Category: International Basketball Blog

Euroleague.net reports: A player who has withstood a roller-coaster career by means of his strong character, Sani Becirovic of Lottomatica Roma, has been chosen the MVP for November by Euroleague Basketball. At age 27, Becirovic has already seen the highs and lows of Euroleague competition this decade, scoring more than 20 points per game as a teenager, losing two seasons to a career-threatening injury, and returning to become a continental champ with Panathinaikos in 2007. Having arrived to the Italian capital this season with the role of veteran floor director, Becirovic filled it to perfection in November. Whether going home to Slovenia to face his old club, Union Olimpija, challenging one of the Euroleague’s historically toughest home teams, Tau Ceramica, or squaring off for first place against Fenerbahce, Becirovic was consistently the right man in the right place at the right time for Roma. He finished the month averaging 19 points, 3 rebounds and 4.6 assists in almost 27 minutes per game.

The AP reports: China is ordering its basketball players to stop faking their birth dates, local media reported Friday, turning the spotlight back on allegations of systematic altering of athlete’s ages. Sports authorities have sometimes been accused of altering players’ ages to show them as being younger, mainly to qualify them for youth tournaments. Those false ages stay with athletes and can result in embarrassment and regulatory sanctions when athletes move on to greater success. While that practice, known as ‘age shaving,’ is considered widespread in sports such as basketball and football, the opposite was suspected in the controversy surrounding the women’s gymnastics competition at the Beijing Olympics.

Euroleague.net reports: His team was on the verge of one of the biggest upsets of the season, but when it didn’t happen, Armani Jeans Milano got the consolation prize of seeing Mike Hall earn MVP honors for Week 4 of the regular season. One of the great rivalries in European basketball history lived up to its tradition as Real Madrid won at home against Milano 70-69 on Lou Bullock’s intrepid layup with 3.8 seconds remaining. Hall had helped Milano stay close all game and made his team’s go-ahead free throws just before the final minute started. He would finish the game with a game-high 21 points and team-high 9 rebounds, making 3 of his 4 two-point shots, 3 of 6 from the three-point arc, and all 6 of his free throw opportunities. It all added up to a performance index rating of 28, best of the week among all Euroleague players. Following him was none other than Igor Rakocevic, the Week 3 MVP, who posted a 27 index rating while scoring 21 of his 23 points in the second half of a losing effort against Lottomatica Roma.

Euroleague.net reports: Although it may seem contradictory, the best testimony for the first monthly MVP of the 2008-09 Euroleague season is how little he played while pacing his team to early dominance in its group. Ersan Ilyasova of Regal FC Barcelona did so much so early in both games during October that his team coasted to easy victories without needing his help to finish them off. Against quite distinct opponents and in quite different circumstances, Ilyasova and Barcelona won their first two games in Group B by an average of 26 points. That the second of those blowout wins came by 24 points against another group favorite, Panathinaikos, capped off in spectacular fashion what was already an incredibly busy and successful month for Barcelona. In between tying for first place in the Spanish League with a 4-1 record in October and taking on the Euroleague, Barcelona flew to Los Angeles for 72 hours in the middle of the month play two 100-point-plus exhibition games is less than a day against NBA teams. Every step of the way, Ilyasova’s versatility has been apparent. He ranked seventh among all Euroleague players in performance index rating for the month, third in rebounds, 11th in scoring. Most telling, he led Barcelona in both scoring and rebounding despite playing only the fourth-most minutes on the team. For his amazing efficiency on the court in a pair of huge wins that could easily have been difficult for his team, Ersan Ilyasova is Euroleague Basketball’s choice as October MVP.

Euroleague.net reports: One of world basketball’s best shooters has outdone himself at the start of the Euroleague season. Tau Ceramica guard Igor Rakocevic, a former Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy winner, recorded the competition’s best individual performance in Week 3 to lead his team to a blowout 106-65 home win against Alba Berlin. Tau is now the only undefeated team in Group C and one of four Euroleague teams that has yet to lose. Rakocevic needed just 25 minutes to score 27 points against Alba on 6-for-6 three-point, 1-for-3 two-point and 7-for-7 free-throw shooting. Rakocevic also added a game-high 5 assists and 4 fouls drawn to reach a performance index rating of 34. Sani Becirovic of Lottomatica Roma followed with a 33 index rating based on his 23 points in a road win over Union Olimpija.