BARCELONA — At the end of last season, Olimpia Milano fans had every reason to fret. A poor showing in the Italian League was rough enough on its own, but when it left them without a Euroleague license, the Italian powerhouse had the look of an organization that had bottomed out. Then the Euroleague issued a reprieve: a wild card berth. Milano would play in the continent’s toughest competition after all. Once the news was official, Milano cracked open the piggy bank
BARCELONA — The first half was all his. Sinking deep threes with fingers in his face and racing out ahead of the pack for an emphatic flush on the break. At halftime, New Jersey Nets draft pick Bojan Bogdanovic led his Fenerbahce Ulker squad into the tunnel up 41-24 on UNICS Kazan of Russia. Bogdanovic led all scorers with 15 points, 12 of which had come as part of a 15-0 run by the Turkish visitors. The 26-day Euroleague layover hadn’t left
BARCELONA — Toronto, New Jersey or Detroit. Those were several destinations on Bostjan Nachbar’s radar when he spoke to Sheridan Hoops in Lithuania this past September. But Nachbar’s newest employers are not in the Eastern Conference; they are in western Russia. UNICS Kazan announced today that the 31-year-old Slovenian forward had signed on for the rest of the season. Kazan will play its first Euroleague Top 16 game this Wednesday against Fenerbahce Ulker, and they hope Nachbar’s vast NBA and international experience can
BARCELONA — Four days ago, this site was the first to publish Team USA’s preliminary roster, 19 names out of which Mike Krzyzewski is expected to whittle another Olympic champion. After winning golds at both the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2010 World Championships with entirely different dozens, I’m in no position to question how the Jerry Colangelo regime at USA Basketball does business. But the problem with these 19 is that they don’t leave you with much firepower for friendly argument. Sure,
BARCELONA — In a couple of years, Augustinas Jankaitis might be a name NBA fans can get excited about. A 6’7″ forward for Lietuvos Rytas who’d rather dribble through you than around you, the Lithuanian has already garnered attention from draftniks far and wide for his versatility and toughness. Yesterday, Jankaitis led Lietuvos Rytas’ junior team to a 72-68 win over Barcelona for first place in the 2012 Ciutat de L’Hospitalet Junior Tournament. Then, he held in his hands much more tangible evidence
BARCELONA — In prison movies, when a freshly incarcerated inmate wants respect, he drops his tray, strolls up to the baddest dude in the cafeteria and knocks him in the jaw. Real Madrid’s Nikola Mirotic picked out one of the biggest, baddest dudes in Euroleague and dunked on him. The 220-pound Montenegran let out a yell as he threw the ball through the net and off the head of 350-pound Sofoklis Schortsanitis. Mirotic landed, shot a searing gaze at Big Sofo and
BARCELONA — After nine weeks and 108 games, the final session of the Euroleague’s regular season tipped off with four Top 16 slots still empty, and eight teams vying to fill them. Fenerbahce Ulker bested Cantu 83-76 and Bilbao took care of Caja Laboral 77-72, leaving the Basque powers out in the cold after seven straight trips to the quarterfinals. In Group B, Zalgiris tucked Ty Lawson and their organizational turmoil under the rug long enough to end Zagreb’s season with an 87-76 victory, while
BARCELONA — Regal Barcelona came into Thursday night letting up just 59 points per game. Montepaschi Siena scored more than half that in the final nine minutes and sent the team from Catalunya packing with their first loss of the year, a 77-74 final. And though Siena’s Coach Simone Pianigiani has locked up five straight Italian Championships and is coming off of a Euroleague Final Four, this win belongs right near the top of his list. Why? Because he beat Europe’s best