berthoop

Phoenix Brussels defeated Spirou Basket Charleroi by a close margin of 3 points (104-101 after overtime) in the first Belgian derby of the 2019-20 FIBA Europe Cup in Neder-over-Hembeek on Oct. 30th, 2019. Bert and his son Théo went to the Dome in Charleroi to attend the second act of the Belgian derby on Nov. 19th. It looked hard for the local organizing committee to attract basketball fans and enthusiasts and only a very sparse crowd joined the arena for what was nevertheless a very attracting game on paper. The first cold temperatures combined with the Belgian national team’s soccer game against Cyprus broadcasted on the public television did not really help in boosting the fans to travel to the Dome . Former Belgian Lion Khalid Boukichou , who was hired by Spirou Charleroi a few days before the contest, had an impressive start in the game. He controlled the traffic in the paint and actually scored the first 9 points of his team, to the joy of the few local fans who...

Around 19:00 on Friday, Sep. 27th, 2019, many local basketball fans queued up outside the Dome in Charleroi with the hope to attend a first great Province Hainaut's derby game between Spirou Basket Charleroi and Union Mons-Hainaut in the 2019-20 EuroMillions Basketball League . The attendance was estimated at 2,750 and you could feel excitement among the supporters and enjoy the nice atmosphere in the aisles and on the terraces of the arena. After a minute of applause in honour of a few Spirou fans who passed away over the summer, the game started in a very physical and defensive way. Bert and his son quickly understood that they would not attend a high-scoring game this time. It woud be an understatement to write that the contest was rather defensive. Spirou Basket of Belgian Coach Pascal Angillis faced a hard time in offense during the first quarter and the Foxes of Union Mons-Hainaut did not miss the chance to dig a first gap at 6-12 after 6 minutes of action. Belgia...

Dear Readers, It is my pleasure to announce that berthoop.net has been online since early 1999. A reliable online presence for 20 years which also matches with Bert's hobbying actvities as a correspondent and writer for major basketball media and websites. Regular writing for Eurobasket.com (as well as for Full Court Press and BasketMe.com in the past) has been among Bert's activities for the last 20 years. Being a basketball correspondent -- one of the very few non-American members of the renowned USBWA-US Basketball Writers Association -- allows Bert to keep in touch with basketball pals and friends internationally. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Bert's presence on the world wide web, berthoop.net has been remodelled and is now online with a new and more modern design. From December 1998 until today, Bert has had the chance to meet or interview famous basketball personalities like NBA star Rudy Gay , WNBA and Olympic Champion Katie Sm...

Virtus Segafredo Bologna vs. CB Canarias Iberostar Tenerife : 73-61 Score evolution: 20-8, 38-24, 58-44 and 73-61 This final definitely had the taste and the look of top level European basketball... Just like in the semi-final against Brose Bamberg of Germany two days before, the Virtus team started strongly: 7-0. Tim Abromaitis had the chance to score the first points of CB Canarias Iberostar Tenerife from the free-throw line 7-2. A few moments later, Virtus Bologna 's star Kevin Punter already hit his third three-pointer of the match...13-2! His French mate Amath Mbaye , also pretty efficient, hit a basket to make 15-4. After 4'55" in the game, a first time-out was asked by the CB Canarias Head Coach Jesus Vidorreta . Only the US big man Colton Iverson managed to put the V defense into trouble. The Iberostar guys coming off the bench still made a good job, a little bit like what they did in their semi-final matchup against the Antwerp Giants on Friday,...

The 2018-19 NCAA basketball season has now been over since mid-April. The 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament ended with a nice win of the Virginia Cavaliers ( De’Andre Hunter 27 points) who defeated the Texas Tech Red Raiders of 77-85 in the championship game played in front of 72,000 fans at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, MN on 2018-04-08. Just like every year, Bert was asked to select All-America players (regardless of position). Here is therefore the 2018-19 berthoop.net Men's College Basketball All-America Team : Men's All-America 1  Zion Williamson , Duke - forward, 2.02 m - 6'8", born in 2000, USA Men's All-America 2  Carsen Edwards , Purdue - guard, 1.85 m - 6'1", born in 1998, USA Men's All-America 3  R.J. Barrett Jr. , Duke - forward, 2.01 m - 6'7", born in 2000, Canada Men's All-America 4  Rui Hachimura , Gonzaga - forward, 2.03 m - 6'8", born in 1998, Japan Men's ...

When my youngest son and I arrived at the Spiroudome on the evening of the 28th Nov., the scoreboard already showed 9-12 for the Russian team of Nadezhda Orenburg against Castors Braine in a FIBA EuroLeague Women 's Group A regular season game. In front of a sparse attendance, Castors Braine remained in the race and performed well despite the limited number of players fit and able to play that evening. Belgian international player Antonia Delaere , British center Abby Rendle , young Russian power forward Albina Razheva and Estonia's experienced guard Merike Anderson did not play for the Castors while Kenyan-Canadian power forward Adut Bulgak did not wear the Nadezhda outfit but stood behind her team's bench to support her mates that night. We quickly understood that Karlie Samuelson on the Castors ' side and Erica Wheeler for Nadezhda Orenburg had been pretty efficient offensively in the first minutes of their fourth game in the European women basketbal...

Because of professional commitments, I did not get the opportunity to travel to Tenerife for covering or attending the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup last September. It was nevertheless an honour and a great chance for me to closely follow the world's women basketball top competition through the media and have a direct feedback from Women's Basketball Hall of Famer Katie Smith via the social networks during the tourney! I have known Katie for quite some years now. Back in 1988-89, I spent a full year in Southeastern Ohio and attended class at Logan High School where Katie Smith already performed very well in sports like basketball (of course), volleyball and track. Katie , always in quest for perfection, has always been a true athlete and a role model wherever she has played sports! As a member of the US women's senior national team, Smith helped the USA earn the gold medals in the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games as well as in the 1998 and 2002 World ...