation. But even before his two Euroleague Player of the Week awards, Batum turned in one of the great clutch performances of 2011 for Les Bleus against Team Russia in the Eurobasket semifinal with his “all-action line of 19 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks.” BiE can’t believe we’re only up to number eight…

7. Marc Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies/Team Spain. Like Batum, Gasol The Younger will have a few more chances at winning this award – how about in, say, 2012, after a deep run by the surprising Memphis Grizzlies chased by a silver- (or gold-!) medal win by Los Rojos at the Olympics …? Marc did have one heck of a 2010-11, though, enjoying an all-star level performance in the regular season; a playoffs in which he averaged a 15.0/11.2 double-double while generally performing at a level diametrically opposed to that of his older sibling; and a nearly turbulent-free cruise through Eurobasket as he and brother Pau formed a twin-tower combination built for schooling young ‘uns like Enes Kanter. To paraphrase the governator, “he’ll be back.”

6. Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers/Team Spain. You’d think that after starting at center in the NBA All-Star Game and leading one of the best national teams ever assembled in points and rebounds in Eurobasket would get Pau ranked higher, but the truth is that, fair, fortunate or not, for the 2010 FIBA Europe Player of the Year, 2011 will be remembered as the year in which he, ahem, “led” the Lakers’ ignominious collapse in the NBA playoffs. No way can he make this ballot, particularly with the suddenly reborn possibility that he could enter “disgruntled” status after landing with the Houston Rockets. And this has nothing to do with the fact that BiE is a Lakers fan. Well, not much.

5. Tony Parker, San Antonio Spurs/Asvel Basket/Team France. Tough elimination here … the last name to be definitively crossed off the list nevertheless had a year for the ages, turning in his usual solid season for the Spurs at 17.5 points, 6.6 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game. While Western Conference-winning San Antonio was bounced early, Parker contributed the second-most points (19.7 per game) and dished the most assists (5.2) for his team in six games of the first-round series.

All Parker did to “redeem” himself was write his and Team France’s way into the history books at Eurobasket 2011, leading the tournament in scoring, FG attempts, and FGs made. Given more weapons on a national team than ever before, Parker was nevertheless an indispensable force in getting Les Bleus to their first-ever Eurobasket final.

Parker capped the calendar year by becoming one of the first NBA players to announce a jump overseas; while proving utterly crucial to Asvel’s success in French League and Eurocup play, Parker may be creating something of a financial model for European basketball stars, particularly in times of labor troubles: That of the team executive/player.

Four names remain … now we come to the hard bit, so let’s dispense a couple of easy formalities first.

1. Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks/Team Germany. Nowitzki last won this award in 2005, the first year of the award. Compared to that year, Dirk is down statistically in all major statistical categories from games played to free throw attempts to assists. But come on! Proving unstoppable in the 2011 NBA playoffs while simultaneously shrugging a big monkey off his back, entering “all-time greatest” conversations and dispatching the EEEEvil Miami Heat? Yep, Nowitzki wins.

2. Juan Carlos Navarro, FC Barcelona/Team Spain. Navarro is to European basketball as Nowitzki is to the NBA: Ever-reliable, always there to consistently produce for consistently winning teams. Though Barça suffered an early exit out of the Euroleague playoffs, the Blaugrana nevertheless took the ACB title – with Navarro named tournament MVP. Team Spain of course took gold at Eurobasket 2011 … with Navarro named tournament MVP. Just for good measure, La Bomba helped Barca to the Spanish Cup … and was named tournament MVP, has led his team to a 17-1 overall run to start 2010-11, and just became the modern-era Euroleague career scoring leader. A pretty good year.

And so they meet yet again to decide the final spot on the BallinEurope ballot: It’s down to Andrei Kirilenko and Bo McCalebb.

Regarding Kirilenko, forget his season with the Utah Jazz (even though his stat line was a respectable 11.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists in a turbulent year for the team); if we’re talking *European* Player of the Year, just consider what the AK-47 did on The Continent in 2011. As the oldest player on a decidedly more up-tempo Team Russia than he’s used to, Kirilenko was nevertheless a monster at Eurobasket 2011, leading the third-place finishers in scoring, offensive rebounds and total rebounds; plus, his 29 steals was best of the tournament.

