Slam and Freaknick's Euroleague Adventures

Freaknick’s SLAM Preview: Five games decide two playoff berths. Come and get ‘em.

Freaknick — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:41:05 +0000

by Nick Gibson

A couple years ago, the NFL implemented flexible television schedules; no longer would we fans have to stand idly by as the Bills and Raiders duke it out for that coveted fourth win in Week 17. The Euroleague has come up with its own way of making the games interesting. Coming into this, the final week of the Top 16, three of eight games meant nothing to the playoff picture: CSKA vs. Zalgiris, Siena vs. Efes, and Prokom vs. Unicaja. One of those games was featured yesterday and as expected, CSKA won 84-71 to hold onto the Group G crown (which they locked up last week). The other seven—including the five that matter—will all be played today as part of the imbalanced schedule, so while this preview technically covers only 87.5 percent of the week’s action, it’s pretty much all you need to care about. Unless you’re a Raiders fan.

GROUP E

Regal Barcelona (4-1) vs. Partizan (3-2) – Partizan has the most to lose and gain this week. A second win over Barcelona and they’ll have the top spot in Group E. A loss and a Panathinaikos win gets them second place, but a loss and a Maroussi win leaves them out of the playoffs. It took home soil, a 15-minute video review, and Jan Vesely playing like Dennis Rodman to pull it off last time. It won’t happen again, but will Partizan get the help they need? Scroll down to find out. Barcelona.

Panathinaikos (1-4) vs. Maroussi (2-3) – Ever since Panathinaikos was prematurely eliminated from the playoffs, they’ve been playing with a big, pissed-off chip on their shoulder. They improved to 18-1 in the Greek League with wins over Olympiacos and PAOK and handed Partizan their biggest home loss of the season with a 66-82 thrashing without Nikola Pekovic. But then there’s the injury report: Vassilis Spanoulis (tendonitis), Dimitris Diamantidis (groin), Pekovic (leg), and Kostas Tsartsaris is still out with a broken hand. Could these guys go if a playoff spot were on the line? With the exception of Tsartsaris, probably so. Maybe I just don’t get it, but I can’t see Maroussi, a team that has failed to score 60 in two of their last three EL games, beating the Greens twice on the same court in one season. I expect a monster effort from Mike Batiste and a refreshingly solid output from Nick Calathes who’s in line for some big minutes. Maybe Milenko Tepic Continue Reading…

Freaknick’s Weekly RAP-Up: Vancouver Olympics Spectacular

Freaknick — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:47:08 +0000

Remember you can subscribe on iTunes for FREE and check out the rest of Freaknick’s raps right here.

And now, click ‘PLAY’ and follow along below…

Medal count’s ours, America just beasted
We owned the podium, I think Canada must have leased it.

At times wild, crazy, exciting or controversial
The best part was the Morgan Freeman Visa Commercials.

OK I never dropped an album, I’m a rookie whatchu think though?
If I mind my P’s and Q’s could I go Platinum like Pluschenko?

I say who needs a quad when you got a triple axle
By the way will yawl tell Johnny Weir to give me back my tassle?

Ticks in your hair then you’re gonna need a Lysacek
Feathers on your fingers “Vera Wang, we need a price check”

Tom Hanks is in space, Apollo Thirteenin’
Apollo Ohno’s on the ice, 8 medals gleamin’

“No! Korea wipes out!” here’s to the soul patch.
“Welcome…back…to short track!”

Shaun White busted a McTwist in the Finals
And no that’s not a Twizzler from the drive-thru at McDonald’s

To the artist formerly known as the Flying Tomato
Come chill in ATL and we’ll party with Scotty Lago

Germans lugers always get the best finish times
Even German skaters try and slide across the finish line

Pockets empty, still trying to make a millie though
Hopping side-to-side on the moguls call me Bilodeau

I toss my money up, but I don’t make it rain
With Speedy Peterson, make it straight Hurricane

Spillane and DeMong put the medal drought behind them
Nordic’s like a lunchable, better when you combine them

(gunshots) Biathlon drive-by! We’re under attack!
But in the south we like a lady with a gun on her back

(Sirens) “Now lookie here, Mr. Kramer can you please explain
Why the hell you feel the need to drive in the wrong lane?”

