Why French teams will never win the Euroleague again

This week, I had the opportunity to follow the two French teams’ Euroleague games. On Wednesday, I was in Nancy for the game against Panathinaikos and today I followed the game between Maccabi and Le Mans via Euroleague TV. Both times, the French team lost.

I went to Nancy in a very neutral fashion, neither supporting Panathinaikos nor the French champion. I expected a blowout win, as SLUC had really disappointed me so far in the top European competition. So it was not a surprise to see the game going on like it did. Panathinaikos did no more than necessary and Nancy was fighting like crazy in order to stay in the game.

But what the three referees did to the French was simply incredible. OK, I admit that Nancy is a Euroleague rookie and Panathinaikos is a powerhouse. But every, really every close decision went in Panathinaikos’ favor. What in the beginning looked like two or three decisions that could have gone either way, became more and more obvious during the game. In the paint, where Nancy is really “light,” every bit of contact was called and so the SLUC post players were in serious foul trouble.

It went so far that even youngster Roger Zaki had to come to the court. And no surprise here, either: Three fouls in four minutes. But of these three fouls, two were rookie calls. The first was after playing proper defense and trying to front Mike Batiste; the Greek center got the pass on a high-low post play but was falling backwards taking Zaki with him to the floor. Foul on Zaki. On the game’s last possession, Panathinaikos has the ball and misses their shot but on the rebound situation, Kostas Tsartsaris falls down from out of nowhere on the FT line, foul on Zaki, 2 free throws.

I’m not saying that Nancy lost the game because of the referees, Panathinaikos was clearly the better team and Diamantidis and Jasikevicius knocked down the decisive shots in the final moments. But I have barely ever seen more pro-big team refereeing in my whole life. Every time Nancy wanted to come back, a call stopped their run.

If you don’t have the financial power, you don’t have the real big guys and you even don’t have referees calling the basketball game in a neutral way: It’s very tough to win a game.

Another game and a different story. Le Mans returned to Tel Aviv and it must have felt like déjà vu for them. In their season opener from last year, they lost in Tel Aviv by three points in a very close game at the end. This time it was even worse. After having led nearly the whole game, Le Mans again came into a close setup in the decisive moments. Being up by three points with nine seconds on the clock, it should have been possible to take the game home. But Maccabi scores a wide open three-point shot after an inbound play right after a timeout. How is this possible?

You have two choices in such a situation: You foul on the first pass in order to avoid the three-point shot or you play defense like crazy without giving an open shot. Of course, Maccabi won the game in overtime afterwards. I really don’t understand what Le Mans was thinking at that moment. We don’t know what coach J.D. Jackson told his players to do, but I would guess this was not the option he preferred.

Aside from being very close, both games showed once again why French teams will never win big games or advance to decisive phases in the Euroleague anymore. Le Mans needed three years in order to get a certain lobby with the referees but they still cant manage to win the close games (Unicaja, Cibona and now Maccabi). And the second French team is always a Euroleague rookie (Roanne last season, Nancy this year) and doesn’t get any calls.

So is the only possibility to win these games glorious French teams such as Elan Béarnais Pau-Orthez or CSP Limoges did to return to the top European competition? Well, Pau is currently last in the French ProA with 0 wins and CSP Limoges is struggling somewhere in the 2nd division. So we won’t see these two former powerhouses anywhere soon representing French club basketball. What a pity…

Marcus Brown to Maccabi Tel Aviv?

It looks bad - really bad - for the only Lithuanian club still playing in the Euroleague. Rytas has been out of the Euroleague since last season, and it now looks like Zalgiris has big problems, which we have already discussed. After we thought Zalgiris was fine, we’ve gotten the news that Marcus Brown, one of the top Euroleague players, has left the club.

After head coach Rimantas Grigas left the club yesterday, it looks like Marcus Brown is also leaving and will fly to Tel Aviv to talk about a possible contract with Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv, according to Lithuanian and Israeli sources.

If Maccabi gets Marcus Brown, they will have a player with the title of “All-time Leading Scorer of the Euroleague.” Sounds great, doesn’t it?

Who wants to play against Maccabi?