But it was with CSKA Moscow that Kirilenko really demonstrated his brilliance and abilities as a model European player. After arriving about 14 minutes before the season began, Kirilenko was thrice named Player of the Week in six weeks of Euroleague play, sometimes killing with shooting, sometimes crashing the boards, sometimes doing it through intangibles. From a purely selfish perspective, one of the worst outcomes of the NBA lockout settlement is the departure of the most dominant performer we’ve recently seen in Europe’s biggest league.

Finally, what about Bo? BallinEurope can feel the shudders all across The Continent in reaction to this nomination. Seriously, a New Orleanian who’d barely stepped foot in FYR Macedonia suddenly becoming a citizen of that country and subsequently gaining eligibility to awards like such as this? McCalebb’s new passport was quite the subject of debate among the Eurobasket press corps, let BiE tell ya.

Put the micro-geopolitics aside momentarily, though, and consider the kind of ball Bo brought to Europe in 2010-11. After a Euroleague season in which McCalebb led a youthful Partizan Belgrade to a shocking Final Four finish, Bo moved to Italy and, despite a knee injury, returned to the tournament to help Montepaschi Siena land a third-place finish. He’s already adding to his personal highlight clip this year as well with a 23-point show against Unics Kazan a couple weeks ago.

And then there was the biggest surprise and perhaps even the single biggest story (competing only with Spain’s dominance and France’s first-ever finals appearance) of Eurobasket 2011: Team FYR Macedonia. McCalebb fearlessly and meticulously led his equally fearless and meticulous national team to mouse-that-roared status at the European tournament. With the point guard position given such exaggerated importance at tourneys of this ilk, McCalebb added an exciting cutting-and-slashing dimension throughout Eurobasket, consistently drawing attention while contributing to the best side in terms of ball protection and turnover differential in the competition.

As awesome as Navarro and Pau Gasol were, as brilliant a field general as Parker was, no Eurobasket team – and perhaps no European team on any level in 2010-11 – so depended on a single player as did the 2012 Olympic qualifiers FYR Macedonia.

So, how about it? Who gets the no. 3 spot on BallinEurope’s ballot? Good thing that BiE has until January to figure this out…

The key bucket – and Navarro’s 2,715th and 2,716th Euroleague points scored since the 2000 revamp to break the mark previously held by Marcus Brown – came in the third quarter, as Barca began to amass their eventual 26-point advantage against Union Olimpija, on a fast-break layup; assist provided by Chuck Eidson, for all the trivia masters out there. Navarro was awarded with a standing ovation from the Palau Blaugrana crowd.

See below for video of Navarro’s feat – he enters the record books at about the 0:45 mark – and a league-held interview.

…and Europe! The Continent-centric BallinEurope has unabashedly become addicted to the little birdie’s ‘site, and yesterday proved quite fruitful for those anxiously awaiting more imports into top pan-European and domestic leagues. After the dismal news of Monday and impending dissolution of the players’ union plus imminent anti-trust lawsuits, more and more stars are finally willing to cut the cord to the NBA, bite the bullet and, you know, try that whole European basketball thing.

Below run the results what BiE’s Twitter scorecard from yesterday; stars include the Gasol Brothers, Kevin Durant, Jan Vesely, Joakim Noah, Tiago Splitter, Kyrie Irving and many more.

• The big deal of the day was reported by SLAM Magazine, among others: “Pau and Marc Gasol to Play in Spain if NBA Season Gets Cancelled.” Pau in particular has been flirting with the possibility of rejoining the Liga Endesa power for some time and this move is seeming evermore inevitable. But sheesh, with a roster including the Gasols, Juan Carlos Navarro and Victor Sada, why don’t they just rename the squad “Team Spain” and be done with it? (Unless, of course, Real Madrid already owns the rights…)

• Walter Sobchak – if that is his real name – of Turkish Hoops poured a little gasoline on fire with his tweet that “Rumor, just a rumor: Kevin Durant, Hedo Turkoglu and Omer Asik to Fenerbahce Ulker?”

Turkey-based Turyiet also speculates on this gossip, but one must remember that Walter is a big propagator of the “#lockoutfantasies” Twitter tag, among which Turkish Hoops dreams that “Reports say Anadolu Efes is very close to reach an agreement with LeBron James” and “Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki to Galatasaray? Gasol and Kobe to Besiktas? Duncan and Ginobili to Fenerbahce?” BiE must say he loves this guy’s style…

• Washington Wizards lottery pick Jan Vesely may be back on the fence vis-à-vis a return to Partizan Belgrade or elsewhere in Europe; tweeted France-based Basket News: “Jan Vesely n’exclut pas de revenir jouer au Partizan Belgrade.”

