The International Basketball Opinion

By ALAN WALLS Welcome to the International Basketball Opinion, the only blog specifically dedicated to international basketball news, business and current events. “What's in a name? That which FIBA calls a competition by any other name would be as recognized?” – Coach Bill Shakespeare, head coach of the London Lords. During the pandemic many individuals and organizations have taken advantage of the free time to reevaluate their goals, mission and strategies. It is therefore a great opportunity for FIBA to reconsider its event naming and branding strategies. In 2002, FIBA launched their ONE FAMILY campaign which included renaming the five regional confederations and bringing them under the global FIBA umbrella. FIBA Europe FIBA Americas FIBA Africa FIBA Asia FIBA Oceania For competition purposes Asia and Oceania have since been combined and countries from the two regions complete in “Asia” events. Simple. Concise. Uniform. Yet, still 18 y...

By ALAN WALLS Welcome to the 12th edition of The International Basketball Opinion, the world’s newest and only blog specifically dedicated to international basketball news, business and current events. “The team must leave the EuroLeague and go to FIBA [Basketball Champions League].” Whoa! Shots fired! Will Panathinaikos BC, founded in 1919 (parent club founded in 1908), be the first to bail on the EuroLeague for the Champions League?  Will other teams follow suit? That statement was made Tuesday by the 38-time Greek league and six-time EuroLeague champion Panathinaikos BC’s owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos as part of his announcement that he is putting the team up for sale for 25 million euros ($29 million). Through the years Giannakopoulos, who took over control of the club from his father and uncle in 2012, has been critical of the EuroLeague’s administration and structure. As a result, the league has fined him on multiple occasions. "My family has put in...

By ALAN WALLS Welcome to the 11th edition of The International Basketball Opinion, the world’s newest and only blog specifically dedicated to international basketball news, business and current events. Ladies and gentlemen, professional basketball is back… in New Zealand of all places. And with a novel change to the way it will play overtime. Amid the country’s reopening after passing the Coronavirus scare with flying colors, the NZ National Basketball League will tip off June 23 with an abbreviated 56-game, six-week, seven-team season. Games will be played in a doubleheader format with all games taking place at the Trusts Arena in Auckland and without fans, at least initially. Taking a page each out of the 64-team, $2 million winner-take-all The Basketball Tournament’s fourth-quarter Elam Ending and the 2019 NBA All Star Game, the NZNBL has come up with an innovative way it will decide overtime games. This is not your father’s overtime. They are marketing it as the “First ...