Monday’s cigarettes

Here we go for the Euroleague bye week. And we’ve put together some interesting stories in order to get through these 14 days without Devotion.

• Take a look into Nicolas Batum’s mind.
• In the German Bundesliga, the Giessen 46ers had to go for a road game on Saturday against EnBW Ludwigsburg. For this 250km trip, the staff planned a 3.5-hour drive by bus. Pretty normal. However, Giessen got stuck in a monster traffic jam 50 kilometers outside of Ludwigsburg and did not manage to arrive in time for the game. Ludwigsburg did not accept an offer to postpone the game to a later hour of day, and so they won the matchup, 1-0.
• What trouble for Partizan Belgrade these days. Not only did they lose against archrivals Red Star, the team is also in serious financial trouble, as their accounts have been blocked. Dusko Vujosevic also explains that they have contracted debt at a 17.5% interest rate. Crazy times…
• Always nice, always interesting and funny: Don’t forget to check regularly Kristian’s blog on FIBA.com. Sorry Kris, I always forget to check what you write, so thanks for the mail!
• Marcus “Highlight” Haislip got elected player of the week in the Spanish ACB.
• The TBB Trier players do a victory dance after their tough win against EWE Baskets Oldenburg in the Bundesliga.
• A tough weekend for some Euroleague teams.:As mentioned above, Partizan lost but also very bad defeats for Panathinaikos against Panellinios, Le Mans against Orléans and Olimpija Ljubljana against Bosna Sarajevo.
• Derby time in Lithuania, with Lietuvos Rytas beating Zalgiris Kaunas. But I see that Lithuanian basketball fans have serious metal troubles, as the tune “La Paloma Blanca” was used as background music on a basketball clip…

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…

Euroleague: Panathinaikos Athens, Greece

Drazen93 and scire10 first sound like some PlayStation3 nick name, but over the years we found out that basketball people in Greece give themselves nick names. I maybe should ask one day what the reason for this is.
Drazen and Scire have provided us with a great preview last season and do it again this year. We are glad to have the two guys, who run DoubleTeam.gr, with us again and give us their insight about the holy Panathinaikos.

Overall Record Prediction : 8-2

Last year offered Panathinaikos another title in the Greek League (the tenth in the last eleven years and the sixth in the row..) and another Greek Cup (the fourh in the row..), both of them versus the rival “enemies” of Olympiacos.. But the Euroleague experience (and the effort to make the “repeat”) turner into a nighmare at top16..This year the “greens” return with angry moods.. The aim is the same as every year.. To win the Greek League, the Greek Cup, to qualify to the final four (at least) and to win the Euroleague title (which would be the fifth during the last 13 years..)
So, this summer coach Obradovic (who renewed his contract for two more years) made some changes to the roster, always with the financial support of Pavlos and Thanasis Giannakopoulos (the club’s owners). Panathinaikos signed Nikola Pekovic (maybe the most promising center in Europe), Drew Nicholas (a “serial-killer” in the court and Euroleague’s first scorer in season ‘05-’06), Dusan Kecman (a remarkable defender and rebounder) and Dimitris Verginis (a very promising Greek guard). Forward Dusan Sakota returned to the team, after helping Panionios to qualify to Euroleague. Last but not least, Antonis Fotsis returned (for the third time) to the team that established him as one of the best European forwards..

Beyond them, there are: the four-time Euroleague Defensive Player of The Year (Dimitris Diamantidis), the guard with the highest IQ in Europe (Sarunas Jasikevicius), the very effective Vassilis Spanoulis, the precious Kostas Tsartsaris, the “multitool” Nikos Chatzivrettas, the very promising Stratos Perperoglou and of course the “nuclear weapon” Mike Batiste. Special mention has to be made to the captain Fragiskos Alvertis at his 19th continuous year at the club..

P.S. Don’t be suprised if Panathinaikos suddenly adds one more player to the roster..

Final 4 Predictions : Panathinaikos, CSKA Moscow, FC Barcelona, TAU Ceramica

Winner: Panathinaikos

written by Drazen93

The Greek league explained

A great tradition that brings waves of young prospects to the scene every year; the smallest, disagreeable, noisiest arenas in Europe; the fieriest fans a player could desire; economic powers in Panathinaikos and Olympiacos. This is Greek basketball: This is Esake.

