Basketball Statistics Blog

Beckett Basketball Card Price Guide By: James, III, Dr. Beckett If You're A Basketball Card Collector, This Is The Book For You! The Beckett Basketball Card Price Guide is the most comprehensive basketball card price guide available! Are you a superstar or team card collector? If you are, then Dr. James Beckett and his staff have produced this book just for you! You get extensive lists and prices for all important, popular basketball card sets since 1933.

Most card series listed picture a front and back shot of a representative card.

Includes values for every individual card and complete set listing in three condition grades.

Checklist-like listing of every card in the set.

Complete description includes card features and composition of set.

"... This is a great source for the basketball collector. It is the most recent of the annual beckett price guides and provides listings for card sets that can't be found such as classic, scoreboard, chivas de guadalajara, and 5-sport sets. No card is left out has been left out.

This updated book now gives you updated values for some of Kobe Bryant's rarest cards like the Scoreboard Die-Cut and the Chivas de Guadalajara team set Kobe RC edition. This book is recommended to all collectors. ..."

"... Look, we all know that monthly price guides cannot possibly keep up with the explosion of basketball cards produced by all the companies putting out cards today. All they can do is focus on the name cards on the stars. But if you are trying to put together a set of 1957-58 Topps, 1986-87 Fleer or 1992-93 Hoops, then you need to know ALL the cards so you are prepared for dealers whether they organize their cards by number or team or player's name.

With the "Beckett Basketball Card Price Guide" you have your best chance to find out exactly what is out there. True, in practical terms the prices quoted have a chance of being obsolete by the time you track down the cards you want, but the key thing about all of these Price Guides is that they list all the cards, including all the extras, bonsues, special sets and the like.

Whether you are looking for a card of this year's MVP, Allen Iverson or Ernie Calverley (he was on the first basketball card put out by Bowman in 1948), this is the book you want to use to put together your want lists when I head out to the card shows. ..."

You'll can also browse this book in an Amazon Books 'limited preview' !

• Author: Dr. James Beckett III
• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Beckett Media
• Language: English

To read about the last Beckett Basketball Card Price Guide edition, click here !

101 Ejercicios Para El Ataque de Baloncesto Por P. Johnson, G. Karl y Terry Stotts click here to read the full review...

Basketball Players: Happy Birthday Jerry Lucas !

Jerry Ray Lucas (born March 30, 1940) was a basketball player from the 1950s to the 1970s, and is now a memory education expert. In 1996, the NBA's 50th anniversary, he was named one of the 50 greatest players in National Basketball Association history. He was named to Sports Illustrated's five-man College All-Century Team in 1999.

"... In 1960, Lucas was also named to the U.S. Olympic team for the Rome Games that year. The team, which also listed Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Walt Bellamy, and Terry Dischinger among its members, is generally considered the greatest amateur team of all time. The team's youngest player at age 20, Lucas was its leader and star at center. The U.S. team roared through the international tournament to easily win the gold medal. Lucas was the team's co-leading scorer and leading rebounder. He made a shocking 84% of his shots in nine Olympic games, which included a much-watched win over the Soviet Union. Lucas also was noteworthy as he had memorized paragraphs of Japanese, Italian and Russian, and would briefly converse with players speaking those languages during the Games. U.S. coach Pete Newell called Lucas "the greatest player I ever coached." ..."

Photograph: LIFE

"... By this point, Lucas rated as one of the most accurate shooters and top rebounders in league history. He had plenty of individual honors as well. What he sought was a championship opportunity. The Warriors, needing a small scoring forward, dealt Lucas to the New York Knickerbockers, who needed a big man who would work behind both Willis Reed and Dave DeBusschere. Lucas had long rated ahead of both as an NBA player, but easily agreed as New York was a serious championship contender. Early in the 1971-72 season, the injury-prone Reed went down for the season. Lucas, not a starting center since college was pressed into service. Lucas bedeviled opposing teams with outside shooting and deft passing. ..."

"... Lucas was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980 along with Oscar Robertson and Jerry West.

