Fortitudo Bologna 18
Captain Mancio is back on the ship
Nicolò Origgi on the long journey home for Stefano Mancinelli Just over a decade ago, some then promising young Italian players were starting to make a name for themselves around the Bel Paese and Europe as well, thus catching the eyes of international scouts and drawing high praise from the media. Future NBAers Andrea Bargnani […]
The Harlem Shake in Biancoblu: Bologna gets down
Not one hour ago, BallinEurope was engaged in a conversation about that utterly viral meme/dance craze The Harlem Shake. BiE scoffed when the other party suggested the ‘Shake is already did. Well, thanks to Sportando, BiE can say it ain’t so as the fever expands into Italy. In short, here’s Biancoblu Basket Bologna getting to […]
Coming to Europe: The top five most influential American players of all-time
With seemingly no end in sight to the NBA lockout situation forthcoming, BallinEurope has to admit to enjoying the schadenfreude of the situation … just a bit. Even more exciting than the day-to-day speculation as more and more players from the big league consider their Continental options are the possibilities for the future: History has […]
Fortitudo Bologna flatlining as league officials refuse promotion, club nears folding
The Fortitudo Bologna basketball team, saddled with a debt of an estimated €8 million, will not be playing in Italy’s Serie A division next season yet again – and today the question becomes whether the basketball team will exist at all for 2010-11 or become just another casualty of ‘10s economics. Italian Basketball Federation president […]
The Frank Euroleague roundup: Top 16, week four
The critical week four of Euroleague Top 16 action is in the books, but Ball in Europe’s man in Italy, Francesco Cappelletti, is still musing on the shifts ‘n’ events thanks to these eight games. This week’s frank roundup wishes Panathinaikos bye-bye, gives mucho deserved props to Pini Gershon, and bestows an “accolade” upon Zabian […]
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 […]
Euroleague Top 16 draw: The Frank take
The Euroleague Top 16 group draw was orientated, due to the guidelines, well before it started. So, while Group G and Group H were fixed, it remained to see where Maccabi Tel Aviv and Efes Pilsen Istanbul would be directed: to the Barcelona-Panathinaikos group or the Real Madrid-Montepaschi gang. The two teams went into the […]
Ball in Europe’s 10 Most Popular Stories of 2009
Like any blog, Ball in Europe would ultimately mean nothing without its readership; you are the ones for whom our website is for. In the general taking stock of the year that was, Ball in Europe today presents the top 10 most popular posts on the website in 2009. These are the stories that captured […]
Just how good is Montepaschi Siena, anyway?
Poring over some Sporting Bet odds and lines on Lega Uno basketball reveals a stunning amount of continued domination from Montepaschi Siena. Not only is Ferdinando Minucci’s team a 4/15 favorite to take the Italian title, they’re also an incredible 3/10 favorite to once again (again!) go undefeated at home. So the question to our […]
Tuesday transactions: Blanco to Unicaja, Gordon to Cibona
A pair of Euroleague signings were made official on Tuesday, with homegrown product Saul Blanco staying in Spain to sign with Unicaja Malaga and second-year pro Jamont Gordon arrives in Cibona Zagreb after the sinking of Fortitudo Bologna.
Mancinelli unpacks bags, decides to stay in Italy
Lots of speculation – including that by fans in three NBA cities – ended on Monday with the signing of prize free agent Stefano Mancinelli by Armani Jeans Milano. Italian media had reported that Mancinelli’s agent was entertaining offers from the Los Angeles Lakers, Toronto Raptors and Portland Trail Blazers for the forward, but Mancinelli […]
Italian basketball still ill: The sad cases of Fortitudo and Rieti
When we last saw Fortitudo Bologna a month ago, the team was in LegaDue; now we find them in the third division. It is called “A Dilettanti” and it’s the reason why owner Gilberto Sacrati can’t hold his players under contract, nor will he ask interested pretenders for a buyout: Fortitudo is no longer a […]