Our friend Yarone Arbel from Israel has sent us a very interesting story about his favorite team, Maccabi Tel Aviv. We don’t know how many DVD players he got from their new sponsor for making us aware of this important news, but it is a very nice story for all teams playing Maccabi this season.

If you’re wondering which arena would be the favorite of Euroleague players this season, well, save your energy and time. Focus it on more productive issues, such as hacking Christophe’s computer (lots of videos and pictures he would rather avoid from public’s knowledge are just sitting there…), or practice your foreign-language skills in preparing for a visit to your favorite opponents in the upcoming Euroleague season. The answer is clear and simple: Nokia Arena, Tel Aviv, the legendary home of Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv.

Now some percentage of you may think you already know why I claim so. Some would think the very few weeks of cold weather, the nightlife, the local girls, the food and the great combination of all the above are enough to make you want to go there again and again. Others believe it’s the great atmosphere in one of Europe’s most legendary arenas, the warm fans who push their team until the very end but also know to respect a worthy opponent with applause to create an environment every player wants to experience. Well, all the above is true, but starting this season there’s one more reason, and it’s one lethal argument.

A bit of background first.

After more than 40 years, Maccabi and Elite, probably the longest partnership in the history of sports sponsorship, parted ways. Elite is a local sweets brand that, with the help of Maccabi, established its name outside the Holy Land as well. If you’re a chocolate fan, do try to snatch one of their creative or just very good products. A truly yummy experience.

This is also a good time to demand that the BallinEurope.com staff to investigate the connection between European basketball and sweets. (Elite, Ulker & Kinder are just few sweets brands who sponsor top teams…)

During all those years, right after team presentations at Nokia Arena in which the players exchange gifts, Maccabi’s opponents received a big box of chocolates. The first time it’s surprising, the second it’s tasty and refreshing, the third time it’s cool but when you’re Theo Papaloukas and visiting Nokia Arena for the eighth time and more, it gets a little boring, right?

Anyhow, this summer Maccabi and Elite separated, and the Israeli powerhouse signed a five-year deal with Electra, an electronics giant with a long list of products. The only problem was that most of them are a little too big to hand over as a small gift. Air conditions? Too heavy to carry. Elevators? cool, but the weight overage will kill you in additional charges for the flight home. Escalators? Very useful, but that’s probably not a good idea, either.

At some point the joke was that Maccabi’s gift would be a large poster of a lady named Carmen who carries a similar name, but at the end of the day, the people at Electra found a perfect solution.

Last Thursday the gift was presented to the public: a mini DVD player with 7″ LCD screen.

Go around 23 Euroleague gyms and try to find a cooler and more efficient pre-game gift than this.

The only problem Papaloukas faces now is what to do if, while watching the new Carmen Electra movie on his new Electra brand DVD player, he starts craving chocolate…

–written by Yarone Arbel

Euroleague transfer analysis: Group A

After the first transfer mania on the European market, I want to take a look at the current roster situation of the Euroleague teams. Of course, right now, you cannot tell how the teams will perform this season as the squads have not been fixed, but let’s take a first look at who did what in the market.

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Great rivalries in European basketball: Panathinaikos vs. Olympiakos

During these summer weeks in which club team action is slowing down a bit despite a hot transfer market, BallinEurope will give you a little history lesson with the presentation of the biggest rivalries in European basketball. And we’ll start in Greece.

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The Euroleague group draw 2008

Yesterday, the Euroleague proceeded for its annual draw in Berlin. After several speeches and awards, the big moment was coming close with the draw of the current Euroleague groups. Here is my analysis of the results.

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End-of-week rumors

RONNY TURIAF WOULD LIKE TO BE A LAKER.
Ronny told the press to write that, so there it is. It’s not really a rumor, but Ronny is a free agent now and didn’t play too well in the NBA Finals … wait, did he play? Right now, everybody wants to be a Laker, since everybody, including Sasha Vujacic, is talking how great the team will be once Andrew Bynum returns. Ronny really deserves to be on a great team like the Lakers, but he has not done much to help them in the Finals.

Not that of a big chance for Ronny to get the NBA championship in 2009:

Tiago Splitter to the San Antonio Spurs
Tiago finally got drafted last year by the San Antonio Spurs, but signed a HUGE contract with Tau Ceramica to stay in Europe. It looks like the bad economy in the US is keeping MANY players from going to the NBA for “pocket money.” Seems like just playing on the top level is not the biggest thing anymore.

