VEF Riga 29
Korucs, Doncic, and Stojanovic impress at NGT
In a great rarity, BiE’s editor actually got up in time for the Adidas NGT on Friday. Here’s what Emmet Ryan made of the second day of action. The Magarinos is a lovely facility. A tight but not too tight arena. Rob Scott hit the nail on the head, saying it would be perfect for […]
Asvel and Strasbourg progress in Euroleague qualifying
Competitive basketball returned to Europe on Tuesday and the beginning was…a touch disappointing. Strasbourg just plain crushed VEF Riga. The Latvian side did well to keep this one marginally competitive at the break but once the second half started, it was pretty clear Vincent Collet’s side was going to cruise. It was a rout and […]
GameTape: Breaking down CSKA Moscow's 80-63 win over VEF Riga
GameTape is back with a breakdown of how CSKA Moscow overcame the challenge of VEF Riga in the opening round of the VTB United League on Sunday. The reigning champions eventually rolled to an 80-63 win over the Latvians. Sasha Kaun was just plain dominant inside. Riga’s defence had no answer for the big man […]
GameTape: Breaking down CSKA Moscow’s 80-63 win over VEF Riga
GameTape is back with a breakdown of how CSKA Moscow overcame the challenge of VEF Riga in the opening round of the VTB United League on Sunday. The reigning champions eventually rolled to an 80-63 win over the Latvians. Sasha Kaun was just plain dominant inside. Riga’s defence had no answer for the big man […]
Euroleague: Seibutis shines as Lietuvos Rytas beat VEF Riga 80-71
The home side pulled out a hard-earned victory in Vilnius to advance to the semi-finals of the Euroleague Qualifying tournament. Wait, didn’t EuroBasket end a couple of weeks ago? The Latvian team lived and died by the three while Renaldas Seibutis came up big to give the Lithuanians victory. Lietuvos Rytas took the lead early […]
2012 Olympic Qualifying Tournament Preview: Lithuania
The 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men tips off in Venezuela today at 11am local time (11.30am EST, 5.30pm CET) with the Russia-South Korea match. Of the 12 national teams competing, four are European. The last of BallinEurope’s previews of these qualifiers features an assessment of Lithuania. Roster: Tomas Delininkaitis, Paulius Jankūnas, Mantas […]
Bundesliga roundup: Brose Baskets go for 18 threes in blowout; Bayern Munchen loses away again; Howard joins Ludwigsburg
From the land of Dirk, David Hein reports on a few happenings in Germany’s top division of basketball. Read on to find out about the divergent paths of Brose Baskets Bamberg and Bayern München, Matt Howard’s new home, and the Fraport Skyliners’ surprise win last week. Brose Baskets fend off pretenders Ratiopharm Ulm So much […]
Unics Kazan 76, Fenerbahçe Ülker 71: Impressions, highlights
Right, now we’re into it! BallinEurope was naturally pleased to see his dark horse elite-eight candidate Unics Kazan defend home court against Fenerbahçe Ülker on opening night of the 2011-12 Euroleague Top 16 round, 76-71 – though it sure wasn’t easy for Unics after they generously spotted the Turkish side a 17-point lead at halftime. […]
BF Belgrade, VEF Riga take Rinus de Jong Invitational titles
Congratulations go out from BallinEurope to VEF Riga and the Belgrade select team for taking their respective U18 and U21 brackets in the Rinus de Jong Invitational tournament recently held in the Netherlands. The squad known as “BF Belgrade” ultimately went 4-0 over three days of play, outlasting Canarias Basketball Academy in an 81-80 victory […]
Rinus de Jong Invitational: Khimki Moscow out, Wingate SI Netanya in U18s
The Wingate Sports Institute of Netanya has joined the impressive-looking U18 bracket of the Rinus de Jong Invitational to be played in Den Bosch in late December. The Israeli side entered the tournament after the withdrawal of the Khimki Moscow Region team “without mentioning a valid reason,” according to organizers. The U18 portion of the […]
Not exactly “no basketball anymore”: Notes on 34 pan-European games
“No basketball anymore”? Are you serious? The next two days will see some 34 games played out in the top three European basketball competitions: Euroleague, EuroCup and FIBA Eurochallenge. Below, BallinEurope presents some links, highlight clips and like on some of the competing teams starring Igor Rakocevic, Tiago Splitter, D.J. Strawberry and that Williams guy, […]
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 […]