The Euroleague is unquestionably the highest level of basketball outside the NBA. While NBA teams are always looking for the next European draft steal, there are many top-level Americans playing overseas who could potentially make an impact in the NBA in the near future — while there are others who have come to realize that their best chance for playing time, and their best option for making big money, will only come overseas. Whether it’s from the vastly different style of play,
Two weeks deep, the Euroleague is sliced into thirds: there are the eight teams that haven’t lost a game, the eight teams that haven’t won a game, and the eight teams that have split the pair. The two teams atop last week’s heap—Real Madrid and Olympiacos—couldn’t handle the pressure that came with the ranking and stumbled on the road. Next in line at No. 3 was Fenerbahce Ulker, who gracefully eluded the Sheridan Hoops curse and beat Union Olimpija on the road. But
Romain Sato has always been known as a lockdown defender. That phrase took on a much grimmer meaning when the Fenerbahce Ulker swingman spent Thursday night in a Slovenian prison. It all started when Sato, the 31-year-old shooting guard out of the Central African Republic, was detained at the Slovenian border as his Turkish team was flying in for their Friday Euroleague contest against Union Olimpija. Slovenian police told Reuters that the biographical page on Sato’s passport was fake, and that those claims were
While NBA training camps may be getting under way, players such as Jordan Farmar, Sonny Bo McCalebb (shown here playing for Macedonia) scored 21 points as Fenerbahce of Turkey defeated the Boston Celtics on Friday in Istanbul. Weems, Shelden Williams, Craig Smith and Bo McCalebb are getting ready to start their seasons in Europe. McCalebb has begun with a bang, as his team, Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul, managed to beat the Boston Celtics during their European tour, showing that European
11. Patrick Beverley, G, Spartak St. Peteresburg (Russia), College: Arkansas This former second-round pick was one of the most effective guards at the Eurocup level this past season. With a very versatile game, Beverley rebounds very well for a ballhandling guard, can defend both backcourt positions and is able to get a high rate of steals without cheating defensively. A Chicago native, Beverley played for the Bulls in the Las Vegas Summer League and drew some interest as a possible training camp
The Olympics is fully underway, which means you’ll be reading plenty of news about NBA players involved in the special event for the foreseeable future. In today’s news, you’ll find LeBron James’ take on Kevin Durant’s role on a team full of superstars, Nicolas Batum’s thoughts on Team USA, Kobe Bryant’s trackback on Dream Team comment along with some player movements. Kevin Durant has tried his best to not be a ball hog on a team full of dominant scorers, but
BARCELONA — Next season, the Euroleague’s Top 16 phase will have two groups of eight instead of four groups of four. Keeping in line with the home-and-home format, that means each team will play 14 games instead of six. Some people are digging the switch. An additional eight games mean more Milos Teodosic sleepy-eyed step backs, a blitzkrieg of bombas from Juan Carlos Navarro and, God willing, more of Petr Samoylenko’s fantastic mullet. Others are less pumped. Having eight more games could
From euroleague.net