• Basket News also reported on Joakim Noah, who may also be tired of waiting out the lockout: “Joakim Noah prendra cette semaine une décision. Sur RMC, il s’est dit tenté par l’opportunité de jouer pour le Paris Levallois.” The big-market club could really use this boost, as the 4-2 team sits in a tie for fourth on the LNB table behind Euroleague side SLUC Nancy, Eurocuppers Cholet Basket and FIBA Eurochallenge’s Gravelines Dunkerque.

Specifically, Noah was quoted in Le Parisien as stating that “I am a little disappointed because I thought the NBA season would soon begin. I will make a decision within a week, but it is sure that if I return to France, Paris would [be good for me].” (“Je suis un peu déçu, car je croyais que la saison NBA allait bientôt commencer. Je vais prendre une décision dans la semaine, mais c’est sûr que, si je reviens en France, Paris me plairait.”) And Noah reconfirms that he’ll make a decision next week in the article as well.

• Locked out San Antonio Spur/former Caja Laboral Baskonia big man Tiago Splitter is reportedly being courted by Real Madrid, Unicaja Malaga, Caja Laboral, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Emporio Armani Milano. The shakily reliable Eurobasket.com this morning reports that a deal between Splitter and Unicaja is in place.

• No word from frustrated no. 1 overall NBA Draft pick Kyrie Irving, but the former Duke University baller did weigh in on one important issue affecting players in his particular niche within the drama: “The lockout isn’t a joke but people pretend like they can just try to violate us rookies…ain’t happening.”

• Andres Nocioni has turned down a contract offer from Caja Laboral Baskonia, but Luis Scola is weighing his options. Plus, the Spanish side also hopes to bring Maciej Lampe aboard soon.

• Would you believe a comeback from 54-year-old Bernard King? “Pour remplacer Nate Carter, blessé, Châlons-Reims a signé l’ancien Havrais Bernard King en tant que pigiste medical.” BiE hasn’t found anything to back this one up, though it sounds fascinating.

• Excruciating pun of the day came from the awesome False Hoop: “#NBANuclearWinter For Deron Williams on Thanksgiving … more Turkey.”

• Igor Rakocevic of Montepaschi Siena summed up the sentiments of many over here when he tweeted, perhaps thinking of Omri Casspi’s joining Maccabi Tel Aviv, that “If now many NBA stars come to EL it is going to be strongest Euroleague ever!”

• Finally, here’s an early (and solid) prediction for the 2012 NBA champions, per tweet by IamaGM.

• EL newcomers Galatasaray notched a nice win – though hardly the upset of the night – at Union Olimpija, pulling away in the fourth quarter for a 79-70 win and led by unlikely hero Furkan Aldemir’s double-double in his Euroleague premiere. The big league’s official site notes the critical implications of the W for the Turkish side: “Galatasaray moved up to 2-2 and will at least tie for third place at the end of this round. Olimpija dropped to 1-3 and plays four of its next five games on the road.

“In his first-ever Euroleague start at age 20, Furkan Aldemir paced the winners with 18 points on 7-of-9 two-pointers and 11 rebounds. Josh Shipp added 17 points, Preston Shumpert got 11 and Darius Songaila had 10 for Galatasaray. Aleksandar Capin led Olimpija with 15 points. Ratko Varda added 14 while Deon Thompson had 11 for the hosts.”

• Unicaja defended home court in defeating KK Zagreb, 99-85. Would you like to know more?

• This may not be Asseco Prokom’s year; with the 72-68 home loss to Unics Kazan dropping the team to 0-4 in Euroleague play and 2-6 overall. Alonzo Gee’s hasty departure via text message surely won’t help matters – incidentally, Gee was no. 1 in rebounding and no. 2 in scoring in the VTB United League – and worst of all, at least one source claims this could be the Polish powerhouse’s *final* season in existence.