Hmmm, maybe that’s why Shani Davis doesn’t need coaching
Impressed with the US? Wait until you see Sochy

Because you can catch me there right between the sheets
Curling Team USA, swap those tap shoes for cleats

Because we dig in yawl and we hurry hard
Eyebrows arched, call me Cheryl Bernard

Yeah so please don’t curl your stones into my crib
You might call those rings the house, but let’s be clear that’s where I live

Yeah we are so there like Eve Murihead’s Rogue hair
2014: Gibson, Fox, Davis, Colbert

I’m unpredictable, like Norwegian pants
Or John Shuster with the hammer, 10^th end France

I think I solved the mystery! Zodiac Killer!
Turns it out it was two men, Bode/Miller

Only way to slow him down: salt the snow with sodium.
Gold , Silver, Bronze so they just let him keep the podium

Spring forward, fall back and change your watches this way.
Always Miller Time so let’s get ready for some kick saves

I’m talking Ryan Mills, goalie Buffalo Sabres
Miracle on Ice the sequel up against our Northern Neighbors

They beat us for the Gold, had some more endurance, see?
But what can you expect with hockey players on their currency?

So here’s what I propose, stay with me, here’s what I’m thinkin’:
Hannah Teter on the $5 and let’s forget about Abe Lincoln.

Kelly Clark don your finest white wig and kick out George Washington
‘Cause he ain’t bustin’ tricks, and if so nobody’s watching him

Mancuso 50, Vonn 100 it makes plenty sense
Don’t tell anybody but Ben Franklin wasn’t even President

Lookin’ for me after hours on the prowl you will not see me
Highlights Factory shotpickin’ sippin’ Flirtinis

LIVE from Syralantacouver this is Freaknick
Costas and Carrillo swore they’d join me on the remix

Love,

Freaknick

Tony Parker too banged up to go in Turkey?

Freaknick — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 06:43:29 +0000

NEWS: A recent post on SLAMOline.com cites some comments made my Tony Parker that lead us to believe that Eva’s husband might not be joining us for the World Championships in Turkey this Summer: “I think it’s finally catching up with me a little bit…What it tells me is I’m going to have to make decisions about my priorities. At the end of the season, I’m definitely going to sit down and look at what happened this year, and make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Parker played 31 minutes per game for Team France during this offseason’s Eurobasket in Poland and admits it might have contributed to his deteriorated health in 2010 (ankle, hip, plantar fasciitis–all this season). He’s missed 10 games in all and most recently was a victim to food poisoning (they say pierogis don’t really digest for like…at least 7 or 8 months).

IMPACT: Well this sucks for France, who would very much like to qualify for the 2012 Olympics being hosted just a hop, skip and a chunnel away in London. Hopefully, they’ll have the likes of Ronny Turiaf, Boris Diaw, Nicoloas Batum, Ali Traore and maybe even Joakim Noah (injuries also a question with JoNo), but none of them play point guard. You know who does? Antoine Diot, who averaged 27 minutes 15.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2.5 steals in France’s final two Eurobasket games against Turkey and Croatia. Also of note should be the stellar play of Nando de Colo in the ACB this year for Valencia (13 points, 3 boards and 3 assists). Also, this might accelerate the evelopment of 20-year-old Edwin Jackson, who at 6′3″ plays more like a shooting guard but, hey, what are you gonna do? All of this is just me trying to find a solid Plan B, because Tony Parker is not only the best player on the French team (by a long shot) but also one of the best players in the world, and each of the aforementioned youngsters would benefit from his presence. Tony did say in the same interview that he really would like to play in the Olympics, and France’s chances would take a big old hit if he cannot.

ELATV: Maccabi pours it in and Khimki keeps it interesting

Freaknick — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:41:09 +0000

Back in America, Freaknick looks at all 8 games on the Week 5 schedule and gives his two cents.

Freaknick’s Weekly Preview: Alan Anderson shaking the “streaky” tag

Freaknick — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 04:49:20 +0000

by Nick Gibson

The champs fell victim to premature elimination. CSKA Moscow’s ten-game winning streak came to an end. Olympiacos and Cibona lit up the scoreboard for 191 points as Jamont Gordon tied a Top 16 record with an index rating of 40. Group F is shattering the unbelievably high expectations it had coming in, as all four teams are tied with 2-2 records and the home teams have yet to budge. Still, there is one thing—one solitary accomplishment—that has the international basketball community abuzz seven days later: My 6-2 record in the Euroleague’s 14th week of play shoved me up over a hundy for the year at a mark of 101-39. Bravo, me. Can we get an encore?

GROUP E

Maroussi (2-2) vs. Regal Barcelona (3-1) – Senegalese 7-footer Boniface N’Dong is far from polished on the offensive end. Consider now that he’s leading Barcelona in scoring after four Top 16 games at a 15 PPG clip, good for 19th in the EL during that span. Meanwhile, last year’s MVP Juan Carlos Navarro is sitting at 43rd with 11.8 points and November MVP Pete Mickael’s 9.8 average doesn’t even land him in the top 50. This is reserved dominance at its best. Barcelona.

