"The Ilisiakos celebrates on sunday, one of the greatest victories in modern history over Marousi who plays in Euroleague"
The above quote is a translated excerpt from a March 1st press release on the website of Greek Club Ilisiakos.
Wow, it might be hard for Othello Hunter to follow up a game where he just happens to participate in one of his new club's best best all time victories. Hunter made his European debut on Feb. 28, 2010 vs a solid 3rd place Marousi Club that has also turned some heads in the Euroleague in addition to the Greek National League.
O's stat line read as 8 points, 4-7 form the field, 3 rebounds, 2 steals in just 14 minutes! His four personal fouls can probably explain limited time on the court. That is certainly understandable considering the new style he is currently being exposed to. But Hunter definitely produced while on the court in what was a sucessful European debut.
Fellow American Vonteego Cummings & Warren Carter led the way with 24 & 20 points each for Ilisiakos.
-short clip of Ilisiakos' huge victory. Othello Hunter's first european alley-oop right at the start! He is now rocking #13 in the all Yellow home joints. Now after slaying Marousi, Othello & Ilisiakos will face Olympiacos & Scoonie next week, so they might be able to top that win after all, lets get it O!
It is always interesting to view how players respond to unfamilar situations. This can be anything from life on the road to a change in team role, or simple on court struggles, ect..One certain fact about the next level is that players will almost undoubtedly experience more losses in a short pro span than their whole amateur careers combined. When things turn for the worse, players may rely on motivations such as basic basketball pride, family, bread, club obligation. Whatever the source, what results after the adversity will reveal if the individual grew or became better from the experience.
Matt Terwilliger is doing a commendable job of handling himself in what has to be a difficult season. His Paderborn Baskets club has found wins hard to come by in what we feel is an underrated German League. We have not seen any games to diagnose the court struggles, but Paderborns record unfortunately speaks for itself. Yet, second year pro Terwillger is battling through dregs of a losing season the best he can. He has raised his game from last season in minutes, points & boards . His dependability (has played in every game so far) has resulted in 28 big minutes per game. And Twig came through big time for his club on the last day of February 2010. #42 scored 14 points & grabbed 17 rebounds in a thrilling triple overtime victory over TBB Trier. (Brian Brown's former club, see what happens when a Buckeye leaves your club, ya start losing all of a sudden :-) Matt went 5-7 from the field, & knocked down all of his free throws (4-4) He recorded his second doube/double of the season, but overall we are sure he was happy to get a much needed win, because that is what Buckeyes are, winners.
It did not take long for Guard Brent Darbyto sign with another club. Italian Pro B club Umana Reyer Venezia announced the signing of B.D on February 27th on the clubs official website. Brent parted ways with French club Limoges in mid Feb. He returns to the country of Italy where he has considerable Lega A experience (six seasons) including stints with Trapani, Air Avellino, & Eldo Casterta. Umana Reyer is 7-14 in the Italian Lega B. Good luck Brent!
Last Saturday in the Greek Cup Final (2.20.2010) , Scoonie Penn nailed a big three before a raucous fourth quarter crowd in a 9-0 stretch that would lift Olympiakos over rival Panathinaikos. Right now the Reds of Piraeus, Greece are on some 'best team' in Europe type ish. They have established themselves as clear Euroleague title contenders, having not lost a Euroleague game since November of 2009. They are also nice in the Greek League as well with a 15-2 record. The dethroning of Panathinaikos was yet another message & marking point about this team's play. Right now you would be hard pressed to argue against Olympiacos being one of, if not the hottest team on the continent.
One of the better stories from this squad is the backcourt which is led by young Serbian star Milos Teodosic. Milos has a wealth of knowledge to draw from both of his backups, Greek great Theo Papaloukas, & European Basketball extraordinaire James 'Scoonie ' Penn, whose patience & right attitude is not only paying off for himself, but for his club as well.
