How do we start the year 2008? Well let’s see first what happened in
Europe the last three months.
It all started with one topic which is kind of important to
European Basketball:” How to get a passport of an European country”. We
had several examples, starting with J.R. Holden having an American and
a Russian passport. But why is it so important? I am sure I don’t have
to explain this to our experts but some might just be wondering. Since
almost every league has a restriction on how many foreign, esp.
American players can be on a team, having an European passport just
multiplies your chances to play on a Euroleague team. You don’t take up
a foreign spot – it is a as simple as that.
Our first official event we went to as BallinEurope was the
NBA LIVE tour in Rome. It was really nice to follow the Boston Celtics
and the Toronto Raptors. It was obvious that the Celtics will have an
impact on the NBA with the BIG 3, but nobody thought the impact would
be that huge – nice move by David Stern to bring that team over to
Europe. It was also fun to meet some people from the media – like http://www.ballineurope.com/countries/italy/live-from-rome-again/“>Michael
Grange from the Globe and Mail.
What would be a cool and entertaining blog without some hot
girls? We where lucky to combine Basketball with some hot girls like http://www.ballineurope.com/us-basketball/wnba/miss-italia-plays-basketball/“>Ilaria
Capponi, who played first division basketball in Italy and
also got third place for Miss Italia.
I told you that European passports are a nice thing to have –
http://www.ballineurope.com/countries/spain/who-wants-a-spanish-wife/“>Spanish
newspapers found out too.
We also tried to make ahttp://www.ballineurope.com/european-competition/euroleague/top-10-nba-players-in-europe-did-you-know/“>
top-10 list of the best NBA players ever to play in Europe –
as you can see in the comments some people did not agree
Until there is a global league, the discussion, what European
basketball is like and how much better (or even if) the NBA is better
will go on – Ettore Messina, CSKA head coach from Italy explained what http://www.ballineurope.com/national-teams/european-basketball-something-between-college-basketball-and-nba/“>European
basketball for him is like.
Who makes the most $$$ or EUROS in Europe – here is the http://www.ballineurope.com/european-competition/euroleague/top-10-salaries-in-europe/“>Top
10- list for Basketball salaries in Europe.
One more thing about asking the 24 journalists about the
Euroleague teams: “100% of the experts will lose a bet if CSKA doesn’t
reach the Final Four” As of now CSKA is the team with the best record
in the Euroleague – we have http://www.ballineurope.com/european-competition/euroleague/100-of-the-experts-will-lose-a-bet-if-cska-doesnt-reach-the-final-four/“>true
experts.
I guess
Should I mention the http://www.ballineurope.com/european-competition/euroleague/americans-playing-overseas/“>Kerry
Gibson story? Well, it is definitely worth reading – hence
even his mom posted a comment on our blog!
I almost forgot Euroleague TV – it wasn’t working to well in
the beginning – but hey, they just started and it is the best thing to
have now – if you are interested in Euroleague basketball. One thing
they might want to improve –http://www.ballineurope.com/ups/el_funny.mp3“> this
commentator.
Marco Belinelli started with 37 points in the NBA’s summer
league for the Golden State Warriors. Now –http://www.ballineurope.com/european-competition/euroleague/rise-and-fall-of-marco-belinelli/“>
nothing is going on for him – it is that bad that even
Italians tell us they don’t like his style – things can change quickly
I guess.
So those where one of the funniest and most interesting thing European
basketball had to offer. Since this is the start of the new year we
want to give away a few things. How about some free Euroleague tickets?
I promise – any American who is on vacation in Europe and close to a
Euroleague team – drop us an email at BallinEurope and we will get you
some tickets!
Happy New Year!