Tiago in the NBA soon:

Omar Cook to Unicaja Malaga
Last thing we heard from Omar was that he had gotten a European passport: Not a bad thing for an American professional basketball player, right? This probably doubled his salary as well as his chances to land on a big-time team such as Malaga, who needs improvement on Bojan Popovic, a little bit of a disappointment there.

It just makes sense to bring in a “European” for another European, right?

DC Collins to leave Zalgiris
In L.A., I was in a car with some of the greatest US bloggers, like Henry Abbott from truehoop. Of course we talked some basketball, and the only thing they mentioned over and over was “chicken and porn.” I guess the chicken got stuck in everyone’s brain … I’m sure fans would NOT love seeing DC leave, especially those who enjoyed his interviews, but after such a season Collins’ salary might be too big for a Lithuanian team. What do we care? As long as he joins a team with good reporters that put up that great stuff on YouTube, we’re all fine right? The only country that may have the money to make DC happy is probably Russia. Not so many Euroleague teams there, though …

DC Collins leaving Zalgiris:

Andre Barrett to join Maccabi Tel Aviv
Never heard that name? Well, get used to it. Look at his career and you’ll agree that this is a guy who wants to play in Europe. He’s played in the NBA … not much so far. On the other hand, he has experience as a point guard whichmany Euroleague teams will be seeking. As some Israeli newspapers just released, Andre is only in negotiations with Maccabi, but this would be a nice fit.

Too much rumor so far:

Marc Jackson to sign with UNICS Kazan
Insiders may ask, “Why is this a rumor?” Well, it’s just because I can’t read Russian, that’s all. According to UNICS’ official website, where we see a picture of Marc Jackson, he has in fact signed there. Russian, anybody…?

Seems to be very true:

Euroleague Transfers Table 2008/2009

France Transfers - Spain Transfers (acb.com) - Germany Transfers - Turkey Transfers

EUROLEAGUE TRANSFERS

Updated: 19/11/2008 22h46CET

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NB: Please note that names in bold are confirmed transfers. Others listed are rumors published by various media or online discussion forums. The Budget numbers are either official announced figures or estimations. The names in italic are those that have been updated within the last 24h.

