Olympiacos 301
Euroleague Power Rankings: November edition
With two Euroleague games in the books for each team and something of an overall picture developing, BallinEurope unleashes the November edition of its ever-“popular” power rankings for the two dozen squads. For reference, edification and jollies, the preseason edition of the ‘rankings may be seen here. Once again, advisories in effect: These ratings are […]
Sour grapes or serious allegation? Reds GM implies PAO favoritism, use of performance-enhancers
In a ceremony to mark the opening of the 2011-12 professional basketball season in Greece, Olympiacos GM Christos Stavropoulos rather bit the hand that feeds him a bit in making some rather harsh allegations – okay, implications – about official favoritism given his club’s chief rivals Panathinaikos. “These days, our country is passing through difficult […]
Euroleague Power Rankings: First of the Season edition
Right, then. With the last teams advancing into the Euroleague two dozen for the regular season and a break in the Kobe-to-Bologna soap opera today, BallinEurope breaks out an old favorite: power rankings! Once again, the BallinEurope Euroleague Power Rankings are based on current trends, i.e. who’s hot, who’s not. For this edition of the […]
Anadolu Efes takes Two Nations Cup, “teaches Olympiacos a lesson”
Congratulations to Anadolu Efes for convincingly taking the inaugural Two Nations Cup two-day basketball tournament, winning the final match over Euroleague competitor Olympiacos, 87-62. Efes bested defending Euroleague champs Panathinaikos on Saturday to play for the cup. Olympiacos, meanwhile, had advanced by knocking out Fenerbahçe Ülker, which ultimately ended up in third after taking out […]
Top salaries in European basketball, 2011-12
Kudos and thanks to BallinEurope reader Agent, who recently crunched some numbers for basketball fans vis-à-vis the top salaries in European basketball for the 2011-12 season. In case you’re wondering why some top NBA names are seriously considering jumping the puddle, check out the findings below. Using euros as the currency, and figuring for net […]
Jonas Valanciunas plays first two games for Lietuvos Rytas (yes, highlight clips included)
For all those interested – ahem, Toronto Raptors fans – no. 5 overall 2011 NBA draft pick Jonas Valančiūnas donned his #17 jersey for Lietuvos Rytas twice this week in a pair of exhibition games against Belgian side and fellow Euroleague qualifying round contenders Charleroi Spirou. In the first day of the back-to-back games (and […]
Greece’s clubs owe players money … lots of money
While NBA franchise owners are crying poverty (reportedly, some 20 of 30 clubs are losing money), at least the players get paid. And while speculation on which NBAers will play in Europe during a 2010-11 full-season lockout continues – Whoever thought a Sonny Weems-to-Žalgiris deal would be so compelling? – we can now assume that […]
Angelopoulos brothers resign Olympiacos management; blame corruption, “unethical attacks”
Those Maloofs of Europe, George and Panagiotis Angelopoulos, have apparently given up their ownership of the Olympiacos franchise and they’ve done so in a big way. In their (apparently philanthropic) run with the Reds going back to 2004, the pair have become known as running one of the freest spending operations in Europe – yet […]
Pop Quiz: The Euro-/NBA-centric year in basketball
Just because the NBA Draft is over, the big league is heading toward a lockout, and the top European teams are thick into the wheeling/dealing of off-season acquisitions with an eye to 2011-12, that’s no reason to forget your history. Were you paying attention this season? Test your knowledge with the official BallinEurope 2010-11 season-ending […]
Green reign continues: Panathinaikos tops Olympiacos in OT to take ninth straight Greek title
Panathinaikos defeated rivals Olympiacos last night, 101-94 in overtime, to close out the pro basketball season in Greece and take its ninth straight EΣAKE title and 12th in 13 seasons. The win also marked the incredible 11th Greek league championship for coach Zeljko Obradovic, whose incredible CV also includes eight Euroleague titles, six Greek Cups, […]
Greek championship: Olympiacos comes back in final five minutes to take game three, 76-68
Though a bit distracted by referees’ calls early, Olympiacos survived to play another day in the Greek championship series, thanks to an amazing 15-2 run to close out the game against Panathinaikos for a final score of 76-68. The Greens led early as the Reds carried some heavy weight after two games that some felt […]
Panathinaikos overcomes Olympiacos, 78-66, with massive free-throw advantage; Bourosis resigns from national play in protest
Just a couple of weeks ago, as Olympiacos polished off Aris in the EƩAKE semifinals with a couple of convincing wins to bring the Reds’ record against Greek sides to 36-0 in 2010-11, some observers were calling out for the brooms. After Sunday night’s play, cries of “sweep!” surely rang out across Hellas – but […]