Group A

TEO Vilnius (68-74) TTT Riga

TEO: Montgomery, R. (22 points, 4 rebounds, 10 assists, 4 steals, 39 minutes); Hollingsworth, Q. (10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block, 38 minutes)

UMMC Ekaterinburg (69-54) Galatasaray

UMMC: Pondexter, C. (15 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block, 38 minutes); Nolan, D. (13 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 36 minutes); Jones, A. (7 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 20 minutes); Wauters, A. (6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 19 minutes); Gruda, S. (2 assists, 15 minutes)

Galatasaray: Young, S. (14 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 34 asssts); Perkins, J. (9 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 34 minutes)

Cras Basket Taranto (78-69) Ros Casares

Cras: Brunson, R. (23 points, 12 rebounds, 1 steal, 28 minutes)

Ros: Milton-Jones, D. (18 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 26 minutes); De Souza, E. (13 points, 7 rebounds, 29 minutes); Hammon, R. (13 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 18 minutes); Snell, B. (4 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 25 minutes)

Group B

Gospic Croatia (68-74) MiZo Pecs

Pecs: Ohlde, N. (24 points, 12 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 29 minutes); Quigley, A. (12 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 27 minutes); Mazzante, K. (3 points, 2 assists, 1 steal, 24 minutes)

Wisla Can-Pack (83-72) Beretta-Famila

Wisla: Burse, J. (16 points, 12 rebounds, 1 assist, 34 minutes); Castro-Marquez, I. (14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 28 minutes)

Famila: Coleman, M. (10 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 20 minutes)

Halcon Avenida (94-53) ESB Lille Metropole

Avenida: Lyttle, S. (31 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 29 minutes); Willingham, L. (17 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal; 29 minutes)

Group C

MKB Euroleasing (63-70) Rivas Ecopolis

Rivas: Langhorne, C. (22 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 39 minutes)

Good Angels Kosice (73-70) ZVVZ USK Prague

Kosice: Dupree, C. (30 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals, 3 blocks, 40 minutes); McCoughtry, A. (13 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, 30 minutes)

Prague: Whalen, L. (17 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 35 minutes); Kraayeveld, C. (8 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 37 minutes)

KSSSE Gorzow (49-39) Bourges Basket

Gorzow: Spencer, S. (12 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 32 minutes)

Bourges: Carson, E. (9 points, 4 rebounds, 35 minutes)

Group D

Frisco Skia Brno (83-72) Lotos Gdynia

Brno: McWilliams, T. (22 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 40 minutes); Bonner, D. (6 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, 24 minutes)

Lotos: Beard, A. (15 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 21 minutes); Phillips, E. (12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 39 minutes); Christon, S. (11 points, 3 rebounds 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 33 minutes)

Spartak Moscow Region (81-56) Tarbes GB

Spartak: Fowles, S. (17 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks, 25 minutes); Jekabsone-Zogota, A. (14 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 25 minutes); Taurasi, D. (13 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 24 minutes); McCarville, J. (12 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 4 blocks, 25 minutes); Miller, K. (5 points, 1 rebound, 17 minutes); Lawson-Wade, E. (2 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 23 minutes)

Tarbes: Houston, C. (16 points, 7 rebounds, 29 minutes)

Szeviep (66-70) Fenerbache

Fenerbache: Powell, N. (16 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 35 minutes); Taylor, P. (13 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 31 minutes); Sutton-Brown, T. (11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 24 minutes)

First things first, I'm sorry for the late update. Internet was down for a few days and when I get back online, I find out my Suns lost to the Paul-less Hornets and the Monarchs have just folded/will move to somewhere in the Bay Area. Crazy things happening. The lesson there? I should never be without internet.

Okay, back to the topic at hand.

Notes:

- The young TEO Lynx duo was unable to lead their club to a win, again. Montgomery played a solid game, though her 10 assists were offset by 6 turnovers. Hollingsworth had a rough night, after a string of excellent games. That's just her coming back to earth, I believe.

