Dallas Mavericks 120
Coach Bauermann: Dirk Nowitzki, Team Germany “has work to do”
BallinEurope’s unofficial comrade in schadenfreude, a new website calling itself Lockout Hoops, recently turned us on to a nice YouTube clip of Team Germany in training for the upcoming EuroBasket tournament. In general, the clip is a bit of a lovefest for that face of German basketball, Dirk Nowitzki. High praise is given to the […]
Greatest of all-time: Yugoslavia or Spain?
An interesting exchange of tweets went down last Friday (yes, minus points for untimeliness, but on another job BallinEurope thought deep into the matter all weekend) between HoopsHype/ESPN Deportes writer Jorge Sierra and Team Australia/Milwaukee Bucks big man Andrew Bogut. Things started innocuously enough, with Sierra plugging a Spanish-language piece he’d written for Deportes: “An […]
Update from the North: 2011 Nordic Championship roundup
From Sweden, sportswriter/broadcaster Magnus Dahlborn checks in with BallinEurope today to give us reportage on the recently completed Nordic Championship tournament, which saw the title awarded to undefeated Team Finland. Due to the tragic events in Norway, a sombre feeling overlay the past weekend when the Nordic Championships between national teams from Sweden, Finland, Norway, […]
Dirk Swish: Entrepreneurs turn iconic basketballer Nowitzki into icon
File this one under “What’s Next”: It’s called the “Legendary Icon” (but you’ll surely be forgiven if you think of it as the “Dirk Swish”) and if a two-man team of Dallas entrepreneurs has its way, their icon will have you forgetting all about the Jumpman. The icon – and concomitant T-shirt – based on […]
Nowitzki: “Not exceptional” in the NBA Finals
No matter how you feel about Dirk Nowitzki’s place in NBA history vis-à-vis “Top 10” lists and whatnot, yesterday’s interview in Der Spiegel will certainly put him among the all-time greats in terms of humility. In the interview, which touches on subjects including Barack Obama, race relations in the NBA, and the upcoming 2011 Eurobasket […]
European Vocation: Early fallout from NBA lockout
The NBA fan’s nightmare came to pass yesterday with the expiration of the league’s collective bargaining agreement with the players, the concomitant announcement of a player lockout, and fresh new fear that professional basketball in 2011-12 might not even happen in the ‘States. BallinEurope’s gut reaction, at least on a visceral Eurocentric level? Cool! Bring […]
D(irk) Day in Germany: Footage from Nowitzki’s homecoming in Würzburg
Yesterday, Würzburg, Germany, celebrated its favorite son and probably the greatest athlete the town has ever produced as Dirk Nowitzki finally returned home, some 2½ weeks after his Dallas Mavericks captured the 2011 NBA championship title. Nattily attired in a Maverick-green T-shirt bearing the Nike logo, Dirk spent a decent part of the day in […]
Nowitzki comes home to Würzburg; much partying planned
Dirk Nowitzki arrives in Germany today from his brief stopover to check out some Wimbledon tennis; think he’ll get a hero’s welcome for his homecoming? You bet he will! In a planned ceremony that Germany-based heinnews is describing as “palatial” and local media is calling “D Day,” some 15,000 are expected to attend Nowitzki’s early-evening […]
Pop Quiz: The Euro-/NBA-centric year in basketball
Just because the NBA Draft is over, the big league is heading toward a lockout, and the top European teams are thick into the wheeling/dealing of off-season acquisitions with an eye to 2011-12, that’s no reason to forget your history. Were you paying attention this season? Test your knowledge with the official BallinEurope 2010-11 season-ending […]
Hey, who wouldn’t want to be like Dirk?
“I wanna be like Mike?” That’s sooooooo 1990s. In light of the recent Dallas Mavericks championship bid, the folks at Dirkenbrau Beer (actually, the parodists at FunnyOrDie.com) have released their new ad campaign entitled “I wanna be like Dirk.” Get out a cold one, then, and check out the wave of popularity washing over courts […]
Dallas Mavericks on Letterman: Barea ♥ Weiner, Nowitzki ♥ Kardashians
You know you’ve made it big in America when you get to read a “Top 10 List” on Late Night with David Letterman. So it was for the 2010-11 NBA champion Dallas Mavericks last night, who were represented by eight players plus head coach Rick Carlisle and Mark Cuban in contributing the regular gag for […]
Mavericks win: Nowitzki becomes first German to win NBA title
Huge congratulations go out from BallinEurope.com to the Dallas Mavericks for the team’s 105-95 win over the superstar-studded Miami Heat in game six of the NBA Championship. Excepting those in the Miami metropolitan area, the basketball world is collectively rejoicing in playoff MVP Dirk Nowitzki and his Mavericks’ first-ever title, earned with the defeat of […]