Penn returned to Olympiacos, a club he played for in 2006/2007, in early January 2010. Scoonie, the consummate professional that he is, quickly recognized the opportunity of re-joining & being apart of a club & roster such as Olympiacos. He arrived in Piraeus with selfless, team first attitude of any thing it takes for a W, whatever the minute or individual stat totals. Scoonie started out in Euroleague play with minimal minutes, but his defense & poised play had led to more time on the court in the most crucial situations. You could tell that he was really just trying to ease himself into this talented team in January. But now in late February, Penn is player more comfortable and fully integrated. The reds expect and rely on Scoonie for tough defense & heady play in clutch situations. He has already made some key shots for Oly including a three in overtime vs Efes Pilsen, & threes vs Partizan & PAO in the Greek Cup.
Was there any doub that Penn would be able to adjust his mindset, step in & play in big time Euroleague games? There should not have been, he is a Pro's Pro. Scoonie perfectly explains his role & frame of mind in this interview before a Euroleague game vs another former club, Cibona from Croatia.
First half 3 agianst PAO in the Greek Cup
The Reds play their hated rival PAO yet again today in a Greek League game at around 4:00pm eastern time.
CEZ Basketball Nymburk's February 23rd Eurocup victory over Gran Canaria 2014 was big for a multitude of reasons. Firstly, it was the first win over a Spanish club in Nymburk's history. Secondly, it keeps the Czech Champions in the hunt to advance to the quarterfinals. (Group L Standings) CEZ will meet group leader Red Star Belgrade in Serbia next week (March) in another must win contest. Nymburk needs to sweep their final to games, & Canaria needs to drop one for CEZ to advance.
-Short Czech news clip of the game, a couple treys by Ladislav, Ron Lewis goes in against long Senegalese center Sitapha Savane, Phil Ricci following up a Mike Lenzly drive, & Arthur Lee closing the door on Canaria with a cold J in the clutch.
(Columbus, Ohio's Ron Lewis soars into a run out dunk in the first quarter, if there is not video of this we are sending goons to the Czech Republic lol)
From following CEZ Nymburk through Eurocup play it is clear that this team might be most dangerous when they have their backs against the wall. They have already delivered in two absolute must win contests, a January road game against Ventspils (Latvia) that allowed them to advance to the last 16, and a key overtime victory over Turk Telekom in Turkey.
This club is also proving to be extremely battle tested as the weeks go by. Some of the close games against Biella, Bamberg, & Red Star have given this Nymburk club a feeling of familiarity in those late game pressure packed moments. The Czech based club needed someone to step up offensively in their last Eurocup victory over Turk Telekom, that man was American post player Phillip Ricci. This week in a rematch against Spanish Club Gran Canaria 2014, another American from Cali, Arthur Lee (pictured to the left) took that role as Nymburk would ride his scoring & leadership to much needed home victory over Canaria.
Gran Canaria 2014 of the Spanish ACB defeated Nymburk in the first matchup in a home game at the Canary Islands. A viewing of both games was not available, but it was easy to tell from the play by play that Canaria does a lot of their damage with their big frontcourt which includes Americans Will McDonald & James Augustine. Outside the long range shooting of Jaycee Carroll is a terror along with Marcus Norris. Canaria jumped on Nymburk pretty good at home & did not look back on Feb. 9th, 2010.
Yet, the rematch in CEZ Arena on Feb. 24, 2010 gave fans a much different look. Nymburk's coach Muli Katzurin said his team was able to contol & dictate pace much easier against Canaria at home. Buckeye Ron Lewis sparked Nymburk early in the 1st half when he went 3-3 for 6 points, including a fast break dunk. The 2nd half saw Nymburk's Eurocup veterans like Arthur Lee, Michael Lenzly, & Ladislav Soky hit big shot after a big shot in a game that grew closer & closer. After a 69-69 regulation tie, Nymburk sent a message by out scoring Canaria 10 to 2 in overtime to grab a 79-71 win.
