If It's Saturday This Must be Madrid: The Liga Femenina and Spanish Pro Ball

The women's pro ball season and the women's college season are overwhelmingly determined by their life cycles.  For several months, women's pro basketball seems to shut down like a circus that has struck its tents.  The fairground remains bare all winter and the sport goes into hibernation.  There are some brief mutterings - the Draft lottery, financial crises of one sort or another - but other than that the WNBA is in a deep sleep from the end of the WNBA Finals until Draft Day.  Whereas women's college basketball is always active at one level or another - if there's not the game, there is recruiting for the game.

For female pro players, however, there is no hibernation.  When Season I - the WNBA - is over, the players pick up their luggage and immediately begin Season II.  Season II can take place in any number of countries.  For the best players, it's a trip to Russia, Spain, Poland, France, or Turkey.  For everyone else, it's a visit to some country only glimpsed on postage stamps.  Season II is a hustle through bus trips, coaches and teammates who don't speak your language and homesickness.  But it pays more than Season I, so Season II is a necessity for almost every WNBA player.

My goal for the off-season is to follow one of the European pro leagues.  Following women's basketball overseas can be emotionally rewarding but requires a lot of effort.  Save for a "Where are they now?" page posted on the WNBA website during the off-season, one needs the assistance of Eurobasket.com, RebKell, the websites of various international basketball leagues, the help of Translate Google and sheer emotional fortitude to follow one's favorite players overseas.

The proposition is often hit or miss.  Some countries, like Poland, have websites which are well put-together and can offer most of the information that you'll need, complete with box scores and snippets of news.  Other countries, too numerous to mention, barely even offer box scores.  The assistance from the sports media of various countries can range from helpful to clueless to hopelessly disinterested.  However, there is one benefit - European news about women's basketball is free from the casual misogyny which runs through the body of American sports journalism.

My decision was to follow the Spanish League, known as the Liga Femenina de Baloncesto (Female Basketball League).  This league is the upper league of women's basketball in Spain.  I became familiar with the LFB by following Atlanta Dream players overseas.  Readers might be more interested in what's going on in the Russia Superleague A, where the Candace Parkers and Deanna Nolans of the world cavort.  But for reasons unknown - perhaps in the names of clubs like Perfumerias or in the exotic names of Spanish cities like Valencia or Gran Canaria - the LFB has greater appeal to me.

Therefore, my hope is to follow what's going on in the LFB on a weekly basis, providing a brief summary - very brief - of game results in the LFB.  Of course, this would help if people knew something about the league going forward.  Let's review the LFB results from the previous season, that of 2009-10.

2009-10 LFB Season

Regular Season

The LFB has a 26-game regular season.  With 14 teams in the league, the schedule is very easy to make:  one home game, one away game with each of the other teams.  Making matters easier is that for each team, the games played against teams in the second half of the schedule are played in exactly the same order as the first half - only the locations are switched.

Standings

Ros Casares:  25-1
Perfumerias:  23-3
Rivas Ecopolis:  21-5
Mann Filter:  14-12
Girona:  13-13
Real Celta Vigo:  13-13
Olesa: 12-14
Gran Canaria:  12-14
Joventut Mariana: 12-14
Cadi la Seu:  11-15
Hondarribia-Irun: 8-18
Real Canoe: 8-18
Estudiantes:  6-20
Ibiza:  4-22

Post-season playoffs

Four teams progressed to the post-season, a change from the previous year when eight teams moved to the playoffs.  Each series was best-of-three.

Ros Casares over Mann Filter, two games to none
Perfumerias over Rivas Ecopolis, two games to none

Ros Casares over Perfumerias, two games to none

Relegation and Promotion

The bottom two finishers in a year are demoted to the LFB2, the Spanish second league.  The top finishers there are promoted up to the first league.

Relegated to second division:  Estudiantes, Ibiza
Promoted to first division:  Extrugasa, Navarra

On June 5, 2010 due to financial reasons, Real Canoe decided to move to the LFB2 and exchanged places with Ibiza which had its relegation cancelled.