Read Mahmoud Jerry Lucas's full story and statistics in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

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What really DOES a blocked shot do ?

This Article was UPDATED in
Sunday's Reflexions on Basketball Statistics:
What really DOES a blocked shot do ?

Photograph: al.com

Euroleague FINAL FOUR games LIVE transmission at the PORTAL eBA Stats:

Quarterfinal Playoffs - GAME 3

Tuesday 31, March 2009 ~
19:30 GMT ~ Tau Ceramica vs. Regal Barcelona ( 1 / 1 )
19:45 GMT ~ Real Madrid vs. Olympiacos ( 0 / 2 )
19:45 GMT ~ Montepaschi vs. Panathinaikos ( 1 / 1 )
19:45 GMT ~ Partizan vs. CSKA Moscow ( 0 / 2 )

This schedule is subject to change without notice. For last-minute additions and changes, please check the complete schedule signs posted in the game day at eBA Stats on Facebook > Events.

GMT:Melbourne +11; Tokyo +9; Europe +1; Argentine -3;Mexico -6;New York -5;Los Angeles -8

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2009 eBA Best Basketball Clip Candidate

' The Battle ' with Jason Kidd, Tony Parker, Steve Nash, and Gary Payton ...!

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Basketball Statistician's Digest:
The State of the Art: Evaluating APBRMetrics

From Basketball Prospectus By Kevin Pelton
Download source here: ' The State of the Art: Evaluating APBRMetrics '

"... Ultimately, the discussion seems to center largely on the two questions that were the focal point of my columns five years ago:

 • Can we boil a basketball player's value down to a single number?
 • What better describes a player's value: his individual statistics or plus-minus data describing his impact on the team? ..."

"... With the benefit of hindsight, the way baseball teams ignored the sabermetric revolution for years and years turned out to be a blessing in disguise, allowing a growing community to freely advance on each other's work. By the time a large number of teams got wise to the value of statistical analysis, sabermetrics was entrenched to the point where it could easily survive teams poaching some of the best talent. ..."

"... Everyone involved agrees that it would be ideal to use a dynamic method of player valuation that takes into account a player's teammates and his role. Figuring out how to turn this into reality has proven much more challenging, and this remains an area with the potential for huge advances in our understanding. ..."

"... Each system has its merits and its supporters, and certainly I think that my own WARP system is useful. However, the discussion tends to be charged and subjective when frankly I'm not sure the differences are all that noteworthy. Past a certain threshold of reasonableness, each method is probably about equally useful. The danger lies in the true believers who take any one of them to be gospel and ignore its shortcomings and blind spots. These systems are one tool to rate players, not an evaluation in and of themselves. ..."

"... Ultimately, I feel like there are areas of the game that are simply too subtle to be quantified at the individual level, like a player's positioning. If being at the right place at the right time forces an opponent to pass the ball out for a more difficult contested shot, that's virtually impossible to track. Where it does show up is at the team level, which is why I feel that even with more detailed statistics at our disposal there will still be value to looking at plus-minus numbers. ..."

Read more in Basketball Prospectus

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To foul or not to foul ? A Neutral Foul that Changes to Good

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Basketball Statistics Analysis Referred Concepts:
To foul or not to foul ? A Neutral Foul that Changes to Good

Photograph: Day Life.com/

NBA 2009 Top Plays from Week 20

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Free Throws and Turnover Situation

This Article was UPDATED in
Basketball Registering Stats Referred Questions:
Free Throws and Turnover Situation

Photograph: Day Life.com/

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...this Week Basketball DVD eBA DVICE !


Duke Basketball DVD
A Clinic by Coach Mike Krzyzewski - Coach K


Duke University men’s basketball program has been the model for success in Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s tenure at the helm. Under his direction, the Blue Devils have been perennial contenders for conference and national titles.

Now you can harness Coach K’s strategies for team defense, the transition game, and successful practices to make your team better than ever—all on one action-packed DVD.

The Duke Basketball Video Series DVD offers special insight into the key components that made all of those Duke wins, championships, and awards possible.

