FanPost

Euroleague: Week 6 & 7 (December 2-3, 9-10) Games

First off, I'm sorry for disappearing on you guys last week. Exams took over RL and I still haven't gotten over it. But I'm back, and Week 6 had no overly surprising upsets. Neither did Week 7. So, yes, undefeated teams Wisla Can-Pack, Rivas Ecopolis and Spartak Moscow are still undefeated. Also, TEO Vilnus has yet to win a game.

Week 6 (December 2-3) Results

Group A

TEO Vilnius (37-86) UMMC Ekaterinburg

TTT Riga (54-78) Ros Casares

Cras Basket Taranto (77-63) Galatasaray

 

Group B

Gospic Croatia (85-63) ESB Lille Metropole

Wisla Can-Pack (62-58) Halcon Avenida

Beretta-Famila (69-62) MiZo Pecs

 

Group C

ZVVZ USK Prague (70-47) Bourges Basket

Good Angels Kosice (75-58) MKB Euroleasing

KSSSE Gorzow (79-82) Rivas Ecopolis

 

Group D

Szeviep (82-66) Tarbes GB

Frisco Sika Brno (65-82) Spartak Moscow Region

Lotos Gdynia (63-69) Fenerbache

 

In summary, Week 6 found Szeviep obtaining its first win in Group D, beating Tarbes (as I predicted, surprisingly enough). McCoughtry scored 24 (highest individual point performance of the week--Taurasi had 23) for Kosice to top MKB Euroleasing. Amaya Valdemoro finally returned to Ros Casares in time for a blowout win against TT Riga, scoring 4 points. And Katie Douglas finally appeared in a Galatasaray uniform (Perkins did not play--is Douglas her replacement?), tallying 16 in a loss to Cras Basket Taranto.

 

 

Week 7 (December 9-10) Results

Group A

UMMC Ekaterinburg (73-42) Cras Basket Taranto

UMMC: Gruda, S. (16 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block, 21 minutes); Wauters, A. (10 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 21 minutes); Jones, A. (8 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 17 minutes); Pondexter, C. (4 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 block, 23 minutes); Nolan, D. (2 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 19 minutes)

Cras: Brunson, R. (3 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, 23 minutes)

 

Ros Casares (75-60) TEO Vilnius

Ros: Milton-Jones, D. (14 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 1 block, 23 minutes); Hammon, R. (8 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2 steals, 20 minutes); Snell, B. (7 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 18 minutes); De Souza, E. (3 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 1 block, 27 minutes)

TEO: Montgomery, R. (15 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 36 minutes); Hollingsworth, Q. (9 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 32 minutes)

 

Galatasaray (71-55) TTT Riga

Gala: Douglas, K. (17 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 3 steals, 28 minutes); Young, S. (15 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 36 minutes)

 

Group B

ESB Lille Metropole (57-75) Beretta-Famila Schio

Famila: Coleman, M. (6 points, 6 rebounds, 22 minutes)

 

Halcon Avenida (81-79) Gospic Croatia

Avenida: Lyttle, S. (24 points, 15 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 1 block, 38 minutes); Willingham, L. (19 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 29 minutes)

 

MiZo Pecs (71-74) Wisla Can-Pack

Pecs: Ohlde, N. (17 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 29 minutes); Mazzante, K. (1 rebound, 1 steal, 16 minutes)

Wisla: Burse, J. (13 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 24 minutes)

 

Group C

KSSSE Gorzow (79-72) MKB Euroleasing

Gorzow: Spencer, S. (15 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, 25 minutes)

 

Bourges Basket (83-71) Good Angels Kosice

Bourges: Carson, E. (22 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 36 minutes)

Kosice: McCoughtry, A. (20 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 29 minutes); Dupree, C. (14 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 40 minutes)

 

Rivas Ecopolis (94-56) ZVVZ USK Prague

Rivas: Langhorne, C. (25 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 31 minutes)

Prague: Whalen, L. (10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 31 minutes); Kraayeveld, C. (3 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 24 minutes)

 

Group D

Spartak Moscow Region (94-51) Szeviep

Spartak: Taurasi, D. (24 points, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 21 minutes); Miller, K. (9 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 1 steal, 25 minutes); Fowles, S. (8 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 18 minutes); Jekabsone-Zogota, A. (7 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal, 14 minutes); McCarville, J. (6 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals, 19 minutes); Lawson-Wade, E. (2 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 15 minutes)

Fenerbache (86-70) Frisco Sika Brno

Fener: Powell, N. (16 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 30 minutes); Taylor, P. (15 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 35 minutes); Sutton-Brown, T. (10 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 25 minutes)

Brno: McWilliams, T. (11 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 27 minutes); Bonner, D. (10 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal, 29 minutes)

 

Tarbes GB (81-67) Lotos Gdynia

Tarbes: Houston, C. (27 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 36 minutes)

Lotos: Beard, A. (19 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 26 minutes); Christon, S. (5 points, 15 minutes); Phillips, E. (2 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 22 minutes)

 

Notes:

- France PG Celine Dumerc finally played a game for UMMC, with a quiet 5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 steals in 17 minutes, so Pondexter and Abrosimova (2 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 17 minutes) split the PG load. UMMC rolled. No surprise, there. Brunson had a forgettable game for Cras, hitting just one shot of 11 attempts in 23 minutes of play.

- For reasons unexplained, Ros Casares is using Becky Hammon as a scoring punch off the bench, with Belinda Snell starting over her. After a torrid start, De Souza has slowed down considerably, hitting only 1-7 from the field in this game to go with less than her usual rebounds (6). Amaya Valdemoro is back and kicking. A bit off her shot, but 3-5 from three and a solid 4 steals. Hollingsworth also shot poorly (3-11) and had 7 turnovers. Word in the TEO camp is that head coach Mantas Sernius is frustrated by the weak decision-making of Euroleague rookie PG Renee Montgomery (5 TO to 5 assists).