Euroleague 2009-10

Euroleague is a 24-team tournament.  Teams are split into four groups (A, B, C, D) of six teams each which play each other one time home and away.  The top four finishers of each group advance to a bracket-style playoff.

Perfumerias:  Finished 8-2 in Group B (2nd), lost in quarterfinals
Rivas Ecopolis:  Finished 7-3 in Group C (1st), lost in first round of playoffs
Ros Casares:  Finished 8-2 in Group A (2nd), lost in Euroleague Finals

Euroleague 2010-11 participants: Rivas Ecopolis (Group B), Perfumerias (Group C), Ros Casares (Group D)

Eurocup 2009-10

Ibiza: Finished 4-2 in Group D (3rd), lost in round of 16
Gran Canaria:  Finished 6-0 in Group B (1st), lost in round of 16
Mann Filter:  Finished 3-1 in Group E (1st), lost in round of 16

Eurocup will host 38 teams this year.  Teams are split more or less evenly into 12 groups, with the teams playing each other one time home and away.  The top 32 finishers overall - the top two from each group with eight other teams - advance to a bracket-style playoff.

Eurocup 2010-11 participants: Mann Filter (Group J),  Gran Canaria (Group L)

(* * *)

So what's all of this stuff about "Euroleague" and "Eurocup"?  The best teams in Europe play in two different leagues - they play in their national league and they also play in an international league.  Euroleague is the more glitzy of the two leagues and is more likely to have the best players.  A team playing in Euroleague or Eurocup one year might not play in it the following year - opportunity is a product of both which teams are invited and which teams are able to afford the extra budget.

This means that some teams in the LFB end up playing more games than others in the course of a year - a team like Ros Casares not only has to play its LFB games but also has to squeeze in its Euroleague games on the side.  It's a good thing that most European teams play once a week, and that Euroleague/Eurocup games take place in the middle of the week.  That's a lot of basketball.

Finally, we'll review each of the teams currently in the LFB, with a brief history and a list of players from last year and known players from this year.  One thing about international basketball is that rosters turn over very quickly.  Player contracts appear to only be for two or three years at the very most.

Ros Casares

Current LFB tenure:  Since 1997-98
Best finish:  1st place seven times - league champions for four consecutive years (2006-07 through 2009-10).
Last season:  Delisha Milton-Jones (WNBA), Erika de Souza (WNBA), Belinda Snell (WNBA), Anna Montanana (WNBA), Amaya Valdemoro (WNBA), Jana Vesela (WNBA), Becky Hammon (WNBA)
This season:  Nicki Anosike (WNBA), Nuria Martinez (WNBA), Jana Vesela (WNBA), Edwige Lawson-Wade (WNBA), Amaya Valdemoro (WNBA), Marta Fernandez (WNBA), Katie Douglas (WNBA), Linda Frohlich (WNBA), Taj McWilliams-Franklin (WNBA)

Ros Casares - "El Ros" to its supporters - is always a threat not only to win the league title but to win internationally.  Last year the Valencians lost only one game in league play and made it all the way to the Euroleague Finals (it helped that the Finals were being held on their home court) before falling to Spartak Moscow.  The postseason was a sweep to another championship.

There has been a huge turnover in the roster from the previous year.  Delisha Milton-Jones will be playing in another country.  Erika de Souza, the best player from El Ros, has moved on to Perfumerias.  Anna Montanana won't be back.  Becky Hammon carried water for Ros Casares briefly when CKSA Moscow imploded, but she didn't stay and definitely isn't coming back.

Even coach Isma Cantó has moved on, being replaced with Jordi Fernandez.  In short, it's a brand new team for Ros Casares.  It's certainly stocked with enough current and former WNBA players to count as its own franchise. Taj McWilliams-Frankin will be there at least long enough for Nicky Anosike to recover from knee surgery.  Even if there's no chemistry, the top teams in the LFB routinely whip the bottom ones and Ros Casares has undoubtedly bought themselves into another LFB post-season.

