About

Bert Larsimont, administrator and owner of this blog, is a basketball amateur who has been involved in basketball for more than forty years (first as a player and scout in his historic Belgian club of CEP Fleurus and later on as an international basketball writer and correspondent). Bert's basketball blog (now berthoop.blogspot.com and formerly www.berthoop.net) has successfully been online since December 1998. This proactive presence on the internet has also allowed Bert, always as a hobbyist, to correspond and write for some major basketball media and websites. For over 25 years, Bert's regular activities have included writing and reporting for www.eurobasket.com, as well as for www.BasketMe.com and www.fullcourt.com.

Being a hobbyist basketball writer and correspondent -- one of the few non-American members of the renowned USBWA-US Basketball Writers Association from 2003 to 2021 -- also allows Bert to keep in touch with his favourite sport and his basketball pals internationally.

From 1998 until now, Bert got the chance to meet or interview some great basketball personalities like former NBA star Rudy Gay, top level coach Herb Brown, ex-WNBA and Olympic Champion Katie Smith, former Great Britain’s national team and current Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch, European top players like Cenk Akyol (Turkey) or Aldo Curti (France), other coaches like Niksa Bavcevic from Croatia, Veselin Matic from Serbia, Jiri Zednicek from Czech Republic, Manu Lecomte, Jacques Stas, Tom Poppe, Daniel Goethals, Pascal Meurs and Serge Crevecoeur from Belgium, Giovanni Lucchesi from Italy, etc. Over the years, Bert has also covered several special events for different media: the 2024 Olympic preparation tournaments of the Belgian Cats in Kortrijk and Charleroi, Belgium, the Basketball Champions League Final Four 2019 in Antwerp, Belgium, the EuroBasket Women 2013 held in France, the 2013 EuroCup Final in Charleroi, Belgium, the 2011 EuroChallenge Final Four in Ostend, Belgium, the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women in Czech Republic, the 2002 EuroLeague Women Final Four in Liévin, France, several Harlem Globetrotters shows organized in Belgium, the yearly U18 World Tournament of Douai in Northern France, Belgian Lions' European championship qualifying campaigns, Belgian Ethias League games, etc.

Contacts with managers, agents, coaches and players have always been enriching experiences. Games in which great basketball players of all generations were involved have always been a pleasure to attend and write about: Marcelinho Huertas, Kelly Olynyk, Mario Chalmers, Aleksandar Djordjevic, Tyrese Rice, Tim Abromaitis, Dusan Sakota, Richard Hendrix, Nick Calathes, Alex Mumbru, Zhou Qi, Ersan Ilyasova, Danilo Gallinari, Theodoros Papaloukas, Rudy Fernandez, Felipe Reyes, Jared Sullinger, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Omre Casspi, Tony Parker, Ronny Turiaf, Boris Diaw, Hidayet Turkoglu, Axel Hervelle, Nicolas Batum, Todor Stoykov, Goran Ikonic, Martynas Gecevicius, Henry Domercant, Christopher Booker, Acie Law, Eric Struelens, Richard Dacoury, Antoine Rigaudeau, David Rivers, Stanislav Kropilak (among the male players) or Emma Meesseman, Alba Torrens, Sandrine Gruda, Lauren Jackson, Celine Dumerc, Sancho Lyttle, Hana Horakova, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Maria Stepanova, Amaya Valdemoro, Ann Wauters, Ilona Korstine, Becky Brunson, Nicole Ohlde, Edwige Lawson, Sheryl Swoopes, Margo Dydek, Ticha Penicheiro (among the female players). Bert's basketball inspiring interest in basketball and writing will still prevail for the years to come…

Popular posts from this blog

FIBA EuroCup Women: Valencia BC (SPA) has given no hope to Basket Namur Capitale (BEL) at the Hall Octave Henry in Saint-Servais, Belgium on Nov. 25th, 2021

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Sometimes, there are games that clubs' staff would like to forget as soon as possible... That's probably the case for the management staff and players of Basket Namur Capitale , last season's Belgian Top Division I Women title-holder, after the heavy loss recorded against Valencia BC in Game Day 5 of the FIBA EuroCup Women regular season. Valencia BC won the EuroCup Women title in 2020-2021 and also defeated the Russian powerhouse UMMC Ekaterinburg in the SuperCup Women 2021. The SuperCup Women is the opening event of the basketball calendar that traditionally sees the reigning EuroCup Women champions take on the EuroLeague Women title-holders. On the home floor at the Pabellon Municipal Fuente de San Luis , Valencia BC did upset last season's EuroLeague winner UMMC Ekaterinburg 73-66 in late October. For the first time in the club's history, Valencia BC won therefore the SuperCup Women title. As a matter of fact, only six different clubs have won the...
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EuroMillions League - Round Six: Proximus Spirou Charleroi defeats BC Telenet Oostende after strong finish in a thrilling Belgian "Clásico"!

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Bert and his son attended the Proximus Spirou Charleroi vs. BC Telenet Oostende basketball game at the Spiroudome on Oct. 28th, 2016. The one and only Belgian basketball "Clásico"! They could not have been better seated, at first row right behind the bench of BC Oostende . Nice to follow the speeches, mood swings and pep talks of BCO 's Croatian Coach Dario Gjergja during timeouts! Around 5,000 people attended this excellent basketball game in Charleroi, Belgium.   Serbian forward Marko Keselj (age 28, 2.06 m) and Belgium's national team member Pierre-Antoine Gillet (age 25, 2.01 m), both injured, were unavailable for BC Oostende and the three Belgian international players Kevin Tumba (age 25, 2.06 m), Loic Schwartz (age 23, 1.95 m) and Ioann Iarochevitch (age 27, 2.06 m), on the injured list for Spirou , did not play in the game.   The home side started slowly and did several mistakes in defense, allowing BC Oostende to take the lead in the fi...
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www.berthoop.net: a strange year in review!

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2020 was definitely a year like no other...  Due to the COVID-19 situation and strict measures taken by the Belgian authorities, Bert has never attended so few basketball games in one year. Except for two FIBA Europe Cup games early last year, Bert could not sit or stand much on the sidelines and enjoy basketball games. Bert witnessed only two Spirou Charleroi losses in the FIBA Europe Cup in early 2020: one against 1. Bundesliga team medi Bayreuth (90-97) on Jan. 7th, 2020 and another one against Benfica Lisboa (78-85) on Jan. 21st, 2020. It was nevertheless a chance to see several young players who could become future stars on the continental basketball scene: Portuguese international guard Rafael Lisboa (born in 1999), US player Reid Alfred Travis (born in 1995, ex- Stanford and Kentucky in NCAA ) or Belgian shooting guard Milan Samardzic (born in 1999). It was also an opportunity for Bert to watch fantastic performances by excellent players Kenneth "Speedy" Smi...
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