NBA 549
Jonas Valanciunas: “I’m ready for the NBA”
From the folks at FIBA comes a dispatch on the guy who may already be Lithuania’s most popular player in North America, Jonas Valanciunas. Valanciunas arrived in Toronto this week as he begins preparations for the 2012-13 NBA season…
Kirilenko, Mozgov, Marciulionis headline all-star team at Basketball Without Borders Russia
For the first time ever, the NBA/FIBA collaboration known as Basketball Without Borders heads to Russia. This month, some 50 European youth basketball players will get schooled – that is to say, be educated by – quite the roster of international talent. Headling the program are Team Russia’s own Andrei Kirilenko, Alexey Shved (Minnesota Timberwolves) […]
EuroBasket 2013 qualifiers: Five prospective NBA players making noise
This one’s exactly what the title says; this morning, BallinEurope takes a brief look at five key players competing in the ongoing EuroBasket 2013 qualifying round with NBA contracts signed or rights owned. Let’s get right to it, then, beginning with a couple of reasons Brooklyn Nets fans should be a heckuva lot more optimistic […]
Jonas Jerebko: “We’ve got a young, deep team and we’re gonna make the playoffs”
Team Sweden is having its troubles on The Road to Slovenia in the FIBA EuroBasket 2013 qualifying round, currently at just 1-2 in Group B to place them behind Germany, Bulgaria and Azerbaijan (!). After the team’s 81-66 loss on Friday to Team Deutschland, Sweden’s NBA representative and top scorer at 22.0 ppg in the […]
Hoop Doctors’ house call: The top 10 game-winners of 2011-12 (plus bonus multilingual clip)
This one goes out by request; BallinEurope buddies the Hoop Doctors have put together their clip of the Top 10 Game-Winning Shots for the 2011-12 season. European basketball fans will note Team England’s Luol Deng at no. 10 and incoming Anadolu Efes guard Jordan Farmar figuring in at no. 9, but clearly this one should […]
Tanjevic: “NBA coaches don’t understand,” “Kanter has forgotten how to play”
Not to fan the flames of debate here at BallinEurope or anything … a few particularly incendiary comments made by former Limoges/Asvel Villeurbanne head coach and current Team Turkey technical coordinator Bogdan Tanjevic were first reported on Italy-based La Gazzetta dello Sport and subsequently picked up by Sportando and France-based Passion Basket, among others. We […]
It’s official: Serge Ibaka to stay in Oklahoma City for four more years
From the wire, a few details on the new contract that Team Spain’s Serge Ibaka signed yesterday with NBA Western Conference champs the Oklahoma City Thunder. In sort, The Blocksmith is set to bag $48 million over the next four years…
Marcin Gortat on Phoenix Suns in 2012-13: “We should have a pretty sweet team”
This Sport Eagle interview with Marcin Gortat during last week’s Beko Supercup games isn’t exactly the most fascinating stuff (turns out the Polish Hammer picked Team USA over Spain in the Olympic gold-medal game; whoa), but Phoenix Suns backers have got to be pleased with the optimism Gortat shows for his team in 2012-13 without […]
NBA turn for Pleiss on ice; may play Spanish ball for four years
Prior to the BBL Supercup in Bamberg of last week, Sport Eagle TV got an interview with Tibor Pleiß, who won two – no, three – consecutive Bundesliga championships and three German Cups with Brose Baskets. Pleiß was drafted at no. 31 overall by the New Jersey Nets and his rights ultimately landed with the […]
US NBA stars beat Spain to take gold
(via AFP) The United States Dream Team of NBA stars captured their second Olympic men’s basketball gold medal in a row and the 14th overall for America by beating Spain 107-100 in Sunday’s final. The US multi-millionaire lineup of NBA elite claimed their fifth crown in the past six Olympics, improving to 62-since revamping the […]
The BallinEurope Summer League Review: On 14 NBA aspirants from the Continent
While so much attention is paid to the upcoming Olympics and warm-up games, a number of European players have quietly gone about their business in the NBA Summer Leagues in Vegas and Orlando. BallinEurope’s man in the U.K., Sam Chadwick, takes a look at an extended roster’s worth of European ballers’ performances in the Orlando […]
The book on Ryan Richards in NBA Summer League – plus monster dunk
A shout out this morning to Britain-based HoopsFix and “hardworking 6’5” 187 lb. versatile small forward” Peter Grumble for tipping BallinEurope off to a big play from Ryan Richards, currently competing for the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Summer League. For more on Richards, click below the break, but now, the clip.