Bundesliga 97
Alba Berlin vs. Maroussi BC: A Tale of Two Nations
The plot thickens … as marvelous underdog Maroussi continues its dark-horse run into the Euroleague’s field of 24, the pressure would all appear to be on Alba Berlin, last year’s sensation. A nice microcosm of two differing basketball programs is provided by the game as well, although Bundesliga’s propensity for welcoming non-German players is well-known. […]
Betting on basketball: In Bundesliga, it's Alba Berlin and … who?
Anyone else believe Alba Berlin *won’t* take the Bundesliga handily? You’ll find few dissenters on last year’s Euroleague sensation to win Germany’s top league going away, particularly at the sportsbook. Alba is certainly the logical choice – “But where’s the sport in that?” ask the gamblers and rabid fans of Bundesliga’s 17 other teams – […]
Tuesday transactions: Unicaja signs Rubio (no, not that one); Boumtje-Boumtje stays with EWE EWE
Two free-agent signings and one contract extension were announced by Euroleague officials on Tuesday, with Guillem Rubio forsaking Manresa for Unicaja while EWE Baskets Oldenburg signed Acha Njei, most recently of Bundesliga second division team Bremen Roosters; Oldenburg also extended the contract for one of the great names in all of basketball, Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje.
Bundesliga management: Giessen to return to BBL
Despite a second-to-last place finish in the 2008-09 Bundesliga regular season, the Giessen 46ers will avoid relegation for 2009-10 after BBL officials announced a wild card spot in Germany’s top league was to be awarded the team. Story from heinnews.
A few more notes on 2009/10 Euroleague teams
With the French playoffs finished and the German finals coming to an end, the last Euroleague teams will be known in the next few days. However, with still no official decision on the competition system for the next campaign, all this still cannot be considered definitive.
ACB confirms its status as most attractive league
In our second annual review of ticket sales and average attendance throughout the various European leagues, the Spanish ACB confirms its status as absolute leader in Europe.
Up and down: The relegation business is back
With playoffs coming to an end in most countries, teams are starting to hit the summer recruiting market. But currently, several teams are still on hold because they don’t know where they will be playing next season. We took a short look at three different situations where team owners, fans and league officials still don’t […]
Short Monday night cigarettes
Before going to bed, here are a few stories from the weekend that I think are worth mentioning.
France extends US quota despite protests, contrarian trend
Tonight, the French LNB announced that it has changed the quota rules for the ProA and the ProB. While several countries are openly discussing to reduce the number of the “Non-EU/Cotonou” (i.e. American) players, the French league went in the opposite direction despite protests from the local player union.
Turkish Tourism Minister brings playoff action to Germany
The Basketball on (free) TV situation in Germany has been disastrous over the last years. For years, no German Bundesliga could be followed live, and even the NBA has disappeared totally from TV this season. Though you can watch BBL games through the pay-per-view/Internet TV channel Sportdigital.tv, for most of the German fans this meant […]
Late Monday’s cigarettes
Here we go for the next round of the traditional Monday morning evening cigarette break.
Monday’s cigarettes
Monday morning, it’s time for the cigarettes that light up your week, one that will mark the start of the Euroleague quarterfinals. Former UConn Husky and German Bundesliga center Souleyman Wane is now working as French teacher at Haverhill High School and still plays in the faculty basketball team. Taquan Dean hits 10 three pointers. […]