Each week, we will review the most important and relevant news, information and analysis about European hoops.

This week we review Allen Iverson’s arrival in Turkey, Euroleague surprises, NBA plans in Europe and much more.

Iverson has arrived in Istanbul

Besiktas Istanbul guard Allen Iverson has finally arrived in Istanbul. It was expected that Iverson, who signed a $4 million, two-year contract, would come on Saturday but the arrival to Istanbul has been delayed by two days.
Iverson, who is the 17th on the NBA's career scoring list with 24,368 points, was introduced to the Besiktas fans and Turkish people.

“I can't promise you that we will win every basketball game,“ said Iverson in a press conference in Turkey. “But one thing I can promise you is that we will play hard, we will play together and we'll give everything that we have on the basket ball court night in and night out.”

Iverson will likely make his debut this Saturday, when Besiktas takes on Oyak Renault.

CSKA is still winless

It has never been so difficult to forecast expected winners of Euroleague games. CSKA Moscow’s 0-3 start has been a complete shock.

CSKA remained winless with a 57-82 loss to Power Electronics Valencia, who registered their first win of their own season. It is the biggest CSKA loss in the Euroleague since the tournament started in 2000.

However, there are some serious reasons why the Russian powerhouse is playing so badly. First of all, the injury bug has really bitted CSKA, which needs to manage without three main players. Ramunas Siskauskas, Viktor Khryapa and Sasha Kaun are all sidelined due to injuries. The other reason is head coach Dusko Vujosevic’s reported inability to speak English, which has created communication problems.

One thing is clear – next week CSKA will try to end this nightmare in win-or-die type of game against unbeaten Union Olimpija.

Fenerbahce Ulker shuts down defending champions Barcelona

Regal Barcelona, the Euroleague champions, were not able to repeat last year’s success. Back in 09-10, Barcelona was unbeatable in the regular season, winning all 10 games. Nevertheless, Fenerbahce Ulker managed to defeat Barcelona by a final of 61-69, their third victory this season.

It was another bad game for Ricky Rubio, who still can’t consistently find his game. Rubio didn’t score a single point during his 12 minutes and finished the game with one turnover.

The Slovenian miracle

There is no doubt that Union Olimpija is the biggest surprise of the Euroleague so far. Most recently, Union Olimpija rallied past Panathinaikos Athens in overtime by a final of 85-84, taking them to the top of Group D (3-0).

Looking back at the end of their offseason, this kind of performance is stunning. Before the start of the Euroleague, FIBA had prohibited Union Olimpija from signing any further players and imposed a fine of 100,000 euros. The team also had many debts, totaling about 5 million euros.

Nevertheless, the Slovenians managed to win against Efes Pilsen Istanbul, Armani Jeans Milano and Panathinaikos. More intriguingly, Union Olimpija won only one of 10 Euroleague games last season.

More Russians in the NBA?

Russian businessman Roman Abramovich was seen with fellow oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov watching the New Jersey Nets play against the Miami Heat. According to the Russian media, the tycoons’ night sparked speculation about the prospect of Abramovich joining Prokhorov in the NBA by purchasing a second “Russian franchise”. Abramovich owns the high profile Chelsea soccer club in England’s Premier League and has developed a reputation for spending heavily on his personnel.

Armani Jeans’ Pecherov out for six weeks

Former Washington Wizards and Minnesota Timberwolves forward Oleksiy Pecherov suffered a calf muscle injury and he will be out approximately six weeks. The Ukrainian forward scored 23 points in the first week match in Moscow against CSKA and was the leader of the Armani Jeans Milano club this season.

Unicaja loses McIntyre for 3 to 6 weeks


There is more bad news for Unicaja’s camp. The Spanish club started the season with one win and two losses and has now lost guard Terrell McIntyre for at least three weeks with a foot injury. McIntyre, the 33-years-old PG, was averaging 7.7 points and 4 assists in 26 minutes per game in the Euroleague tournament.

According to the Spanish media, Unicaja has offered a contract for Sarunas Jasikevicius, who would be a replacement for McIntyre.

Armani Jeans Milano signs experienced big man

Tomas Van Den Spiegel, the 32-year-old center, has returned to Italy. The Belgian agreed to terms with Armani Jeans Milano for the next two months, where he will replace Pecherov.

Panathinaikos’ Diamantidis - Euroleague week’s MVP

Despite Panathinaikos Athens loss of the thriller in Ljubljana, the Green’s Dimitris Diamantidis was named the Euroleague’s player of the week. Diamantidis finished the game with 20 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 9 fouls drawn for a performance index rating of 31.

David Stern has plan for NBA in Europe

NBA commissioner David Stern revealed that he can envision a five-team European division within the league in the next 10 years.

“It’s a wonderful topic, because 10 years ago, I said, ‘Oh, it’s inevitable, it’ll happen in 10 years,’ ” Stern said. “And now what I’m saying is, ‘It’s inevitable, it’ll happen in 10 years.’ But in terms of globalization, we’re going to see a desire for franchises in Europe — and in about 10 years, you’ll send me a postcard.”

However, the first NBA regular-season games in Europe will be played sooner. The Toronto Raptors and New Jersey Nets will face each other March 4th and 5th in London.