Overseas 22-23 Thread

[eebmg]

I did not watch any of the game, but the result seems pretty lackluster considering how weak Gran Canaria's roster is. They will get better with Sylvia Dominguez and Yoyo Nogic, but the Super Cup will be interesting this weekend if they have to defeat Valencia and Girona on back-to-back days.

There seem to be plenty of open import spots left.

Karlie signed with the Townsville Fire in Australia.

Any news on Lou?

 

[ochoopsfan]

Any news on Lou?

Lou is taking off this overseas season. Wedding planning stuff and some other things. I think the wedding is right before the WNBA season starts. Her fiance, Devin Cannady/Princeton, hopefully makes the Orlando Magic roster.

 

[ochoopsfan]

I did not watch any of the game, but the result seems pretty lackluster considering how weak Gran Canaria's roster is. They will get better with Sylvia Dominguez and Yoyo Nogic, but the Super Cup will be interesting this weekend if they have to defeat Valencia and Girona on back-to-back days.

There seem to be plenty of open import spots left.

Karlie signed with the Townsville Fire in Australia.

I watched both the Avenida game and the Valencia v Girona game.

Avenida was way off on 3 point shots(20%)
I dont know why Dominguez didnt play except she will have back to back games this weekend.
Mo and Maite were fine, in moving the ball, and on D
Avenida lost a ton of talent in KLS, Karlie, Hof(who went to Praha but tore her ACL) Copper and Alarie.
Canaria seems to have a better roster than last year, and they still have a very good player in Kone.

Girona won the game but I am not impressed with their overall roster, as of today. I dont like their bigs in Labuckiene and Extarri vs last years Reisingerova(now Avenida) and Eldebrink. Losing Kennedy Burke and Laila Palu also. Added Crystal Bradford and Shay Murphy(didnt know she still played. She graduated USC in 2007). Not sure if they added a player that hasnt shown up.
Valencia looked great in first half, Cox had 15 of her 18 points in first half, Disappointing performances from Gulich and Carrera.
Missing Bec Allen, Alba Torrens who played in Russia last season, and Awa Fam(who played in preseason but now isnt on the roster. Not sure why Valencia parted with Laura Gil, she always gave good minutes and scoring in the past.

I would say the top 3 teams will remain the top 3 teams, but Avenida has Roberto Iniguez as the coach, and he will make the difference, barring injuries.

 

[Argonaut]

Anna Makurat has had a great start so far with her current team, Dinamo Sassari.

In their first game, she put up 14p/11r/7a with just two TOs, and in their second, she finished with 15p/5r/5a/1blk with no TOs.

So happy that she seems to be healthy again and back to the player we saw flashes of her freshman year.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Nice passing play by Avenida(blue)
#4 Rodriguez/FSU to #10 Gulbe/IND to #34 Fasoula/Vandy to #11 Crvendakic/No USA college

 

[awhom111]

Megan Walker had a strong game for Emlak Konut in their first game in the top division in Turkey:

Türkiye Basketbol Federasyonu

www.tbf.org.tr

Probably only of interest to me, but I’ll put it out here to mingle amongst the big dogs…

Five time NAIA all-American and fellow Argo alum, Parker Esary, is making a name for herself in the NBL1, averaging 15p/10r/1a on 50% shooting through her first five games with the Perth Redbacks. I’m like 99.9% certain she’s Providence’s (no, not that Providence) first women’s pro player.

Hoping a bigger club takes notice!

NBL1 – Your Team. Your Rivals. 1 Champion.

NBL1 is a semi-professional basketball league in Australia, consisting of North, East, South, West and Central Conferences with both men's and women's competitions.

perthredbacks.nbl1.com.au

She signed with Visby in Sweden for the traditional season and just had 17 points and 9 rebounds in their first game. The story was definitely on the opposing side though as Aquira DeCosta had 33 points and 11 rebounds in her overseas debut.

I watched both the Avenida game and the Valencia v Girona game.