What can we expect from the upcoming season? Simply another battle between the Greens and the Reds, with the others dividing up the 3rd to 14th spots. So no surprises. Nor would it be shocking if Olympiacos should steal the title from Pao’s hands after six successful years in a row, because in Piraeus there’s Josh Childress, the marquee attraction from the USA, the pioneer of an en masse movement of NBA players to Europe. Then, hurry up and finish the regular season! It’s hard to wait for May to see Yannakis and Obradovic’s teams contending against each other for the title.

PANATHINAIKOS: Finally, Batiste is Bulgarian. So, Pana has the option of adding another US citizen to the team. The problem: Where’s a space? At what spot? The Greens are counting on just 13 players, seven in the backcourt and six in the front, each none too willing to lose minutes in Obradovic’s rotations. But the remarkable moves made by Olympiacos might force Panathinaikos to a final staggering acquisition – maybe a PF/C coming from NBA training camps…? At the moment, the 29-time winning team is a battleship, ready to return to the Euroleague throne. Among the new arrivals, Pekovic and Fotsis are two players who can have an immediate impact, but the paradox is that the former Partizan center will probably come off the bench, along with a superstar like Spanoulis. Pana’s potential is astounding, and Nicholas provides Obradovic with a tactical weapon – the three-point streak-shooter – whom the Serbian coach has never had before. Whichever way you look at it, it’s always the same thing: Jasikevicius is still the key player. He’s 33 years old, his knees continue to creak, his mental stability is no longer the same of years past, but Jasikevicius has the talent and ability to win a game, a playoff series, a championship.

OLYMPIACOS: “Yes, we can. We can break Pao’s dominion, coming back to the title after 11 (!) years. Who do we need to beat the Greens? Josh Childress? No problem, we’ll buy Childress, and then Papoloukas, Vujcic…” That’s what owners Aggelopoulos should have said early this July, when they were going to build an Olympiacos squad that many fans consider better than 1997’s, when Rivers and Tarlac brought the Euroleague to Piraeus. So the former Hawks forward has crossed the Atlantic Ocean due to an offer worth €20 million over three years, landing on a team that had just come to terms with European top players as Vujcic (is he healthy?), Papaloukas and Halperin. Remember, Olympiacos had already confirmed Bouroussis, Printezis, Teodosic, Vasilopoulos, before enlisting Pelekanos and Serbian prospect Erceg, a 2.13-meter player not far from becoming role player on a Euroleague contender. Had enough? Lynn Greer is still a Red, while Macijauskas is injured again, and close to getting waived (a legal controversy between attorney and the club on the matter has not been resolved). This list of champions doesn’t necessarily equal a triumphant season for Oly, but the way drawn makes the fans hope. A first step to bridge the gap with the rival cousins: It’s not a matter of money, but maybe of conviction. Now it’s up to Yannakis, who manages a team any European coach would envy training.

PANIONIOS: We can’t say how they wanted it, Panionios will face the Euroleague this season. No small effort for a team often involved in the race to playoffs, certainly not in the race to the title. So, within a medium-sized budget, new coach Trifunovic has created a roster which seems balanced – if not ultra-talented – and could make headway in Euroleague group D, where only Partizan is beyond the reach of the Greeks. The goal is to climb to the Greek semifinals again, trying to play a trick on Olympiacos or Panathinaikos, and win at least one home game against CSKA, Real and Efes. It won’t be easy. However, the frontcourt is very heavy, deep and full of rebounders (Baxter, Kendall) and mid-range threats (Nikolic, Raicevic), while the backcourt is not at all convincing: Miles is a guarantee but lacks in scoring tools; Cvetkovic needs to stay healthy; Xanthopoulos, Zoroski, and Kalampokis are a bit undersized when the opponents aren’t sets like Egaleo, Panorama and Trikalia. Panionios’ wallet is still open, probably to fill the shooting forward position: a go-to-guy is needed to complete a roster that, at the moment, doesn’t show a top-level offensive player.

PANELLINIOS: Anthony Grundy was Panellinios. But this time, the 6’3’’ guard will feel less lonely, because Newley (an amazing Aussie shooter from beyond the arc who averaged 11.1 ppg in last Uleb Cup with Panionios), Papamakarios (who’ll be the starting point guard), and Ivan Radenovic have joined coach Elias Zouros in Athens. The former Arizona PF is a great addition for Panellinios, which should automatically be much improved with him performing in the low-post. Radenovic has the size (208 cm), youth (24 years old), and a multi-faceted game even away from the basket, to become a star. No less important is that he’s young but has always played for winning teams, acting as a main characters (See what he did in the Uleb Cup Final Eight with Girona). If Radenovic is the second option after Grundy, and the raw Ostojic fills the C spot, the bench looks like a defensive tank, counting on Kalaitzis and Golemac, besides the all-around Nadjfeji and a shooter in Petrovic, Newley’s perfect substitute. Can Panellinios get to the semifinals? Summer signings tell us that the management has tried to bolster its chances, but – not to repeat ourselves – much depends on Grundy.

