I am going to tell you about a rising new star you probably haven’t heard of: Marko Arapovic of Cedevita Zagreb, which has advanced to the Final 16. But first, a few words on some familiar names who could be missing out. Maccabi Tel Aviv won its sixth European Basketball title in 2014 (under David Blatt, you may remember.) Then last year, Real Madrid shook off a 21-year drought to win their ninth title, the most of any team in Europe. With losses next
It’s not easy to take an 11-hour flight, but that’s what former NBA player and current Maccabi Tel Aviv point guard Jordan Farmar was getting ready for on Sunday afternoon as he slowly got dressed in the locker room inside Madison Square Garden. After a two-city tour in NBA arenas, Farmar and his teammates were about to head back to Israel, traveling even further away from his native Los Angeles. Farmar, 28, was born in Los Angeles and went to high
NEW YORK – Dragan Bender is the trending name amongst NBA general managers and executives after Maccabi Tel Aviv’s tour in Chicago and New York. At 17, the Croatian forward has the league drooling over his long-term potential and future lottery teams scheming for the ping-pong balls to select the 7-footer in next year’s draft. League executives and scouts from Denver, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Utah were on hand at Madison Square Garden to watch Bender. “Closest thing to Pau (Gasol)
In a rematch of last season’s Euroleague Championship, Maccabi Tel-Aviv narrowly edged out previously undefeated Real Madrid 90-86 for an important Top 16 victory on Thursday night. Greek center Sofoklis Schortsanitis (known as Sofo in Europe), stood out for Maccabi Tel-Aviv, scoring 11 of his 17 points in the opening period, and drawing eight fouls to go along with his eight rebounds. Former Memphis Grizzlies guard Jeremy Pargo also put in a strong performance for the winning side, going for 11
This was an exciting week for European hoops, as several of the top young European prospects had outstanding performances. Top 2015 draft candidate Mario Herzonja managed to break the 20 minute mark for the first time and left his mark in a win against Milano in Euroleague. Nikola Jokic and Dario Saric continued their fantastic play, and are continuing to show that they will be quality contributors when they make their debuts stateside. As my team, Bnei Herzliya prepares to play against
The 76ers may be piling up the losses stateside, but the seeds of their rebuilding plan are slowly growing thousands of miles away as a couple of their Eurostash prospects are beginning to sprout. Which American just left Europe and is a possible candidate to sign with the Lakers? What has former first rounder James Anderson been up to this season? David Blatt’s Cavaliers may be under the microscope by not starting off the season as strong as anticipated, but what is going
The NBA has done a lot to make basketball a popular sport around the world. New Commissioner Adam Silver has followed the same plan as his predecessor David Stern. Although the global games first began in 1978 and into 1979, there was a five year gap until Stern entered as the Commissioner. NBA teams were matched against teams from inside and outside the league almost every year throughout his tenure, and there’s been at least one global game played since
By this point, David Blatt’s journey – from the suburbs of Boston to Princeton to Israel, followed by a Magellanesque coaching journey around Europe, a Euroleague title with Maccabi Tel Aviv and finally landing a head coaching job in the NBA with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers – is well documented. But what Blatt has learned along the way and what he brings to the professional game is more than worth chronicling. Maccabi Tel Aviv, Blatt’s former team, just completed its