Editor’s Note: I realize this is a re-run, but we posted it over the weekend when traffic is traditionally pretty slow. We just thought a guest of this magnitude deserved to be heard and we wanted to honor that. So here you go, everybody:
LeBron or D-Wade in Europe? Sportswriter and ESPN.com contributor Jonah Keri stops by to discuss European basketball’s impact on American sports culture. Could the Euroleague ever catch on in America? Are Josh Childress and Linas Kleiza wasting their time? And most importantly: can we convince Jonah to meet us in Paris for a Final Four rendezvous?
So Eurobasket 2009 begins and Spain looks to cruise through the competition…right? I mean, they wouldn’t lose the first game, would they? Suddenly Serbia has made things interesting in a crazy day one which saw the favorites fall. Also on the cast: Turkey looks strong, but how scared should Lithuania be? Is the host team Poland for real? And who told Tony Parker it was a good idea to chuck seven bombs vs. Germany? All that, plus Slam plays sing along with Miley Cyrus in Reunion Week’s last podcast.
Paul Nilsen is a part-time freelance basketball journalist and addict (mainly basketball) who writes for fibaeurope.com and has his own site at gbbasketball.net. In between balancing a full time job and a girlfriend whose patience is wearing thin, Paul can be found somewhere near a basketball court writing about anything from Eurobasket to U16 women. Paul can be contacted at [email protected].
Freaknick: Via Sinan Guler’s Twitter: “.. just listened How Do You Sleep by Jesse McCartney and Ludacris, and it’s a good song.” Should Turkey Coach Bogdan Tenjevic be concerned that his shooting guard is listening to Jesse McCartney before gameday?
PN: Trying to cover up your own love for Jesse Mac by trying to pin the spotlight on Guler’s Twitter feed is a bit of a low shot. Come on, let your love flow and maybe you can exchange your thoughts with him through your mutual membership of the jessemac.com official fan club (Editor’s Note: I was assured that my membership would remain anonymous). I think Tanjevic has other issues to worry about right now, which is a nice link to ‘How Do You Sleep’. Certainly I wouldn’t be getting much shut-eye right now if I had to coach a Eurobasket team with multiple personalities.
FN:You’re probably used to this now after doing several interviews with me, but I’ll phrase this question negatively: let’s say Rimantas Kaukenas, Ramunas Siskauskas, Arvydas Macijauskas, and Sarunas Jasikevicius all show up on September 7th and say, “SURPRISE! We’re going to play after all!” The only thing is, there are only three unused jerseys. Which veteran gets shown to the door?
PN: Instinctively I got for shouting “Surprise…..there are only three jerseys and you’re not playing” to Arvydas Macijauskas. Well actually I would probably cower in the corner very meekly and whisper it as I know these Lithuania guys love their basketball. I love all of these players and it is a toughie but Jasikevicius is one of my all time favourite players because of his passion for the game, his toughness and all around approach which I think really shines through – he gets a pass. After that I don’t think you can look past Siskauskas and Kaukenas. I mean it’s splitting hairs really, kind of like asking which sexy chick out of some really hot four piece girl band you had to cut. I guess it doesn’t matter that much if the other three are still there to marvel at. Hang on, did I really just compare these big Lithuanian mega stars to a girl band? Erm……….
Paul Nilsen is a part-time freelance basketball journalist and addict (mainly basketball) who writes for fibaeurope.com and has his own site at gbbasketball.net. In between balancing a full time job and a girlfriend whose patience is wearing thin, Paul can be found somewhere near a basketball court writing about anything from Eurobasket to U16 women. Paul can be contacted at [email protected].
Freaknick: Number of times the referees will have to switch the game ball to prevent slippage due to Andris Biedrins’ hair gel residue:
Paul Nilsen: I think it is only fair that you refer to any of the online betting companies who have this nicely boxed off under “Eurobasket 2009 specials”. Worth a few notes and I would probably go for between 11-14 times – that’s the first quarter covered anyway. Seriously though I like ‘Biens’ a lot and I think that while Latvian hair gel technology might need some investment and development, his game is slicker than the product itself. I wish I had the option of putting so much gel on my hair. I do know from FIBAEurope that there are more court wipers ready with towels in Group B than anywhere else so at least they are well prepared. Any reference to a ‘slick defence’ by game commentators might just be referring to whoever is guarding Biedrins having been left in a gel slick so be warned!
