A to Z of EuroCup Women 2016
NEWCASTLE (Paul Nilsen's Women's Basketball Worldwide) - The latest season of EuroCup Women tips off on Wednesday and so here's an A to Z guide of this year's competition.
A is for Azores, the remote Atlantic island location of Sportiva Azores Airlines, now the most westerly club ever to be compete in a European women's club competition.
B is for Blizzards, namely the Orange Blizzards of Amsterdam. It's a project to encourage the best young players from Netherlands to flourish under the watchful eye of senior head coach Remy De Wit and reminiscent of what Lotto Young Cats did in recent years in Belgium.
C is for Canada, who provide a number of FIBA Americas Women's Championship winners - including Lizanne Murphy (UFAB49), Folade Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe (TSV 1880 Wasserburg), Miranda Ayim (Basket Landes), Natalie Achonwa (Dike Napoli), Katherine Plouffe and Shona Thorburn (Nantes Reze).
AMAZING 1st summer in Indy! always grateful for the opportunities that basketball has given me. time for the next challenge! #byGodsgrace
— Natalie Achonwa (@NatAchon) October 17, 2015
D is for despair and the 2013 Final which was the most gut-wrenching losses imaginable as Kayseri Kaski Spor snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against WBC Dynamo Moscow in front of a devastated 11,000 home fans. Every EuroCup Women campaign seems to now stir memories of that infamous encounter!
E is for EuroBasket Women 2015 champions Serbia who have numerous players in the competition, including Sasa Cado (Istanbul Universitesi) Tamara Radocaj (Uni Gyor) and Jelena Milovanovic (Orduspor).
F is for first-timers and there are 10 clubs taking a historical initial footstep!
G is for great memories and a special U16 Women's European Championship in 2009 which made me fall truly in love with the women's game. Host club Dike Napoli spoke about big dreams of one day playing in Europe when I was there - and here they now are. Wonderful!
H is for history and the fact that the EuroCup Women title has only ever been successfully defended once.
I is for idea and mine is that the clubs explore a Final Four format - much like EuroLeague Women at a host club. The competition needs a more compelling finale, as well as enhanced promotion and exposure.
J is for just check the tip-off times carefully! For there is an eight hour difference in time zones in this tournament!
K is for Krasnoyarsk who are the most easterly team competing and if they met Azores Sportiva in the knockout phase, it would be a 22,000 kilometre round trip for each club for the road game!
L is for longevity and that is shown by Czech national team veteran guard Veronika Bortelova who will play with Nymburk aged 37 years old and former EuroBasket Women Finalist, Gulsah Akkaya of Orduspor who is 38-years-old.
M is for maiden victory, something Dunav 8806 Ruse of Bulgaria continue to search for as they are currently 0 of 10 after two seasons.
N is for no predictions from me as it's traditionally the most difficult of any women's event to determine a likely winner!
O is for Olympians and there are a few in this competition - including the likes of Luca Ivankovic, Iva Sliskovic, Saziye Ivegin Uner, Begum Dalgalar, Nadezhda Grishaeva, Lenka Bartakova, Chantelle Handy and most of the Canadian contingent mentioned earlier.
P is for packed schedule and with 16 games every week, there won't be any shortage of talking points!
Q is for Queralt Casas, one of the most interesting players in the competition. The former EuroBasket Women champion is looking to force her way back into the Spain national team after moving to Nantes Reze from Galatasaray.
Season 15/16 🏀💪 #deferlantesnrb pic.twitter.com/xPKJp8ATlp
— Queralt Casas (@Queralt_casas) October 15, 2015
R is for Rio and many players will be heading there from Serbia and Canada - plus more via the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
S is for Sparta&K M.R. Vidnoje who are one of two former winners competing in this year’s competition, having won the tournament in 2006.
T is for 30 two teams ready to play in eight groups of four.
U is for underdogs and I am looking forward to seeing who springs a big surprise this year - like Castors Braine last season!
V is for Villeneuve d'Ascq the 2015 champions who won't get to defend their title as they have since made the leap up into EuroLeague Women.
W is for WBC Dynamo Moscow, the only three-time winner of the competition.
X is for 'X-factor' and that is very much coming from Russia! They have provided 6 of the 13 winners, with no other country winning it more than twice (Italy and France).
Y is for young guns and so many rising stars of the global game. The tournament is littered with teenage sensations - including the likes of Maria Vadeeva of Russia. So if you love tracking emerging players, you must follow this competition!
Z is for Zahui and Amanda Zahui who made such a big splash when selected with the second draft pick in the WNBA Draft this year. After skipping EuroBasket Women to realise her WNBA dream, she has signed up with Adana Aski and may be back in Sweden national team colours for next month's EuroBasket Women 2017 qualifiers.
Paul Nilsen
FIBA
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