Arthur Lee - 19 pts Ladislav Sokolosky - 17 pts Mike Lenzly -13 pts Petr Benda - 13 pts Ron Lewis - 10 pts
A little somethin' somethin' while we are still waiting on some more recent footage. This short is some clips from last season with a few from late 2009. Still working on a full EL mix as well.
(From Left to Right: Buckeye & European basketball great Scoonie Penn, Greek Legend Theo Papaloukas, rising star Milos Teodosic, another rising star in Euro ball, Josh Childress, & Halperin.)
(AZS Koszalin: 2010 Polish Cup Champions)
Weekend of Champions - Every year national basketball federations across Europe hold annual National Mini-Cup style tournaments with the best squads, these games are separate from normal National league play.
Perhaps the best way to describe the rivalry between Olympiakos & Panathinaikos is to call this clash the Ohio State vs Michigan of Greece. This club rivalry, which stretches across different sports is home to intense banter with usually nothing out of bounds for fodder.
Panathinaikos or PAO has dominated the Greek scene in recent years, winning the last 5 Greek Cups. But a solid Olympiakos club stopped their rivals in a 68-64 defensive final on Feb. 20th. The victory gave Olympiakos their 8th Cup Title of all time, and first since 2002. Former Buckeye great Scoonie Penn helped out with a huge 3 in the 2nd half to hold Panathinaikos at bay. Olympiakos has now defeated PAO twice, once in the Greek League, and now in the Cup Final.
-Video of Olympiakos' celebration which includes Scoonie getting his medal. Well done Scoonie!
-Video of one of the Aggelopoulos brothers (hot shot Olympiakos owners). Scoonie makes a impromptu cameo starting at 0:34 :)
First AZS Koszalin slayed the previously unbeaten Polish champions Prokom in the Cup semi-finals. Now the feisty club has captured the Cup Crown after defeating PGE Turow 80-75 in the finals on Feb. 21st.
Americans Dante Swanson & George Reese led AZS Koszalin with 20 & 17 points each. AZS led 22-19 after the first quarter & never looked back, leading by up to 18 points at one point before the forth quarter.
-Video of AZS's semifinal win over Polish Power Prokom.
Miami Heat guard Daequan Cook has quietly put together his most solid month of basketball this season so far. Cook's production has increased with a gradual spike in minutes since late January. He he already has 4 double figure scoring efforts in February, including 17 points vs ATL, and a new season high 22 last night vs the Mavericks. The shooting guard came off the bench after a last second pre-game decision. He led Miami in the first half with 12 points, & added another ten in the 2nd half in an attempt to keep Miami in the end game. (97-91 Dallas) Cook made 3 out of 5 three pointers, grabbed four rebounds, & had one assist. He also made a nice cut in the first half that resutled in a dunk over Eduardo Najera
-The Indiana Fever of the WNBA recently announced the re-signing of former Ohio State All All-American Jessica Davenport. Jessica will return for her 2nd season with Eastern Conference Champions after playing the off-season in China. Davenport averaged 8 points int he WNBA finals last season.
-The Miami Heat will attempt to win their 3rd straight game tonight against the Dallas Mavericks on NBA TV. Last night the Heat outscored the Memphis Grizzlies 15-2 in a double overtime period to come away with a 100-87 double OT victory. Newly inserted starter Daequan Cook recorded a career high 3 blocks int the first quarter, he added a triple, but would not score the rest of the game. Mike Conley Jr. had 10 points & 7 assists for the Griz.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page for a link to tonight's contest between Miami & Dallas!
-Did some digging on Ken Johnson , and apparently he parted ways with Estonian Club Kalev/Cramo earlier this month. It was not officially announced on the club's website, or any of the major English European sites, but some checking on the fan forums confirmed the split. The absence of Johnson's name of the official roster list my also be a clue. Good luck Ken.
-Interesting tidbit, the leading scorer for Othello Hunter's new club Ilisiakos is former Illinois forward Warren Carter, brother of Josh Carter, a teammate of Je'kel Foster at Oldenburg in Germany.
