Iraklis to merge with Panellinios?

An interesting rumor from Greece.


Iraklis BC was relegated(again) at end of the regular season (2010-2011) and much like their football counterpart they're seeking another way to remain in the league. That is by merging with another team that seems to be left more or less to its own devices by its fan and its owner and that is the team of Panellinios. The people at Panellinios moved the team from Athens to Lamia but that didn't work very well as the team that took part in the Eurocup final four in the previous season, in this past season they barely made it past the relegation zone.

Iraklis on the other hand was an example to avoid with their poor roster design and their inability to create a solid administration they managed to create debts and the team never had a chance to fight for its salvation. According to superbasket.gr, the plan is under way and soon there will be more details on the subject.

Click here to return to the homepage.

Biella announced Linos Chrysikopoulos

A great prospect for Biella and a great loss for Aris.


Biella announced the signing of Linos Chrysikopoulos(2.05-SF/PF) for 3 seasons and in this way they secured the best Greek prospect at his age for the next 3 seasons. The deal was announced via their official website. Linos Chrysikopoulos has been part of the youth and mens teams of Aris BC for the last 3 years but it seems that the Greek team made no real effort in promoting him. The team are currently more occupied trying to settle the debts that the administration accumulated over the last 4 years or so and Chrysikopoulos decided to go to a team that will be able to utilise his talents.

Chrysikopoulos is considered to be one of the best Greek talents of his generation and he also has the body of a modern player with impressive wingspan and a mindset for the game. In Biella he is expecting to find a team that can work with young talents and that can promote them further. Biella has had a good run with young players with the likes of Pietro Aradori(1.95-SG), Jonas Jerebko(2.08-PF) and Thabo Sefalosha(2.01-SF) who moved on to the NBA and the Euroleague. Chrysikopoulos didn't get much playing time last season averaging 1.4 points and 1 rebounds in 6 minutes of playing time in 9 games in the Eurocup and also 2.3 points and 2 rebounds in 9.9 minutes of playing time in 21 games in the Greek A1 league. He's also had a great run with the youth Greek National Teams.



Click here to return to the homepage.

Milovan Rakovic to sign with Zalgiris

Back in the Euroleague but with a different team..


According to Serbian portal novosti.rs, Milovan Rakovic (2.08-C) will not be renewing his contract with the Italian champion Siena but he will continue his career in Zalgiris Kaunas instead. Rakovic was also implicated in rumors with Olympiacos like many other players but it seems that Zalgiris won him instead.

Rakovic played for 3 seasons for Spartak St Petersburg before moving to Siena. He averaged 8 points and 3.8 rebounds in 22 games for Siena in the Euroleague helping them reach the Euroleague Final Four.

Click here to return to the homepage.

Lietuvos Rytas signed Lawrence Roberts

Lietuvos Rytas added strength and experience.


Lietuvos Rytas signed a contract with big man Lawrence Roberts, who will arrive to Vilnius after a season playing for Efes Pilsen Istanbul. The 28-year-old American is reported to have signed a two-year deal with the club from the Lithuanian capital.

“It’s a player from USA, but with European basketball experience. Lawrence is a versatile player, who can rebound well and play good defense,” Martynas Purlys, the General Director of Lietuvos Rytas described the club’s new acquisition.

Roberts arrived to Europe after a couple of seasons in the NBA, where he played for the Memphis Grizzlies and averaged 5.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game in the 2006-07 season.

The player had a short stint with Olympiacos Piraeus before representing the two most famous Serbian clubs – Red Star and Partizan Belgrade.

Last season, Roberts averaged 6.5 points and 5.1 rebounds per game for Efes Pilsen in Euroleague, while his statistics in the Turkish Basketball League (TBL) were a tiny bit better – 8.1 points and 5.2 boards per game.


source : lithuaniabasketball.com

Click here to return to the homepage.

Minic and Takianos to take the helm in Aris

One to get players and one to coach them..


According to basketnet.gr, the new head coach of Aris is going to be rising star Fotis Takianos. The young Greek head coach managed to get 2 teams promoted in the A1 league the last few years and he is considered one of the Greek head coaches to look out for. He is also a former player of Aris although he didn't spend long in the team.

Milan Minic also returns to Aris after leaving as head coach back in 2003. This time he returns as a technical director and his task will be to find good and cheap players. The times are tough for Aris who are now in debt and it seems that for the next 2 seasons the team's budget will be tight as some of the money will be going to cover the debts of the previous years.

Click here to return to the homepage.

Parker could play for Villeurbanne

Tony Parker played four seasons in France before being selected by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2001 NBA Draft.


If the lockout lasts into January, and it seems like it might, Parker has recently said that he will resume his French basketball career.

Parker held a press conference recently in France, and according to French basketball website BasketUSA, the 29-year-old point guard had some interesting comments on the lockout and a possible return to France.

On the lockout, Parker said that it "is a problem of rich," apparently intimating that the owners are at fault despite his signing a four-year, $50 million extension with the Spurs last fall. This isn't exactly a surprising stance, however, as there's no reason for him to blame his fellow players for the problems keeping the NBA from playing next season.

If the NBA doesn't play next season, or at least if the lockout lasts into 2012, Parker plans to give a big boost to ASVEL -- the team he part-owns and manages in France.

"If in January-February, the NBA says the lockout will last until the end of the season, I will come to France, but the NBA season can start anytime -- They will not say in October that the strike will last all year, it does not work like that," Parker said. "But if so, I'd head over to the ASVEL because I'm general manager and executive director."

ASVEL has already signed three players with names familiar to NCAA basketball fans in Jamie Skeen, Kim Tillie and former NBA player Hilton Armstrong, but Parker would definitely be a nice addition.

In fact, he might be able to be the first in the world to be named Most Valuable Player and Executive of the Year in the same season.

source : sbnation.com




Click here to return to the homepage.

Olimpia Milano added Bouroussis for 2 seasons

It didn't take him very long to find a new team.


Emporio Armani Milan confirmed the addition of former All-Euroleague team member forward Ioannis Bourousis for the next two seasons. Bourousis (2.10 meters, 28 years old) arrives from Greek League runners-up Olympiacos, for whom he averaged 10.7 points and 6.6 rebounds last season in 18 Turkish Airlines Euroleague appearances over 17 minutes per game. Bourousis ranked eightth in index rating overall last season in the Euroleague (14.2), fourth in total rebounds (6.6) and thirdin defensive rebounds (4.9).

Bourousis had played five straight seasons with the Reds. He was named to the 2008-09 All-Euroleague first team and has appeared at two Euroleague Final Fours, in 2009 and 2010. He won the 2010 and 2011 Greek Cup with Olympiacos. Bourousis started his pro career at AEK Athens of Greece in 2002 and stayed there until 2006. On May of that year he moved to Spain for a brief stint with Regal FC Barcelona to play in the Spanish League Playoffs but after two months there he left and joined Olympiacos that summer.

source : euroleague.net

Click here to return to the homepage.