FN: Much has been made of Joakim Noah’s absence from the French team, but Turiaf proved he can be a force both ends in Game 2 against Belgium. If you had to rock one of their hairstyles for a month, which would you pick?
PN: Well it is a sensitive subject for me and pretty painful to talk about. I used to have a pretty rockin set of dreads when I was younger but that’s all gone. You really have to search for my fringe and hairline now, it reminds me a bit of Russian offence. You know it is there somewhere, you just have to look for it. I have two choices of hairstyle: nearly bald or completely bald. Soon the notion of choice will be gone altogether. I think Noah will be missed by France but Turiaf’s hair more than makes up for it. In fact Turiaf and his hair are one of the few things that people don’t think are overrated about him.
FN: France had a Jekyll and Hyde experience against Belgium which ended just fine. If it happens again, which of these three teams could “French Hyde” (ie: Game 1 vs. Belgium) beat, if any? Continue Reading…
Yao Ming announced he would miss the entire 2009-10 NBA season, and suddenly the world felt hopelessly shorter. Enter: Slavko Vranes. Amid all of the hullabaloo, Slavko couldn’t see what the big deal was. Perhaps because the Partizan center is the big deal. In fact, with Yao going under the knife, he is the second biggest deal in all professional basketball. At 7′6″ (2.29 meters)-the same height as Yao-Slavko trails only 7′9″ (2.36 m) Chinese giant and Rush Hour 3 starSun Mingming in verticality. While Slavko doesn’t put up eye-popping numbers like Yao, his mere presence can pop plenty of eyes by itself, and with three of Partizan’s biggest stars leaving town (Tripkovic, Tepic, Velickovic), the Serbian team will be leaning even more heavily on this mammoth of a man in 2009-10. Doorways and low-hanging chandeliers beware.
LeBron or D-Wade in Europe? Sportswriter and ESPN.com contributor Jonah Keri stops by to discuss European basketball’s impact on American sports culture. Could the Euroleague ever catch on in America? Are Josh Childress and Linas Kleiza wasting their time? And most importantly: can we convince Jonah to meet us in Paris for a Final Four rendezvous?
Heavily chronicled are the tales of disastrous disappearance at the hands of the Bermuda Triangle in the Atlantic Ocean. Now, the first law of thermodynamics has a new, three-pronged thorn in its side: Fenerbahçe Ülker’s centers. The Turkish tandem waits patiently in the paint, salivating at the mere sight of smaller players with aspirations of easy layups. The gargantuans creep slowly forward as their unknowing prey draws closer to its prize. As the point guard toes the three-point line, Oguz Savas takes his position on the low block, his silhouette eclipsing the light behind him. Semih Erden stands on the opposite edge of the lane, his body half as wide but twice as long. Omer Asik stands between the two, his eyes widening with each baby step, his arms swaying freely like the limbs of a willow. He knows how this will end; they all do. Then, in an instant, the guard dribbles, crosses over and floats the ball toward the rim. Seconds later, it lands in the stands with a thud, and everyone sits in stunned silence as they realize that the other team now has only four players.
This Panathinaikos point guard is living, dribbling proof that smoothness comes in all textures. Whether he’s hoisting the hardware for 2009 Final Four MVP or snagging All-Euroleague second team honors, one thing’s for sure: he’s doing it in a scruffy style all his own. So try as you might to emulate this naturally masked wonder, you are destined to remain a few, coarse bits of stubble behind.
It’s almost here. Only 48 more dull days until the Euroleague returns to our lives for good, and while it may have left our television sets for the summer, it has never been far from our hearts. That’s why, for that next month and a half we will be unleashing a new daily feature, “50 Reasons to Love.” If you’re already a fan of the Euroleague then our picks should only make you more anxious for action. If you’re a casual, fringe, or experimental fan, these may help develop an addiction. Lastly, if you just happened to stumble onto our site by accident, all we ask is that you give it a chance and if you’re not swayed by the time we get to the twenties, then by all means you can click away forever and retain your Euroleague virginity. Without any further ado, we’ll kick things off with a scrappy little point guard who wears green. Thanks everybody.
After months of insanity, indecision, and the usual collection of front office crypticisms, the wunderkind will be wearing Barcelona’s blue and red in the upcoming season. What does this mean for Barcelona, DKV, the Minnesota Timberwolves, Rubio himself, and European basketball as a whole? Is the fanfare warranted, or is it all hype? Reunion Week continues with today’s show.
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