Yesterday, The Hoops Market first broke an announcement by the Greek League club Ilisiakos of the acquisition of free agent Othello Hunter. With the scarce number of roster spots in the States, we thought there might have been a chance for a D-League spot, & that was probably explored. But instead Othello's basketball journey will now take him to country of Greece where he should get ample playing time to develop compared to what he received in the States. Hunter joins fellow Buckeyes Jamar Butler & Scoonie Penn in the Greek A1 League. Unfortunately though, Ilisiakos is at the bottom of the standings with a 3-14 record, and face the possibility of be regulated to the Country's 2nd best league. Good luck O!
From Koszalin,Poland to the world. 'G-Money' George Reese of AZS Koszalin (PLK) hits us up with a Cribs style video, the polish edition. We are kind of surprised that there isn't a documentary on American ball players overseas or in Europe or something. There are so many of them, and it is very interesting how a sport can take you to certain far away places that you had no prior knowledge of before. Maybe we'll get on that piece :)
Look out for George Reese in the top plays of January 2010 video coming up this week!
Another former Buckeye who is among the best players in his National League. What is else knew?? Tony Stockman is currently doing his thing in Brazil's top basketball league, the NBB. He is a popular player for a club called Vivo/Franca (10-6, 5th place)
Stockman was recently selected to play in the 2010 NBB All-Star game, congrats! (translated article)
-Recent youtube video of Vivo/Franca's last game, a victory over Paulstano. Tony has a nice crossover to a three pointer in overtime near the end.
Funny Christmas themed video with Stockman & teammates from Vivo/Franca.
David Lighty scored 17 points in an Ohio State runaway at Illinois on Valentine's Day. This game featured a bunch of ill highlights from Evan Turner, Dallas Lauderdale, Buford & Diebs. But we chose to upload a couple plays from #23 for the Bucks.
'Daequan Cook is back' was the buzz around the Miami Heat after a 94-76 rout of the Atlanta Hawks on Feb. 10th. The shooting guard had perhaps his finest outing of the season so far, netting an efficient 17 points in 21 minutes (7-12, 3-5 from three point range). It was Cook's 2nd double figures scoring night in a row, he contributed 10 points vs Houston the night before. Daequan's confidence boost could not have came at a better time as he enters the 3-point shootut amidst critics who question his place in the competition. (even though there should not be many, he is the defending champ after all)
So will #14 shock the NBA again & repeat as 3-point shootout champion? The competition is pretty stiff with Steph Curry, Paul Pierce, & Daniel Galinari. But we think if Cook can get out of the first round, he will definitely find his championship groove & bring the title home again.
Former Ohio State guard Ron Lewis is currently up nomination to participate in the dunk contest at the Czech League's annual all-star competition (March 14th). Online voting just opened a couple days ago, and will go through March 3rd. Go to this page, scroll down to the lower right column & click on Lewis' name to vote, you should get a czech message starting 'Váš' which confirms that your vote was added.
-Recent Video of Ron's trip to the Canary Islands-
All throughout the day we will be checking our phones for updates centering around three games of special interest. The biggest game on Saturday, February 13th will take place in Koszalin, Poland at around 2 pm U.S Eastern Standard time when George Reese & AZS Koszalin attempts to slay league leader Asseco Prokom . Prokom is the undisputed powerhouse club of Poland. The defending Polish league champions are currently running roughshot over the PLK with an undefeated 19-0 record, they also have a 2-1 in the Euroleague top 16. AZS Koszalin (10-9) is coming off a nice victory of PGE Turow. George Reese had 17 points & 8 rebounds vs Turow, he will need to match or even exceed that effort for Koszalin to have a shot at knocking off Poland's best club.
Earlier that night or day, depending on your location, Jamar Butler & Olympia Larissa (4-11) will attempt consecutive victories in a road contest against Trikala (4-11) in the Greek League. Larissa enjoyed a 87-78 win over Ilysiakos on Feb. 6th. Jamar Butler had 17 points & 4 assists. Larissa defeated Trikala by two points on November 7th, 2009.