The program transports you right to Cameron Indoor Stadium to see and hear what takes place during Duke practice sessions.

Each segment features Coach K and the Duke team explaining and demonstrating

• key teaching and coaching points,
• individual skill instruction,
• team tactics and execution, and
• practice drills.

Action footage shows how lessons learned on the practice floor are transferred successfully to games. You will find the content captivating and directly applicable to your own improvement or to that of your players.

You'll can also watch the 'Live Footage' of this DVD in a 'limited preview' from Championship Productions !

• Actors: Mike Krzyzewski
• Region: All Regions
• Format: Color, Director's Cut, Full Screen
• Language: English
• Number of discs: 6
• Studio: Championship Productions

 • Basketball Coaching & Training Books & eBooks by or about Mike Krzyzewski

 • Basketball Coaching & Training DVDs by Mike Krzyzewski

Euroleague FINAL FOUR games LIVE transmission at the PORTAL eBA Stats:

Quarterfinal Playoffs - GAME 1

Tuesday 24, March 2009 ~
17:15 GMT ~ CSKA Moscow vs. Partizan
18:45 GMT ~ Olympiacos vs. Real Madrid, or
18:45 GMT ~ Panathinaikos vs. Montepaschi
19:45 GMT ~ Regal Barcelona vs. Tau Ceramica

This schedule is subject to change without notice. For last-minute additions and changes, please check the complete schedule signs posted in the game day at eBA Stats on Facebook > Events.

GMT:Melbourne +11; Tokyo +9; Europe +1; Argentine -3;Mexico -6;New York -5;Los Angeles -8

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Discussion about... When is it an Assist ?

This Article was UPDATED in
Basketball Statistics Analysis Related Concepts:
Discussion about... When is it an Assist ?

Photograph: Glenn James/NBAE at Boston.com

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Basketball Clips: ' No Excuses ' with Matt Scott

2009 eBA Best Basketball Clip Candidate

' No Excuses ' with Matt Scott ...!

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Basketball Statistician's Digest:
The Formula That Killed Wall Street: A Cautionary Tale

From 20 Second Timeout By David Friedman
Download source here: ' "The Formula That Killed Wall Street": A Cautionary Tale for Anyone Who Places Too Much Value on Basketball Statistical Analysis '

"... Basketball statistical analysis and new video technology have already made for a good marriage in terms of helping teams to more easily produce accurate scouting reports depicting the tendencies, strengths and weaknesses of players and teams. It is now possible to quickly break down game film (or, to be precise, game DVD) and catalog what happened on every pick and roll play, every out of bounds play, every postup and so forth. Most if not all teams are already applying some form of statistical analysis to the tendencies that emerge from game footage and this obviously represents a quantum leap forward in terms of game planning. ..."

"... The problem is when some people invent certain formulas in which they add up some numbers, multiply other numbers by certain factors, subtract some other numbers and then produce a final number that supposedly "rates" a player's overall performance. ..."

"... This is very analogous to the current situation with basketball statistical analysis; too many of its practitioners "see only the numbers before them and forget about the concrete reality the figures are supposed to represent." They do not have the wisdom or humility to admit that their simple, pretty formulas represent just one, limited interpretation of raw data. ..."

"... Basketball statistical analysts do not yet have all of the necessary data to completely "model" the sport, nor do they fully understand how to use the data that they have. Trying to produce such a model is certainly a worthy task--but I just wish that the people who are working toward this goal would stop declaring "Mission Accomplished!" when the reality is that they are in the beginning or intermediate stages of that mission. ..."

Read more in 20 Second Timeout

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The Pace Factor and the Defensive Efficiency

This Article was UPDATED in

Sunday's Reflexions on Basketball Statistics:
The Pace Factor and the Defensive Efficiency

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NBA 2009 Top 10 Plays from Week 19

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Alternating Possession ~ Inbounding Ball Statistical Registration

This Article was UPDATED in
Basketball Registering Stats Referred Questions:
Alternating Possession ~ Inbounding Ball Statistical Registration

Photograph: The Community News

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2009 eBA Best Basketball Clip Candidate

' Look Me in the Eyes ' with Michael Jordan...!

