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Parker to star in Eurocup live on Eurosport
Hong Kong, 14 November 2011 - With the NBA lockout still in effect, basketball fans can look towards Europe, where the annual Eurocup tips off this week with three back-to-back matches broadcast LIVE on Eurosport.
All eyes will be on the Asvel Basket (France) v Valencia Basket (Spain) game where San Antonio Spurs superstar Tony Parker will try to lead his French team to an opening victory.
“I’m here to have fun and help my teammates,” said Parker on his return to his native France. “If we win games, even better! The welcome I’ve had has been great. It’s a pleasure to return to France and play with Asvel. I’m a competitor and I will give the best of myself.”
Point guard Parker played for two years in the French basketball league before entering the 2001 NBA draft. He has won three NBA titles with the Spurs.
Another NBA player who has signed for Asvel until the end of the lockout is Ronny Turiaf. The New York Knicks star will be used to bulk up their forecourt, with the centre posting 4.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 blocks per game in the last NBA season.
Valencia have brought back coach Paco Olmos, who led the team to their first Eurocup title in 2003, and fans will be hoping he can help to overthrow Asvel’s new star.
The two other opening Eurocup games LIVE on Eurosport will feature VEF Riga (Latvia) versus PAOK BC Thessaloniki (Greece) and Krka Novo Mesto (Slovenia) against Lietuvos Rystas (Lithuania). The action begins early Wednesday morning (16 November, 1.30am Hong Kong time).
Other key signings for Eurocup teams this season include 6’ 9” Darnell Jackson, who has signed with Ukraine outfit BC Donetsk. The big man has spent the past three seasons in the NBA playing for Cleveland, Milwaukee and Sacramento, averaging 3.2 points and 1.6 rebounds at Sacramento.
Benetton Treviso secured the signature of Chicago’s Brian Scalabrine. Of Italian ancestry, Scalabrine has been training with the Italian team since August. Although an NBA champion, having played with the winning Boston Celtics side of 2008, Scalabrine is currently a free agent and his contract with Treviso does not include an opt-out clause if the NBA lockout is lifted.
“My expectations are for me to come here, train and continue to play for the team for the whole year,” Scalabrine said. The 10-year NBA veteran played just 18 games for the Chicago Bulls last season but believes he has a lot to offer his new Italian side. “I can do a lot of things. When I’ve had opportunities to play, I’ve played well. My winning percentage is one of the highest in the NBA as a starter.”
Also getting the chance to hone their skills in the Eurocup are San Antonio Spurs point guard Chris Quinn, who will be playing for Russian outfit BC Khimki, and new NBA draft picks Nikola Vucevic and Jon Leuer.
Vucevic was drafted as pick number 16 by the Philadelphia 76ers, with the Belgium-raised player to play with KK Budućnost VOLI (Montenegro) during the lockout. Leuer was selected in the draft as pick 10 in the second round by the Milwaukee Bucks and has signed a contract with the German club Fraport Skyliners.
Russian side Unics Kazan dominated Spain’s Cajasol Sevilla 92-77 to finish the 2011 season as Eurocup champions. But both teams face different fortunes this season – Unics have been promoted to play in the Euroleague, while Cajasol failed to qualify for the Eurocup.
A total of 32 teams will take part in the Eurocup regular season, which will be played across 13 countries from 15 November to 20 December. The best two teams from each group will advance to the last 16. Eurosport will broadcast matches in every stage of the Eurocup this season, culminating in the Eurocup Finals in April.
About Eurosport Group
The Eurosport Group is Europe’s leading sports entertainment group. Eurosport, the No.1 pan-European TV channel, broadcasts in 20 languages and reaches 126 million homes across 59 countries. Eurosport HD is the high definition simulcast of Eurosport. Eurosport 2 broadcasts to 51 million households in 17 languages across 47 countries. Eurosport 2 HD was launched in August 2009. Eurosport Asia-Pacific reaches 15 countries in the region. Eurosportnews is the sports news channel transmitted worldwide. Eurosport.com, Europe’s No.1 online sports destination, has over 14 million unique users per month (comScore) across an international network of sports websites in 11 languages. The Eurosport.com free mobile application is available in 10 languages. Eurosport Player, Eurosport’s web TV service, provides LIVE and on-demand sports to fans’ PCs in 59 countries and the Player mobile application is available in 5 countries. Eurosport Events is the group’s expert division in the management and promotion of international sporting events. For more information, please visit www.eurosportcorporate.com
About Eurosport Asia-Pacific Ltd
Eurosport Asia Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eurosport S.A., oversees all activities of the Eurosport Group in the Asia-Pacific region and has its headquarters in Hong Kong. It produces and distributes the TV channels Eurosport and Eurosportnews as well as several web and mobile products in Asia-Pacific and is responsible for advertising sales in the region. Eurosport provides a local language sports website in China at http://eurosport.qq.com.
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Released on behalf of Eurosport Asia-Pacific by Two Up Front – Asia’s sports PR specialists.
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