The 3rd game we will have out eyes on will be between EWE Baskets Oldenburg & Bremerhaven in the German BBL. Bremerhaven is a solid club at 14-8 (5th in the league) that is capable of playing with the top tier squads. They have won 7 our of their last 8 games. Oldenburg & guard Je'Kel Foster (15-6 tied for 2nd place) simply want to keep pace with Goettingen (15-6) & current league leader Alba Berlin (17-4). EWE Baskets defeated Bremerhaven by a score of 88-80 in their meeting on October 25, 2009.
-Saturday Schedule-
All times United States Eastern Standard
-12 pm: Olympia Larissa (Jamar Butler) vs Trikala (Greece)
-2 pm: EWE Baskets Oldenburg (Je'Kel Foster) vs Bremerhaven (Germany)
-2 pm: AZS Koszalin (George Reese) at Asseco Prokom (Poland)
-8:30 pm: Footlocker NBA 3-Point Shootout (Daequan Cook) TNT
So what exactly is Basketball heaven? Such a notion could be open to a number of interpretations. In sports there is nothing quite like the feeling of being on top of your game in conjunction with your team, & winning league titles or tournaments. Other prestigious honors like winning an Olympic Gold Medal or being inducted into a Hall of Fame would certainly be up there as well. Perhaps some would call basketball heaven the early days of our childhoods when we would simply enjoy & love the game on a summer afternoon.
This time of year players around the world are being recognized for their exemplary play in the form of League All-Star games. Being selected in such a game signals a couple things. Not only are you being recognized as currently one of the best & most consistent players in the league; It also means that fans & people who support the league simply like to watch you play.
In the National Basketball Association, there probably will not be another Buckeye who approaches John Havlicek's staggering 13 consecutive NBA All-Star appearances from 1966 to 1978. Hondo is currently tied for 3rd place in the all time games played list.
NBA All-StarGames Played:
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 18 Shaquille O'Neal, 15 Wilt Chamberlain, 13 Bob Cousy, 13 John Havlicek, 13 Michael Jordan, 13 Elvin Hayes, 12 Karl Malone, 12 Hakeem Olajuwon, 12 Three other with 12 http://www.nba.com/history/allstar/individual_records.html
Havileck's Ohio State teammate Jerry Lucas played in 6 All-star games (1964-1969, & 1971) He won the the MVP of the game in 1965.
In the 'modern' era of basketball, two Buckeyes stand apart from the rest as the standard bearers.
Future Hall of FamerKatie Smithis a seven time WNBA All-Star (2000-2003, 2005, 2006, & 2009) She has played for both the East & west squads. And is credited as being the first WNBA player to win the All Star game as a member of both the eastern and western conference teams (2006). And is also credited as being the first WNBA player to win the All Star game as a member of both the eastern and western conference teams.
In 2003/2004 NBA Season, Michael Redd, in the prime of his prolific scoring career earned a selection to the 2004 NBA All-Star agme. Redd's incredible achievement ended a 24 year drout of former Buckeyes in the All-star game, & marks him as the first modern Era Pro Buckeye to break through into NBA All-Star History.
Redd scored 13 points in just 15 minutes of action for the Eastern Conference. The west ended up winning by a score of 136-132, Shaquille O'Neal of the Lakers earned the MVP award.
-Michael Redd All-Star Short from NBA Journey-
Several Buckeyes have participated in All-Star games overseas. Brian Brown played in the German League All-Star game in 2006 & 2006 where he was the MVP. Je'Kel Foster also played in the BBL All Star game on two occasions, 2007 with Ludwigsburg, & 2010 with Oldenburg. Former Big Ten MVP Terence Dialsplayed in the French All-Star game in his rookie pro season. Scoonie Penn played in the 2006 Croatian All-Star game. George Reeseplayed in the Polish League All-Star Game in 2006 & 2009. JJ Sulllinger & Tony Stockman were on the same All-Star team in Mexico (2008, JJ also played int he CBA All-Star game)..just to name a few..