Partizan (3-1) vs. Panathinaikos (0-4) – On the one hand is Panathinaikos. Last year’s champions. Knocked out last week. Nothing to play for. On the other is Partizan with the strength of a word class cheering squadron behind them and a playoff berth right in front of their noses. If Pekovic Continue Reading…

Euroleague Adventures TV: Complacency plagues the champs and Gordon needs help.

Freaknick — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 10:27:00 +0000

Panathinaikos clams up, Partizan clamps down, and Jamont Gordon’s 32 points go to waste.

Chemistry is an Art for Madrid

Slam — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:49:32 +0000

By: Slam

February 25, 2010: Real Madrid 77 vs. Montepaschi Siena 69

Wow, that’s really the one word that keeps popping into my head right now. That was just the type of basketball you pray your going to get when you walk up to the arena. Emotion everywhere, clutch plays when needed, key players stepped up, some greak basketball, a furiously loud crowd, and 2 great teams battling it out.

When you think about this game it came down to Siena’s 5 players, playing the best versus Madrid’s 5. The chemistry between Pablo Prigioni, Sergio Llull, Travis Hansen, Felipe Reyes, and Ante Tomic was utterly amazing. Those 5 guys played all 10 minutes of the 4^th quarter for Madrid. No subs, no nothing, just 5 players saying we want this more than you. I will take away from this game that Madrid has finally found their heart. This team has been up and down all season, but tonight they showed their true colors. Playing in front of an almost sell-out crowd, and maybe the loudest the fans have been all season, might have been an inspiration. Siena was leading all game until mid way through the 4^th quarter. The whole game Madrid has cut the deficit to 1 or 2 points and then Siena would just go on a run and grow their lead. When it mattered most though Madrid was the one hustling for loose balls, getting tip-ins on offense, and grabbing clutch boards.

One of the biggest changes for this Madrid team has been the way their youngsters have grown up. Sergio Llull has almost become the clutch shooter on this team. When Madrid took their 1st lead in the 4th quarter it was Llull who hit a 3 to put them up. And it was Llull with 1 second left who hit a perfect 3 to cap off the night. The other guy that has really stepped up is Ante Tomic. Just to see him blossom in this game was amazing. Over his past few games he has slowly gotten better and better as he works his way into the Madrid rotation. Against Siena though he was in his zone. With about 4 minutes left there was 2 straight possessions where you could really see the maturity in Tomic. He asked for the ball on the block against Ksistof Lavrinovic, gave a small flinch to see if Ksistof would bite, then turn the opposite way so quickly, and leaned his long arms up for a soft lay-in. The next time down Felipe Reyes was fighting on the block for a shot, he put up a roller on the rim, and you just saw one hand go up and perfectly tip it in. It was Tomic and he finished with 12 points and 9 rebounds.

The difference between these 2 teams tonight was a team effort versus some individual ones. Siena scored off of a ton of 3’s and personal isolations. Madrid on the other hand just had great ball movement, worked the post, and fed off of each other’s energy. It was just a pure art form to watch. 5 players just in completely in sync with one another and leading a strong comeback against a much more physically tough team. What the game came down to those was mental toughness and Madrid wanted it more. From here on out I will not underestimate their heart, because it might be the heart of a champion.

Freaknick’s Preview: Can the Mighty Mighty Barcelones KO the Champs?

Freaknick — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:05:59 +0000

By: Freaknick

Back-to-back 7-1 weeks have jumper-cabled my hopes for 100 wins before the playoffs (currently 95-37 for the season with three weeks left), but what hurts is those two losses both came at the hands of my nemesis, Maroussi. Will they foil me again?

GROUP E

Partizan (2-1) vs. Maroussi BC (2-1) – Teams that win ugly tend to lose even uglier. Case in point: Partizan Belgrade. After scrapping out the victory of the season against Barcelona, they went to Greece and couldn’t throw it in the Aegean Sea, going 18-61 from the field (29 percent). The 57 measly points Maroussi used to win were the lowest of any winning Euroleague team this season. A lightshow, it was not. But, good news out of Belgrade as Aleks Maric—the would-be index rating leader if he had enough games to qualify—will be back in action after the week off, which should take significant pressure off of guards Aleksander Rasic, Bo McCalebb and even Petar Bozic, who has been shooting far more than he should have to. Anyone who reads regularly (thanks, you two) should know my faith in Maroussi gets thinner each week, even as the wins add up. Partizan.

Panathinaikos (0-3) vs. Regal Barcelona (2-1) –Though The Mighty Mighty Barcelones have shown their weaknesses in the past few weeks in both the Euroleague and the ACB, they’ve rebounded nicely to capture the Copa del Rey Continue Reading…

Madrid vs. Barcelona in Copa Del Rey Final

Slam — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 12:17:52 +0000

By: Slam

How about this? We all get another chance to watch Madrid vs. Barcelona this season, what a spectacle. Both teams easily made their way into the finals Saturday with Madrid taking down Caja Laboral 78-50 and Barcelona beating Valencia 72-64. Let’s take a look at some exciting match-ups and players that will decide this final.

