Alison Bales Makes the AJC

Pierce W. Huff writes an article about Alison Bales and the turnaround of her career at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

From the article:

Bales re-joined the Dream this season and has made an instant impact. She had five rebounds and gave the team some needed energy off the bench in Saturday’s season opener at the San Antonio Silver Stars. She scored eight points and had four rebounds in Sunday’s home opener against the Indiana Fever.

Dream coach/general manager Marynell Meadors said this Alison Bales is completely different than the Alison Bales who played on the team during its inaugural season three years ago.

“I think two years ago she wasn’t real sure if basketball was in her future, and some things happen for a reason,” Meadors said. “I think when she got cut in Phoenix and didn’t have basketball, probably for the first time in her life, she decided she really missed it.”

Definitely give it a read.

2/2010 – Dream 66, Fever 62: A Tall Glass of Water

Okay, time to look back on that second game and start thinking about Friday.

Quarter-by-quarter box score: The by-quarter totals tell the whole story: tight first half, mini-surge by the Fever in the third quarter, complete and total collapse in the fourth.

Effective field goal percentage: Fever 42.8 percent, Dream 35.3 percent. In most cases, that would give the game to the Fever right there. Our shooting was horrible.

Turnovers: Dream 16, Fever 19. The Dream creep a little closer, but it isn't much of an advantage.

Offensive rebound percentage: Dream 41.8 percent, Fever 32.1 percent. You know it's a bad night when Armintie Price has more offensive rebounds (3) than any other single member of the Fever (2).

Free throw visits: Dream 20, Fever 13. The Dream only made 65 percent of those shots. The Fever made 61 percent. These last two games have showcased some horrible free throw shooting.

Now, let's look at the members of the Indiana Fever:

Ebony Hoffman: 17 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals. Great game for Hoffman.
Tamika Catchings: 18 points, 4 assits, 3 steals. The only other member of the Fever to score in double-digits.
Tammy Sutton-Brown: 8 points and 9 rebounds.
Katie Douglas: 6 assists.
Bench Players: Contributed only 10 of Indiana's 62 points.


Alison Bales: I'll bet you're surprised to see Alison Bales up this high - and I'm not writing about her height, either. Bales actually played 25 minutes. So did McCoughtry. Only de Souza and Lyttle played more minutes, with 26 and 28 respectively.

Bales scored eight points going 2-for-2 from the 3-point line. But she was impressive across the board. Her raw plus/minus of +13 led all players. She had four rebounds and three steals, and an amazing six blocked shots. If Bales keeps playing like this, she'll play herself into a rotation. Bales, in my opinion, was the Dreamer of the Game.

Erika de Souza: This was a game ruled by height. De Souza used that height to her advantage to pick up a second-straight double-double: 14 points and 11 rebounds. If it weren't for her four personal fouls and six turnovers, she'd be the Dreamer of the Game instead of Bales. De Souza is just simply fantastic.

Kelly Miller: It looks like Kelly Miller woke up after the Still Snoozin' designation from the previous game. She had six assists, a +11 raw plus/minus and had four steals. Her 1-for-6 field goal shooting puts her performance in the category of good, but not great.

Armintie Price: Price is the player that got the most attention, appearing back in double-digits for the first time in a long time with 14 points, and could have had 20 if the clock/the referees had looked the other way. 5-for-14 shooting, however, isn't that great. A rarity: Price hit 4 out of 5 free throws (her lifetime completion is 53 percent.)

Brittainey Raven: We now drop back into mediocrity, which is to be expected for a game where the team shooting percentage was 33 percent. Raven was part of that, going 0-for-4 for the night, but she had five rebounds and really hustled.

Angel McCoughtry: 11 points and 7 rebounds, but it was a mighty ugly way of getting them. 4-for-13 shooting, four personal fouls, three turnovers. However, like Raven above, it certainly can't be attributed to a lack of effort - McCoughtry was playing with a busted lip for part of the game.

