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Kestutis Kemzura names 20 to preliminary Team Lithuania roster
Team Lithuania coach Kestutis Kemzura this morning named 20 players to his preliminary squad in advance of the Eurobasket 2011 tournament. The home team will be returning seven players from the side that took bronze in the 2010 FIBA World Championship and including one NBAer – but not Linas Kleiza. Returning from the surprise of […]
Martynas Pocius injury: Vladimir Romanov to blame?
Stepping outside the realm of the Euroleague playoffs for just a moment, BallinEurope was saddened to hear quite the insidious story of BiE fave Martynas “Air” Pocius’ season-ending injury. As though not bad enough that Pocius is gone for the traditional LKL championship series between Žalgiris Kaunas and Lietuvos Rytas, BiE buddy Simonas Baranauskas yesterday […]
Rumor du jour: Pocius to move to Moscow next season?
Could Martynas “Air” Pocius soon be flying to Russia? Talk Basket today supposes that not only will CSKA Moscow rebuild after a relatively poor season for the Red Army (not surprising), but that new Lithuanian head coach Jonas Kazlauskas is actively pursuing acquiring Pocius’ services for CSKA in the 2011-12 season. Pocius’ obligation to current […]
Basketball highlights of the week: Featuring Prigioni, McIntyre, Llull and some jackasses
On a lazy Sunday before the ACB tips off, what better way to wile away a few minutes than checking out some recent video clips? BallinEurope has a half-dozen short vids encapsulating basketball this week from The Continent and ‘States. Enjoy! • Weirdness and excitement in Spanish basketball? You bet! BiE recalls that this was […]
Christmas greetings, the Zalgiris Kaunas way
For Christmas this year, Žalgiris Kaunas is offering Christmas greetings in the best fashion Lithuanians know: With basketball, electronic card-style. Head on over to the official website by clicking here to a page that merrily welcomes you with “Žalgiris Kaunas welcomes the approaching winter holidays and gives good cheer!” (“Kauno Žalgiris sveikina su artéjančiomis Žiemos […]
Hungary’s first NBA player/current Phoenix Suns scout Kornel David visits Lithuania
The Pride of Hungarian Basketball was recently spotted in Lithuania, where he was doing scouting work for the Phoenix Suns. Former Žalgiris Kaunas big man/Hungary’s first-ever NBA player Kornél Dávid sat in on the Caja Laboral Baskonia game in Kaunas last week and afterwards granted an interview to Žalgiris radio. (Naturally, Dávid doesn’t give name […]
Turnover City: Solving the mystery of Zalgiris Kaunas
“Do[es] all the little things with surprising grace and feeling – and an iron will to win.” – characterization of prototypical Lithuanian player in FreeDarko’s The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac BallinEurope’s latest obsession started with a tweet. Specifically, a message from BiE’s main Lithuanian, Martynas “Air” Pocius. Pocius retweeted a fascinating stat about his Žalgiris […]
Secrets to Žalgiris’ early success in 2010-11
BallinEurope’s man from Lithuania, known on these pages as “Y,” was apparently so hyped up by Žalgiris Kaunas’ marvelous win over Caja Laboral Baskonia that he was inspired to assess the Green-and-Whites’ early success in 2010-11. For Y., it’s all about the coach and the bench… Unlike their arch-rivals from Vilnius, Lithuanian side Žalgiris Kaunas […]
Euroleague week three talking points (part I)
Seven Euroleague games go off tonight as the season rounds into form a bit. The marquee match tonight has got to be the Khimki-Baskonia showdown to establish early supremacy in that tough Group A; Olympiacos-Unicaja will surely be worth the viewing as well, although the way the Reds have dominated on their home floor lately […]
Bricks, snickers and root canals: The week in Twitter
BallinEurope thinks he’s in love … with Twitter. (Yes, BiE knows he’s behind the times for this relevation, but still.) And so, for no better reasons than idle amusement and trying to justify a bit too much time spent over on *that site*, BiE presents a look at some of the top basketball-related tweets of […]
Sixty-eight Fearless Predictions™ for 2010-11 Euroleague season
With the EL tipoff game tonight, BallinEurope is feeling devotion … not to mention a rush of Fearless Predictions™ coming on. How crazy can BiE get? You be the judge; here are 68 prognostications on all things Euroleague which you may [laugh uproariously about] ponder. Enjoy the season, everyone! (And sign up for the BallinEurope […]
Zalgiris Kaunas supersizes McDonald’s, presents big scarf
It does make one nostalgic for simpler times … you know, times before the multinational business machines swarmed into Central and Eastern Europe … times when Sarunas Marciulionis was selling tie dyes to folks who thought “pick and roll” was something you did on your buddy’s hemp farm in Humboldt. (Cue Grumpy Old Man: Yeah, […]