VTB United League 73
J.R. Giddens: Main goal not the NBA, but “to be the best person I can”
Over at Real GM, they’re taking a bit of a detour from their NBA focus to present an interview with J.R. Giddens, guard with Asseco Prokom Gdynia and formerly of BiE alma mater University of New Mexico. After an infamous bar fight in which he was stabbed, Giddens transferred from the University of Kansas to […]
Official BallinEurope Euroleague Power Rankings: Post-week seven
Apologies for the tardiness of this column, dear readers, but the Official BallinEurope Euroleague Power Rankings are just as fun and informative on Sundays as they are on Saturdays! With four teams through into the Top 16 round and several more on the bubble, who’s cruising and who’s losing? BiE says the two dozen squads […]
Official BallinEurope Euroleague Power Rankings: Regular-season halftime
BiE still can’t claim to totally understand what’s going on in Euroleague basketball in 2010-11 (Real Madrid lost by how many? To *who*?) but at least some of the cream is rising to the top. This latest edition of the official BallinEurope power rankings should probably wait ‘til after some key games over the weekend […]
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 […]
Official BallinEurope Euroleague Power Rankings: Week Three
As we head into week three of EL play, things haven’t quite normalized to preseason expectations, but BallinEurope’s Official Euroleague Power Rankings are looking a tad more normal. Well, except CSKA Moscow’s placement, that is. Rankings are based on current Euroleague record, plus play in other leagues and intangibles (like, for instance, this writer’s preconceived […]
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 […]
Da Mayor: Coach Dusko’s dream start with CSKA
As you’ve probably heard, former Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov resigned last week under duress. But it seems that citizens of Russian capital don’t have many reasons to be worried: The new sheriff is already in town! Of course, we’re speaking here about Dusko Vujosevic, Partizan’s proven “miracle worker,” who recently coached CSKA in his first […]
Holden seeing heart specialist; CSKA short-handed for VTB opener
CSKA Moscow basketball’s official website is reporting that longtime Red Army/Team Russia guard J.R. Holden is in Duisberg, Germany, today to see specialists about a recent heart problem. While Russian media worries about Holden ever playing again, CSKA informs levelly that “According to the test results, which will be available in three days, the player […]
Popovic: Dislike Zalgiris management, love the fans
In the afterglow of the VTB United League final, Unics Kazan’s Marko Popovic briefly spoke with Lithuanian media after his team’s loss to CSKA Moscow in Friday’s third-place game. Popovic thanks the ever-devoted Zalgiris Kaunas fans, who gave him a rousing ovation when announced as a member of the all-tournament team (named so despite a […]
Best of the (basketball) net: Read all about it edition
Another Sunday, another of BallinEurope’s “Best of the (Basketball) Net” column. Lots of interesting stuff hit the interwebs this week, with tons of material for you to read – and that increases by literal volumes should you take our first item to heart… • Could this be the basketball-related post of all-time or just in […]
CSKA Moscow and Unics Kazan in VTB finals
So the first-ever championship of the VTB United League will come down to CSKA Moscow, which outlasted a near upset by BC Khimki (well, it looked like an upset for three quarters, at least), 71-66, and Unics Kazan, who outplayed an ineffectual-looking Zalgiris Kaunas, 75-65. The third-place game between Khimki and hometown Zalgiris tips off […]
VTB United League final four tips off tonight; also, how to watch
The VTB United League’s inaugural season draws to a close today and tomorrow with its Final Four round. The all-Russian semifinal game represents potential Euroleague semifinals preview – hey, it does say “potential” – and yet another chapter in the burgeoning CSKA Moscow-BC Khimki rivalry. Over at the league’s official site, CSKA coach Eugeniy Pashutin […]