BallinEurope, the European Basketball news site

Yeah, Noah will be there...

The 12-man roster is loaded with veterans from international play and the NBA is well-represented with Nicolas Batum (Portland Trail Blazers), Boris Diaw (Charlotte Bobcats), Joakim Noah (Chicago Bulls), Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs), Mickael Pietrus (Phoenix Suns) and Ronny Turiaf (New York Knicks). Kevin Seraphin (Washington Wizards) is listed as an alternate.

Making up la douzaine are Yannick Bokolo (Gravelines Dunkerque), Antoine Diot (Le Mans Sarthe), Nando De Colo (PE Valencia; NBA rights held by the San Antonio Spurs), Mickael Gelabale (ASVEL Basket), Florent Pietrus (Caja Laboral Baskonia), and Ali Traore (Virtus Roma).

Other replacement players include Andrew Albicy (Paris Levallois), Fabien Causeur (Le Havre) and Charles Lombahe-Kahudi (Le Mans Sarthe).

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Walsh only in it for the bling bling?

If it were up to Asvel Basket general manager Pierre Grall, at least two of his players would have found a stockingful of coal this morning for their recent lackluster play.

A 2009-10 Euroleague team, Asvel was ignominiously bounced from Eurocup contention this week despite beating KK Hemofarm Stada, 81-80, before over 4,600 fans in France. Having lost to the Serbian side earlier in the season by four, Asvel was at least one three-pointer short of advancing to the “Last 16” round.

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Allen Iverson and his Beşiktaş Cola Turka may finally have turned the corner in the 2010-11 season with a well-balanced attack and a fourth-quarter comeback against Asvel Basket in Turkey last night, 80-74.

Four Beşiktaş players – Cevher Ozer, Serhat Cetin, Fedor Likholitov and Mire Chatman – scored in double figures; Iverson added nine points while the Eagles got eight each from A.J. Ogilvy and Michel Ignerski. In coming off the bench for Beşiktaş, Chatman chipped in eight assists and six rebounds as well.

Most notable in this game, however, was Matt Walsh, who went for a sick triple-double of 13 points, 14 rebounds (all defensive) and 11 assists in under 38 minutes of court time for Asvel.

Official writeup follows the break; next up for Beşiktaş is to host Antalya on Saturday afternoon (4pm CET, 10am EST) in a key TBL matchup; Antalya (5-2) and Beşiktaş (6-3) currently stand at no. 5 and no. 6, respectively, in the Turkish league standings. Next Tuesday sees the Eagles travel to Serbia for a tough Eurocup match against KK Hemofarm Stada.

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Gelabale awaits Iverson again

It may seem early on in the 2010-11 season (heck, it’s not even December), but Allen Iverson and his Beşiktaş Cola Turka squad play what appears to be a must-win tonight, as the Eagles face 2009-10 Euroleague competitor Asvel Basket in Villeurbanne, France.

Beşiktaş has already dropped its first two Eurocup games within Group B and, with both BG Goettingen and KK Hemofarm Stada both sitting at 2-0, Beşiktaş would appear to need three wins to comfortably think about advancing to the Top 16 round at very least. On the plus side, Beşiktaş’ losses were by only three and four points, so convincing wins in either of the bottom halves against either top-two team in the one-and-one series could also push the Eagles through – but again, that win in France is a necessary first step.

Expect something of a barnburner tonight, as the hometeam is no. 7 in Eurocup scoring through two, while Beşiktaş is 6th. Interestingly, Hemofarm Stada and Goettingen are nos. 1 and 8, respectively, in the statistic – A.I.’s surely feeling right at home in this bombs-away bunch…

As for excitement stirred up by Mr. Answer’s debut appearance in La Republique, Asvel Basket players and coaches – save maybe one – are playing it cool. “I haven’t heard too much about [him],” said Greens coach Nordina Ghraib, “and I did not mention his name in particular in my [meeting with media] yesterday morning.”

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Whither Spain? In yet another example of “that’s why they play ‘em on paper,” the mighty Spaniards went down thanks to a French attack led by Nicolas Batum (14 points on 4-of-9 shooting, two rebounds, two blocks and one awesome jam), Andrew Albicy (!) and Mickael Gelabale (!!!) and brutal fourth-quarter shooting “highlighted” by three separate FG droughts, 4-of-10 shooting on free throws, Sergio Llull serving up shots for the blocking, and Rudy Fernandez getting himself T’ed right out of the game.

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Joakim'll be there

Vincent Collet has named 18 players to his Team France preliminary roster, including six from the NBA, three from Spain’s ACB and nine from French Pro A ball; in fact, five players played 2009-10 with Pro A championship finalists Le Mans and Cholet.

Representing the NBA is quite an impressive core – even without Tony Parker and Rony Turiaf – that includes Team France regulars Joakim Noah and Boris Diaw in addition to NBA up-and-comers Rodrigue Beaubois, Nicolas Batum, Alexis Ajinca and Ian Mahinmi.

All three of the past Pro A MVP winners are on the squad as well in Nando De Colo (2008), Alain Koffi (2009) and Ali Traore (2010); Traore is one of two Euroleaguers on the list, along with Orleans’ Ludovic Vaty. Prospective NBA draft pick Kévin Séraphin was also among the chosen, as were Valencia teammates Florent Pietrus and Nando De Colo.

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“What happened to Mickael Gelabale?” is a question that I have asked myself several times over the last months. Gelabale was one of my favorite players with the French national team during Eurobasket 2005 in Serbia where he was present with big-time three-point shooting and terrific defense. This was when he played for Real Madrid under coach Bozidar Maljkovic who took him to Spain from his former club Cholet Basket.

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