- Second game with Katie Douglas in Gala, and a win this time. She led the team with 17 points, but only hit 1-5 from three. Also, Jia Perkins is no longer on the roster, so I think it's safe to assume she was just a placeholder. Good trade off? Discuss.

- Another game and Marissa Coleman still can't get anything going. Sorry, no news here.

- Impressive line from Sancho Lyttle, but Avenida has Olexandra Gorbunova to thank for the win. Two of her 7 points for the game were from a putback in the final seconds, icing the victory for Avenida.

- Subpar numbers for Janell Burse in Wisla's come-from-behind victory over Pecs, but she's allowed a game like that every now and then. The 4 fouls and 5 TOs probably did her in. Same story goes for Kelly Mazzante, with nearly nothing to show for 16 minutes except an offensive rebound, a steal, and 5 fouls. She did attempt one three--missed it. (I realize I've been listing Quigley's stats, but she was cut from the Mercury early in the season. So I guess that keeps her off the W players list.)

- A win for Gorzow, which is rare enough, comes again at MKB's expense. Though Jelena Milovanovic was back for MKB, she only had 8 points (and 3 rebounds, 1 assist) while racking up 5 fouls and 3 turnovers. Should take time for her to get back into game shape (3-7 from two, 0-3 from three). Sidney Spencer shot 4-9 from three, thus the 15 points. Not bad, I guess. Both teams are at the bottom of Group C.

- Candice Dupree's minutes per game is now at a jaw-dropping 39.0 average. That said, it doesn't quite translate into wins for Kosice. What I don't understand is that McCoughtry played just 29 minutes, and didn't have many minuses in her stat line (3 fouls, 2 TO). She could have played longer. Essence Carson was able to help keep Bourges on top, though I don't expect over 20 points consistently from her.

- Rivas continues on undefeated by thoroughly dismantling Prague. The turnover ratio alone for this game should be telling: 8 to 19, in favor of Rivas. Prague was also outrebounded, out-assisted, and committed more fouls. They shot poorly from the perimeter as well, at 5-18 for 27.8%. Crystal Langhorne led all scorers with 25 points, while Lindsay Whalen led Prague with 10.

- Don't let the low individual scoring numbers fool you. Spartak shot 62.7% from the floor, 70.0% from three (note: In the Euroleague, they separate two-pointer percentages from three-pointer percentages). That is largely thanks to Diana Taurasi, who shot 7-8 (87.5%) from two and 2-4 (50%) from three, and scored 20 of her 24 points in the first half. (Taurasi is at 60% from two and only 38.1% from three total.) Even scoring distribution for the rest of the Spartak squad, and no starter played over 21 minutes. Say, this Pokey Chatman lady can coach. </sarcasm> Szeviep, on the other hand, falls after their first win. Not their fault.

- Fener jumped on Brno early and never trailed in this game, moving up to second in Group D (behind Spartak) and paying Brno back for the loss earlier in the season. After the third, Fener was up 76-50. Good effort from all of Fener's W players all around. If you guys are paying close attention to the W offseason, you'll know the Monarchs have folded and the dispersal draft is on the 14th. Nicole Powell is expected to go in the top three (the other two being Rebekkah Brunson, playing for Taranto, and Courtney Paris who is in Israel) and for good reason. She's still an good scorer and 7th in three-point FG at 52.9% (18-34). Teams looking for a scoring punch (ahem, Connecticut), please take note.

- Charde Houston decided to come and play, with her 27 points the highest total in all games played this week. She also hit a three-pointer. Is that normal? Shameka Christon is still searching for her shot (0-1 from two, 1-6 from three), as is Erin Phillips (1-2, 0-5). Positives? Phillips had 8 rebounds, which should put most centers to shame. At least she did something when she couldn't get her shot to drop. (Ahem, yes. I'm looking at you, Christon.) Alana Beard is shooting torrid from three, at 10-15 currently.

 

It has been confirmed that Sue Bird will return to Spartak in January, leaving Edwidge Lawson-Wade's future in Moscow questionable. Candace Parker is also set to report on January, if word in internetland is to be trusted, and will strengthen an already solid UMMC frontcourt. Lauren Jackson just played her debut game for the Canberra Capitals (who have quickly turned into the title favorites, unsurprisingly), leading all scorers with 18 points and 8 rebounds, plus two (three?) emphatic blocks and a few clever assists. She hasn't played in four months, by the way. Her team won against the Perth Lynx, 102-64. The Capitals are currently in fourth place at 9-5, but look for that to improve.

In W news, like I mentioned, the Monarchs dispersal draft is on the 14th. Picking first to fifth are New York, Minnesota, Connecticut, Chicago, and San Antonio. Aside from the three expected to go first, DeMya Walker seems to be the last option. Kara Lawson is a free agent, and thus won't get dispersal-drafted. Word is that Conn is looking at picking her up, which is... very interesting. The picks, if each team's GM is in the right mind, should go Brunson, then either Powell or Paris (neither of which the Lynx really need, considering their crowded perimeter and Tina Charles--who they are not passing on, if they have even a shred of sanity left; Conn would be lucky to get Powell, though), and then Walker for Chicago. San Antonio can pick anyone else and not expect any important contributions, unless Steven Key... passes on Walker for Laura Harper. I wouldn't be surprised.

 

My post is way too long as it is, so I'll leave the predictions for another time. My record is now at 44-12, after I predicted two games wrong (Taranto-Gala and Gospic-ESB). Week 8 runs from December 16-17, so I should have those up by Monday hopefully.