Sancho Lyttle: Lyttle's five points was an atypical outing for the Spanish League MVP. She went 2-for-9 from the line and missed two free throws.

Shalee Lehning: Before Lehning fans string me up, there wasn't much difference between Lehning's game and the games of McCoughtry and Lyttle, save in baskets. With two points and 1-for-3 shooting, Lehning is now averaging 1.0 ppg in the regular season. She had two assists and only played 15 minutes.

Iziane Castro Marques: What a difference a day makes! Castro Marques went from Dream to Dud in just 24 hours. She shot 2-for-9, including 0-for-5 from the 3-point line. Her -9 in raw plus/minus was the worst of the game, and Iziane only played 18 minutes.

I'm sorry, Iziane - but you're Still Snoozin'. Maybe the game the night before wore you out. Get your beauty rest.

Alison Bales Back With the Dream

On the Atlanta Dream Facebook Page, one can see members of the Atlanta Dream - or at least those members invited to training camp - at work at the Brookhaven Boys and Girls Cub and at the NFL/Youth Education Town center. Among those who have pictures in the albumb are Erica White, Tatum Brown, Brittainey Raven....

...and Alison Bales??

Yep, the photographic evidence is clear - Bales is back with the team, or at least, during the training camp. The other Dream player in the picture is third-round draft choice Brittainey Raven.

So where has Alison Bales been all this time? This newspaper article from the Dayton Daily News tells the story. During last season, Bales ended up in the Phoenix Mercury training camp but was waived on June 3, 2009. In the off-season - when most players travel to Europe - Bales heard nothing.

“Overseas, a lot of times, is just kind of inconsistent,” she said. “You never know where you’re gonna end up: ‘Oh, you’re gonna go to Latvia.’ Then two days later it’s: ‘No, Latvia is a no-go, but there’s a team in Israel. ... And another team in Turkey is interested, but your old team there is being difficult.’ ... Then it’s: ‘Oh, there’s a team in Siberia that wants you.’ ... I’ve heard all that this year.”

In the mean time, Bales figured that she had better begin planning for a career outside of basketball:

“I’m not ready to be done yet with basketball, but I also figured I better have a backup plan for all this or I’d just end up so frustrated,” she admitted. She had graduated from Duke with a double major — biology and cultural anthropology — so now she began taking pre-med classes at [Wright State University].

In the meantime, she has decided to cast an eye towards medical school, but still hoped that a team would pick her up:

This spring, it seems likely she’ll end up back in a WNBA camp, though jobs are more scarce than ever with 12 teams and now just 11 players per roster. To prepare herself, she’s spent several months going through intensive, thrice-weekly workouts with trainer Andrew Winkler of Fast-Twitch Performance Enhancement in Centerville.

And now, it looks as if Bales has been given a chance to catch on with the Dream. If you're interested in Alison Bales, I'd read the article - it's a clear, consice update as to what Bales has been doing, complete with a peek at some of the anxieties of a professional athlete with her feet in two different worlds.

“Seeing my friends starting to get married and having babies,” she said with a smile and shrug, “and me still holding onto the basketball dream, it kind of made me feel like I haven’t quite grown up yet.”

Alison Bales Waived from the Mercury

Not a good day for Dream players, either past or present. The Phoenix Mercury have just waived Alison Bales, along with Sha Brooks and Laurie Koehn.

Some fans think that Ivory might land in Phoenix. I tell you, these next two days are going to be interesting. Final rosters are due on Friday.

Alison Bales Traded to Mercury for Second Round Pick in Draft

What I expected has come to pass. Alison Bales is no longer a member of the Atlanta Dream. That probably leaves Chantelle Anderson and Katie Mattera to share the role of center. In exchange, the Dream get Phoenix's second round pick. (I'll post the new draft order later.)

I think it was a mistake. Bales was one of the best things that happened to the Dream. Oh well, our loss is Phoenix's gain. Good luck Alison, and thank you for your play and for the memories.

