Andrei Kirilenko 108
D-Will meets with Prokhorov in Istanbul, snaps in-game pic of Kirilenko
As has been widely reported, a big powwow in Istanbul is currently going on while the 2012 Euroleague Final Four plays out: The meeting of the minds (and money) features Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, team general manager Billy King and prospective free agent Deron Williams. While Prokhorov checks out his former charge Andrei Kirilenko […]
Who’s to blame? Another look at *that* final Panathinaikos play
BallinEurope bets that Dimitris Diamantidis didn’t sleep too well last night. In handling the ball of the final play in Panathinaikos’ 66-64 Euroleague Final Four loss to CSKA Moscow yesterday, former MVP DD was stifled by the Red Army defense and poor PAO fans could only watch time run out on the Greens’ back-to-back title […]
Bertomeu: Euroleague doesn’t need NBA players, system (Welllllll…)
BallinEurope heads out to Istanbul this morning to join the scene at this year’s Euroleague Final Four and start pumping out four days’ worth of steady reportage, historical stuff, stats, quotes, video, etc. But BiE figured he’d leave you temporarily with some gauntlet-throwing type stuff by EL CEO Jordi Bertomeu. In what became a widely […]
Teodosic: “We can’t put Diamantidis on a pedestal.”
You gotta admit, the quote makes a good headline; 2009-10 Euroleague MVP and starting CSKA Moscow playmaker Milos Teodosic is actually showing a bit of modesty to go along with the well of confidence The Red Army squad must be feeling. In reference to CSKA’s upcoming Euroleague Final Four match with Panathinaikos, Teodosic told media […]
Euroleague Final Four: The video preview
And this week … the Euroleague Final Four! To get things started, BallinEurope presents a roundup of highlight clips from the seasons-that-were of CSKA Moscow, FC Barcelona, Panathinaikos and Olympiacos. (Wow, BiE wonders every time upon looking at that list just how the big league could have ended up with a more scintillating Final Four: […]
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 […]
Explaining BallinEurope's Euroleague MVP ballot (plus the top 25 for 2011-12, highlight clips)
In the interests of complete transparency – hey, somebody in Hungary should aspire to such – BallinEurope today presents the outcome of a heavy Euroleague basketball-watching habit plus several hours of intense thought: Namely, the five names that went onto BiE’s media representative’s ballot for 2011-12 Euroleague MVP. Since there’s no way the chosen quintet […]
Why Andrei Kirilenko and CSKA Moscow must win the Euroleague
Regular readers of BallinEurope may recall a similarly entitled writeup on Montepaschi Siena on these pages from a long time ago – actually two weeks, but already it *feels* like quite a spell. Contributing writer Enrico Cellini was as surprised as any of us when Olympiacos began Siena’s ejection from the tournament, Facebook-messaging BiE with […]
Andrei Kirilenko to return to the NBA in 2012-13 … probably
In case you wanted the definitive answer to whether Andrei Kirilenko will be returning to the NBA for next season after his prospective Euroleague MVP year with CSKA Moscow, well, you’ll have to wait just a bit longer. Last week, Kirilenko made a few brief remarks to Greece-based Eurohoops.net; within this interview, the AK states […]
Euroleague Playoffs games two: Impressions, notes, YouTube highlight clips
Games two of the 2011-12 Euroleague Playoffs have gone down … also down and just about out are Gescrap Bilbao Basket, once again outmatched and whipped by CSKA Moscow, 79-60. Unics Kazan may also be in the razor’s edge category as even a lackluster performance by FC Barcelona shooters – seriously, 19-of-57 (33.33%) overall and […]
Team Russia’s first opponent in 2012 Olympic qualifiers: Jetlag (really?)
With months to go before the London Olympic Games, some Russian media sources may already be panicking, based on concerns quoted from Alexey Shved vis-à-vis the FIBA qualifying tournament scheduled for July in Venezuela. The CSKA Moscow guard told Russia-based media service RIA Novosti that “Of course we’ll try. But flying for 15 hours changes […]
Shocker (not): FIBA Europe names Dirk Nowitzki player of the year; Navarro, McCalebb runners-up
To no one’s surprise – certainly not BallinEurope’s, in any case – FIBA Europe today announced its men’s player of the year award would go to the longtime Team Germany/Dallas Mavericks superstar. Less than suspenseful, too, were the results of the top five finishers: Behind Dastardly Dirk came Juan Carlos “La Bomba” Navarro, Bo McCalebb, […]