-Video made by George Reese documenting his experience at the 2009 Polish League All-Star Game-
They say the mark of championship caliber team is how it responds to adversity. CEZ Basketball Nymburk of the Czech Republic opened up Top 16 Eurocup play (1/26/2010) with a home loss to Red Star Beograd. Week two (2/2/2010) brought the daunting, and do or die task of defeating Turkish club Turk Telekom before a hostile road crowd in Atatur Arena .CEZ would respond in big way behind fabulous Phil Ricci's 24 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, resulting in a thrilling 97-92 overtime victory. Nymburk led 68-61 after three quarters, but a late 4th quarter run by Telekom pushed the game into overtime.
Nymburk looked a little rattled at that point, but a 6-0 run to begin overtime quickly silenced the audience & demoralized Telekom at the same time. Ron Lewis had 12 points, 5 assists, & 2 boards. Lew must have gotten to the foul line like 5 or 6 times in that first half. His knack for drawing fouls is definitely paying dividends for Nymburk. Playmaker Arthur Lee added 13 points, add Mike Lenzly really stepped up with strong 2nd half & overtime play (12 points, 2 huge threes, 4 straight points in overtime)
This now brings us to today, February 9th 2010, week 3 of Top 16 play. CEZ Nymburk has been in the Canary Islands for a couple days now preparing for a super tough road matchup against Gran Canaria 2014 of the famed Spanish ACB league. Canaria is 9th place int he ACB league with a 10-11 record. Like Nymburk, they went 4-2 in their first Eurocup grouping, and are currently tied with CEZ with a 1-1 record in top 16 place. (sound confusing lol? Eurocup Standings here, Spanish league standings here, Czech league standings here)
Gran Canaria is coming off of a embarrassing Week 2 drubbing in Serbia at the hands of Red Star. This club should be locked in on Nymburk with a powerful frontcourt consisting of centers Will McDonald, Senegalese shot blocker Sitapha Savane, and former University of Illinois forward James Augustine. In the backcourt their main men are Marcus Norris & Jaycee Carroll. This will be another huge test for Lewis and Nymburk. The game will tip off around 3:30 pm U.S Eastern Standard time, check back here and our new Twitter page for live game updates and links to watch the game!
-Clips of Je'Kel Foster at the 2010 BBL All-Star Game in Bonn, Germany. Je'kel played for Team North (Blue Team), logged 31 minutes & scored 13 points including three 3-pointers.-
We've been reading some German Basketball reports. There is talk that Foster will almost certainly be in League MVP talks if he can continue his great play that will result in more Oldenburg wins.
In early February the familiar website Eurobasket.com broke the news about Brian Brown trying out for a Swiss club called the Lugano Tigers. They are now reporting an official signing of the veteran guard from Ohio State. Brown, who left TBB Trier in late January, will play for a club that is currently in a three way tie for first play in the Swiss league standings with a 16-4 record. The last regular season game is on the 6th vs Lausanne.
Terence Dials is another new import who will begin play with his new Swiss club as well with BBC Nyon. Both players will play in the Swiss league playoffs.
(Ron Lewis' great first half vs Red Star Belgrade earned him a front-page feature on the official Eurocup website during the game)
The month of January 2010 was home to a number of significant match-ups from the NBA to Europe. Intense settings become the norm amidst playoff races that heat up with each additional week. As the 1st month of the year wore on everything seemed to culminate into one final week of pivotal games.
Ron Lewis & CEZ Nymburk began a journey in uncharted waters on January 26th when they played a Eurocup Top 16 contest vs Serbian power KK Crvena Zvezda (Red Star in English) of capital Belgrade, a club first in Nymburk's history.
