Features 668
“We are here to work”: Opening up the post-Euroleague semifinal quotebook
Since last night’s games ended, it’s been a blur of press conferences and meetings for us here in the press section at the Euroleague Final Four … so here’s another round of wit ‘n’ wisdom from the men guiding and playing the games. On winning “Yesterday, we played beyond our limits. My players gave everything. […]
“This is the Final Four”: The Euroleague quotebook going into the semifinals
A quick collection of quotes for you, collected yesterday and today at various press conferences and media meetings. With just hours to go before tipoff, enjoy a bit of wit and wisdom from coaches and players on BallinEurope. On Paris “It is […] special to have the Final Four in Paris. This is the city […]
Fifteen minutes with CSKA Moscow and FC Barcelona
Ah, open interview day! BiE just got back from the open 15 minutes granted media by the Euroleague with the players of each team. The boys from FC Barcelona and CSKA Moscow – particularly the outstanding Pops Mensah-Bonsu; more on this momentarily – generously gave of some time after practice to take questions from eager […]
BallinEurope exclusive: Interview with the most charismatic basketball player of all-time
As a special gift to BallinEurope readers on this holiest of international holidays, BiE today brings you a truly exclusive one-of-a-kind interview with a legend. The man needs no introduction and it would be impossible to encapsulate his numerous towering achievements with a finite number of words, but BiE will try anyway. Calvin Stadiums was […]
Coming soon(-ish) to a theatre near you: “Playoff – The Ralph Klein Story”
Slightly belated congratulations from BallinEurope to Israeli filmmaker Eran Riklis, recipient of funding from European Union film subsidy organization Eurimages for his biographical film based on the life of much decorated Maccabi Tel Aviv player/coach Ralph Klein. Eurimages representatives announced Riklis’ “Playoff” as one of 14 European co-productions to receive backing for production, distribution and/or […]
And the Oscar (Robertson) goes to: The year in basketball movies
It’s Academy Awards time on the other side of The Pond tonight, Hollywood’s celebration of itself (approximately 96% of a given broadcast) and movie magic in general (the remaining 4% minus obligatory sponsor plugs). So, on Tinseltown’s holiday, BallinEurope takes stock of the major international and, um, not so-international basketball-related cinematic releases of 2009. We […]
The greatest basketball movie ever made
In awarding the first-ever Oscar (Robertson) for the Best Basketball Motion Picture of The Year, Ball in Europe is pleased to be able to acknowledge not only truly the best basketball movie of 2009, but the best movie of 2009; not only the greatest film of the year, but the greatest film of all-time; and […]
Lollis: Too many foreign players in Bundesliga
In German club basketball, too many foreign players are allowed; in fact, carrying eight or nine American players on a single roster certainly hurts quite a few Bundesliga teams and may be undermining most. Such an opinion is often heard these days about the free-for-all state of BBL contract rules, but rarely does a player […]
Confirmed: Divac's "Once Brothers" in ESPN's "30 for 30" series
Thanks go out this morning to the folks at ESPN Communications and congratulations go out to Vlade Divac and filmmaker Michael Tolajian, whose documentary film “Jednom braća” (“Once Brothers”) has been confirmed as part of ESPN’s high-profile “30 for 30” documentary film series. The addition of Tolajian’s film to the series had been reported by […]
Movie review: Streetballers
Amidst the NBA All-Star weekend festivities starting up tonight in Dallas, the independently-produced film Streetballers continues its distribution through America with a VIP celebrity/NBA charity screening and fundraiser. Set to host festivities is the Los Angeles Lakers’ Josh Powell, certainly the movie’s biggest fan (that’s his “best basketball film ever made” remark on promo material); […]
Review: "The Book of Basketball" by Bill Simmons
The only good thing about getting a nasty flu? Easy: Lots of time for reading monster tomes like Bill Simmons’ “The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to The Sports Guy”. Thanks to a sentinel from the legion of The 2009 Killer Viruses, i was able to knock down all 697 pages of this thing […]
Interview: Ten minutes with Romualdas Brazauskas
In every single professional basketball game ever played, one team on the floor goes full bore the whole time the clock is running, yet is invisible. In fact, the team that plays this way best serves the fans by remaining absolute unknowns and making as little perceptible impact on the match as possible. We’re talking […]