SPAIN	Arrivals	Departures
Real Madrid	Marko Tomas (Fuenlabrada) Jeremiah Massey (Aris TT Bank) Pepe Sanchez (FC Barcelona) Quinton Hosley (Karsiyaka) Ratko Varda (Zalgiris)	Kerem Tunceri (Triumph Lyubertsy) Michalis Pelekanos (Olympiacos) Blagota Sekulic (Aris) Charles Smith (Efes Pilsen) Pablo Aguilar (Granada)
TAU Ceramica	Stanko Barac (Pamesa Valencia) Fernando San Emeterio (Girona) Ariel Eslava (Rivadavia) Guilherme Gitterer (Gandia) Mustafa Shakur (Sopot) Dusko Ivanovic (head coach)	Zoran Planinic (CSKA Moscow) Simas Jasaitis (Joventut) Neven Spahija (?) James Singleton (Dallas Mavericks)
Regal FC Barcelona	Juan Carlos Navarro (Memphis Grizzlies) David Andersen (CSKA Moscow) Lubos Barton (DKV Joventut) Victor Sada (Girona) Andre Barret (NBDL) Daniel Santiago (Unicaja)	Denis Marconato (Bruesa) Pepe Sanchez (Real Madrid) Gary Neal (Benetton Treviso) Alex Acker (Detroit Pistons) Albert Moncasi (Gran Canaria) Mario Kasun (Efes Pilsen)
Unicaja Malaga	Robert Archibald (Azovmash) Omar Cook (Crvena Zvezda) Thomas Kelati (Zgorzelec) Joseph Gomis (Valladolid) Aito Garcia Reneses (head coach Badalona)	Sergio Scarolo (head coach) Bojan Popovic (Bruesa) Melvin Sanders (Gran Canaria) Davor Kus (loaned to Cibona) Daniel Santiago (Barcelona?)
ITALY	Arrivals	Departures
Montepaschi Siena Budget: 13M€	Morris Finley (Rieti) Henry Domercant (Dynamo Moscow)	Bootsy Thornton (Efes Pilsen) Drake Diener (Avellino) Vlado Ilievski (Olimpija) Hector Romero (Udine) Luigi da Tome (Roma)
Lottomatica Roma	Sani Becirovic (Panathinaikos) Brandon Jennings (High School) Primoz Brezec (Toronto Raptors) Andre Hutson (Efes Pilsen) Angelo Gigli (Benetton) Luigi da Tome (Montepaschi)	David Hawkins (AJ Milano) Erazem Lorbek (CSKA Moscow) Roko Leni-Ukic (Toronto Raptors)
AJ Milano	Pier Luigi Bucchi (head coach) Mason Rocca (Eldo Napoli) Luca Vitali (Montegranaro) Jobey Thomas (Montegranaro) Yohann Sangaré (ASVEL) Ariel Filloy (Rimini) Marco Mordente (Benetton) Sam van Rossum (Ostende) Massimo Bulleri (Virtus Bologna) Pape Sow (Prokom Trefl) Mike Hall (Pesaro) David Hawkins (Roma) Joey Beard (Veroli)	Sam van Rossum (loan to Pesaro) Pietro Aradori (Biella) Danilo Gallinari (New York Knicks) Travis Watson (Hapoel Jerusalem)
Air Avellino	Zare Markovski (head coach) Daniele Cinciarini (Biella) Chris Warren (Cibona Zagreb) Tamar Slay (Capo d’Orlando) Marko Tusek (Unics Kazan) Dan Dickau (LA Clippers) Antonio Porta (Spartak St. Petersbourg) Travis Best (Virtus Bologna) Drake Diener (Montepaschi) Mike Nardi (Napoli)	Devin Smith (Fenerbahce) Marques Green (Fenerbahce) Daniel Cavaliero (Montegranaro)
GREECE	Arrivals	Departures
Panathinaikos Budget: 25M€	Nikola Pekovic (Partizan) Antonis Fotsis (Dynamo Moscow) Dimitris Verginis (PAOK) Drew Nicholas (Efes Pilsen) Dusan Kecman (Partizan)	Sani Becirovic (Roma) Andrija Zizic (Galatasaray) Kennedy Winston (Pamesa?) Nikola Prkacin (Cibona) Dejan Tomasevic (PAOK) Dimos Dikoudis (Pamesa Valencia)
Olympiacos	Michalis Pelekanos (Real Madrid) Nikola Vujcic (Maccabi Tel Aviv) Zoran Erceg (FMP) Theodoros Papaloukas (CSKA Moscow) Yotam Halperin (Maccabi Tel Aviv) Igor Milosevic (Crvena Zvzda) Josh Childress (Atlanta Hawks) Kosta Sloukas (Mantoulidis)	Qyntel Woods (Fortitudo Bologna) Roderick Blackney (Turk Telekom) Loukas Mavrokefalidis (Maroussi) Renaldas Seibutis (Bilbao) Kosta Vasiliadis (PAOK) Jake Tsakalidis (Phoenix?) Panagiotis Kafkis (?) Arvydas Macijauskas (?)
