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Ricky Rubio to stay in Barcelona for 2011-12 after all?
For all those who figured Ricky Rubio to the Minnesota Timberwolves for the 2011-12 season was a done deal, well, think again. ESPN.com is today reporting the Rubio and his agent are in fact willing to discuss staying on with new ACB champions FC Barcelona. On his NBA deal (or lack thereof), Rubio stated in […]
Parker, Noah, Diot lead big names filling France’s Eurobasket 2011 squad
Twelve players and four backups have been selected to represent France at the upcoming Eurobasket 2011 tournament; gut reaction says that Les Bleus would appear to be one of the favorites to emerge out of Group B in pool play. The group competition will include Germany, Israel, Italy, Latvia and Serbia. The 12-man roster is […]
Return to the top: FC Barcelona completes sweep of Bizkaia Bilboa Basket
BallinEurope congratulates another champion this morning, as FC Barcelona earned a Spanish triple crown last night by finishing off Bizkaia Bilbao Basket last night, 64-55, to sweep the ACB championship series. Barcelona ended its 2010-11 campaign, in which the Blaugrana took the Copa del Rey and regular-season title by regaining the trophy they last won […]
Mavericks win: Nowitzki becomes first German to win NBA title
Huge congratulations go out from BallinEurope.com to the Dallas Mavericks for the team’s 105-95 win over the superstar-studded Miami Heat in game six of the NBA Championship. Excepting those in the Miami metropolitan area, the basketball world is collectively rejoicing in playoff MVP Dirk Nowitzki and his Mavericks’ first-ever title, earned with the defeat of […]
German media coverage of Nowitzki: Thorough or well insufficient?
This one goes out by request to BallinEurope reader Mike, who recently commented here, “Hey, I came to this site to find out what German newspapers are saying about Dirk, and if they really care. Can you post up some info about this? It would be pretty cool to know. Like are they going to […]
Sebastian Vettel: “My ideal teammate would be Nowitzki”
If Formula 1 defending champion/dominant force this season Sebastian Vettel has his way, dominant playoff force Dirk Nowitzki could become the 21st-century Bo Jackson (or perhaps Walter Payton might be a better comparison). In an interview with the German-language Die Bild, Vettel is asked who his ideal teammate with his Red Bull team might be. […]
74 is the magic number: Nancy takes French title; Barcelona wins game two; Freak City cruises in Germany
While much of the basketball hype from the ‘States in currently focused on tonight’s scintillating NBA championship game six, BiE today runs a quick jaunt through Europe’s championship action, with video-embedded stops in France, Spain and Germany. Official BallinEurope Fearless Prediction™ at the very bottom. First up, congratulations to new LNB champs SLUC Nancy, who […]
Championship basketball: Galatasaray stays alive; Barça, Mavericks take care of business
It’s hard to believe the 2010-11 season is drawing to a close, but so it goes. Leagues in Turkey, Spain and the United States could be all shutting down for the summer (or, in the latter’s case, perhaps a good deal longer) within a week. A brief roundup this morning, then, of action in this […]
Germany: Bamberg-Berlin game two tonight (watch it on YouTube!)
With NBA Championship game four in the books, German basketball fans can turn their attention back to the home country where game two of the Bundesliga final will be played tonight between Alba Berlin and 2010-11 Euroleague team Brose Baskets Bamberg. At stake in the series, aside from the actual title itself, is automatic qualification […]
Has it really been 18 years? Remembering Drazen Petrovic
An entire generation has entered basketball since his untimely passing and while ever-growing numbers of NBA and European stars who have never seen him play emerge, all owe a debt to Dražen Petrović. It was on this day in 1993 that the only man who realistically could have held claim to the sobriquet of “the […]
Kestutis Kemzura names 20 to preliminary Team Lithuania roster
Team Lithuania coach Kestutis Kemzura this morning named 20 players to his preliminary squad in advance of the Eurobasket 2011 tournament. The home team will be returning seven players from the side that took bronze in the 2010 FIBA World Championship and including one NBAer – but not Linas Kleiza. Returning from the surprise of […]
Green reign continues: Panathinaikos tops Olympiacos in OT to take ninth straight Greek title
Panathinaikos defeated rivals Olympiacos last night, 101-94 in overtime, to close out the pro basketball season in Greece and take its ninth straight EΣAKE title and 12th in 13 seasons. The win also marked the incredible 11th Greek league championship for coach Zeljko Obradovic, whose incredible CV also includes eight Euroleague titles, six Greek Cups, […]