BallinEurope, the European Basketball news site

It seems like forever, but Euroleague 2011-12 resurrects itself for Top 16 opening night tonight. What better way to celebrate, reckons BallinEurope, than with some good ol’ power rankings?

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.

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As a sportswriter in 2011, it’s getting ever less bizarre to type the words “Andrei Kirilenko of CSKA Moscow” all the time; certainly this team’s fans want the NBA lockout never to end as AK-47 is leading an impressively outfitted Red Army through early Euroleague and PBL dominance.

Kirilenko was rewarded for his individual brilliance through two EL games by taking the first Player of the Month award of 2011-12. The locked-out Utah Jazzman has been good for per-game averages of 14.5 points on 62.5% shooting, 9.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.5 blocks. Notes the league’s official site: “The 30-year-old Kirilenko leads the 2011-12 Euroleague in performance index rating average (30), rebounding and blocks, and is also tied for fifth place in assists.”

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That rhythmic pounding you hear over the basketball world? It’s the sound of the clock ticking as many an NBA player gets antsy awaiting a seemingly unreachable resolution to the player lockout in the big league. We’re only three days into the NBA’s first work stoppage since 1998 but with European ball a much more attractive alternative to that of the ‘States than it was 13 years ago, many are looking to The Continent and a few are getting ready to join Atlantic jumpers like Nenad Krstic and David Andersen.

Last night, wires began reporting that Sonny Weems of the Toronto Raptors has already reached an agreement in Europe. Though reports “did not specify which team Weems would play for,” sources indicated that “Weems is in the process of signing a one-year contract and will remain in Europe for 2011-12, even if owners and players were to find a way to solve their differences and salvage the NBA season.”

Weems is currently in Spain with fellow Raptor Jose Calderón at a youth basketball camp, immediately leading BiE to speculate that Weems will be playing for some ACB side in ‘11 – perhaps Caja Laboral Baskonia, with whom Calderón played for five seasons…? The presence of DeMar DeRozan at said camp also makes one wonder about this possibility.

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As we head into week three of EL play, things haven’t quite normalized to preseason expectations, but BallinEurope’s Official Euroleague Power Rankings are looking a tad more normal. Well, except CSKA Moscow’s placement, that is. Rankings are based on current Euroleague record, plus play in other leagues and intangibles (like, for instance, this writer’s preconceived notions).

Enjoy the games this week and let the debates begin!

1. (↔) FC Barcelona (2-0 in Euroleague; 4-1 in ACB). How does Barça respond to (as far as detractors are concerned) a rare one-point defeat by Zaragoza? First by spoiling Cholet Basket’s EL homecoming, then utterly torching Menorca in a weekend ACB game, 84-44. The Spaniards continue their Continental domination.

2. (↑) Panathinaikos (2-0). Repeat after BiE: 2009-10 never happened. At least as far as PAO is concerned, it seems, after simply toying with Valencia and CSKA Moscow. Could we be in store for a Euroleague finals featuring the last two champions? Sweet.

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Seven Euroleague games go off tonight as the season rounds into form a bit. The marquee match tonight has got to be the Khimki-Baskonia showdown to establish early supremacy in that tough Group A; Olympiacos-Unicaja will surely be worth the viewing as well, although the way the Reds have dominated on their home floor lately will make things difficult for the Spanish side.

In preparation for the festivities, then, BallinEurope presents some talking points: facts, stats, oddities, history and video relating to the games. Enjoy!

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With the EL tipoff game tonight, BallinEurope is feeling devotion … not to mention a rush of Fearless Predictions™ coming on. How crazy can BiE get? You be the judge; here are 68 prognostications on all things Euroleague which you may [laugh uproariously about] ponder.

Enjoy the season, everyone! (And sign up for the BallinEurope Invitational League for your fantasy season. The password is “matjazsmodis” and remember: You’ll at least beat out BiE’s pathetic squads…) Fearless Predictions™ follow…

1. Olympiacos defends home court in tonight’s opener in a squeaker over Real Madrid.

2-17. The Euroleague Top 16 will be: Maccabi Tel Aviv, Caja Laboral Baskonia, Partizan Belgrade, Zalgiris Kaunas, Olympiacos, Unicaja Malaga, Real Madrid, Brose Baskets Bamberg, FC Barcelona, Montepaschi Siena, Cibona Zagreb, Fenerbahce Ülker, CSKA Moscow, Panathinaikos, Efes Pilsen and Union Olimpija.

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The Russians have landed in Florida and they’re ready: Five days after the defending NBA and Euroleague champions met in Barcelona, a pair of would-be dethroners will meet when the supercharged Miami Heat host CSKA Moscow in the first game of the Euroleague American Tour 2010.

A few connections between players on both sides may be noted, as Lithuanians Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Ramunas Siskauskas will be going head-to-head while there’s a minor University of Kansas reunion scheduled with Sasha Kaun and Mario Chalmers representing the Jayhawks out there.

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As you’ve probably heard, former Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov resigned last week under duress. But it seems that citizens of Russian capital don’t have many reasons to be worried: The new sheriff is already in town! Of course, we’re speaking here about Dusko Vujosevic, Partizan’s proven “miracle worker,” who recently coached CSKA in his first official match.

After a few minutes into the VTB United League opening match, the situation didn’t look bright at all for Vujosevic’s side as Lietuvos Rytas took a quick 10-2 lead at the start of the match. However, after this uncharacteristic start, Vujosevic took a time out, and things turned out all right: CSKA played better from minute to minute right through to the fourth quarter, when the Red Army were almost unstoppable.

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August is here and it’s full speed ahead for the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey later this month. In coming weeks, we’ll be seeing the national teams competing in the tournament playing warmup games all over the planet – indeed, some have already begun play.

With the last few big names having declared “yea” or “nay” on participation in the Worlds, BallinEurope figured it was high time to introduce power rankings for the upcoming tournament. Keep in mind that these rankings are not necessarily how BiE is fearlessly predicting they’ll end up when the 2010 Worlds are over, but rather how the squads are currently trending: You know, if the tournament started today…

All rankings are guaranteed to be 100% subjective with some semblance and factoring in of facts, FIBA rankings and sportsbooks’ odds on the tournament; the handy arrows indicate the team’s progress/regress on the chart (BiE’s pretending we ran one last week. Top 15 teams are ranked below the break.

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Oh boy, it’s the first big Eurocentric rumor of the 2010-11 season! According to TalkBasket.net and a few other sources, Olympiacos has informed Josh Childress that the club would like him not be to re-up with the Reds in his option year. One wonders if this information was passed on before or after Tuesday’s announcement that Childress had been named to the EΣAKE all-league team.

On Thursday, the Atlanta Hawks put in their qualifying order to Childress, thereby giving him the status of restricted free agent and allowing the Hawks to match any offer made to their one-time forward.

So what will Childress do? The rumors say he’ll be going to the Washington Wizards, actually, who are hot to make an offer for the man. Unless they’re not. But maybe they are.

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