Perfumerias (Halcon Avenida)

Current LFB tenure:  Since 1996-97
Best finish:  1st place (2005-06)
Last season:  Sancho Lyttle (WNBA), Le'coe Willingham (WNBA)
This season:  Sancho Lyttle (WNBA), Erika de Souza (WNBA), Anna Montanana (WNBA), Belinda Snell (WNBA)

For the last six years in the LFB, Perfumerias has had to remain content with eating the dust of Ros Casares.  They were knocked out of Euroleague by - you guessed it - Ros Casarres.  They were swept during the regular LFB season by - Ros Casares.  They lost the LFB post-season championship to - Ros Casares.  The only joy was in dealing Ros Casares their only loss in regular season play, 79-78 in Salamanca.  When you're in second place, the view never changes.

This year, Perfumerias has decided to change the view.  They picked up Erika de Souza in the off-season from Ros Casares, uniting Lyttle and de Souza - teammates on the Atlanta Dream - on the same international club.  Anna Montanana is also a vet of El Ros, and Belinda Snell will be helping out.  The first goal will probably be to defeat Ros Casares in a regular season game.  That game takes place on November 20th.

Rivas Ecopolis

Current LFB tenure:  Since 2007-08
Best finish:  3rd place (2008-09 and 2009-10)
Last season:  Crystal Langhorne (WNBA)
This season:  Courtney Paris (WNBA), DeWanna Bonner (WNBA), Tamara Abalde (Lamar)

The last two seasons have had the same order of finish at the top:  Ros Casares, then Perfumerias, then Rivas.  Rivas wants to change that order but Crystal Langhorne has been offered some of that Russian oligarch money and won't be at Rivas this year.  DeWanna Bonner will be a worthy addition, and Courtney Paris will get a shot at a major European team.  Rivas knows that to get the good players you have to have the money, to get the money you have to win...but you can't win without the good players.  It's a trap many European clubs find themselves in.

Mann Filter Zaragoza

Current LFB tenure:  Since 2000-01
Best finish: 3rd (2002-03)
Last season: Allison Feaster-Strong  (WNBA), Jessica Dickson (South Florida), Tiina Sten (St. Johns)
This season:  Aneika Henry (Florida)

Beyond Rivas, we hit the middle-of-the-pack in the LFB.  Mann Filter, frankly, should have been glad to be hanging around, barely finishing above .500 and getting rolled out of the playoffs by the bulldozer that is Ros Casares.  It was a lot better than their previous finishes from 2006-09 where they finished among the bottom teams of the LFB.

Currently, none of last year's players - Feaster-Strong, Dickson, or Sten - have definitely confirmed for this year so expect to see some WNBA cup-of-coffee players and Division I big school players that never made it big (like Henry) filling up Mann Filter's roster by October.  If they can get a name player, it might be enough to get Zaragoza into the Sweet Sixteen of Eurocup.

Girona

Current LFB tenure:  Since 2009-10
Best finish:  5th (2009-10)
Last season:  Keisha Brown (WNBA), Kaayla Chones (WNBA)           
This season:  Kaayla Chones (WNBA)

In their first year out of the LFB2 - the second league - Uni Girona proved that they could play with the big girls.  They finished at 13-13, not bad for their first big-league season.  Of course, part of that was having players like Brown and Chones, who added scoring (and in Chones's case, added rebounding).  In the LFB, you stay at the top as long as you have the big guns.  Chones is back, but will Brown be back?

Real Celta Vigo

Current LFB tenure:  Since 1996-97
Best finish:  1st (1998-99, 1999-2000)

Real Celta Vigo last year was a combination of Spanish and European players.  There's no big-name talent at Real Celta Vigo and Real Celta didn't participate in Eurocup.  Even so, a 13-13 finish is not bad when you're playing in the LFB.

Olesa

LFB tenure:  Since 2007-08
Best finish:  5th (2008-09)
Last season:  Shona Thorburn (WNBA), Michelle Maslowski (Drexel)
This season:  Chloe Kerr (USC)

Olesa is one of those middle-of-the-pack teams where there's not much of a history in the LFB and where nothing much is expected.  Expect a similar finish for 2009-10.