TBBL 11/2008 - Galatasaray 64, Samsun 61

With the second round of play beginning in Turkey, Samsun (8-3) hoped to go on the road and deliver a defeat to traditional Turkish basketball power Galatasaray (7-3) on its own home court. It was a great game, but home field advantage proved decisive as Galatasaray held on for a three-point victory, 64-61. Samsun will now have to share second place with Beşiktaş and possibly Mersin, if Mersin beats Ceyhan today.

Galatasaray took a 9-2 lead to start the game but Adeola Olanewaju and Erlana Larkins turned on the defense and Samsun fought back to within two points at the end of the first, 21-19. Samsun managed to lead by one - 26-25 - at one point in the second quarter, but Galatasaray answered with a 6-0 run. Samsun managed another 31-31 tie but Galatasaray took a 38-34 lead into halftime.

In the third quarter, Galatasaray came out hot and managed to take a 12-point lead at one time, 48-36 - Samsun would be held to just eight points in the third quarter. Leading 54-44 in the fourth quarter, Samsun went on a 7-0 run to close within three, 54-51. Julia McBride would managed to score the basket that brought Samsun to a 56-56 tie, and Nihan Ahaz would score the next bucket to put Samsun up 58-56 late in the fourth quarter. A basket by Seimone Augustus tied the score at 58-58 and going down to the final minute Yasemin Horosan of Galatasaray scored again to give Galatasaray a 60-58 lead, and Samsun would never catch up.

Samsun beat Galatasaray in the shooting war 43 percent to 37 percent, but Galatasaray took more 3-point attempts. Galatasaray would beat Samsun on the offensive glass with 12 offensive rebounds to Samsun's seven. Furthermore, Samsun would send Galatasaray to the free throw line 17 times - Galatasary, however, would only hit 11 of those free throws, and Samsun would shoot 8-for-9 at the free throw line.

Turnovers killed Samsun. They turned the ball over 22 times, compared to Galatasaray's 14 times.

Sophia Young (San Antonio Silver Spurs) led all performers for Galatasaray with 16 points and seven rebounds. Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx) would score 16 points as well, but only two rebounds. The only other Galatasaray player in double figures was Işil Aben with 12 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals. Kiesha Brown (Los Angeles Sparks) would score only two points in eight minutes of play, but earn three rebounds.

Nihan Anaz would take the lead for Samsun, scoring 16 poitns on 7-of-11 shooting but turning the ball over five times. Julie McBride would score 14 points and Erlana Larkins would score eight points and 11 rebounds, but they couldn't keep their hands on the ball either - McBride turned the ball over five times and Larkins turned the ball over four times.

Alison Bales would score only one point in 14 minutes of play. Good news: she didn't turn the ball over. Bad news: her name was misspelled as "Alison Babes" in the boxscore.

TBBL 10/2008 - Samsun 93, Panküp 66

Erlana Larkins starts a kickline team in Samsun.

Samsun (8-2) probably didn't think that they would be where they are this year in the TBBL. This was their first year coming into the league, and with league powers Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray dominating the league, they probably hoped they'd make a good effort and stay out of relegation. Instead, they find themselves in second place at the halfway point of the season with a decisive 93-66 win against visiting Panküp (5-5)

The standard box score won't give you a hint of how strange and exiting this game was for Samsun. Samsun took a 21-13 lead at the end of the first quarter and managed to hold that lead into halftime, leading 39-31. However, Panküp staged a third quarter rally, and managed to take the lead by one point, 48-47 over Samsun.

The lead seesawed back and forth, with Samsun up 53-51 after a Panküp field goal. Samsun then proceeded to go on a 14-0 run for the rest of the quarter to lead 67-51 after thirty minutes.

In the fourth quarter, Samsun continued its run, scoring the first six fourth quarter points to extend the run to 20-0 and take a 73-51 lead. Panküp would not recover and Samsun would cruise to an easy victory.

