The Euroleague, European basketball’s top level of competition, just finished the first half of the 4th round of the Top 16 round. With some of Europe’s top teams taking the floor, we take a look at some of the top performers around the league through Thursday night in this week’s Eurohoops update. [Read more…]
Is Zeljko Obradovic too brash to coach in the NBA, or are some NBA players too self-centered to play for Obradovic? Yesterday, HoopsHype editor Jorge Sierra posted a poll amongst several players throughout Europe as to which coaches in Europe would make the best head coaches in the NBA. While the consensus top three of Ettore Messina, David Blatt and Zeljko Obradovic is pretty obvious, as all three coaches are clearly capable of running an NBA squad, the panel’s take on
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 — 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,
Steven Smith is the starting power forward for the Greek team Panathinaikos, which will be competing in the Euroleague Final Four in Istanbul next month. After having a successful career at La Salle, where he was a two-time Atlantic 10 player of the year, the Philadelphia native took his talents overseas after a short spurt with the Philadelphia 76ers. After working his way through the ranks in Europe, Smith will get an opportunity to participate at the highest level of competition in
TEL AVIV — After yet another exciting game, Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Panathinaikos are set to face off in a do-or-die showdown in Greece next Thursday. Last night, Panathinaikos edged out Maccabi 78-69 in a grind-it-out duel, in which Panathinaikos held a mere three-point lead with two minutes remaining. Taking place in Tel-Aviv’s Nokia Arena, a relatively small gym that holds 11,000 rabid fans, the atmosphere had at least as much intensity as an NBA playoff game. Every possession was a battle,
In a rematch of last year’s Euroleague Championship, Maccabi Tel-Aviv is set to take on the Greek team, Panathinaikos, in the first round of the Euroleague playoffs. With both teams possessing several NBA-caliber talents, and Maccabi rolling with two of the top Greek players in Theo Papaloukas and Sofoklis “Sofo” Schortsanitis, this promises to be among the more exciting playoff battles. While two of the premier coaches in Europe, Zeljko Obradovic and David Blatt, will face off, this matchup contains some of
This is big news in Greece this morning, reported in gazetta.gr by my good friend and colleague Antonis Kalkavouras. Jasikevicius spent three seasons with Panathinaikos from 2007-08 to 2009-10, then split last season for Lietuvos Rytas in Lithuania and Fenerbahce Ulker in Turkey. Despite playing less than 20 minutes per game, the 35-year-old Jasikevicius was Lithuania’s third-leading scorer in EuroBasket and averaged 4.6 assists — the third-highest total in the tournament behind Milos Teodosic of Serbia and Viktor Khryapa of Russia. Lithuania finished fifth in the tournament after defeating Greece 73-69 Saturday night, and they