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Euroleague playoffs: Notes, videos and Fearless Predictions™
Here it comes: a full slate of four games to tip off the Euroleague Playoff Round tonight. And how could BallinEurope miss another chance to post more Fearless Predictions™? Below, a brief take on each game plus videos and those ever-popular prognostications. Enjoy the games! • Caja Laboral Baskonia vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv – BiE’s […]
Official BallinEurope Euroleague Power Rankings: Final preseason edition
The 2010-11 Euroleague season tips off tomorrow? Right, then. Presenting the last preseason – and thus last totally subjective, because we’ll be able to base these things on, you know, wins and losses beginning next week – BallinEurope Official Euroleague Power Rankings™. (Plus lots of video clips.) Enjoy! 1. (↔) FC Barcelona – Yeah, as […]
Team Spain beats Slovenia behind fearsome foursome, announces final roster
The Spanish Basketball Federation is reporting that coach Sergio Scariolo has finalized his 12-man roster, and that Carlos Suarez has been passed over for Caja Laboral’s Fernando San Emeterio. Scariolo informed his team of the decision after yesterday’s 79-72 win over Team Slovenia in Ljubljana; he was quoted on the Spanish Basketball Federation’s official website […]
Power ratings: 2010 FIBA World Championship
August is here and it’s full speed ahead for the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey later this month. In coming weeks, we’ll be seeing the national teams competing in the tournament playing warmup games all over the planet – indeed, some have already begun play. With the last few big names having declared “yea” […]
Team USA still favored in 2010 FIBA World Championship, but should they be?
Just a quick note (and link) for fans of the 2010 FIBA World Championship: Be sure to check out the excellent and extensive thoughts on Team USA by M. Haubs over at ESPN TrueHoop Network blog The Painted Area. In “Spain, Not Team USA, Should Be Considered Favorites To Win 2010 FIBA Worlds,” Haubs makes […]
What FC Barcelona must do (with special reference to Lakers-Celtics)
Two teams teetering on the edge, two series remarkably similar in a few outstanding features. With FC Barcelona one game from elimination at the hands of Caja Laboral Baskonia in the ACB championship series, BallinEurope – like so many others – is looking for answers to the Blaugrana’s mysterious woes. Perhaps some might be found […]
Game three a matter of life and death for Caja Laboral Baskonia players
“Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man.” – Mercutio, Romeo & Juliet, Act 3, scene 1 How serious is Caja Laboral Baskonia, on the verge of one most excellent ACB championship series sweep over Euroleague champions FC Barcelona? Check out a couple of quotes taken down after a Baskonia practice […]
Giant slayers: Caja Laboral Baskonia wins 70-69, pushes FC Barcelona to brink
In a season already spiced with big playoff upsets, Caja Laboral Baskonia may be adding the biggest to the list yet, as the Basque Country boys held on through an insane final minute of play to eke out a 70-69 win over FC Barcelona. And now things in Spain have become suddenly unthinkable as the […]
In afterglow of Baskonia OT playoff win, high praise for Tiago Splitter
Checked out the Caja Laboral Baskonia-Real Madrid game on Sunday as part of BallinEurope’s personal playoff tripleheader (the ACB semifinal was bumpered by Lakers-Suns NBA Western Conference Championship game six and game two of the Olympiacos-Panathinaikos EΣAKE championship) and thoroughly enjoyed Madrid’s last gasp in the 2009-10 season spirited late comeback to send the game […]
Baskonia brings too much Splitter, Huertas; drops Madrid to 3rd in ACB
A frustrating second half of the season just got a bit worse for Real Madrid as Los Blancos dropped an absolutely critical home game to Caja Laboral Baskonia, to complete a slow descent from an 11-0 start in the ACB and land the team in third place on the ACB table with two games left […]
The Frank Euroleague roundup: Top 16 finales
Better late than never (totally BiE’s fault, let me tell you) comes Ball in Europe’s dispatch from Francesco Cappelletti rounding up the week that was in Euroleague basketball. For your amusement and edification, Francesco discusses, among other topics, the Terrell McIntyre Backup Curse, which teams should sweep into the Final Four, why Maccabi Tel Aviv […]
Sound bites in advance of Copa del Rey tournament
The party’s already starting in Bilbao to be sure … after all, the Copa del Rey basketball tournament isn’t just a sporting event; heck, it’s not even just another national cup competition. Instead, the “King’s Cup” consumes much of the national population’s attention as determines the class of Europe’s top hoops superpower is confirmed. Concerts […]