In field goal percentage, Samsun led 52 percent to 34 percent. Most of Samsun's field goal percentage probably came from that 20-0 run. Panküp attempted 25 3-point shots, almost as many shots from outside the 3-point arc as inside the arc. Unfortunately, inside the arc Panküp was only shooting 28 percent.

Adeola Olanrewaju of Samsun had a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Julie McBride had the second double-double for Samsun, but in assists, with 14 points and 10 assists. Erlana Larkins would have the third and most overwhleming of the double-doubles with 23 points and 11 rebounds (and also four steals). With all that firepower on hand, Alison Bales would only play 17 minutes and score just five points.

For Panküp, Nazli Guler led with 17 points and Laurie Koehn (a guard for the Washington Mystics) scored 15 points, the only two double digit scorers for Panküp. La Nedra Brown, who played for both Duke and Seton Hall, scored five points and five rebounds in 34 minutes of play.

Camille Little (Seattle Storm) and Lisa Willis (New York Liberty) didn't play at all. I wonder what's going on there. Perhaps they're late getting back to Turkey. They certainly could have helped Panküp.

TBBL 9/20098 - Samsun 81, Mersin 77

Ivory Latta might not be in Turkey anymore, but Alison Bales still is. Bales, who plays for Samsun (7-2) didn't contribute much to the game against Mersin (7-3), but a stellar performance by Erlana Larkins made up for it as Samsun won on the road 81-77.

According to a writeup that becomes word salad when inserted into a "free online translator" (!), Mersin took an 11-5 lead to start the game but Samsun fought back to tie the score after one quarter and begin to slowly pull away. After three quarters the lead was nine points, with Samsun ahead 64-55. Mersin stated a comeback with the help of Mistie Williams and at one point closed the gap to within two points, 69-67 Samsun. Samsun, however, was just too much for the home team and maintained their lead for the rest of the game.

In terms of shooting percentage, Samsun had a slight 43 to 39 percent advantage, but Mersin actually scored more goals. Furthermore, Mersin only committed 11 turnovers. Unfortunately for Mersin, they would send Samsun to the free throw line 29 times, and Samsun hit 26 of their shots. Three out of ten Samsun points were scored at the free throw line.

Allie Quigley, a graduate of DePaul University, scored 18 points and four fouls. Makbule Amachree - who might be Maktabene Amachree, a former WNBA player - scored 15 points and eight rebounds. Mistie Williams (Houston Comets) scored 17 points. Lindsey Harding (Minnesota Lynx) would score eight points, but turn the ball over six times. Olympia Scott (Phoenix Mercury) scored eight points but fouled out.

For Samsun, Erlana Larkins was the player of the day scored 29 points and 13 rebounds, a double-double augmented with four assists. Julie McBride scored 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Alison Bales would only score five points, but had eight rebounds.

TBBL 8/2008 - Samsun 70, Botaş 69

L to R: Erlana Larkins, Alison Bales and Marcedes Walker meet up.

In the last minute of a game, there are certain things you can do and things you cannot do. For Samsun (6-2), the thing they had to do was to come from behind and find a way to win on their home court. For Botaş (2-7), the thing you cannot do is to make an egregious mistake that can cost you the game. It seems that the latter was the case as Botaş lost 70-69 on the road.

Botaş certainly got off to a great start - they led 16-14 after one quarter and took a 38-29 lead into halftime. Samsun managed to close the gap to 54-50 at the end of three quarters.

Samsun manged to tie the game at 56-56 early in the fourth quarter but couldn't seal the deal. Botaş led 65-62 with three minutes left. Nihan Anaz of Samsun closed her team to one point, 67-66, with 1:44 minutes left and both teams exchanged baskets. Botaş took a 69-68 lead into the final minute.

What happens next depends on the vagaries of a cheap online Turkish-English translator. The translation implies that Erlana Larkins picked up a couple of free throws on some sort of Botaş technical foul. Whether the foul was technical or not, Larkins sank the buckets that gave Samsun the lead again at 70-69 - a lead they kept until the final buzzer.