Avenida was way off on 3 point shots(20%)
I dont know why Dominguez didnt play except she will have back to back games this weekend.
Mo and Maite were fine, in moving the ball, and on D
Avenida lost a ton of talent in KLS, Karlie, Hof(who went to Praha but tore her ACL) Copper and Alarie.
Canaria seems to have a better roster than last year, and they still have a very good player in Kone.

Girona won the game but I am not impressed with their overall roster, as of today. I dont like their bigs in Labuckiene and Extarri vs last years Reisingerova(now Avenida) and Eldebrink. Losing Kennedy Burke and Laila Palu also. Added Crystal Bradford and Shay Murphy(didnt know she still played. She graduated USC in 2007). Not sure if they added a player that hasnt shown up.
Valencia looked great in first half, Cox had 15 of her 18 points in first half, Disappointing performances from Gulich and Carrera.
Missing Bec Allen, Alba Torrens who played in Russia last season, and Awa Fam(who played in preseason but now isnt on the roster. Not sure why Valencia parted with Laura Gil, she always gave good minutes and scoring in the past.

I would say the top 3 teams will remain the top 3 teams, but Avenida has Roberto Iniguez as the coach, and he will make the difference, barring injuries.

Interesting to hear that you think that Gran Canaria has a stronger roster this season after they cut their budget and recruited their pro players late. Kone seems to be able to some things now that she could not last season. Maya Caldwell was not quite her WNBA self with them so replacing her scoring punch with Petra Holesinska could be a net positive. It's too soon to see how replacing one rookie with another will work with Juliunn Redmond instead of Valerie Nesbitt, but not having Blanca Millan will hurt. Replacing Lydia Giomi with Christina Morra might work out in the long term on offense, but Giomi and Kone played well together on defense.

Girona is still waiting on Marianna Tolo. It would have been hard to see them having a stronger roster than last season, especially losing Reisingerova to Avenida, but they will still make it tough on the other two top teams. I definitely did a doubletake on Shay Murphy showing up in the boxscore since she has not played for three seasons, but Laia Palau will not think that anybody is too old after putting on the GM hat.

I think Laura Gil's last season was ended by an Achilles tear and she may have contemplated immediate retirement so she is not really available to anybody right now. They just signed Eleanna Christinaki, but I am not that really fulfills a need. They also missed Leticia Romero in the opener. I am not sure how they will handle the young players all season, but Fam played for their second division affiliate in their opener last weekend. Clara Che, Emily Kalenik, Laia Lamana, and Noa Morro all played or dressed in the openers for both teams.

Iniguez definitely has the coaching edge. Multiple WNBA players have declared him to be the best coach that they have ever had.

 

[ochoopsfan]

This was from the end of a lower level Italian league game(A2 South) I have seen this play from the base line, but rarely from the sidelines, and never from mid court sidelines. Well done!!

 

[UConnCat]

Anna Makurat has had a great start so far with her current team, Dinamo Sassari.

In their first game, she put up 14p/11r/7a with just two TOs, and in their second, she finished with 15p/5r/5a/1blk with no TOs.

So happy that she seems to be healthy again and back to the player we saw flashes of her freshman year.

She looks the fittest/thinnest I've ever seen Anna. Go Anna!

 

[eebmg]

She looks the fittest/thinnest I've ever seen Anna. Go Anna!

Any link to a game clip of her?

 

[ochoopsfan]

I think Laura Gil's last season was ended by an Achilles tear and she may have contemplated immediate retirement so she is not really available to anybody right now. They just signed Eleanna Christinaki, but I am not that really fulfills a need. They also missed Leticia Romero in the opener. I am not sure how they will handle the young players all season, but Fam played for their second division affiliate in their opener last weekend. Clara Che, Emily Kalenik, Laia Lamana and Noa Morro all played or dressed in the openers for both teams.

Iniguez definitely has the coaching edge. Multiple WNBA players have declared him to be the best coach that they have ever had.

Lamana played well in both games I saw the past week.

If Gil recovers I can see her being a mid season add, for an injury replacement, especially on Valencia or Avenida.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Any link to a game clip of her?

