Kostas Sloukas 11
No longer the bridesmaids, Efes make Euroleague final
After more than two decades of being reminded time and again that they just didn’t belong competing for the big titles, Anadolu Efes bullied their way past Fenerbahce in the Fernando Buesa Arena with a dominant display to make a maiden Euroleague final. Emmet Ryan was on the scene When you control the tempo, when […]
Alexey is Shved-ly as Russia top Greece
There were two questions going into this one. Which was the real Greece? The one in the group phase or the one that tore Lithuania apart. Also, how would Greece match up with Timofey Mozgov? We got the answer to that from the off with Georgios Papagiannis put on him right away. The latter approach […]
Instant history: Olympiacos dominates last 30 minutes, tops Real Madrid, 100-88, for back-to-back titles
No matter which way this year’s Euroleague championship played out, history would be made with Olympiacos chasing a repeat championship and Real Madrid its first in 18 years. And as it turns out, fate’s scribe was writing with Red(s) pen: Once again, tournament underdogs Olympiacos ended up EL alpha dogs with a 100-88 win over […]
On Panionios BC and the future of Greek basketball
After defending Euroleague champions Olympiacos took care of business in an 85-81 win over Caja Laboral Baskonia last week, Greece-based media outlet Ekathimerini spun their game wrap under the headline “Greek stars gift Reds opening Euroleague win.” Indeed, last year’s heroes Giorgos Printezis and Vassilis Spanoulis were instrumental in the comeback victory, providing 33 points […]
2012 Olympic Qualifying Tournament Preview: Greece
Just one more day (or so, CET) until the heartily-named 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men tips off in Venezuela. BallinEurope continues with previews of the four European qualifiers with an assessment of Greece, a.k.a. Olympiacos and a bunch of other guys. Roster: Vassilis Spanoulis, Georgios Printezis, Kostas Papanikolaou, Kostas Sloukas, Evangelos Mantzaris […]
“What has happened here?” The best Euro-centric buzzer-beaters of 2011-12
In clearing out the virtual desk of 2011-12 basketball season stuff, BallinEurope today presents this compilation of the year’s top Euro-centric buzzer-beaters. The requirements to make the list were two: the primary player in the buzzer-beater most be of European nationality or the shot must take place in a game featuring European teams; and the […]
Euroleague Power Rankings: Do-or-die Week Edition
The key word in week three of the 2011-12 Euroleague Top 16 round: Blowout. The closest game was decided by eight points (Bennet Cantù 82, Maccabi Tel Aviv 74) and the average match showed a 16-point differential as certain teams (CSKA Moscow, FC Barcelona, Montepaschi Siena) asserted their superiority, a couple of sleeping giants (Olympiacos, […]
FIBA U20s: Greece, France, Spain on the podium
The 2009 edition of the FIBA U20 European Championship Men is in the books, with unstoppable Greece topped France thanks to five starters scoring in double figures for the gold medal. For the bronze, Spain barely held off yet another comeback from surprising Team Italy to win. FIBA roundups follow.
U20 European Championship Men: Day one roundup
Reporting for heinnews, David Hein provides coverage from the U20 European Championship in fantastic Rhodes. Playing out were Spain v. Russia, Latvia v. Slovenia, Greece v. Belgium, France v. Italy and Ukraine v. Serbia. (heinnews) – Looking at the first day of action at the U20 European Championship, a few of the big names were […]
FIBA U20 Championship Men: Hotel buffet-side coverage
Going on this week is the FIBA U20 European Championship Men and hard-working sports reporter David Hein of heinnews is live in Rhodes to cover the action. From the heinnews website, then, comes reportage of basketball action in … the hotel buffet area?
FIBA U19 World Championship wraps up; Greece silver, Croatia bronze
The ninth FIBA U19 World Championship closed out on Sunday with Team USA taking the big prize in the biannual contest. Greece can take pride in giving the Americans an excellent run for top spot on the podium, mounting a nice second-half comeback that fell short in an 88-80 loss.