Samsun outshot Botaş 42 percent to 34 percent, but the stat is misleading - Botaş took many more shots, taking thirty-one 3-point shots...and only hitting six of them. Botaş actually outrebounded Samsun on the offensive boards, 17 to 12. Samsun, however, got sent to the free throw line more often, sinking the final two free throws that won them the game.

Erlana Larkins had a big double double - 19 points and 16 rebounds - in addition to sinking the winning points. Three other players scored in double figures, along with Julie McBride with 12 points. As for Alison Bales, she scored zero points in 15 minutes. She had six rebounds, but also four turnovers.

Botaş was absolutely driven by its foreign players, with Shannon Bobbitt leading the way with 30 points, 11 rebounds...and eight turnovers. Bobbitt is a guard for the Los Angeles Sparks. Marcedes Walker, a rookie center who played with the now-defunct Comets last year, scored 21 points and 16 rebounds. Angela Tisdale, a Baylor guard drafted by the Chicago Sky but who was waived in May, scored nine points.

TBBL 6/2008 - Samsun 80, Çankaya Üniversitesi 47

Dalila Esse tries to prove that she is taller than Alison Bales, with mixed results.

Some teams in European play are more interested in a) providing a local presence than winning games, and b) developing national talent. Perhaps the Çankaya Üniversitesi (1-6) team is in both businesses, because they provided little challenge to Samsun, as Samsun won 80-47 at home.

Çankaya Üniversitesi managed to keep up with an 11-11 score in the first quarter, but Erlana Larkins and Alison Bales scored six points in tandem to end the first quarter 17-11. In the second quarter, Samsun walloped Çankaya Üniversitesi 25-7 to take a 42-18 lead. Samsun extended the lead by another eight points in the third quarter and Çankaya Üniversitesi was never back in the game.

One stat explains the victory - not only did Samsun 52 percent compared to Çankaya Üniversitesi's 47 percent, but Samsun was 7-for-15 from 3-point range. The University ladies were outrebounded 46 to 19. Samsun had 24 turnovers and shot 58 percent from the free throw line, but when you're hitting one of every two shots you make and can rebound at will, you don't have to worry about your ball handling skills.

Ilkay Masa was the leader for Samsun with 16 points, but several other players had great games. Alison Bales had 14 points and eight rebounds, and Erlana Larkins had six points and 15 rebounds. Adeolo Olanrewaju had six points and eight rebounds, and Julie McBride contributed nine points in 24 minutes of play.

Only one player scored in double figures for Çankaya Üniversitesi - Dalila Esse scored 16 points. Pinar Turan had five points, five steals...and five turnovers. Lindsay Bowen, who last played for the New York Liberty in 2007, scored six points in 26 minutes of play.

The TBBL site has some pics up, most of which focus on Bales and Larkins.

TBBL 5/2008: Fenerbahçe 58, Samsun 56

The second game between a Turkish team with an Atlanta Dream player on the team and an undefeated team took place today. It looked like Fenerbahçe (6-0) was going to cruise to its sixth victory until a disastrous third quarter forced both teams to fight it out at the end, with Fenerbahçe winning by one bucket over Samsun, 58-56.

The quarter by quarter score displays a Fenerbahçe team in firm control of the first half, leading 34-23 going into the haltime break. Fortunately for Samsun, Fenerbahçe would only score five points in the third quarter and Samsun would close to within two points, 39-37. The result would be that Fenerbahçe would have to fight Samsun neck and neck, managing to finish one basket ahead at the end.

Fenerbahçe won the shooting battle, 47 percent to 38 percent. Samsun stayed in the fight by destroying their opposition on the offensive boards, picking up 19 offensive rebounds to seven offensive rebounds for Fenerbahçe. Fenerbahçe also had four more turnovers than Samsun, giving Samsun extra opportunity to keep pace with Fenerbahçe.

