Juan Carlos Navarro 148
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 […]
Timofey Mozgov vows “I will prove myself in the NBA”; no word from Knicks on FIBA Worlds
How did the Knicks scoop the Nets on this one? And does Mikhail Prokhorov know about this? The New York Times, among other sources, reported last night that BC Moscow Khimki region center Timofey Mozgov has signed a three-year, $10 million deal with the New York Knicks. The move comes as a bit of a […]
2010 FIBA World Championship odds: Looking for a dark horse {advertorial}
So call BallinEurope kooky: While everyone else with an eye on basketball – even European basketball, for Arvydas Sabonis’ sake – is concentrating on the NBA free-agent market, BiE is all attention on the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Men tipping off in Turkey in August. Naturally, bookmakers too are into it and the early […]
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 […]
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 […]
Not so fast, hombre: Baskonia stuns mighty Barcelona to take ACB game one, 63-58
I guess this is why they actually play the games, eh? Caja Laboral Baskonia leapt out to a 12-0 lead behind the dominant play of Tiago Splitter to start game one of the ACB championship finals and hung on for the 63-58 win. The achievement of Baskonia’s win is reflected in historical statistics: Barcelona has […]
Fearless prediction: The ACB finals
All right, with 90 minutes or so left ’til tipoff, BallinEurope has just about enough time to get this one in. Without too much (okay, no further) analysis, BiE will say FC Barcelona in three games *but* each win will be decided by seven or fewer points as Caja Laboral Baskonia does their damnedest though […]
Top 10 reasons Americans should watch the ACB finals
Yes, yes, BallinEurope realizes that U.S. basketball fandom is currently enraptured with the NBA Championship, if only to determine just which team y’all hate more. But still: A true roundball supporter wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to tune into some top-level ball, would you? As Pete Mickeal once put it, “Hey, there’s a world outside […]
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 […]
Statistically dominant Tiago Splitter wins ACB MVP award
Congratulations to Tiago Splitter, who, to the surprise of extremely few, took home the ACB MVP title for 2009-10. Statistically, Splitter dominated the Spanish League while leading the ACB “playing ranking value” over 27 of the league’s 34 weeks. He ended up ranking first in ranking points per game (at 21.2, he blew away second-place […]
The ACB point guard of the year is … c'mon, like you don't know
Yet another anticlimactic accolade has been bestowed upon Ricky Rubio for the 2009-10 season, as Spain’s ACB League yesterday officially crowned The Human YouTube Clip/defending back-to-back FIBA Europe Young Player of the Year as Point Guard of the Year. It’s the second such nod for Rubio, who also received the award for the 2007-08 season […]
Roll the tape! Highlight clips from the 2009-10 Euroleague championship, third-place game
Okay, folks, for those of you who missed the excellent show put on by FC Barcelona in distancing itself from the second-best team in Europe in 2009-10, Olympiacos, here’s the official highlight clip from last night’s Euroleague championship. (A clip of the best moments from the CSKA Moscow-Partizan Belgrade consolation game also included.) Enjoy all […]