Features 668
Real Madrid end 20 year famine to win Euroleague title
Real Madrid survived a third quarter charge by Olympiacos and shut down Vassilis Spanoulis to end a 20 year wait and win the Euroleague title for 2014/15. Emmet Ryan reports from the Barclaycard Centre. Whatever amount of Real and Olympiacos fans were in the house on Friday, their numbers had clearly surged for this one. […]
We fixed everything
After taking it relatively easy the last two nights, BiE’s editor was fearlessly back on the beer on Saturday at the Euroleague Final Four. The best bar conversations are the ones where you solve all the problems on one broad issue. Tonight we fixed European and NCAA basketball, you’re welcome. The day however began with […]
Ayon leads the way as Real Madrid crush Fenerbahce
Fenerbahce got a rude welcome to the big time as a second quarter surge sent Real Madrid to a third straight Euroleague Championship game. Emmet Ryan dissects the carnage. The clash of colours was more obvious for the second game of the day. As I stood outside to get some air between games, the final […]
CSKA pull a CSKA again as Olympiacos advance to Euroleague Final
Not for the first time, BiE had to change the intro on a Final Four game involving CSKA Moscow following a dramatic late collapse. It wasn’t a vintage performance in the semi-final but sometimes you just love a good slugfest. That’s what Emmet Ryan saw as Olympiacos topped CSKA Moscow to make it to Sunday’s […]
Twas the night before the Final Four
The heat is hot and the air is dry but the action is about to finally kick off at the Euroleague Final Four in Madrid. Emmet Ryan was at the Barclaycard Centre to talk to the players who will take the floor on Friday. Thursday was a mild improvement from Wednesday, with temperatures hitting just […]
Now the Novena means a whole lot more
Emmet Ryan went drinking on a bad night for Real Madrid, here’s what happened. A Por La Novena. That was on the shirts of so many Real Madrid fans in Milano a year ago. They failed in one of the most exciting games I have ever had the privelege to witness. Tonight was not about […]
Crossing the stream is too smart to ignore
It has never been easier to follow basketball in Europe but there’s still a long road to go. Emmet Ryan explains why this is about more than just the uber geeks. College football in the United States used to be immensely regional. Rivalries remain so but the national picture is relevant throughout the full year, […]
It’s soccer town until Thursday
The heat hit Emmet Ryan but not enough to prevent the cause of drunk journalism. Here’s his first piece of commentary from Madrid. Destination Basketball. Upon landing the heat was a shock. The weather back home has been pretty awful of late but wow it is hot here. Basketball is irrelevant. With Real playing Juventus […]
Brinkmanship the order in Europe
The weeks continue to be tense behind the scenes, with only smidgen and guesses have been truly learned, the powers that be in European basketball are playing a most dangerous game. Nobody knows the hand Patrick Baumann is willing to play. Would FIBA’s secretary general really gamble that crushing sanctions on national federations would be […]
It was the game we needed
Thursday night was always meant to be about Alba vs Maccabi but actions elsewhere made the game even more important for a wild final round. Given Fenerbahce had second place locked up, it was a little surprising to see Efes fall so meekly to their Istanbul rivals. Even more surprising was how Baskonia wholly failed […]
Barca’s rhythm problem
Cloning Ante Tomic isn’t on the table and that leaves Barcelona with a big problem that was clear to see in the Copa del Rey, writes Emmet Ryan. The scoreline on Saturday night was the most misleading part. Barcelona, if you only checked in after the final horn, looked like they had cruised past ACB […]
What’s the deal with Alba Berlin?
Is there a more mystifying team in European basketball this season than Alba Berlin? Emmet Ryan writes about how last night’s upset of Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv is in line with the crazy season for the club from Germany’s capital city. If it was just a case of who Alba Berlin beat, they would be […]