Panionios	Alexander Trifunovic (head coach Lietuvos Rytas) Goran Nikolic (ALBA Berlin) Branko Cvetkovic (Girona) Miroslav Raicevic (Crvena Zvezda) Aaron Miles (Cajasol) Makis Dreliozis (Gkiziakos)	Vladimir Jankovic (loanded to Mega Aqua) Adanas Kavaliauskas (Kavala) Nenad Markovic (?)
FRANCE	Arrivals	Departures
Le Mans-Sarthe Budget: 5.63M€	J.D. Jackson (head coach) Maleye N’Doye (Dijon) Pape Badiane (Roanne) Dee Spencer (Efes Pilsen) David Bluthenthal (Maccabi) Brian Chase (Besiktas) JP Batista (Lietuvos Rytas)	Nicolas Batum (Portland) Sam Clancy (?) Phil Ricci (Naharia?) Vincent Collet (head coach ASVEL) Luka Bogdanovic (Joventut) Raviv Limonad (Irony Naharia) Nebosja Bogavac (?)
SLUC Nancy Budget: 4.98M€	Steed Tchicamboud (Cholet Basket) John Cox (Le Havre) Lamayn Wilson (ASVEL) Michel Morandais (Estudiantes) Rod Benson (Dakota Wizards)	Zabian Dowdell (Monferrato) DJ Harrison (?) Mike Bauer (Ostende) Pape Philippe Amagou (Kavala)
TURKEY	Arrivals	Departures
Efes Pilsen	Milos Vujanic (Dynamo Moscow) Sinan Guler (Besiktas) Charles Smith (Real Madrid) Ergin Ataman (head coach) Bootsy Thornton (Montepaschi) Kaya Peker (Besiktas) Engin Atsür (Benetton) Michalis Kakiouzis (Sevilla) Preston Shumpert (Besiktas) Mario Kasun (Barcelona) Dwayne Jones (Orlando Magic)	Serkan Erdogan (Turk Telekom) Ermal Kuqo (Pamesa Valencia) Drew Nicholas (Panathinaikos) Dee Spencer (Le Mans) David Blatt (Dynamo Moscow) Rashad Wright (ALBA Berlin) Scoonie Penn (BC Kiyv) Andre Hutson (Roma) Kenny Gregory (PAOK)
Fenerbahce Ülker	Devin Smith (Air Avellino) Marques Green (Air Avellino) Gordan Giricek (Phoenix Suns)	Will Solomon (Toronto Raptors) James White (?) Tarence Kinsey (Cleveland Cavaliers)
LITHUANIA	Arrivals	Departures
Zalgiris Kaunas Budget: 6M€	Willie Deane (Lukoil Academik) Loren Woods (Houston Rockets) Tadas Klimavicius (AEL Larisa) Ratko Varda (Menorca) Tomas Masiulis (Prokom Sopot) Ronalds Alijevas (CSK VVS) Tryout	DeJuan Collins (Lokomotiv Rostov) Goran Jurak (Biella) Mamadou N’Diaye (?) Marko Popovic (Unics Kazan) Vladimir Stimac (Crvena Zvezda) Donatas Motiejunas (Aisciai-Atletas) Damir Markota (Vive Menorca) Marcus Brown (Maccabi Tel Aviv) Ratko Varda (Real Madrid) Loren Woods (?)
RUSSIA	Arrivals	Departures
CSKA Moscow	Victor Keyru (Unics Kazan) Sasha Kaun (Kansas-NCAA) Terence Morris (Maccabi) Zoran Planinic (TAU) Erazem Lorbek (Roma)	Theodoros Papaloukas (Olympiakos) David Anderson (FC Barcelona) Thomas van den Spiegel (Azovmash) Marcus Goree (Triumph Lyubertsy) Anatoly Kashirov (loan to Spartak)
SLOVENIA	Arrivals	Departures
Olimpija Ljubljana Budget: 4M€	Damjan Rudez (KK Split) Jaka Klobucar (Geoplin Slovan) Vladimir Golubovic (Vojvodina) Vlado Ilievski (Montepaschi) Jonathan Wallace (Georgetown) JaJuan Smith (Cleveland) Frank Robinson (Cal. State Fullerton) Ivica Jurkovic	Goran Dragic (Phoenix Suns) Hasan Rizvic (BC Kiyv) Ronnie Taylor (AEL) Chris Booker (?) Sasa Doncic (?) Jan Mocnik (?) Maurice Bailey (Spartak Primorie)
POLAND	Arrivals	Departures
Asseco Prokom Sopot	Piotr Szczotka (Slupsk) David Logan (Zgorzelec) Ronald Burrell (Telekom Baskets Bonn) Koko Archibong (Frankfurt) Aleksej Nesovic (Olimpias) Daniel Ewing (Khimky) Pat Burke (Khimky)	Simonas Serapinas (Azovmash) Milan Gurovic (Galatasaray) Pape Sow (AJ Milano) Christos Harissis (PAOK) Jovo Stanojevic (Besiktas) Mustafa Shakur (TAU Ceramica) Donatas Slanina (?) Tomas Masiulis (Zalgiris)
CROATIA	Arrivals	Departures