Players on Fire

Barcelona- Fran Vazquez

Vazquez just had a fantastic game on Saturday. He was all over the court against Valencia and doing everything he is good at. He was heading straight to the rim looking for put backs and alleys for him to oop, attacking the offensive glass, and was just throwing his lanky arms around on defense. He finished with 16 points and 6 rebounds, after having a sub-par game against Cajasol. Look for Vazquez to be active against Madrid and hopefully Ricky Rubio will feed him as much as possible.

Madrid- Sergio Llull

Llull has formed a fantastic 3-point stroke this year and decided to show it off against DKV Joventut in Real Madrid’s 1st game. Going 6 for 9 from distance he finished with an astounding 29 points. Against Caja Laboral yesterday he only put in 8 points with far less shots, but it was not needed because Madrid steamrolled Caja. Today in Bilbao he will want to show off that sweet stroke again, watch out for him.

Who has the ball in Crunch-time

Barcelona- JC Navarro

When Barcelona needs a basket late in the game, they will be going to the reigning Euroleague MVP. Navarro is coming off 15 and 10 point games, but he shot 2 for 10 from 3 point land in those games. With a big stage and the bright lights on him, Navarro will be the guy his teammates turn to late with the game on the line.

Madrid- Marko Jaric

The former NBAer has only been on Madrid for a couple months, but he has made a strong impact. In Real’s first game at the Copa Del Rey Jaric exploded for 26 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Then the next time out against Caja he only managed 1 point. This scoring inconsistency has plagued Jaric for all of his time in Madrid. But with the clock winding down in the 4th quarter he is the guy I feel most confident making a play.

Prediction

In the previous meeting this season Barcelona whooped Madrid in Madrid by the score of 79-57. That was before Jaric came on board and it was a different Madrid team. The young players on both teams will be looking to star with NBA scouts in attendance, but when it matters look for the veterans to take control. Barcelona has been on the top of the ACB mountain pretty much all season, and Madrid has the fresh taste of revenge sitting in their mouths. It will be a back and forth affair, with Madrid making more jumpers late and taking victory in Bilbao. Madrid Wins! This will be a very high scoring match and I wouldn’t even miss it for a good paella.

Grand Torino: News so nice, we’re reporting it twice.

Freaknick — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:55:04 +0000

NEWS: If you didn’t catch it in our previous post, the Euroleague announced that the Euroleague’s best will gather in Torino, Italy (or Turin, or any one of the bevy of names slapped on during the 2006 Olympics) for the 2011 Final Four. Some additional information we might have glazed over: The games themselves will be held in the 6,600-seat Palasport Olimpico. Also of note is the fact that 2011 will be the 150th anniversary of the Italian state, as mentioned the article. Italian hoops legend and President of the Italian Basketball Federation, Dino Meneghin, couldn’t make it to the ceremony but he sent along this message: “In 2011, Turin has the chance to host one of the best Final Fours in Euroleague history. I can say it not only from the fact that I am the President of the Italian Basketball Federation, but also because I am fully aware of the magnificent way in which our friends in Turin manage the infrastructures inherited from the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. It is nice to see how Turin, the first capital of the Italian state, identified as the city of Fiat for many years, has been raised again to the world’s attention by making sports the steering wheel of a cultural and business renaissance. I also would like to thank Mr. Jordi Bertomeu for choosing an Italian city as host of the 2011 Final Four.” See you there, Dino.

IMPACT: From where I sit, this is all coming as a somewhat strange coincidence. I’m at the Olympics right now and as part of my job, I’ve had to go back through hours of Torino footage from 2006. From Shaun White’s halfpipe heroics to Armin Zoeggler’s Gold medal run in the luge (I didn’t forget about you Italy). So when I saw the word “Turin” in a Euroleague.net article, I blinked furiously and thought to myself, “OK, Nick. This is it. After hours of staring into bright screens in dark rooms, you’ve officially cracked.” But, alas! This was far from a hallucination, and it turns out T(o/u)rin(o) will once again be a hub for international sports come May of 2011. Not sure if I have the authority to praise nor scold anyone for this decision, as I’m completely unaware of the other cities that were nominated and I’ve never been to Torino. But I’m pumped. For Torino? Sure, I guess. But even if they held the F4 in a toxic wasteland, I’d grab a gas mask and and my Mac and be on my way.*

*Just to be clear, I am not comparing Torino to a toxic wasteland. From what I’ve seen and heard, it’s astonishingly beautiful.