Here is a highlight video.
Makurat has a breakaway basket about 1.05 into the video. She also drove thru the lane about 1.38 into the video but landed on the ground holding her ankle. Near the end of the video when her team is gathered I didnt see her.

 

[eebmg]

Here is a highlight video.
Makurat has a breakaway basket about 1.05 into the video. She also drove thru the lane about 1.38 into the video but landed on the ground holding her ankle. Near the end of the video when her team is gathered I didnt see her.

I hope she is okay.

 

[awhom111]

Kiah Stokes and Tiffany Hayes started their seasons on either side of the Turkish matchup that will fight for three trophies:

Türkiye Basketbol Federasyonu

tbf.org.tr

Türkiye Basketbol Federasyonu

tbf.org.tr

Both teams will be much stronger later in the season and be able to use their full rosters in EuroLeague games.

 

[HopJim]

Australia has a pretty strong sports culture and basketball is no exception. People tend to think that women's basketball is popular in Australia, but participation-wise it has historically trailed soccer and netball on the team side, not counting significant participation in individual sports. The advantage that basketball has is that there has been a path to full scholarships at American colleges and better potential for global acclaim and playing professionally around the world. Soccer is competing with basketball for high level professional opportunities now. Netball pays pretty well locally and given that it was created by changing the rules of basketball, there are players who play both competitively. The big threat is that Australian Rules Football has a national women's professional league with teams in the same organizations as men's teams so money is pouring in now. Some percentage of women's basketball players in Australia grew up wanting to play only to pursue basketball because they saw no path beyond local amateur or semipro football and a number of them are switching sports. Some of them are able to play both when the seasons do not overlap and Tessa Lavey took it one step further by playing both at the same time, playing football when there were two games on the same day.

The WNBL is the highest level. Depending on ownership situations at any given time, some teams are owned by the basketball authority of the state that they operate in and government funding is often given as well. A substantial number of players also have jobs or gigs or attend Australian universities along with playing in the league. Besides the paid players, which now has a minimum salary attached, teams are allowed development players who are young and unpaid, which is how the best young players can participate and still maintain NCAA eligibility.

The base to the development system is the local club, which is kind of like how a lot of club sports operate in the United States. Clubs have youth teams and then generally have a senior team without age limits. They also tend to run a lot of local competitions, including rec leagues and they are funded by a mix of player fees and local government grants or business sponsorships. Youth teams compete with each other and players are trying to impress the people who run the state youth teams so they can compete in the national championships for their age. The top young players are given scholarships to the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence as a part of the Australian Institute of Sport, which is known for elite development in many sports. That is one of the reasons that the NBA chose to open an NBA Academy site there and exchange knowledge on youth development in basketball. AIS used to field a team of their scholarship holders in the WNBL, but their boy's and girl's teams have bounced around since then.

For years, Basketball Australia administered the SEABL, which had the senior teams of top clubs across several states while each state association also ran leagues locally with all of these competitions happening during the WNBL/NBL offseason. After that fell apart, a new league called the NBL1 was formed starting mostly in Victoria and Tasmania. Queensland's league joined as well as South Australia and Western Australia and this season the last division covering New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory was formed and a team from the Northern Territory joined the Queensland division so besides division play, there will be a national championship at the end of the season. With a few exceptions, clubs have to field both men's and women's teams. There are still plenty of clubs that are not at this level and play in state or regional competitions. Besides foreign players limits of two players, not counting New Zealanders, there are restricted player rules to prevent any one club from fielding too many WNBL/NBL level players. Pay is not that high at this level, but foreign players make extra money working another job or coaching youth for their clubs. For the good WNBL players, the combined income of both leagues can be enough for them to only focus on basketball. A lot of the Australians who pursue better money in Europe play NBL1 in that offseason as well. Otherwise, clubs have most of their bench players barely being paid or field amateurs heading to college in the United States.

