ACB 228
Déjà vu in Ukraine? Proposed role models for Fratello’s new team
When Mike Fratello arrives to head up his national team coaching gig in Ukraine, he won’t see too many familiar faces beyond Sasha Volkov. Volkov played for the Czar’s Atlanta Hawks for a couple seasons way back when; unfortunately, Volkov hasn’t actually played ball at any level since year 2000. Coupled with the fact that […]
And the nominees in the category of “Best Euroleague Coach” are…
Over at the Lithuanian Perspective, BallinEurope typically contributes to a weekly column entitled “The Wise Men Know” (hey, BiE didn’t choose the moniker). This week, the deadline sadly whooshed past this writer and so no contribution from Os Davis appears in the current edition. However, BiE just couldn’t let this week’s third question – namely, […]
Top 100 teams in Europe: Week of upsets edition
While NBA fans were mostly talking about Blake Griffin and Carmelo Anthony last week, the buzzword around Europe last week was “upset.” Seemingly from end to end, Continental leagues saw their respective mighty – if not fall – at least stagger from a blow dealt by a lower seed. Real Madrid lost to new no. […]
Top 100 Teams in Europe: After the cups, then what? Edition
The dust – and in Germany, the glass – has settled on a week of Cup tournament action throughout The Continent, so it’s time for BallinEurope to crunch the numbers in compiling the weekly Top 100 Teams in Europe list. But, ran the first question, what relative weight should be prescribed for these games for […]
February Madness, Copa del Rey-style
“February Madness” begins this week in Europe, with a number of top domestic leagues hosting national cup tournaments; probably tops in pageantry and hype on The Continent is Spain’s Copa del Rey, a hoops bloodbath since 1984. BallinEurope this morning provides a few links, clips and whatnot in preparation for what they just had to […]
Omer Önan: TBL second only to ACB
Team Turkey/Fenerbahçe Ülker guard Ömer Onan makes a few declarations in this morning’s Today’s Zaman, summing up well the current state of TBL and Turkish international ball. “[ACB] aside,” opines Onan, “in Turkish basketball, we have long surpassed important European domestic leagues, including the Italian and Greek leagues. In these countries, only one or two […]
In “state of grace,” Jaycee Carroll goes for 26 points, hits game-winner
The king of the courts in Europe yesterday? That’s easy: Jaycee Carroll, if only by dint of his repeated blowings up of Twitter among Spanish hoops fans during the Gran Canaria 2014-Caja Laboral Baskonia match. Carroll was indeed “en estado de gracia” as he led his short-handed Gran Canaria squad (10-10, tied for ninth in […]
How many Americans (and foreigners) play in Europe, anyway?
Estonia-based newspaper Õhtuleht yesterday posted results from its number-crunching survey of European basketball, vis-à-vis the number of foreigners – and specifically those carrying US passports – in most Continental domestic leagues. The home country itself is one of the more sparsely-foreigner populated, with just 14 foreign players on eight EMKL rosters or just over 1½ […]
Top 100 Teams in Europe: Tops in ACB tops on Continent
The changes begin near the top in this week’s edition of the BallinEurope Top 100 Teams list, as Montepaschi’s third consecutive Euroleague loss dumps the Italian side down to no. 3, passed by their most recent vanquisher, Real Madrid. The top 20 stays fairly stable thereafter, with some jostling of position but no seismic shifts. […]
ACB race tightens: Madrid, Baskonia escape; Unicaja slips further on table
With 19 of its 34 weeks nearly complete, the ACB race is tightening quickly, as evidenced by three games of last night which were decided by a combined four points. (This just in: Real Madrid 62, Assignia Manresa 61, so surely BiE’ll have clips from that soon as well.) You want highlights? BallinEurope’s got your […]
Give him a Guinness: Streetballer Filipy shatters record in Barcelona
Saturday night action in the ACB produced three adrenaline-pumping roof-raising finishes (BallinEurope will post video clips momentarily) but the only Guinness record-shattering performance took place before hundreds in Barcelona, where no game was played. Streetballer Rubén Alcaraz, a.k.a. “Filipy”, managed to keep a basketball spinning on a single fingertip (okay, thumb tip, to be specific) […]
From El-Amin to Vilnius: The week in video clips
Okay, how about closing out the workweek with a few videos? BiE knew you wouldn’t mind! So feast your eyes on a half-dozen clip starring the likes of Khalid El-Amin Danilo Gallinari, Jan Vesely, Sofoklis Schortsanitis, Jeremy Pargo and the International Choir of Vilnius! BallinEurope was pleased as punch to see Gallinari score ESPN “Highlight […]