Jonas Valanciunas 81
EuroBasket: Lithuania beat Italy 81-77 in a classic
Lithuania and Italy served up the quarter final we had been waiting for in EuroBasket 2013. A battle down to the wire where Lithuania finally pulled through to book a date with Croatia. Finally a game worth killing for. The quarter finals were lacking something up until this point. We needed joie de mort. Where […]
Preview: EuroBasket Quarter Finals – Croatia vs Ukraine and Lithuania vs Italy
Three more teams will book their place in the 2014 FIBA World Cup on Thursday as the quarter finals of EuroBasket 2013 conclude. Here’s are take and picks on both games as well as the classification game between Slovenia and Serbia where the winner books a ticket to Spain. Croatia lost their first game in […]
EuroBasket: Jonas Valanciunas Leads Centres in Points Per Possession
Lithuania may want to consider giving Jonas Valanciunas more minutes after checking out this chart. The Toronto Raptors big man leads all centers in points per possession (PPP). This chart by Simon Jatsch of In-the-game.org shows, unsurprisingly, that Valanciunas does most of his work around the rim. The “Rest Two” category relates to jump hook […]
Valanciunas hitting form at the right time
After a first round of extremes, Jonas Valanciunas has stepped up big time for Lithuania in his last two outings. When Jonas Valanciunas can stay on the court, Lithuania win. That’s been the story for the Toronto Raptors big man so far. In Lithuania’s two losses so far, to Serbia and Bosnia, Valanciunas totalled just […]
BallinEurope's most popular stories of 2012
BiE likes to write up this particular roundup at year’s end for a couple of reasons: Firstly as a thank you to the readers who check out BallinEurope however frequently; like they say in sports, this website wouldn’t exist without the audience. Secondly, a look back at which BallinEurope stories drew the most attention provides […]
You decide: Who should be the new BallinEurope logo? Should “Pau” be retired?
Sooner or later, it had to happen. With Ramunas Siskauskas – half of BallinEurope’s logo – now retired from the professional ranks, the icon (or possibly icons; more on this later) of this website must change. And so today we’re asking the question at top, i.e. Who should be the new logo? We’ll be running […]
The BallinEurope Eurocentric NBA preview: 25 storylines to watch
BallinEurope’s said it before and fully expects to say it again: Better late than never. Stuff like podcast recording, the day job and, you know, life, has delayed the release of this season’s “Eurocentric preview.” BiE figures he’s morally convinced, since 80% of the NBA hasn’t tipped off as of this writing. We’re doing something […]
Taking stock of European players in the NBA, 2012-13
BallinEurope will be celebrating NBA Opening Day with lots of stuff centered on the big league; firstly, BiE takes stock of Continental ballers in the ‘States. Taking a look at this year’s roundup, we note that 53 Europeans have been named to NBA clubs’ 15-man roster, just beating the pace of the 52 listed in […]
2012 Olympic basketball: Rising and falling stock after the first round
While we’re a little ways away from actually awarding medals for 2012 Olympic basketball, the first round showed international hoops fans quite a lot. Though the fat lady hasn’t sung yet, reputations have changed over the past five games to cause some individual and/or teams losses beyond these Olympics. BallinEurope today takes a look at […]
Is Jonas Valanciunas the problem for Team Lithuania?
And here’s a second question: Shall composition of the requiem for Lietuva’s 2012 Olympic bid begin now? Sadly, it doesn’t look good for our heroes with Team USA on the slate tomorrow and a first-round date with presumably Spain or (BiE’s pick) Russia in the knockout stage – and this in the 20th anniversary year […]
Plan Y for Team Lithuania (plus Official Fearless Predictions™)
BallinEurope’s Lithuanian agent Skyped BiE today with two words on his mind: “Lithuania’s doom.” “Today?” BiE countered. “No, it already happened two days ago,” said Y. and he was off with a prescient, simple formula for success after the 23-point blowout at the hands of Argentina.
BallinEurope’s Official Fearless Predictions™: 2012 Olympic Basketball Group A
Okay, with just a few hours before men’s basketball tips off at the 2012 Olympics, BallinEurope’s got just enough time for some Official Fearless Predictions™. If done properly, these things are never as easy as they look. Right, starting with Group A, then, we’ve got: 1. USA (5-0) also 5. Nigeria (1-4) 6. Tunisia (0-5). […]