Even the clubs at levels below NBL1 are generally interested in signing American players. A decent number of them end up permanently settling in Australia. Men's basketball was especially popular several decades ago and that is why a lot of Australian players with either one or two American parents are well known names in basketball these days.

Having lived in Australia a few years, your lengthly assessment of women's basketball is spot on. That being said, the country has a population of only about 25M and as you noted, there is tremendous competition between sports for the best athletes. Interesting sports culture but only a footnote in our UConn discussion.

 

[awhom111]

Azura Stevens played her first game with Galatasaray today:

Türkiye Basketbol Federasyonu

tbf.org.tr

Anna Makurat returned from missing a few games due to injury and dished out 9 assists.

 

[awhom111]

KML started her season in her return to La Roche Vendee in France and their first game was against Makurat:

Roche Vendee Basket Club v Dinamo Banco di Sardegna boxscore - EuroCup Women 2022-23 - 26 October - FIBA.basketball

The official website of FIBA, the International Basketball Federation, and the governing body of Basketball. FIBA organises the most famous and prestigious international basketball competitions including the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the FIBA World Championship for Women and the FIBA 3x3 World...

www.fiba.basketball

Here are some other links to see stats for European competitions:

Azura, who had 15 points in the first quarter and sat for the rest of the game since they had a comfortable lead:

Azura STEVENS at the EuroCup Women 2022-23 - FIBA.basketball

The official website of FIBA, the International Basketball Federation, and the governing body of Basketball. FIBA organises the most famous and prestigious international basketball competitions including the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the FIBA World Championship for Women and the FIBA 3x3 World...

www.fiba.basketball

Kiah:

Kiah STOKES at the EuroLeague Women 2022-23 - FIBA.basketball

The official website of EuroLeague Women 2022-23

www.fiba.basketball

Tiffany:

Tiffany HAYES at the EuroLeague Women 2022-23 - FIBA.basketball

The official website of EuroLeague Women 2022-23

www.fiba.basketball

She played against her former team, but Mo was unavailable. The game had more controversy as her new team Cukurova blamed bad food at their hotel in Spain for affecting several players, including keeping Jonquel Jones out of the game. Last season, a team in the Spanish league accused Cukurova of falsifying COVID test results to prevent one of their players from playing in a key game.

 

[ochoopsfan]

but Mo was unavailable.

Mo sprained her ankle in the previous Spanish League regular season game. At least it looked like a sprain. In the beginning game introductions, Mo stood on the side lines with no crutches. In the end of game team high 5's Mo had two crutches. Not sure if I heard a time line for her being out.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Both Mo and now Erica McCall/Stanford are out of todays game with sprained ankles. Not sure how long they are out.

 

[Argonaut]

A fabulous short on Anna!

 

[ochoopsfan]

Not sure if this means Mo is done in Spain. Makes sense why Avenida signed Bridget Carlson recently.

The translation of the tweet quote, from the Avenida coach, is "She is in the United States, it will be very difficult for her to return to Avenida."

 

[ochoopsfan]

For any of you night owls. Liv playing for Melbourne now. She scored the first 5 points for Melbourne

 

[ochoopsfan]

Liv with 17 points late in the 4th

 

[awhom111]

Gabby was finally healthy enough to play her first two games of the season for Lyon:

Fiche de présentation de Gabby Williams | LFB

Profil complet de Gabby Williams: Derniers matchs, statistiques moyennes ...

basketlfb.com

 

[awhom111]

Evelyn Adebayo returns to Torun in Poland:

Orlen Basket Liga Kobiet

Serwis internetowy Orlen Basket Ligi Kobiet

basketligakobiet.pl

 

[CajunHusky]

Not sure if this means Mo is done in Spain. Makes sense why Avenida signed Bridget Carlson recently.

The translation of the tweet quote, from the Avenida coach, is "She is in the United States, it will be very difficult for her to return to Avenida."

Moriah only played a handful of games before being injured - I believe an ankle. She was on crutches for a while and was with the team for several weeks/months before leaving for the States. The injury would appear to be long term. I hope she is ready to go in May.