ESAKE 53
On “night of shame,” Panathinaikos takes 8th consecutive Greek title in riot conditions
Congratulations go out from BallinEurope this morning to Panathinaikos, who overcame a crowd which redefined the word “hostile” to beat rival Olympiacos, 76-69, and take the EΣAKE championship series for the eighth consecutive season. Still incensed by numerous controversial calls going the Greens’ way in game three of the championship series, Olympiacos fans were at […]
Olympiacos “condemns” Greek referees, threatens to quit EΣAKE
After game three of the Greek League championship, in which a number of questionable calls went against Olympiacos against rivals Panathinaikos, Reds management isn’t taking things lying down. In a statement posted on the team’s official website, Olympiacos officials were “compel[led] to condemn those responsible for controlling the course of Greek basketball” for general egregiousness […]
The BallinEurope Sunday playoff quadruple-header (plus Fearless Predictions)
All right, on this last World Cup-free weekend for the foreseeable future, who’s up for a little basketball? No, make that a lot of basketball. A barrage of basketball, if you will. Get ready to clear the schedule, stock up the liquid refreshment and blow off the familial obligations for the hoops marathon we like […]
Watching the Greek finals, Spanish semifinals online
Two of Europe’s finest, most hard-fought leagues are coming to a head with crucial games going down today in both Greece and Spain – and with no NBA playoffs on the schedule, you have no excuse to miss either.
Panathinaikos destroys Olympiacos, 73-54: Going to YouTube for answers
More than a shocker and well into slap-in-the-face territory was game one of the EΣAKE championship series, where hometown Panathinaikos took care of all business in dispatching Olympiacos, 73-54. Though BallinEurope did not see the match and knows empirically that games should never be judged on the stat line, one number still stands out like […]
Invisible to insane: The six types of basketball team owner
They say that no one has ever bought a ticket to a sports event in order to see an executive but with two weeks of American and European basketball club owners hogging sports page headlines, BallinEurope got to thinking about these moneyed celebrity types who run the teams we watch … and the often disturbing […]
Olympiacos vs. the flu, part II: Teodosic questionable for Euroleague final [UPDATED]
With one game left to play in its Euroleague season, Olympiacos has only to face the same old enemy that has dogged their exceptional 2009-10 season. No, BiE’s not talking about Barcelona here or even home-country rivals Panathinaikos, but rather a flu bug. Olympiacos coach Panagiotis Giannakis stated on Saturday that, “After the game with […]
Euroleague Final Four head-to-head matchups: Partizan Belgrade vs. Olympiacos
Whoa, the Final Four starts in two days? Almost unbelievable. But enough digression! Yesterday, BallinEurope presented a brief position-by-position rundown of Friday’s FC Barcelona-CSKA Moscow game. Today, a consideration of the late game, Partizan Belgrade vs. Olympiacos. Similarly to the early game, Partizan-Olympiacos also features a matchup between classic plucky underdog versus season-starting prohibitive favorite. […]
Sofoklis philosophizes in brief Euroleague interview
“Much speech is one thing, well-timed speech is another.” – Sophocles BallinEurope would be highly remiss if i didn’t turn you onto the Euroleague’s official interview with one of the main men ‘round this ‘site, Sofoklis Schortsanitis. Somewhat disappointingly, it’s fairly standard stuff, though Big Sofo does offer some insight into stopping the Partizan game, […]
Beyond Vesely: Five European names North America must know for 2010-11
With BallinEurope’s profile piece on Jan Vesely in, today we’re adding a bit of a primer on some other names certain to get increasing mentions in NBA culture from your team’s elimination from the playoffs through to the draft and into the 2010 FIBA World Championships in August/September. NBA fans who want to get in […]
Red alert: Heating-up Sofoklis goes off in All-Star Game
Look out, upcoming Olympiacos opponents: Big Sofo is just starting to heat up. After a marginal season in Euroleague play up in the early going (BiE is blaming it on that H1N1 the big man contracted in the autumn), Sofoklis Schortsanitis turned in his peak Euroleague performance of 2009-10 a week and a half ago, […]
State of the nations: European basketball organizations today
While not interested in passing definitive judgment, we think it would be useful and fair to take a look at the European basketball panorama. There will be no ratings or rankings here, just a snapshot of what the most important ballin’ countries offer us. Ten years into the third millennium, it’s common to hear repeated […]