Red Star Belgrade of the Adriatic League is one of, if not the most formidable team Nymburk has met so far this season. They boast a talented Serbian front court to go with the lightning quick guard Mike Taylor, who has played in the NBA. Ron Lewis shot out of the blocks quickly with an impressive 9 point & 7 rebound first half performance. The picture up above is a screen capture of Eurocup's official website. It certainly looked like CEZ was in decent shape at this point. But a 3rd quarter where they were outscored 16-8 would prove to be their downfall. The Czech champions probably kicked themselves over this one because while they were indeed contained by Red Star's improved 2nd half defense (holding Lew to only two 2nd half buckets), they still has chances to take that home game. Taylor sank the game clinching free throws though for Belgrade. final 65-60, the leading scorer for Nymburk was Petr Benda, pictured to the left.
A disappointing defeat at the hands of Red Star, but no worries for Nymburk..they would turn those frowns upside down in the next round of Eurocup play ..a lot more on that later :)
Good highlights (or the entire game itself) of Nymburk vs Red Star are hard to come by. But one gentlemen on youtube who actually attended the game at CEZ Arena posted some videos. Looks like they are mostly the 2nd half though.
The Orlando Magic became yet another victim of 4th quarter heroics from Mike Conley Jr. on the 25th. The Grizzlies have been a team not to be messed with at home ever since December 2009. The contest with Orlando followed suit as Memphis either led or traded baskets with the Magic all game. With Memphis up 96-94 with under 30 seconds to go, Mike Conley Jr. dribbled the ball for about 10 seconds at the top of the key, kept the ball on a string, and weaved through 2 guys to find Marc Gasol on a pick roll finish for the game clinching basket. Conley finished with 14 points, 7 assists & 2 steals. This has been an up & down recent stretch for Mike though as he has seen better outings than his most recent game against Cleveland. The Grizzlies next play Houston on the 5th of February.
George Reese & AZS Koszalin lost a heartbreaker at Anwil in Polish League play on January 31st. Anwil is 16-2 & 2nd in the PLK standings. AZS is now 9-9 and currently sit at 8th place, the final spot for the playoffs. We have not seen many of the polish league teams, but from the records it seems to be a league with parity after the top two teams. AZS's next game will be another tough test against PGE Turow on the 6th. Reese hooped out in January by scoring in double figures in each of Koszalin's 4 January games. He will definitely be in the January top plays vid.
The two top teams in France's Pro B league matched up on January 31st. Brent Darby's Limoges team dropped a couple games , making way for the league's other top team, Orthez to claim first place in the league standings. Limoges came into this contest locked in & super focused, hitting their first three shots of the game before a rabid home crowd. The game was back and fourth with tons of highlights, most notably from one of Darby's teammates Alhaji Mohammed who had some nice blocks & dunks. Mohammed had 17 points while John McCord led limoges with 19 points & 13 rebounds. Our own Brent Darby had a very solid outing of 14 points, 7 rebounds, & six assists. One of Brent's highlights came in the 2nd half when he hit an off balance corner three while falling into the crowd! Limoges was able to pull out an 85-80 win and officially tie Orthez for first place in the league standings (both 14-4).
We were able to get this game, and were pretty much exhausted after the viewing. Why because the french announcers go crazy after every single bucket. It was a really intense game with a hot crowd.
-Video of couple of Darby's Js in the 1st quarter. He hits a three, and then after some foul shots by Orthez comes right back and sticks another jumper.
1/29/2010: EWE Baskets Oldenburg 68 vs Alba Berlin 59! (German League Regular Season) As we started checking boxscores last weekend, one game piqued our interest more than the rest. The setting, Oldenburg, Germany. The teams, EWE Baskets Oldenburg, the defending champions vs the German League leader Alba Berlin. The result? well you already knew what it was going too be.
Berlin defeated EWE without Jason Gardner in a early season matchup. Not only is Alba great in Germany, they are also very solid in Europe as well with a 7-1 Eurocup record. But on this evening they met up with an Oldenburg that would display commendable heart. Berlin jumped out to a seemingly insurmountable 18-4 run. But Oldenburg clawed back into it, and eventually grabbed the lead late int he 2nd quarter. BBL All-Star Je'Kel Foster had his best quarter in the 3rd period, hitting 3 important three-pointers. He finished with 15 points in total with 11 points, 4 assists, & 2 steals! After gaining control in the 3rd quarter, EWE would not look back, they were able to fight off every Berlin bucket & come away with a hard fought 68-59 victory. EWE is now 2nd place in league standings at 15-6 behind 16-4 Berlin, but more importantly, this game sent a message to Alba & the rest of the league that the defending champions will not just give their title away without a fight. Well done boys.