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Total Number of Team Possessions Statistics

This Article was UPDATED in
Basketball Statistics Analysis Related Concepts:
Total Number of Team Possessions Statistics

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eBA Stats Group: Here we are ! We also join Facebook !

Here we are ! We also join Facebook !

Why ? In order to improve our interaction with the precise audience we want, giving better scope for the promotion of our courses, forums, encyclopedia, articles, notes, photographs and the whole eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System for Professional Basketball Games...!
You know... if Facebook were a country, it would be the eighth most populated in the world, just ahead of Japan, Russia and Nigeria... and there we are !

The default framework of our Facebook new corner provides some basic pages e.g. Home page, Newsroom, Photos, Wall, Discussion Forum, Invitations page and About page, everything with free entrance for both full-registered and non full-registered eBA members... you must only log in Facebook first !

'eBA Stats on Facebook' does not replaces our fives sites, just complement them only announcing the future events !

Enjoy it now ! Find us on Facebook !
And remember to become our 'fan' on our new page... See you on Facebook !

Read more at eBA Facebook ...

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Basketball Statistician's Digest:
Geeks get in the game at Sports Analytics Conference

From Ars Technica By Brad Stenger
Download source here: ' Geeks get in the game at Sports Analytics Conference '

"... Without giving away the guts of the system, Cuban explained that it values a player's performance more during close games and also looks at overall consistency. 'Scoring when up by 30 is worth nothing,' Cuban wrote. 'The lower the variance, the more consistent the player on offense or defense.' ..."

"... "The trick of it is to make a case that's not 'I've got this magic black box over here. I can't explain it to you, but it's telling me that you're doing things wrong,'" said Mike Zarren, a Boston Celtics analyst, at the event. "Coaches are pretty competitive people and they want an edge. If you can give them an edge and convince them it really is an edge, they'll be pretty receptive. And the same thing goes for the players." ..."

"... Mark Cuban was the most direct. He described something that stands to become common practice as basketball analysis becomes universal. "We'll track [our players'] best shooting spot on the court and we'll tell them, 'You shoot that 3-pointer over there and you're an idiot because you're 1 for 99,'" he said. "'Move over ten feet and you're shooting 43 percent.' We want you to take that shot as often as possible." ..."

"... Despite the increased attention from pro basketball and from the media, sports analytics remains a discipline with big unsolved problems. ESPN's Hollinger brought up how poorly defense is accounted for in game result data. Steals, blocks, and sometimes deflections are counted, but they hardly give a comprehensive picture of defensive success or failure. Better ways of capturing and recording data may help, but there's still an art to the whole process unlikely to ever go away, so long as coaches attempt to capture something as complex as a game in numerical form. ..."

"... Stats geeks have always been attracted to sports, with its myriad statistics and box scores and hundred-year data sets, but there's generally been a sharp divide between the statheads and the players generating all those numbers. With the advent of sports analytics, though, players and coaches are willing like never before to take guidance from the number geeks. ..."

Read more in Ars Technica

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Avoiding Out of Bounds Ball & Shooting Case Statistical Tracking

This Article was UPDATED in
Basketball Registering Stats Referred Questions:
Avoiding Out of Bounds Ball & Shooting Case Statistical Tracking

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Basketball Statistics Analysis eBA System Book

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2009 eBA Best Basketball Clip Candidate

' The The Half Million Dollar Shot ' with Amir...!

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tags:  basketball  ~  basketball clips  ~  Vince Carter
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Basketball Over & Back Violation - Statistical Registration

This Article was UPDATED in
Basketball Statistics Analysis Related Concepts:
Basketball Over & Back Violation - Statistical Registration

Photograph: Full Court Fantasy

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Basketball Players: Happy Birthday Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf !

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (born Chris Wayne Jackson on March 9, 1969 in Gulfport, Mississippi) is an former American professional basketball player.

