On Friday, four of Europe’s top teams head to Madrid to compete in Europe’s premier basketball competition, the Euroleague Final Four. Several NBA scouts and GMs will get a live look at the action to see if they can find some new international talent. Which future NBA players will make their name known this weekend? Which former NBA players will shine with the pressure on? Here is a guide for the casual NBA fan on what to watch for in NBATV’s broadcast of the
The Euroleague Final Four is this weekend in London, with the semifinals Friday and the championship on Sunday. We have a ‘classico’ in Game 1 with Real Madrid playing Barcelona, and we have a classic in the second game with perennial powerhouse CSKA Moscow facing defending champion Olympiacos. [Read more…]
Though it’s trumpeted as a launchpad for great big shiny heroics, playoff basketball’s cruel truth is that the no-shows have a particular, formative role to play in the maturation–or atrophy–of each series, as well. [Read more…]
Welcome everyone to another edition of Sheridan Hoops presents Where Are They Now? This week, we will look at the former NBA and NCAA players that are taking part in the 2013 Euroleague Playoffs. With two teams having advanced and four attempting to join them, there’s no shortage of players making waves overseas. As outlined by Nick Gibson of Sheridan Hoops, Barcelona of Spain will play Panathinaikos of Greece and Olympiacos of Greece will square off with Anadolu Efes of Turkey on
ISTANBUL — There wasn’t a uniformed soul in Istanbul with as much Euroleague pedigree as CSKA Moscow’s Ramunas Siskauskas. With 9.7 seconds left and his team up a single point over Olympiacos, the 34-year-old former MVP strolled to the line, staring at a pair of freebies that would bring the two-time champion two points closer to a third. He missed the first. Then he missed the second. Olympiacos secured the ball off the rim, and Vassilis Spanoulis raced upcourt through a frantically scattered
ISTANBUL — It’s a city so massive that it spans two continents, and even the taxi drivers have to stop and ask for directions. The five daily calls to prayer give Istanbul a conservative soundtrack, while folks who flock to Istiklal Street by the thousands soak up a nightlife that dares even the most adventurous party-goers to keep up. Venders hawk you through the halls of the Grand Bazaar, clamoring for your business in whichever language you’re willing to bargain; still,
ISTANBUL —When the NBA locked out its stars last offseason, Andrei Kirilenko rode into Russia on his wild horse to exorcise the memories of CSKA Moscow’s atrocious 2010-11 Euroleague season, in which they failed to make it to the Top 16 after a record eight straight Final Four appearances. Kirilenko’s debut was something straight out of 2005: 17 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and four blocks in a 74-87 road win against Sonny Weems’ overmatched Zalgiris squad. His casual dominance landed him the