Episode lucky number 13 in the “Taking the Charge” podcast series is now available online over at heinnews.
For this week, Mr. Hein and BallinEurope were graced with the presence of a pair of American ballers set to play in the 2012-13 Eurocup Last 16 round after wins for their respective teams last night: Chuck Davis of Banvit and Frank Robinson of Budivelnik Kiev (also this year’s home of those awesome Red Foxes).
Some truly candid and excellent insight into playing hoops through Europe – the two have played in a dozen countries combined – run throughout both talks. Davis may be most well-known among international basketball fans for his two tours with the unheralded, Cinderellaesque Team Azerbaijan. Check what Chuck has to say on the controversial subject of naturalized players in international play…
Robinson began his professional career after finishing with Cal State Fullerton in 2008 with Union Olimpija and has since moved around The Continent a bit with eyes always on the Euroleague prize. Robinson also contributes to the “Taking the Charge” cause with a couple of musical tracks that Jerel Blassingame and he freestyled together during their mutual time at Asseco Prokom.
Beyond this pair of conversations, Hein and Os again run the gamut of European and NBA ball, touching on Dario Saric and the general weirdness afflicting Cibona Zagreb; why Anderson Varejao should make the NBA All-Star game; national team coaching changes for Germany and Russia (did Greg Popovich really have an offer advanced?); Eurocup, Euroleague and more.
Finally, subject of our regular sports film review this week is a film called Olympia; this one’s a nearly four-hour long documentary about the 1936 Olympic Games hosted in Berlin. The director is Lena Riefenstahl, well-known among cinema junkies as the eye behind cinematography classic/blatant propaganda film Triumph of the Will. Politics and cold touch of Joseph Goebbels’ lot aside, the truth is that in one film Riefenstahl set the standards for sports documentaries and highlight clips – standards than in our democratic societies we still chase today.
The entirety of “Taking the Charge” episode 13 may be heard here. Thanks for listening and talk to you next week!