No video of the game yet. It is funny how all kinds of videos show up whenever EWE loses a German league game, and you can find other Berlin games, like victory over EWE earlier in the season. But Alba fans don't want to upload their defeat to EWE, we wonder why lol..oh well..
Here is a new fan video of EWE Baskets posted on Youtube.
The Greek A1 League is considered to be one of the top domestic leagues in all of European Basketball. In order to succeed in this league's half court style, clubs must have plenty of depth & experience. Unfortunately for GS Olympia Larissa, they do not have much of either. In fact, they have already had a coaching switch this season, as well as sudden player movement. They just parted ways with one of their better players Devin Green due to alleged disciplinary reasons. It was recently rumored that Larissa was about to add Robert 'Tractor' Traylor, but that signing did not occur. And now it is being reported that they are looking at former UTEP star Stephon Jackson.
Yet, one constant for Olympia Larissa has been #15 Jamar Butler, the former Ohio State guard who has started every game so far for Olympia, averaging 13 points & 3 assists on the season. Butler is currently paying his dues in a challenging league for a young European player..if anything, Jamar should be even more mentally tough after this season of attrition.
Speaking of Jamar..here is a short little vid of him back in HS (2004 to be exact in Lima, Oh)
-In The Game: GS Olympia Larissa (Jamar Butler) vs Olympiakos (Scoonie Penn) 1.16.2010
For the most part, Larissa v. Olympiakos was not much of a game. But it is always interesting whenever we have the rare occasion of two Buckeyes meeting up. Such was the case when Scoonie Penn & Olympiakos visited Butler & Larissa. Olympiakos jumped out to a quick 12-0 run in the first quarter. Not much to show there, although we did include the very beginning where Jamar Butler seemingly makes Milos Teosidic fall lol.
The 2nd quarter is where Penn enters, the two guards then check each other for certain stretches throughout the game. Jamar would knock down two threes early in the 3rd quarter to actually cut the lead down to eleven. Later in the game Penn displays very good ball denial on Butler. Others in this video include Josh Childress, Devin Green, & Christopher Massie.
Scoonie Penn joined the Italian club Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna in September 2009 as a replacement to guard Andre Collins. Penn played with Virtus until Collins' mid-December return. Scoonie started for Virtus in 9 contests, with his biggest game being a 19 point performance vs Eldo Caserta on November 28th, 2009.
Penn returned to Greece in early January 2010 when he signed with Greek & Euroleague power Olympiakos (his 2nd stint with the club). If this is indeed Scoonie's last season, he will have gone out in style by playing on the highest level of European basketball one last time. (6 Euroleague seasons in total!, the most of any Buckeye)
A circa 2006 indy piece on Daequan Cook about his love of the game, idol, and senior year at Dunbar High School.
Current Update: Daequan Cook returned the heat rotation this past weekend after an ankle injury. He scored 8 points & grabbed 5 rebounds in the Jan. 29th victory over Detroit, and followed that up the next night with 7 points & 6 rebounds in the January 30th contest vs Milwaukee. Miami completes a back to back with the Bucks tonight at 7:30 pm eastern.
(B3 update: Videos new & old coming soon of Jamar, Scoonie & Je'kel, as well as recaps of a few of last week's pivotal games. Still waiting on video of Oldenburg vs Berlin & Larissa vs PAO, the January top plays videos will feature Je'Kel Foster & have just about every Buckeye playing. Also good luck to Mike Conley & the Memphis Grizzlies against the Lakers tonight, and Cleveland tomm. Also to Ron Lewis & Nymburk against Turk Telekom on Tuesday.)
(Hunter's first European Alley)