- After losing to Ros, UMMC is back and maybe a bit pissed. Pondexter shot 2-3 from three and a total of 6-8 from the field. Bibrzycka had a double-double of 10-11 and 4 assists in 34 minutes. Won't someone in the W sign this woman again? (If I remember right, she played for SASS once upon a time.) Perkins was unable to get anything going (1-8 from three, 4-16 total), and neither could Young (1-4 from three, 4-12 total, 5-8 from the line).

- Unfortunately for Ros, after beating UMMC, they lose to Taranto. Brunson seems to be doing pretty well overseas, while her home club in Sacramento has been unceremoniously dumped over the Kings. (Tyreke Evans is a stud, okay, but NBA teams lose a ton more money than W teams.) Surprisingly for Ros, Hammon had zero assists, contributing to a paltry 4 assists for the entire team. De Souza was in foul trouble, and wasn't able to contribute as much.

- Finally, finally, the Mercury Pecs gets a win. Led by the astonishingly fantastic play of Nicole Ohlde. 24-12 in 29 minutes? Plus a three-pointer which she MADE, okay? Seriously. Euroleague is weird. Oh, look, Mazzante was a non-factor again. (Fun fact: Gospic's logo is a rabbit that looks a lot like some Bugs Bunny mutation. I only noticed now.)

- Wisla Can-Pack remains one of three undefeated teams, sitting happily atop the Group B rankings with steady help from Janel Burse, who by the way leads the EL in rebounding at 12.5 per game. Castro-Marquez, meanwhile, is searching for her three-point shot (1-6 from beyond the arc). Marta Fernandez, who was with the LA Sparks during the '08 season (I think), had an eye-opening line of 17 points, 3 rebounds, 13 assists and 6 steals (plus a blocked shot, for good measure). Coleman is still getting rookie transition minutes for Famila (20 in this game), and isn't quite able to capitalize on that still.

- Lyttle decided to explode this week, posting her 31-11 double-double in just 29 minutes of action. She also shot 12-17 from the floor and was a perfect 7-7 from the line. Willingham still a dependable veteran, with 17-11 in also 29 minutes. Avenida and Famila are tied at 3-1 behind Wisla in Group B.

- Rivas Ecopolis, Euroleague rookies this year, are the second undefeated team atop Group C, with help from Crystal Langhorne. Langhorne finished the game with 4 fouls, managing to play 39 minutes and falling one rebound short of a double-double. MKB is sorely missing Milovanovic, having dropped two straight since her injury. (Fun fact: On the MKB roster, #10 is a Horti D. #11 is a Honti, K. And #12 is Amber Holt. Horti, Honti and Holt. Huh.)

- Kosice finally gets a win (this is the best wrong prediction ever), behind Dupree's monster double-double of 30-13. Plus 2 steals and 3 blocks and a perfect 12-12 from the line. McCoughtry shot poorly (4-14 from the floor), registered 3 fouls and 5 turnovers, though her positive stats were not bad. Prague continues the trend of a loss whenever Whalen does not have a good assist night (just 2 in this game).

- I give Bourges the win, and they promptly lose to Gorzow. Give me a freaking break. Essence Carson 3-12 from the floor with 6 turnovers! In comparison, Sidney Spencer hit 5-12 (2-4 from three) en route to 12 points. This has got to be the lowest-scoring game in the history of the league.

- Brno wins on the back of Taj McWilliams (apparently she dropped the '-Franklin' in '09) who, at the very young age of 39, manages to put everyone to shame in playing 40 full minutes like someone kid out of college, without the three daughters. Seriously. Bonner... had a bad game. Christon still can't get her shot falling, Phillips still plays like a tank, and when Alana Beard only takes eight shots (making 4-8 for 15 points), there might be something wrong here.