Gran Canaria

LFB tenure:  Since 1996-97
Best finish: 2nd (1999-2000)
Last season:  Morgan Warburton (Utah), Aneika Henry (Florida)
This season:  Ann Andersson (Minnesota), Nicole Michael (Syracuse)

Gran Canaria is based in the Grand Canary islands off the coast of Spain.  For a American player plying her trade in the LFB it's probably a great place to visit but it barely held up its end last year, finishing 12-14 and eighth place in a 14-team league.  Warburton and Henry played there last year; no telling which college graduate will be taking a working vacation in Gran Canaria this year.

Joventut Mariana

LFB tenure: Since 2008-09
Best finish:  7th (2008-09)
Last season:  Eshaya Murphy (WNBA), Linda Page (NC State)
This season :  Lady Comfort (Temple)

For a team that has only been around for two seasons in the LFB, Joventut has managed to establish itself in the middle of the pack fairly quickly.  The potential loss of Shay Murphy, Joventut's best scorer, will hurt if she is not re-signed.

Cadi la Seu

Current LFB tenure:  Since 2007-08
Best finish:  8th (2001-02)
Last season: Kerri Gardin (WNBA), Brooke Reves (Kansas), Sarah McKay (Indiana), Jazz Covington (Louisville)

Even last year's 11-15 finish for perenially underperforming Cadi la Seu might be hard to match - as far as I can tell, the club hasn't signed anyone for the upcoming 2010-11 season which starts less than a month from now.  Maybe everyone's playing poker, but one should have expected a signing by now.

Hondarribia-Irun

Current LFB tenure:  Since 2003-04
Best finish:  3rd (2005-06)
Last season: Anna DeForge (WNBA). Christina Luz (WNBA)
This season:  Natasha Lacy (WNBA), Aneika Henry (Florida)

Two interesting questions:  1)  Where will Anna DeForge play if she's not on the Hondarribia-Irun roster, and 2) Isn't it nice to see Natasha Lacy land a spot in a major overseas league?  Any finish above last year's 8-18 will be a bonus.

Ibiza

Current LFB tenure:  Since 2002-03
Last year:  Shannon Johnson (WNBA), Nakia Sanford (WNBA), Krystal Vaughn (WNBA), Lori Nero (Louisville), Amanda Jackson (Miami-OH)
This year: Shona Thorburn (WNBA), Kristen Rasmussen (WNBA)

After a 4-22 finish, it seemed that Ibiza would have to get used to being a second division team.  As luck would have it, Real Canoe - the team that finished barely above Ibiza - was having a financial crisis and didn't want to stay in the LFB.  Real Canoe was allowed to go to the LFB2 and Ibiza dodged the bullet of relegation that Estudiantes did not.  Ibiza is already working hard and preparing for the 2010-11 season with what players they have present so don't expect such a poor showing this season.

Extrugasa

Current LFB tenure:  Since 2010-11
Last year:  Christina Quaye (Marquette)
This year:  Mandisa Stevenson (Auburn)

The 2008-09 season for Extrugasa was a disaster, with players leaving the team and the coach getting fired.  The team tried to patch things up by bringing in Iziane Castro Marques to save them from relegation, but she couldn't put the team on her back.  After one year in the LFB2 and a 23-5 record, Extrugasa has fought their way back into the premier league.  But can they stay there?

Navarra

Current LFB tenure:  First year is this season.
Last season:  Linsdey Plumier (UCLA), Charlene Smith (DePaul)

The second of the two promoted teams, Navarra managed to fight its way to the LFB last year after a 26-2 record in the 2B division of LFB2.  The big question is will they keep Plumier and Smith, or will they ditch them for theoretically better talent?

For those of you who hung around to the end, here is the first slate of regular season games:  it all starts on October 10, 2010:

Perfumerias vs. Ibiza
Olesa vs. Gran Canaria
Navarra vs. Real Celta Vigo
Girona vs. Extrugasa
Ros Casares vs. Mann Filter
Cadi la Seu vs. Hondarribia-Irun
Rivas Ecopolis vs. Joventut Mariana