For Fenerbahçe, Esmeral Tunçluer scored 21 points, four rebounds and five assists. Nevriye Yilmaz scored 15 points for Fenerbahçe.

They were the only players on Fenerbahçe to score in double digits. Matee Ajavon of the Houston Comets scored six points...but had twelve turnovers. Tammy Sutton-Brown - a center for the Indiana Fever - scored six points, and Kristen Newlin, a graduate of Stanford scored two points.

Nesibe Uzun led Samsun with 19 points. Erlana Larkins scored a double-double for Samsun with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Alison Bales scored seven points, but on 3 for 9 shooting. However, she picked up seven rebounds. Julie McBride scored three points and four assists.

After a lot of hitches with the TBBL website, it looks like pictures are finally showing up. Both Turkish game leagues should have pictures soon.

TBBL 4/2008 - Samsun 62, Tarsus 51

With the bye weeks in an 11-team league, not every team in the Turkish league has played the same number of games. Ceyhan, Ivory Latta's team, takes the week off and Latta gets to rest her ankle. Samsun (3-1) has already had its bye week and gets to play Tarsus (2-3), which had not. Tarsus was formerly #2 in the standings but they now fall to below .500 with a 62-51 loss to Samsun.

With the cheap online Turkish-English translation tools breaking down - Google translates multiple languages, but not Turkish - I'm left to glean any meaning from the boxscore.

The first quarter was definitely either an defensive struggle or an offensive trainwreck. At the end of 10 minutes, Samsun only had 10 points. Tarsus only had five points. The second quarter wasn't much better and Samsun took a 28-17 lead into halftime. Both teams played even basketball in the second half, and even though Tarsus scored more points in each successive quarter, Samsun simply kept up the pace.

Samsun clearly had the shooting touch. They didn't make as many shots as Tarsus (was Tarsus desperately trying a comeback) and Samsun shot 42 percent compared to Tarsus's 32. Samsun won the battle of rebounds, with Erlana Larkins and Alison Bales rebounding as well as the entire Tarsus team. Tarsus sent Samsun to the free throw line 15 times...compared to the four visits given to Tarsus by Samsun. Samsun was clearly in control of this game.

For Samsun, Julie McBride led all scorers with 19 points. Alison Bales was probably the premiere performer with 13 points and eight rebounds. Erlana Larkins only had five points, but scored 12 rebounds to lead both teams. Nihan Anaz also scored 11 points for Samsun.

Tarsus had four players in double figures, three of American ancestry. Tatum Brown, a forward from Arizona who graduated in 2000, led with 12 points and eight rebounds. Ayse Unuvar also scored 12 points for Tarsus. Barbara Turner, a forward for the Sun and former player for perennial contender Fenerbahçe in the Turkish League, scored 11 points. Nina Norman, who graduated from Texas in 2006, scored 10 points.

Pictures will probably be up soon. Today Fenerbahçe played Galatsaray, and those two teams usually end up 1-2 in the Turkish League. So right now, that's where most of the pictures are coming from.

TBBL 2008 - Samsun 76, Ceyhan 53

This isn't exactly Duke-North Carolina. However, with Ivory Latta's sprained ankle, it was feared that we'd have to wait until the second half of the season before we saw Ivory Latta and Alison Bales go head to head once again.

Not true! Ivory Latta's ankle must have recovered enough for her to start! Unfortunately, having the league's leading scorer didn't help Ceyhan (1-3) as they fell to Samsun (2-1) by a score of 76-53 at home.

Ceyhan started out the game under the gun and stayed there. They were down 21-9 after one quarter and were down by 20 at halftime, 43-23. Ceyhan tried to stage a mini-comeback in third quarter, but Samsun outscored Ceyhan by 11 points in the fourth quarter to put the cap on a 23-point victory.

