BallinEurope, the European Basketball news site

BallinEurope just got the word on a couple of American ballers plying the trade in Finland, namely Emmanuel Holloway and Allen Durham of the Salon Vilpas Vikings. Sure, BiE’ll give ‘em some space!

A former Illinois State Redbird, Holloway came to Vilpas after stints with Basketbol Brno of the Czech Republic and Germany’s Pro B team Hannover. Holloway is currently enjoying a breakout season with the Vikings, leading the team in minutes (34.2), points (20.6), and steals (1.7), while also contributing 4.4 boards and 3.0 assists per game. Below runs either a very short documentary or a very long player profile on Holloway by YouTube user/Vilpas Vikings enthusiast Karupappa.

Continue Reading…

BallinEurope just received word from Hippo Taatila (via BiE pilgrim father Christophe, now of European Prospects) that Ron Artest may have topped himself in wackiness yet again – and this within a week of the announcement of his imminent name change to Metta World Peace. Reports Taatila:

“Finland’s top league Korisliiga will witness some serious NBA talent in September 2011, when Los Angeles Lakers forward/multipersonality Ron Artest will join league newcomer LoKoKo Loimaa.

“The 31-year old Artest has three years left in his Lakers contract, but that doesn’t seem to bother LoKoKo sports director Aleksi Valavuori, who backs up the rumor in Tuesday’s Ilta-Sanomat newspaper.

Continue Reading…

This jam forbidden in Finland

Theron Wilson, formerly of Bradley University, has found a nice niche in Finland with the Salon Vilpas Vikings, though perhaps someone should have informed him of the stinginess of Korisliiga referees. It appears that, unlike the Ukrainian ball Wilson was with in his rookie professional season last year, Finland’s zebras just aren’t accustomed to play above the rim – and the Americans’ tendency to destroy a loitering opponent underneath.

In last week’s game against BiE fave Honka Espoo Playboys, Wilson puts his prowess on display to come from out of nowhere, grab the board off a Harris Dejuan miss and, in Waltonian vernacular, throws it down!

Continue Reading…

League play is now accelerating to a close all over The Continent, and BallinEurope’s “List of European Champions” page gets more updates.

Most men’s domestic leagues have completely closed up shoppe for 2009-10, but BiE has also listed a few details on where other leagues stand at present; links are provided where possible.

If no information follows a country’s name, that simply means BiE has yet to find anything on the basketball league there. However, this page will be updated throughout the next couple of weeks as associations close the books on the 2009-10 season; watch this space for updates, as they say.

Continue Reading…

It’s Academy Awards time on the other side of The Pond tonight, Hollywood’s celebration of itself (approximately 96% of a given broadcast) and movie magic in general (the remaining 4% minus obligatory sponsor plugs). So, on Tinseltown’s holiday, BallinEurope takes stock of the major international and, um, not so-international basketball-related cinematic releases of 2009.

We may as well just call these the nominations for the 2009 Ball in Europe annual Best Basketball Movie; indeed, these eight films represent a smaller bunch than the entire “Best Motion Picture” nominations pool.

Quite the disappointing year it was for the Hollywood basketball flick, too. Not only was there a distinct absence of slick crowd-pleasers like “Glory Road” or marketable hits like “Semi-Pro,” but the sole movie produced by Hollywood in 2009 is the groan-inducing “17 Again.”

Continue Reading…

Don’t look now, but the balance of power in Finland’s top league may have shifted a bit with the arrival of Corey Belser from Aris Thessaloniki to the excellently named Honka Espoo Playboys of Finland’s Korisliiga.

Belser first appeared on international scouts’ radar in his days playing for the University of San Diego, culminating in College Insider‘s NCAA Defensive Player of the Year nod for 2006. Despite such a reputation, however, Belser went undrafted by NBA teams that year after Summer League play and instead jumped the pond to join Olympia Larissa.

Belser played three seasons for Larissa, opening with an Honorable Mention for the All-Greece Team and culminating in an average line of 10.2 points and 3.9 rebounds in 16 games.

Continue Reading…

Our friend Hippo from Finland sent us this interesting story about a documentary movie on Finnish basketball. But let Hippo explain exactly what it is about. Continue Reading…