ARIS: Sometimes the coach is more decisive than the players: This is the case of Aris, and Mazzon has returned after a painful experience with Fortitudo Bologna, where fans didn’t forgive him for anything (Note: He did haven’t Forte, but rather Jenkins and Torres. Where are you pretending to go with these old stars?). In the end, Mazzon has come to Thessaloniki, and wants to guide the team to its previous successful goals (an Uleb Cup final lost to Dynamo Moscow in 2005). Aris is emerging from a difficult season, and is trying to renovate its ambitions by shaking up the roster. No more Wright and Massey: Keydren Clark, Sean Marshall, Nelson and Sekulic have received little attention from the media, but are similarly dangerous as young, skilled and experienced in Euroleague teams. The downside is a bench full of fighters (Iliadis, Barlos, Agadakos) with nobody able to make the difference. Maybe Aris needs another piece in a backcourt rotation, poor except for Clark. We’ll bet on Marshall’s future: At just 24 years old, he returns from an extraordinary season in Karsyaka alongside Hosley and Neal, and we can take the oath about his readiness to play at the top level, following the way begun by Massey.

THE REST: Maroussi has a strong starting five: Pat Calathes could become Jorge Garbajosa’s heir and the frontcourt is full of promise with the Mavrokefalidis-Glyniadakis duo, but to stay high in Esake (last year they finished 4th), Keys, Stevenson, and Padius must combine for at least 35 points per game. PAOK has given crazy contracts to Tomasevic (What a risk: how many games will he play?) and Gregory; consequently their teammates, except Vassiliadis and Charissis, are not so impressive. AEK is in the middle of a dramatic economic crisis, while Olympia Larissa has decadent players such as Castle, Jamel Thomas and Schulze. As for Panorama, Trikala, Kolossos Rhodes, AEL, and Egaleo, call me if you see something interesting.

Written by Francesco Cappelletti.

What’s up with Gordan Giricek?

Within the last 24 hours we’ve gotten about 1000 search requests within our in-site search engine about Gordan Giricek. Why?!

Well, Gordan Giricek played for the Phoenix Suns last season, averaging 3.4 points per game and 1.4 rebounds per game. So what makes the 198cm Croatian so interesting? Well, probably the fact that he is Croatian and playing in the NBA. Every single European NBA player has been linked to leaving the NBA for an Euroleague or Eurocup team this season.

Christophe has the guard of the Phoenix Suns already among his possible moves for 2008/09 and puts him on the shopping list of Unicaja Malaga, Spain. But he also seems to be on the table for David Blatt and his Dynamo Moscow team.

This would not be the first trip to a Euroleague team for Gordan, as he has played for big-time teams such as CSKA Moscow before.

Here is my rating for Gordan coming to Europe:

(At least this is what our sources tell us…)

Josh Childress update: Signs with Olympiacos!

According to Lithuanian basketball web site krepsinis.net (thanks to Zaidaw), Josh Childress has signed with Olympiacos. To make it less a rumor, but a more reliable note: See here (for a picture of Josh actually signing), here and here are also reports and “photo evidence” of his signature in Greece with Olympiakos.

If you are an expert in the European lifestyle - I repeat, lifestyle - and not a basketball expert, you can be almost certain that Panathinaikos needs a signing like that, too (BIG rivalry between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos). Too bad Panathiniakos needs a shooting forward. What was that guy’s name from Chicago again? The guy who was looking for a deal? Wasn’t that Luol Deng…?

Don’t be surprised, if that’s the next thing reported on US web sites…

Side note: To make your day even worse (as a US basketball fan) or even better (as a European basketball fan), Pat Riley would rather spend his time in EUROPE in France watching the Tour de France..

Euroleague transfer analysis: Group B

After explaining the first transfers of Group A, I will take a closer look at group B today to see who did what and give you my opinion on these moves.

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Great rivalries in European basketball: Panathinaikos vs. Olympiakos (Part 2)

In the second part of our article about one of the biggest rivalries in European basketball, I’ll take a closer look at more recent games between both teams and speak about the post-2002 era.

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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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