"... Abdul-Rauf changed his name in 1991 upon his conversion to Islam. After a record-setting college career at Louisiana State University, he was selected with the third pick in the 1990 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets. He played with Denver until 1995, and was a key player on that team, winning the Most Improved Player award in 1993. Abdul-Rauf later went on to play for the Sacramento Kings and later the Vancouver Grizzlies. He led the league in free throw percentage in 1994 and 1996, narrowly missing (by one missed free throw) the NBA all-time record for free-throw percentage in a single season in 1993-94 (he went 219-229 from the line for a 95.6 percentage as opposed to Calvin Murphy's 95.8% (206-215) all-time record dating back to 1980-81). ..."

Photographs: Vedia PhotoStream

"... National anthem controversy ~ Abdul-Rauf is perhaps best known for the controversy created when he refused to stand for "The Star-Spangled Banner" before games, stating that the flag was a "symbol of oppression" and that the United States had a long "history of tyranny". He said that standing to the national anthem would therefore conflict with his Islamic beliefs.
On March 12, 1996, the NBA suspended Abdul-Rauf for his refusal to stand, but the suspension lasted only one game. Two days later, the league was able to work out a compromise with him, whereby he would stand during the playing of the national anthem but could close his eyes and look downward. He usually silently recited a Muslim prayer during this time.

In an apparent publicity stunt gone wrong linked to this controversy, four employees of Denver's KBPI were charged with misdemeanor offenses related to entering a Colorado mosque and playing "The Star-Spangled Banner" on a bugle and trumpet, in a provocative response to Abdul-Rauf's refusal to stand for the national anthem. ..."

Read Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf's full story and statistics in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

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eBA System Non-conventional Statistics

This Article was UPDATED in
Basketball Statistics Analysis Related Concepts:
eBA System Non-conventional Statistics

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xxWednesday, March 11 ~ 19:00 GMT: Panathinaikos GRE vs. Unicaja SPAIN or
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ~ 19.00 GMT: Roma ITALY vs. Partizan SERBIA

xxThursday, March 12 xx ~ 19:15 GMT: Tau SPAIN vs. Olympiacos GREECE or
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx x~ 19.15 GMT: Maccabi TLV vs. Barcelona SPAIN

Daily, NBA LIVE GAMES and NCAA March Madness at USA evening hours ! You can see the games and hours in the Live Scores Table, in our eBA Stats PORTAL, below the video screen.


This schedule is subject to change without notice. For last-minute additions and changes, please check the complete schedule signs posted in the game day in this eBA Blog and at our eBA Stats PORTAL.

GMT: Melbourne +10; Tokyo +9; Europe +2; Argentine -3; México -5; New York -4; Los Angeles -7

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2009 eBA Best Basketball Clip Candidate

' The Funk ' with Vince Carter...!

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Basketball Statistician's Digest:
For Free Throws, 50 Years of Practice Is No Help

From New York Times By John Branch
Download source here: ' For Free Throws, 50 Years of Practice Is No Help '

"... Since the mid-1960s, college men’s players have made about 69 percent of free throws, the unguarded 15-foot, 1-point shot awarded after a foul. In 1965, the rate was 69 percent. This season, as teams scramble for bids to the N.C.A.A. tournament, it was 68.8. It has dropped as low as 67.1 but never topped 70. ..."

"... The consistency of free-throw percentages stands out when contrasted with field-goal shooting over all. In men’s college basketball, field-goal percentage was below 40 percent until 1960, then climbed steadily to 48.1 in 1984, still the highest on record. The long-range 3-point shot was introduced in 1986, and the overall shooting percentage has settled in at about 44 percent. ..."

"... There has not been a serious innovation in the way free throws have been shot for 50 years. The few still using a one-hand set shot from the chest, or even an underhand style, generally gave way to a flat-footed version of the burgeoning over-the-head jump shot. And although international players have helped the free-throw rate ... it cannot fully explain why the league is threatening the record high of 77.1, set in 1974. ..."

