Bundesliga 97
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 […]
Believe the hype: Playoff action in Spain, Lithuania, Romania, Germany
Sorry, the N-B-what? While Euroball fans can certainly take pride in the outstanding number of Continental players still competing in the big league overseas – a list that includes Team Turkey’s Omer Asik, Team France’s Joakim Noah, Team Britain’s Luol Deng, Zydrunas Ilgauskas of Lithuania, Team Switzerland’s Thabo Sefolosha, French sophomore Rodrigue Beaubois (sort of; […]
Video clips: Unics Kazan wins, Real Madrid loses, and YouTube shows how not to dunk
While much of the basketball-loving world was distracted by the squall of opening-round NBA playoff games, the roundball game nevertheless played on in leagues throughout Europe and beyond. Of course, this lead-in mainly serves as an excuse to justify running the below handful of highlights, links and pithy bon mots to (help you waste some […]
Top 100 teams in Europe: The Return
After a few weeks off, BallinEurope finally returns the Top 100 list for your perusal this week. With Euroleague ball on a break, not much has changed near the top of the table, though Olympiacos’ dominance in EΣAKE ball has again leapfrogged them over Real Madrid for the no. 2 spot on the BiE table […]
In case of lockout: Drei Deutschland destinations for Dirk
Who will benefit most (at least in the short-term) from an NBA lockout to start and/or kill the 2011-12 season? European clubs! Specifically, those European clubs which are blessed with either deep-pocketed owners or which wisely stockpiled a few extra million euros in case of this eventuality. Since before the new year, German pundits and […]
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 […]
On Team Germany, Bayern München and Dirk Bauermann’s Catch-22
When fans think of European basketball superpowers, typically names like Spain, Greece, Russia and even Lithuania or Italy tend to enter early into any discussion. At least one national program wants to change this conception – and thus far appears to be a paragon of success which others might do well to follow. To wit, […]
Top 100 Teams in Europe: Barcelona back to no. 1
BallinEurope took a little extra time with the Top 100 Teams in Europe list this week after a suggestion that certain ACB teams were getting the shaft of non-inclusion in the calculations – and so the pool has been widened accordingly. In calculating the Top 100 for this week and heretofore, all teams in major […]
Salute to Salu: Amateur takes flight, BBL dunk contest
Germany’s Bundesliga Basketball League held its All-Star Game and related festivities yesterday in Trier. A full-capacity crowd of 5,738 devotees was on hand to watch a Northern side top their Southerly rivals, 114-104; MVP was Kyle Hines of Brose Baskets Bamberg. But hey, let’s get on to the real centerpiece of any all-star weekend: The […]
Introducing the ultimate BiE rankings: The Top 100 basketball teams in Europe
In gearing up to produce another official BallinEurope Euroleague Power Rankings column (it’ll be up here after the draw next week), BiE got to thinking about how unsatisfying the task will be with only 16 teams remaining. After all, BiE regularly has an eye on hundreds of teams and though the Euroleague is clearly cream-of-the-Continental-Crop, […]
Official BallinEurope Euroleague Power Rankings: Post-week nine
So Žalgiris gets its coach fired after playing .800 ball through 20 games, Spanish powerhouses lose in Lithuania and Germany, Valencia kills Milano, Efes Pilsen stuns PAO … just another week in Euroleague 2010-11, eh? And after happenings aplenty, it sounds like time for another edition of BallinEurope’s Official Euroleague Power Rankings! Let’s go! Tops […]
Official BallinEurope Euroleague Power Rankings: Post-week seven
Apologies for the tardiness of this column, dear readers, but the Official BallinEurope Euroleague Power Rankings are just as fun and informative on Sundays as they are on Saturdays! With four teams through into the Top 16 round and several more on the bubble, who’s cruising and who’s losing? BiE says the two dozen squads […]