Serge Ibaka 47
Brazil 88, Spain 82: Allegations of tanking predictably begin
Well, it had to happen. In the wake of the shocking (not!) defeat handed to Spain by the boys from Brazil yesterday, you knew allegations of tanking in order to avoid an earlier date with Team USA would be forthcoming; heck, Sergio Scariolo did. Los Rojos’ coach was quoted in a wire story as saying, […]
2012 Olympics: Is Spanish dominance over? (Plus Official Fearless Predictions™)
BallinEurope may be pulling the trigger a bit early on this one, but has to ask: Was the loss to Russia on Saturday a harbinger of things to come from Team Spain? Not to put too fine a point on it, but is the marathon (by today’s standards) golden age of Spanish basketball in international […]
USA 100, Spain* 78: Notes, highlights, miscellany
Well, then. If not quite as emphatic as in the days of Dream Teams I through III, Team USA dispatched the world’s second-best/Europe’s best side for a 100-78 win over Spain in Barcelona. Though the notebook on the Red, White and Blues mostly accentuates the positive, one doesn’t quite need to squint to see chinks […]
In Spain game, Gelabale gets monster block, ejection, possible suspension
Quel dommage! Eurobasket 2011 runners-up France are finding the road to London bumpy indeed recently. Already losing Joakim Noah throughout the 2012 Olympic Games due to injury, Les Bleus must temporarily sit Boris Diaw and Nando de Colo due to NBA-related insurance issues. And now Mickael Gelabale faces penalties from FIBA, including possible suspension for […]
Roundup: Recent friendlies of France, Spain, Britain
With “Le Gros Match” about to start and Team USA ready to invade the Continent in preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games, BallinEurope takes a brief look at some recent results from European national teams in friendlies. And we’ll do this is true TrueHoop fashion, a la bullet-style…
Who can stop Team USA?
This one goes out by request to BallinEurope’s Lithuanian agent Y. … with Team USA coming together to play the Dominican Republic today – with or without Chris Paul – BiE tries to answer the question “Who [if anyone] can beat Team USA?” Good one. A few gauntlets have been thrown by the Americans already, […]
2012 Olympic Qualifying Tournament Preview: Team Russia
With the lengthily-named 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men tipping off in Venezuela on Monday, BallinEurope takes some time this week to catch up on the four European squads in the running for a trip to London and reckon on a brief assessment of each’s chances in the competition. First up is Russia, […]
Quiz: The NBA- and Euro-centric year in basketball, 2011-12
Quick! Before those memories of basketball championships European and NBA fade completely, take a brief look back at the season that was – one crazy one on The Continent that began with Tony Parker, Ty Lawson and Mehmet Okur playing over here and concluded with titles taken by King James and Emperor Spanoulis. Get out […]
Miami Heat 121, Oklahoma City Thunder 106: Now onto the Olympics, future
Okay, okay, BallinEurope’s gonna do the traditional thing … congratulations out to the Miami Heat and its clear MVP Lebron James for their 2012 NBA Championship win. James’ triple-double in the decisive game five appropriately capped a playoff run during which he fought off criticism and doomsayers as much as the Oklahoma City Thunder. As […]
Block – no, blocks – of the week: Ibaka takes out Wade, then Lebron
Because it’s easy, because it’s there (on YouTube), because the Serge Ibaka Army is threatening to take over NBA fandom and because, well, even curmudgeons like BallinEurope might start admitting that, yes, perhaps the “NBA’s next Golden Age starts now.” So here it is. From amidst a hard-fought Miami Heat game two win over the […]
Ettore Messina one and done with Los Angeles Lakers?
Javier Gómez of Spain-based “contemporary culture mag” Jot Down recently sat down with Ettore Messina to discuss a wide range of topics from Italian politics to Euroleague basketball to Jeremy Lin over some aubergine busiati and swordfish (nice) in quite an extensive interview with the coach of legend. Messina is of course known for his […]
Serge Ibaka will even block your access
Tweet of the day? That’s an easy one. Wrote Twitterer Keaton Eberly, “Dang, he blocks everything.” Who’s “he”? Team Spain/Oklahoma City Thunder force in the middle Serge Ibaka, of course. I mean, look at what the Iblaka did to the image Eberly posted with Instagram – and this after amassing 20 in five games against […]