• The big individual story of last night had to be Bojan Bogdanovic. Finally breaking out of his season-long malaise, the prospective New Jersey Net was good for 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting plus four rebounds in 22 minutes of play in Fenerbahçe Ülker’s 73-70 win at Bizkaia Bilbao Basket. Aside from Curtis Jerrells, who was 5-of-7, Bogdanovic was the sole Fenerbahçe player who shot better than 50%, as the team went a sorry 37.1% on twos and managed an unbelievable 1-of-11 mark in the six-point second quarter.

• And then there was that upset, certainly the shocker of the Euroleague season thus far and a result that will live on in Cantù annals for some time: Bennet Cantù 64, Olympiacos 63.

• To get you ready for tonight’s games, here are the Euroleague Adventures guys talking b-ball courtside in Spain. (Damn, it’s still shorts weather there? Nice.)

• The league reminds us through Twitter about La Bomba’s chase of history against Montepaschi Siena tonight: “Stay tuned to Juan Carlos Navarro tonight. He’s just 33 points away from tying & 1 more from breaking the all-time Euroleague scoring record.”

• Finally, here’s a little taste of what Real Madrid will be facing in Hala Pionir tonight. Enjoy the games!

Yesterday, FIBA was forced to do a bizarre bit of damage control after Lithuanian media – specifically, who else but powerhouse club sponsor Lietuvos Rytas? – reported that two players competing in EuroBasket had tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs; the piece quoted representatives from the Lithuanian Anti-Doping Agency stated abnormalities had been found and that further testing would have to be done by FIBA on the samples of the two players.

FIBA Europe was quick to deny any such claims, however, soon releasing the following tersely-worded statement on the subject:

“FIBA Europe has dismissed media speculations which claim that two of the players participating in the recent EuroBasket in Lithuania returned a positive drug test.

“FIBA Europe has emphasized that any such news reports are without substance.

“FIBA Europe would have been the first to be informed about positive tests for banned substances during EuroBasket 2011, a tournament that has already been trademarked as one of the best and cleanest basketball events ever.

“On Tuesday, news reports sourcing in Lithuania and reproduced around Europe, were referring to two players who have been tested positive for banned performance enhancing substances during the EuroBasket.”

The lifespan of this rumor through the 21st-century hype cycle – from half-baked rumor to re-reportage online as fact to official denial to tapering off of tweets – with the speed of a fruitfly, and in the squall of commentary at least one Macedonian media outlet took quite the aggressive stance toward their Lithuanian counterparts.

In an English-language piece entitled “Lithuanian Media Still Upset over loss to Macedonia,” an unidentified Macedonian International News Agency (MINA) writer reinterpreted the gossip proliferation of yesterday somewhat freely.

The MINA piece, together with snarky comments provided by BallinEurope, follows.

“Lithuanian media, the same media who predicted their nation reaching the final, even printed tickets for the Spain match before their team even played Macedonia, is now claiming there were two basketball players using Steroids during the European championship in Basketball.”

(Wait a minute, Lithuanian media printed tickets?)

“Some people it seems, just can’t take a loss…”

(Oooh, zing.)

“The Lithuanian basketball federation had said nothing, but the media today claimed ‘for sure’ there were two basketball players using steroids. First it was two Macedonians, then [they] corrected themselves and now [it’s] one Macedonian and one Spaniard. Though frankly, Macedonians did request a doping test for Navarro (who couldn’t miss) as well as for the Greek referee who had 92% of his calls go against Macedonia.”

(BiE thinks that last part is meant to be ironic; either that or some people just can’t take a win.)

“FIBA issued a quick press release slamming the Lithuanian media for their speculative reporting because the international body had conducted numerous tests and all came back negative. FIBA went even as far as to say that was the ‘cleanest’ tournament ever.”

(Read the FIBA Europe statement, “…any such news reports are without substance.” Wait a minute … is that a play on words?)

“FIBA on its website refused to speculate which national teams or players the Lithuanian media referred to!”

(Perhaps because they’ve put the matter of Navarro and Bo McCalebb’s seemingly supernatural powers in the tournament into an X-file … incidentally, who ends a news story with an exclamation point?)

BiE believes the best solution in order to prevent a war of words between Macedonian and Lithuanian media/blogophiles would be to get them on the court. In such a venue, certain trash-talking might be more appropriate.

And gee, does BiE hope that the Luol Deng-to-Bizkaia Bilbao Basket story published on Krepsinis.net isn’t “without substance” as well!