Why did Ceyhan lose? They shot 25 percent from the field in the game. Pitiful. Samsun shot 51 percent, and beat Ceyhan in rebounding, 47 to 34 - but oddly enough, Ceyhan won the battle of the offensive boards, 13-10. The only thing that kept Ceyhan in the game at all was turnovers - Samsun dropped the ball 22 times compared to Ceyhan's more cautious 13 times.

The two leading scorers for Ceyhan - and the only two in double figures - were Charel Allen and Ivory Latta. Allen contributed 18 points and eight rebounds and Latta contributed 18 points and four rebounds. Latta's shooting? Maybe she should have stayed and nursed her ankle. It took 24 shots to get those 18 points. Michelle Campbell also added six points and 13 rebounds.

(Tiffani Johnson did not play for some reason. I wonder what the story is there?)

Samsun's victory was led by Erlana Larkins who had 16 points and 18 rebounds. Three other players scored in double figures, including Julie McBride with 15 points.

As for Alison Bales, she played 24 minutes, scoring only four points but pulling down 12 rebounds and contributing four blocked shots. (I wonder how many of Ivory's shots got blocked?)

You sort of have to depend on Samsun to provide photos. We'll see if someone took some pictures.

More Pictures from Samsun in the TBBL

Another picture from the Beşiktaş-Samsun game. Alison Bales, looking very unflattering in the light, is in the black uniform at the right.

I've found the website for the Samsun basketball team. Those pictures are much better. My favorite pictures are:

Who says men don't watch women's basketball?

Alison Bales learns the buddy system with Nesibe Uzun (#12) and Pelin Incel (#10).

TBBL 2/2008 - Beşiktaş 87, Samsun 81 (2 OT)

Is that ominous figure in the back Alison Bales?

Beşiktaş (2-0) moved into contention in the Turkey Women's Basketball League (TBBL), coming back in the second half with an 87-81 win over Samsun (1-1) in a very tight double overtime victory.

The boxscore for the game is here.

After a good start by Beşiktaş to take a 41-28 lead into halftime, Samsun began to work their way back. The lead was closed to 54-57 and by the end of regulation, both teams were tied 68-68. Each team scored 10 points in the first overtime, but Samsun ran out of gas in the second overtime.

Beşiktaş had the statistical edge, shooting 42 percent from the field compared to Samsun's 49 percent. Samsun won the battle of the boards in a big way, 49 to 38, with Erlana Larkins and Adela Olanrewaju with 18 and 15 rebounds each. However, Beşiktaş went to the free throw line 30 times, hitting 19 shots, whereas Samsun went 9 for 19 at the stripe, shooting a dismal 47 percent in their free throw shooting.

Shay Doron (a guard for the New York Liberty in 2007) led all Beşiktaş scorers with 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Alexis Hornbuckle (24 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists) and Laura Harper (21 points, 15 rebounds, 2 assists) would add double doubles, becoming a three woman wrecking crew. Hornbuckle played for the Detroit Shock in 2008 as a rookie; Harper was a rookie for the Sacramento Monarchs.

The win was not so much a win as a triumph of human endurance. Alexis Hornbuckle would play all fifty minutes, and Laura Harper would fall twenty seconds short of that goal.

For Samsun, Erlana Larkins would score 22 points and 18 rebounds and Adeola Olanrewaju would add 15 points and 15 rebounds in the battle of the double-dobbles. Julie McBride would score 20 points and she'd play all 50 minutes of the game as well. Alison Bales would score 7 points and 7 rebounds, but would pick up her fifth foul in only 21 minutes of action.

Since there are 11 teams in the Turkish league, bye weeks are awarded. Samsun will not play in regular league play next week, and when they come back on November 9th, they travel to Ceyhan to play against Ivory Latta's team.

Better pictures will show up when/if I can find them.

TBBL Game One Pictures

Ivory Latta shoots over a Mersin defender...maybe Allie Quigley?


Alison Bales watches as Nesibe Uzun (#12) drives past a defender.