- Spartak, the third undefeated team (who else did you think it was?), should be bumped up to Group A so we can get some crazy competition going. McCarville is filling in quite well for the absent Lauren Jackson, and it's nice to see Taurasi get only 24 minutes and not lead the team in scoring for once. I watched their game against Brno and it seems like whenever Taurasi gets a rest, the offense sputters. Give the ball to Fowles, damnit, and get out of the way. (Conn fans, lighten up. AJZ is solid, at least scoring-wise.) Charde Houston isn't doing so bad, but Tarbes just doesn't have enough to give her help.

- With Sutton-Brown back in the lineup (though she only played 24 minutes), Fenerbache was able to hold on to its lead after Szeviep tried to rally in the fourth. At one time, Fener's lead was a comfortable 15 points. Powell's 16 led Fener, though their 22 turnovers nearly lost them the game. Taylor had a rough shooting night.

After Week 4 of Euroleague competition, my prediction record is now 23-9. Best wrong prediction of the week goes to Kosice and their first win. MiZo's first win gets an honorable mention. Obviously, Ros losing to Cras is the surprise of the week. Of the widely-considered top three teams in the league (Ros, UMMC and Spartak), only Spartak is still undefeated, though the juggernaut from Moscow is still not at full strength, and has only played 3 games to the rest's 4. Sue Bird should arrive in Russia around the first week of December, and Lauren Jackson should follow after that. Candace Parker will join UMMC in January 2010, reports say.

Upcoming Games:

(November 25)

Good Angels Kosice - KSSSE Gorzow

Should be Kosice's second win. If Gorzow beats them, I seriously don't know what to think. Dupree, by the way, leads the league in minutes per game at a backbreaking average of 38.3. Kosice over Gorzow.

ZVVZ USK Prague - MKB Euroleasing

Whalen will have a 5+ assist game, Kraayeveld will not miss all her three-point attempts, and Prague will win over listless MKB. Hurry back, Milovanovic. Prague over MKB.

Szeviep - Frisco Sika Brno

Bonner should bounce back from her performance in the last game, and hopefully McWilliams will not play the full 40 minutes. Szeviep should get a win eventually, but I doubt it's against Brno. Home court could tilt this in their favor, though. Brno over Szeviep.

TEO Vilnus - Cras Basket Taranto

When will TEO get its first win? This game, I think. Taranto somehow managed to upset Ros Casares. It would be really nice if TEO wins this one. Rebekkah Brunson may explode, but look to Hollingsworth for a bounce-back game. I like rooting for the underdogs sometimes, you know. TEO over Taranto.

Wisla Can-Pack - Gospic Croatia

I think Wisla can go undefeated in Group B, though Avenida and Famila are hot on its heels. Gospic is currently winless and just lost to Pecs (thereby giving Pecs its first win). Wilsa over Gospic.

TTT Riga - UMMC Ekaterinburg

...okay, UMMC. Take care of business and don't embarass me. UMMC over Riga.

Galatasaray - Ros Casares

Ros should be pissed. I hope Gala wins. Heh (yes, I am mean). No way Becky Hammon has another zero-assist game, unless that's all part of the plan. Ros over Gala.

ESB Lille Metropole - MiZo Pecs

One win apiece. C'mon, Mercury Pecs. Pecs over ESB.

Tarbes GB - Fenerbache

Fener should, by all accounts, win this game. But this team seems very bipolar somehow. On the other hand, Fener has Penny Taylor and, though they're on the road, that should be enough. Fener over Tarbes.

(November 26)

Lotos Gdynia - Spartak Moscow Region

Hi, Spartak. Win the damn game before Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson get here. Spartak over Lotos.

Rivas Ecopolis - Bourges Basket

Bourges hates me. I always predict the games wrong. Still, Rivas is undefeated, and Crystal Langhorne is steady as they come. Essence Carson should learn a thing or two from her. Rivas over Bourges.

Beretta-Famila - Halcon Avenida

Winner of this becomes the sole owner of second place behind Wisla, assuming Wisla wins its next game. I like Avenida's chances here. Coleman has yet to impress, while Willingham and Lyttle continue to play well. Avenida over Famila.

View Original Post at swishappeal.com

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