April 2011 32
Greek basketball in 2010-11: Worst season ever?
While Olympiacos continues to chase history in a story that will be continued tonight against Kolossos Rhodes while seemingly on the way to another memorable finals clash with rival Panathinaikos, some are not so positive about the current state of Hellas’ game. Sport.gr writer Costas Papantoniou gives a rundown of what he calls “the worst […]
Tony Parker confirms participation with Team France for Eurobasket 2011
Perhaps further contemplating a lockout, the San Antonio Spurs’ Tony Parker declared he will suit up for Team France in Eurobasket 2011. In an interview with French TV, Parker stated emphatically that he “will be at Eurobasket this summer” and that he is “eager to get started.” Though the Spur believes that Les Bleus “have […]
List of 2010-11 European Basketball Champions: Post-Easter holiday edition
Over the long Easter weekend, the playoff picture in several domestic leagues became clearer, some tournaments advanced a round or two and the VTB United League crowned a champion. Below, BallinEurope supplies information on the current situation in European Leagues’ regular seasons and/or playoffs. This list will be updated whenever possible.
Donatas Motiejunas declares for draft; BallinEurope revisits prospect
One of last year’s projected top five selections in the NBA Draft has declared instead for the 2011 edition of the world’s biggest hoops talent lottery: Big man Donatas Motiejunas deferred in 2010 because “really felt like he needed another year of international ball before he was ready for the NBA” … so how has […]
Getting Mistie over Bass-Williams, Fleischer, Challes-les-Eaux
The most musical of pro basketball teams? It could well be Challes-les-Eaux of the Ligue Féminine Basket. Television network France 3 recently picked up on an interesting factoid regarding star Mistie Bass-Williams: She is in fact the daughter of Chubby Checker, né Ernest Evans, he of “The Twist” fame in the early 1960s. Meanwhile, reports […]
Jeremy Pargo to play for Team Georgia? Nah.
Reports of Jeremy Pargo’s impending Georgian citizenship have been greatly exaggerated, it seems. Earlier this week, English-language Eurobasket.com reported that the Georgian Basketball Federation is willing to offer All-Euroleague nominee Jeremy Pargo a passport. To wit: “Reports says that the Georgian federation are considering naturalizing Pargo so [that] he will play for Georgia in Eurobasket […]
List of 2010-11 European Basketball Champions
With most leagues drawing to a close and playoffs beginning – not to mention champions already crowned in Albania, Cyprus, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Norway and a few regional leagues – BallinEurope returns its “List of European Basketball Champions.” At present, only the above-listed domestic leagues have shut down for the summer; BiE supplies information on […]
Playing with money: Are some European NBA players worth it?
Finally blessed with a bit of time to peruse ESPN’s compelling financial stats as presented in its magazine’s “All About the Money” issue (check them out if you haven’t already; big numbers are fun!), BallinEurope just couldn’t help, well … noodling around with the numbers some more! Over at the big network’s Chicago Blackhawks blog, […]
Saturday night live: Charity pop concert to run during Euroleague Final Four
“Going global takes on special meaning at the upcoming Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four 2011,” reads the PR material and hoo boy do they mean it. Just in case you’re in Barcelona for the tournament and just have a hankering for Spanish pop music, be sure to check out the “Euroleague for Africa 40 Pop […]
Partizan defeats Olimpija, 77-74, for fifth straight NLB title in mysteriously under-covered game
Congratulations go out from BallinEurope this morning to Partizan Belgrade, whose dynasty (or, as the NLB official site would have it, “dominancy”) in Adriatic League basketball rolled on last night when the Black-and-Whites won their fifth consecutive championship. So let’s go right to the official writeup on the game: (AdriaticBasket) – Partizan is the 10th […]
Greek League wrap: Olympiacos perfect, Panathinaikos breaks records against Panellinios, AEK relegated
Despite playing without Vassilis Spanoulis and Theo Papaloukas, Olympiacos kept its date with the history books in easily defeating Iraklis Thessaloniki last night in front of a mostly empty stadium, 83-44. The Reds thus conclude the EΣAKE regular season at 26-0, becoming the first team ever to do so and the first to go undefeated […]
Curtis Stinson, formerly of Split, Aris, wins D-League MVP: What does it mean?
The tweet from Draft Express rang out at 4.30am CET and posed quite the complex question. To wit: “What does Curtis Stinson – a guy no team in the NBA or Europe has any interest in – winning MVP of the D-League, say about the D-League?” Such consternation clearly comes from one with an encyclopedic […]