We finally have some pictures up from the Turkey Women's Basketball League. The full set is currently on the TBBL page of the combined Turkey Basketball League website.

I can't say how long these pictures will stay up. While you still can, look for your favorite players. Note: there is still one Alison Bales and one Ivory Latta pic that I haven't posted!

TBBL 1/2008 - Samsun 63, Galatsaray 49

Turkish basketball, get ready. There's a new girl in town and she's looking to crack a few heads. Samsun (1-0) took it to last year's TBBL finalists Galatsaray (0-1) by a score of 63-49 at home.

Samsun got of to a fast start, leading 20-6 at the end of the first quarter and leading by as much as 17 points (23-6) in the second quarter, and part of that fast start was Dream center Alison Bales. The rest of the game was a see-saw affair, with Galatsaray closing the score to 31-21 at the half. Seimone Augustus turned on the force for Galatsaray in the third quarter to help the visitors close to 47-43 by the end of the third quarter, but Samsun outscored Galatsaray 16-6 in the final ten minutes for their first win of the year.

The key was that Samsun was hitting their shots and Galatsaray was not. Samsun outshot Galatsaray 48 percent to 30 percent. Galatsaray was outrebounded and made more turnovers, and there was no where that Galatsaray could squeeze back against Samsun.

Julie McBride led Samusn with 24 points, despite turning the ball over eight times. McBride played briefly for the Chicago Sky and is now playing her third year in Turkey. Alison Bales followed with 14 points and eight rebounds. Erlana Larkins, a rookie for the New York Liberty at forward this year, contribued eight points and nine rebounds.

Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx) led Galatsaray with 17 points. Isil Alben scored nine points, and Marina Kress (a Belorussian player) scored seven.

The boxscore is here. Be warned, however, that the minutes played appeared to be way off in some cases. Pictures will come when I can find them.

Liftoff in Turkey!

Finally, the Women's Basketball League of Turkey (TBBL) has posted their schedule...or at least enough pieces of it for me to put it together.

Ivory Latta's Ceyhan club will take on Mersin while Alison Bales's Samsun club - moving up from the second division into the premier league - will take on the dangerous Galatasaray club, which lost the league finals to Fenerbahce after taking the playoffs to a final fifth game.

The season starts October 18th. I believe that the WCBA (China) season also starts on the 18th, and hopefully we'll have some news about Jennifer Lacy in Beijing.

Alison Bales Signs Her Contract in Turkey

Alison Bales signed her contract with Turkish Women's Basketball League (TBBL) club Samsun. The other woman in the picture is Adeola Olenwaraju, a Turkish player. Julie McBride will also be playing for Samsun this year. McBride graduated from Syracuse in 2004 and has been playing in the TBBL ever since.

There's more information at this article, if you can read Turkish...and I can't. Alison Bales looks like death warmed over in these photos, like she just got off the plane or just woke up three minutes before the pictures were taken.

P. S. In the earlier version of this post, I had Adeola Olenwaraju listed as of Turkish nationality. Commenter Grassroots corrected this, stating that Olenwajaru is an American of Nigerian descent. (I concluded that Olenwaraju was Turkish because I thought she played for the Turkey junior women's team, and assumed that that required Turkish nationality.)

The Two Towers

It appears that work is not only picking up, it will stay picked up until around July 27 -- which is when I go on vacation with my wife. I'll try to keep the blog updated, but I can't make promises. I will try to keep the Hollinger Rankings updated on Rebkell, at minimum.

There's some great reading at Score Atlanta (or is that "Score Atl"). Josh Bagriansky writes:

Another revelation has been the combination of 6-foot-8 Katie Feenstra and 6-7 Allison Bales in the post. Although she didn’t use them together much against Chicago, Meadors said she expects to use the duo in certain situations, starting against the Fever tomorrow.

Unfortunately, this combination hasn't worked all year. We're not Ruth Riley and Ann Wauters, no matter how much Meadors wishes it were so. Then again, maybe today is the day for it to all come together.