Basketball Champions League 31
Punter balls out as Virtus Bologna take BCL title
Basket City is back baby. With victory in the 2019 Basketball Champions League (BCL), Virtus Bologna ended a 10 year drought of major honours as they ensured another banner would be raised in PalaDozza. Emmet Ryan watched it all in the Sportpaleis in Antwerp Kevin Punter came here to play and the well-traveled man delivered […]
Tenerife tame the Giants to progress in Antwerp
The crowd came, they brought the noise, they set a record, and they had reason for hope, but the young Antwerp Giants simply couldn’t overcome a canny Tenerife side in the Basketball Champions League Final Four. Emmet Ryan watched the clock strike midnight on Cinderellaujgm This was not an aesthetically pleasing game of basketball. Nor […]
Virtus victorious over blunderous Bamberg
On the one hand there was a former European power looking to show it really was on the way back. On the other, there was a team that had reigned supreme in its homeland and now sought a first European final. It should have been a cracker, instead dire shooting from Brose Bamberg ensured that […]
Reyer survive a choppy flight
It started out so well but Reyer Venezia got flat fast before eventually closing out a win over a game Fribourg. Emmet Ryan was in Venice to take in the action Gonna fly now roared through a largely full Palasport Talierico in what seemed a touch misplaced move. I’m sure it’s normal but Reyer Venezia […]
A new road for the boys from Freak City
It was long past time that BiE had a trip to the BCL so Emmet Ryan visited an old haunt where times are changing. For only the second time this decade, Brose Bamberg are campaigning in Europe without the moniker of German champions. He went to the Brose Arena a couple of weeks back to […]
The players demand a voice
Behind the glory, the players are revolting With the players not being quiet anymore, FIBA and Euroleague both need to work together to fix the calendar issue. Emmet Ryan on why player power, with our without a union, is greater than ever and why those who play the game are important voices in shaping its […]
Euroleague expansion, opportunity, and headaches
It turns out the Turkish Airlines Euroleague wants to get bigger, having just got smaller, but while expansion offers financial opportunities it’s going to prove a logistical nightmare according to Emmet Ryan The most unsurprising detail in Euroleague’s long term plans was confirmed by Jordi Bertomeu on Zalgiris TV. Euroleague wants to expand, first to […]