EuroCup 131
Eurocup Championship: Unics Kazan master plan coming to fruition
Better late than never, as the old expression goes; and in the case of Unics Kazan’s 2010-11 season, continuing to achieve late could prove much better in the medium- and long-term future. Few teams so actively rebuilt and retooled with purpose last offseason as Unics Kazan, bringing aboard Slavko Vranes out of Partizan Belgrade, 2009-10 […]
Valencia’s oldest its newest as team signs 44-year-old Darryl Middleton
When Darryl Middleton was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks, the NBA was ruled over by the likes of Larry, Magic and MJ, Sir Charles and Hakeem the Dream. Rookie of the year was Mark Jackson and the Detroit Pistons were ascending into dominance. Andrew Bynum was about nine months old; Blake Griffin and Brandon Jennings […]
Juan Dixon comeback begins today with Banvit
Thanks to an injury suffered by Antonio Graves, Turkish side Banvit had been left with a hole in the depth chart at the no. 2 spot plus a free “foreign-born player” spot on the roster – an unfortunate situation for the team, but ultimately a serendipitous chance for Juan Dixon to return to professional basketball […]
Weekend wrap: Barcelona beaten, Winters comes to Greece, checking in with Motiejunas, more
And how was your weekend? BallinEurope was able to check out quite a few matches from The Continent and ‘States this weekend, but as they say, too much is never enough. Right, so let’s get the week started with a handful of video clips and story links from around the basketball universe. • Starting with […]
Déjà vu in Ukraine? Proposed role models for Fratello’s new team
When Mike Fratello arrives to head up his national team coaching gig in Ukraine, he won’t see too many familiar faces beyond Sasha Volkov. Volkov played for the Czar’s Atlanta Hawks for a couple seasons way back when; unfortunately, Volkov hasn’t actually played ball at any level since year 2000. Coupled with the fact that […]
And the nominees in the category of “Best Euroleague Coach” are…
Over at the Lithuanian Perspective, BallinEurope typically contributes to a weekly column entitled “The Wise Men Know” (hey, BiE didn’t choose the moniker). This week, the deadline sadly whooshed past this writer and so no contribution from Os Davis appears in the current edition. However, BiE just couldn’t let this week’s third question – namely, […]
Top 100 teams in Europe: Week of upsets edition
While NBA fans were mostly talking about Blake Griffin and Carmelo Anthony last week, the buzzword around Europe last week was “upset.” Seemingly from end to end, Continental leagues saw their respective mighty – if not fall – at least stagger from a blow dealt by a lower seed. Real Madrid lost to new no. […]
Top 100 Teams in Europe: After the cups, then what? Edition
The dust – and in Germany, the glass – has settled on a week of Cup tournament action throughout The Continent, so it’s time for BallinEurope to crunch the numbers in compiling the weekly Top 100 Teams in Europe list. But, ran the first question, what relative weight should be prescribed for these games for […]
February Madness: Rounding up the cups, serving up some highlights
Can it all be over so quickly? February Madness peaked this weekend in Europe, with several domestic cup tournaments being played out and celebrations aplenty. BallinEurope this morning provides a rundown of the action – and, naturally, video clips. Without further ado, then, let’s look in on the insanity. • To no one’s surprise, Spanish […]
Omer Önan: TBL second only to ACB
Team Turkey/Fenerbahçe Ülker guard Ömer Onan makes a few declarations in this morning’s Today’s Zaman, summing up well the current state of TBL and Turkish international ball. “[ACB] aside,” opines Onan, “in Turkish basketball, we have long surpassed important European domestic leagues, including the Italian and Greek leagues. In these countries, only one or two […]
Top 100 Teams in Europe: Pre-Cups Running Over Edition
As most European domestic leagues are taking a break for a week or two for national cup and/or all-star festivities, BallinEurope crunches the numbers again to determine where the Continent’s finest stand. Near the top, Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Euroleague-side punishment of Union Olimpija shook things up a bit within the top 10 and Olympiacos reasserted […]
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 […]