EuroLeague Women Week 2 reflections
MUNICH (EuroLeague Women) – It was another high-octane week in EuroLeague Women and our women's basketball specialist Paul Nilsen has been chewing over the main themes.
More questions for Lange and UMMC
Not for the first-time, the women's basketball world is being flooded with questions about UMMC and their head coach Olaf Lange. Already under the microscope because of what many see as a lean return [in terms of EuroLeague Women titles] for the astronomical outlay during his tenure, the 56-43 loss at Perfumerias Avenida was a real low point.
Let's get this straight though. Huge credit to Avenida for the way they basically bullied their opponents and played the kind of hard-nosed defense that ultimately and rather shockingly, saw UMMC crumble like rookies.
As a big fan of all the great players UMMC have on their roster, I take no pleasure in having to say this. But, I can't look away after such a shambolic performance and I really never thought a team with so much talent could ever be held to 43 points. It was wholly embarrassing.
While Emma Meesseman and Alba Torrens did reasonably well, it was otherwise inept. To then blame the referees after was slightly desperate. There was the mitigation of 'The Greatest' in Diana Taurasi probably having an all-career off night of 0-from-11, but other options were available.
What I truly don't understand is that if you need a basket when your team is misfiring, why don't you don't turn to Evgeniia Belyakova? The fact that UMMC aren't trusting their Russian players is frightening and not least with Lange having been handed the Russia national team role. I rate her so highly that she was in my all-East team, which I chose for fun on Twitter.
In my 9 #EuroLeagueWomen seasons @fiba Not seen anything as bad as $10 million + team scoring 43 points. Shocking! Credit to Avenida though pic.twitter.com/H5c9Ci0Q4t
— Paul Nilsen (@basketmedia365) October 18, 2017
Maybe there are things I don't know about behind the scenes. Maybe there are valid excuses I am unaware of. The irony is, UMMC could barely have a better fixture to get back on track than facing the high-flying Yakin Dogu Universitesi next week. Plus, even after this setback, they have the talent to still be crowned champions.
Another giant hitting the offensive wall
If ever you wanted to encapsulate just what a brutal and competitive competition EuroLeague Women actually is, it had to be this week. Not only were UMMC held to under 50 points, but so were 2017 Finalists, Fenerbahce.
They may not have had Aerial Powers, but Schio were rocked by injuries and to only score 49 points and lose by 13 was a worrying sign for the Istanbul powerhouse. How the Fenerbahce fans must be pained by watching Allie Quigley pour in the points for fierce rivals Galatasaray.
Great reaction from Galatasaray
Dealing with the pressure is part of the battle when you are working at Galatasaray and I think that Marina Maljkovic and her players showed great heart in their 82-77 win against ZVVZ USK Prague. They lost in Sopron badly and found themselves behind against Prague, but rallied and dug deep.
Just when you need a big play to help make the game safe........ WOW Gintare Petronyte! First win for @GSBasketbol in 2018 #EuroLeagueWomen pic.twitter.com/GjnL87oMTF
— Paul Nilsen (@basketmedia365) October 18, 2017
The game arguably turned when the excellent Amanda Zahui got into foul trouble for the visitors, but Quigley, Jelena Dubljevic and Gintare Petronyte all stepped up to the plate. It emphatically answered one of the killer questions we posed in our weekly preview.
Team Performance of the Week – With apologies to Pierre Vincent and Famila Schio for an outstanding win against Fenerbahce which was a leading contender, I can't ignore the wonderful display of Perfumerias Avenida against UMMC.
Individual Performance of the Week – I am going to go away from the obvious [a winning player] because I watched Alysha Clark of CCC Polkowice with real interest. While her team were just edged out 73-70 by Sopron in a heartbreaker, I think she was awesome with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists.
Cameo Performance of the Week – Erika De Souza may have only had 8 points for Avenida, but her 11 rebounds were priceless.
Number Crunching
Cristina Ouvina became only the second player to snap up 5 steals so far in the Regular Season and that was important in helping Tango Bourges Basket beating Castors Braine on the road. It was also part of Bourges recording a tournament high 15 team steals.
The assists numbers were turned up with Courtney Vandersloot handing out 10 for Yakin Dogu Universitesi at BLMA, while Francesca Dotta dished up 9 for Famila Schio against Fenerbahce. There was even one game between Dynamo Kursk and ESBVA-LM where opposing guards Anna Cruz and Virginie Bremont both tallied 9.
Dynamo Kursk also racked up a competition-high 52 rebounds in the same game against ESBVA-LM.
Footnotes
The game between CCC Polkowice and Sopron Basket came down to the coaching in the last couple of minutes and Roberto Iniguez edged out his familiar rival in George Dikeoulakos.
Both great play-callers, it is surely the case that this result could have a big impact on the final standings. I also thought it was very interesting that Sopron, a team with some offensive-minded players, managed to win ugly. That is a great reflection on their coach, since winning a EuroLeague Women game when Jelena Milovanovic, Yvonne Turner and Angela Salvadores are a combined 8-of-31 is quite an accomplishment!
Courtney Vandersloot is rapidly becoming one of my favorite players. I think in these last few years, she has hit a new level altogether.
In addition to Galatasaray, I must offer my congratulations to Nadezhda and Tango Bourges for getting their first wins this week! Especially to Emma Cannon for an outstanding EuroLeague Women debut with 24 points for Orenburg.
You can follow Paul via @basketmedia365
FIBA