Cibona Zagreb	Robert Troha (Helios Domzale) Velimir Perasovic (head coach) Branimir Longin (Oldenburg) Nikola Prkacin (Panathinaikos) Earl Calloway (Fort Wayne) Damir Markota (Zalgiris) Davor Kus (loaned from Unicaja) Rawle Marshall (Hemofarm) Jared Homan (Slask)	Ivan Sunara (head coach Krka ?) Chris Warren (Air Avellino) Sam Hoskin (China)
ISRAEL	Arrivals	Departures
Maccabi Tel Aviv Budget: 17-18M$	Jason Williams (Bnei Hasharon) Dror Hagag (Hapoel Jerusalem) Yaniv Green (Samara) Effi Birenboim (head coach) Tre Simmons (Hapoel Holon) Rodney White (Arecibo) D’Or Fischer (Bree) Carlos Arroyo (Orlando Magic) Marcus Brown (Zalgiris)	Nikola Vujcic (Olympiakos) Terrence Morris (CSKA) Yotam Halperin (Olympiakos) Will Bynum (Virtus, Detroit Pistons) Vonteego Cummings (Estudiantes) Zvi Sherf (?) David Bluthenthal (Le Mans) Alex Garcia (Bruesa) Marcus Fizer (?)
SERBIA	Arrivals	Departures
Partizan Belgrade	Jan Vesely (Geoplin Slovan) Luka Basta (Beovuk) Aleksandar Rasic (ALBA) Vukasin Aleksic (Takovo) Žarko Rakočević (Buducnost) Joao Soares (Portugal) Stephane Lasme (Miami Heat)	Nikola Pekovic (Panathinaikos) Milt Palacio (Khimky) Dusan Kecman (Panathinaikos) Dejan Borovnjak (Vojvodina)
GERMANY	Arrivals	Departures
ALBA Berlin Budget: 7.5M€	Adam Chubb (Artland Dragons) Steffen Hamann (Brose Baskets) Rashad Wright (Efes Pilsen) Ansu Sesay (AJ Milano) Casey Jacobsen (Memphis Grizzlies) Dragisa Drobnjak (Krka)	Goran Nikolic (Panionios) Phillipp Heyden (Ludwigsburg) Dijon Thompson (Azovmash) Aleksandar Rasic (Partizan) Mladen Pantic (?) Goran Jeretin (BC Kiev) Bobby Brown (Sacramento Kings) Nico Simon (Ehingen)
ULEB CUP WINNER	Arrivals	Departures
DKV Joventut	Sito Alonso (head coach) Luka Bogdanovic (Le Mans) Simas Jasaitis (TAU) Henk Norel (return from loan: Alicante) Pops Mensah-Bonsu (Benetton) Bracey Wright (Aris)	Rudy Fernandez (Portland Trailblazers) Jerome Moiso (Khimky) Lubos Barton (Barcelona) Dmitry Flis (Lleida)Aito Garcia Reneses (Spain NT)

The NBA-Euro Exodus continues

The transfer season is in full speed in Europe, with rumors fusing all around the different newspapers and websites. And while the NBA teams are still thinking of drafting Europeans in the second round, former picks are thinking about moving back to the Euroleague.

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Maccabi hires Effi Birenboim as head coach

As Euroleague.net reports, Maccabi Tel Aviv named Effi Birenboim as the new head coach of the club on Thursday. Birenboim, 54, is a veteran Israeli who has made a name for himself by coaching 23 straight seasons in the top league in Israel.

This marks the first time Birenboim will coach Maccabi, although he does have experience at the top European level, having coached Hapoel Jerusalem in the 1997-98 Euroleague. Birenboim replaces Zvika Sherf, who led Maccabi to the Euroleague Final Four last season in Madrid. Sherf is still in talks with management regarding his role with the club.

It wasn’t a big secret that the Maccabi organization and the Maccabi fans weren’t happy with coach Sherf, who is also still coaching the Israeli national team. It just sounds a little bit funny that a head coach would remain in the organization for “some job,” doesn’t it? What does he want to be? Head of scouting? Telling the new coach who to get? I am pretty sure, that Zvika will not have a management role at the club unless no club at all wants him to be the head coach.

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