"... “A lot of coaches don’t want to spend time on it in practice,” said Blake Ahearn, a former Missouri State player who is the N.C.A.A.’s leader in career free-throw percentage (94.6) and now leads the N.B.A. Development League as a guard for the Dakota Wizards. “They want to work on defenses and offenses and schemes.” ..."

"... But even practice has never made perfect. The general rule is that players, in games, shoot 10 percentage points below their practice average. The difference is pressure and fatigue, hard to replicate in an empty arena. ..."

Read more in New York Times

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Basketball Statistician's Digest: Can we Register Double Assist ?

"... Player A1 lifts to shoot a jump ball, at the last moment decides to pass a alley-oop pass to A2 who in the air returns the ball to A1 who finally dunks the ball into the hoop... How many assists we have to register in this play according to the eBA Basketball Statistics Creative Analysis System ? ..."

eBA System Statistics Fundamentals: See the eBA Basketball Statistics Case Studies

eBA Basketball Statistics Registration:
According to our and all the systems, we register only ONE assist in favour of A2. What our eBA Basketball Statistics Creative Analysis System renews is the 2nd. Assist and the Potential Assist, but A1 is the same player who begins the play and receives the ball again, therefore it doesn't applies in this case.

Conclusion of the Case Study #13 from the month of February. Go to Basketball Case Study #14 !

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NBA 2009 Basketball Best Highlights from Week 17

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Basketball News: FIBA and ESPN reach three-year multimedia pact

The International Basketball Federation and ESPN have reached a comprehensive three-year agreement (2009-2011) making ESPN the exclusive English-language distributor of FIBA live games in the United States.


The agreement includes the following premier FIBA men's tournaments, highlighted by extensive coverage of the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey.


2009 FIBA Americas Championship (19th to 30th August 2009, in Mexico)
2009 FIBA EuroBasket Championship (7th to 20th September 2009, in Poland)
2010 FIBA World Championship (28th August to 12th September 2010, in Turkey)
2011 FIBA Americas Championship (July-August 2011, in location to be determined)

2011 FIBA EuroBasket Championship (August-September 2011, in Lithuania)
ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to televise all United States National Team games, plus additional championship round coverage (outlined below) for each event.
The deal will collectively include up to 268 games (many exclusively) available live on ESPN360.com, ESPN's broadband sports network and provide broad multimedia rights to FIBA content across ESPN platforms.

ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN360.com will provide the following coverage for each championship:
2009 and 2011 FIBA Americas Championship for Men,
2009 and 2011 FIBA EuroBasket for Men and
2010 FIBA World Championship for Men.

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About the Correct Way in Evaluating Defense

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Basketball Statistics Analysis Referred Concepts:
About the Correct Way in Evaluating Defense

Photograph: Sec Sports Fan

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Basketball Statistics Register eBA Clinic

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xxWednesday, March 04 ~ 19:00 GMT: Barcelona SPAIN vs. Real Madrid SPAIN or
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ~ 19.45 GMT: Unicaja MALAGA vs. Roma ITALIA

xxThursday, March 05 xx ~ 19:30 GMT: Alba Berlin GER vs. Maccabi TLV or
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx x~ 19.45 GMT: Partizan SER vs. Panathinaikos GRE

This schedule is subject to change without notice. For last-minute additions and changes, please check the complete schedule signs posted in the game day in this eBA Blog and at our PORTAL eBA Stats.

GMT: Melbourne +10; Tokyo +9; Europe +2; Argentine -3; México -5; New York -4; Los Angeles -7

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tags:  basketball  ~  coach's digest   ~  basketball live games  ~  2009 Euroleague
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March Cover ~ Basketball Beautiful Faces:
Dance Groups from the NCAA

Photograph: chinadaily.com

Our Basketball Beautiful Faces of March 2009 Cover
NCAA dancers warming up before the March Madness !

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tags: basketball ~ beautiful faces ~ cheerleaders ~ NCAA
visit:  eBA Portal  ~  eBA Forums  ~  eBA Encyclopedia  ~  eBA Clinics