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Early nominee, Eurocentric buzzer-beater of the year: Juan Carlos Navarro hits half-courter before halftime
Oh, Señor Navarro … you’ve done it again. Long since known as one of Europe’s great clutch players, Juan Carlos produced some more heroics for FC Barcelona yesterday. In the Liga Endesa week 33 game against superpowered rivals Real Madrid, the hosting Blaugrana looked sluggish early and looked to be inevitably suffering from a nine-point […]
CSKA Moscow takes VTB United League title; first in history-making triple crown?
Congratulations go out from BallinEurope to the 2011-12 VTB United League champions – to the surprise of few, CSKA Moscow. The Red Army’s 74-62 victory over Unics Kazan in a rematch of last year’s final represents not only its second VTB championship in three seasons of the league’s existence, but the first title in a […]
Jack Dawson loves Rose (Derrick Rose, that is) in “mashup Titanic hilarant”
In the early 1900s, a disaster for thousands of unsuspecting voyagers to America and the trans-Atlantic travel industry in general; roughly one hundred years later, a disaster for millions of Chicago Bulls fans and (by the looks of Tuesday’s chumping at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers) the team’s 2012 playoff hopes in general … […]
Revealed: The EuroChallenge championship curse
Winning the EuroChallenge title is a good thing, right? After all, it’s typically the first Continental trophy to display on the mantelpiece and the champions label wins the club to right to play in the more prestigious (and more big-bucks) Eurocup competition the following season. Well, Uygar Karaca may convince believers otherwise. In the first […]
BallinEurope wants your (Eurocentric) buzzer-beaters!
As the quick-as-a-flash 2011-12 basketball season grinds to a close in the NBA and all over Europe, BallinEurope asks for your help in compiling the year’s most thrill-creating, best-ever-debating, opposition-hating buzzer-beating shots. When the last European domestic league has tipped off its last, BiE will show you the best of ‘em – and hopefully even […]
FIBA EuroChallenge: Mensah-Bonsu, Erceg, Arroyo lead Beşiktaş to 91-86 win, championship title
Congratulations go out from BallinEurope to Beşiktaş Milangaz, winners of the 2011-12 FIBA EuroChallenge title with a 91-86 victory over Elan Chalon last night. The win represents not only advancement to Eurocup play for 2012-13, but also Turkey’s second-ever European club championship: An Efes Pilsen side led by Conrad McRae, Petar Naumoski and Ufuk Sarıca […]
Marco Belinelli: Don’t call me Kyle Korver
BallinEurope’s man in Italy, Enrico Cellini, today gives us a few choice quotes from Italy’s man on the New Orleans Hornets, Marco Bellinelli. In an interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport weekly, Bellini decries the relative drawing power of his NBA compatriots Danilo Gallinari and Andrea Bargnani as opposed to himself; plus, there’s a further […]
Bundesliga weekly recap reveal: Jared Jordan a more valuable playmaker than Nash, Rondo?
It’s time for another BallinEurope shameless plug. Contributing writer David Hein has produced yet another great writeup over at the German Bundesliga’s official website. Check out a column chock full of videos and recaps, including the now semi-obligatory update on Team Zimbabwe/BG Göttingen’s Vitalis Chikoko. BiE can’t help but spill the beans on one scintillating […]
Austrian League semifinals: Gmuden Swans come back at home, Bulls Kapfenberg snatch home court
Four teams remain in the Austrian basketball playoffs and BallinEurope contributing writer David Hein is paying close attention, giving us another roundup of recent action there. Top-seeded Allianz Swans Gmunden roared back from a double-digit third quarter deficit to beat WBC Raiffeisen Wels in overtime in Game One to defend home court in the Austrian […]
Referee scandals in Russia lead to protest, in Italy to suspensions
A BallinEurope question has been reopened today, to the detriment of Russian professional basketball’s reputation. About two weeks ago, a PBL game which will likely determine the league’s upcoming playoff tournament saw an extremely high number of, let’s say, questionable calls. According to Spain-based SoloBasket, these were certainly enough oddity for the losing side, Spartak […]
Boris Diaw starts for San Antonio Spurs, designs new Nike kicks
Here’s one for the basketball sneaker junkies out there. Tweeted the Team France/San Antonio Spurs’ power forward Boris Diaw this morning: “another nice win tonight. here is the shoe i made last night on Nike ID. it’s simple but got swag. what do you think?” As for the nice game itself, the Western Conference matchup […]
Report: Maccabi Haifa hires disgraced former Syracuse coach Bernie Fine
Despite some sordid (and reportedly not exactly consistent) allegations against him, former longtime Syracuse University assistant coach Bernie Fine has found employment in Israel. Marc Stein of ESPN is this morning reporting that Fine has been hired by Maccabi Haifa BC as a consultant to the team. The decision is expected to be announced today. […]