Greek Women's A1 26/2008 - Paleo Faliro 74, Paghiakos 66 (OT) - A Time of Troubles

While the regular season of the Liga Feminina in Spain was coming to an end with great interest, the regular season of the Greek Women's A1 League was finishing with little notice by even the Greek media. Paleo Faliro (17-9) finished of Paghiakos (8-18) by a score of 74-66 to end the regular season in Greece - but the league's problems were grabbing the attention.

Kastoria (0-26) had stopped playing. Siemens (5-21) has declared bankruptcy. And now, we learn from George Manousidis that Aris Holargos (8-17) was packing in it. Here is his report from Eurobasket.com:

Earlier on this year the team was purely dismantle as the American players left due to financial discrepancies with he team, the Head Coach left for the same reason, the Greek American Power Forward Panagiota Karagiorgos (190-F-84, college: Concordia (NY)) left the team too and then all the other professional girls couldn't survive so they left the team. The last two months the team is playing with girls U18 but right now and in the game in Larissa against Olympiada Larissas, the management couldn't pay the bus to travel from Athens to Larissa so the federation decided to dismiss the team from A1.
It's quite pity for a team like Aris Holargos who ended last season in the third position and went to the fianl four of the Greek cup.

I agree with the assessment of Eurobasket. Something needs to be done to bring the Greek basketball house in order - but I don't know what.

What will happen is unknown. However, Paleo Faliro and Paghiakos managed to survive. Here is the box score of the game.

Paghiakos, playing at home, appeared to be in control. They managed to win the first quarter 22-18 and hang on for a halftime score of 35-33. However, they couldn't escape from Paleo Faliro, as Paghiakos remained up by two points - 50-48 - with 10 minutes left to go. At the end of regulation, Paleo Faliro managed to tie the score at 60-60, and then scored 14 points in the overtime period to steal the victory.

It's so frustrating not to have any better information than an ordinary box score. I don't even know when the playoffs will take place in Greece, or how many games will be played.

Paghiakos hit 45 percent of their field goal attempts compared to 41 percent by Paleo Faliro. Paleo Faliro made up for it by out-rebounding Paghiakos 45-27, with 20 offensive rebounds. Paghiakos would also be the leader in turnovers, turning the ball over three more times than the visitors.

Paghiakos

Sonja Dafkou: 19 points, 7 rebounds, 4 turnovers.
Vaso Tsarouha: 13 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 6 steals.
Viki Tassopoulou: 8 points, 4 rebounds.

Paleo Faliro

Teana Miller: 25 points, 12 assists, 4 assists, 5 turnovers.
Kristin Haynie: 9 points, 7 rebounds, 6 steals.
Karen Mourd: 2 points in just 2:46 of play.

Greek Women's A1 25/2008 - Paleo Faliro 20, Kastoria 0 (Forfeit)

Kastoria (0-25) dropped out of the league after two games. Which means a week off for Paleo Faliro (16-9).

In the meantime, enjoy this clip from three months ago of Paleo Faliro vs. Ano Liosia. Paleo Faliro are in the gold uniforms. Kristin Haynie is wearing #6 and we see her twice - vainly attempting to stop a three-on-one at 1:23 and sinking a nice 3-pointer at 2:16. If you're a Teana Miller fan, she's wearing #15 and you can see her at 1:40 and 1:50. (I can't find Karen Mourd - #14.)

Shenanigans at the 2008-09 Greek All-Star Game

Talk about low key. I didn't even know such a thing existed. "Thank you, Greek press". If it weren't for sites like Womba I never would have found this. Womba promises to have a entire new site dedicated to women's basketball; I hope it happens.

Among other things, you will see:

* Jennifer Derevjanik busting a pitiful move.
* Teana Miller showing her how it's done, Greek-style.
* Scientific proof that Katie Gearlds might be able to steal, but dunking is another thing entirely....

(P. S. The "This is a robbery!" theme from Pulp Fiction is kind of cool.)

Greek Women's A1 24/2008 - Ano Liosa 79, Paleo Faliro 75 (OT)

If you're a team in the Greek Women's League, making it to the semifinals should be easy. With only two games left and fourteen teams in the league, it appears that two teams - Siemens and Kastoria - have given up the ghost. (Siemens forfeited for the first time last week against Paleo Faliro.) Another team, Aris Holargou, has resorted to playing its under-18 team after the adults went on strike and Aris Holargou is now losing by around 70 points a game. I suspect that next year, there will only be between 10 and 12 teams playing women's basketball in Greece.

Last year, the top eight teams made it to the playoffs and Paleo Faliro (15-9) has clinched at least sixth place. Paleo Faliro hoped to climb to fourth place, but didn't pay enough attention to Ano Liosa (14-10) right behind them. Paleo Faliro would take to the road but lose to Ano Liosa 79-75 in overtime after fighting back valiantly.

The box score is here.

Ano Liosa must have remembered the last time these two teams played, where they were held to just one point in the first quarter. Ano Liosa had something to prove, and Paleo Faliro was down 24-13 at the first quarter and behind 37-25 going into halftime. Paleo Faliro came on strong to start the second half and by the end of the third quarter, Paleo Faliro was only down by one, 51-50. Paleo Faliro managed to tie the game in regulation 66-66, but home team advantage was too much to overcome.

It's times like this when I'll say it again - I hope that someday there will be some decent coverage of Greek women's basketball. Right now, I should be happy that it exists at all.

Both teams shot well. Ano Liosa hit 48 percent of the field goal attempts, compared to 45 percent for Paleo Faliro. In rebounding, Ano Liosa would hold a slight 39-34 edge. Both teams turned the ball over at the same rate. What truly hurt Paleo Faliro was the fact that they sent Ano Liosa to the line 34 times, where Ano Liosa scored 22 of 34 times. Three Paleo Faliro players would foul out during the game.

Ano Liosa

Meg Tierney: 22 points and 12 rebounds from the Oregon State graduate.
Kari Koch: 14 points and 12 rebounds. I believe that Koch is a graduate of Missouri State.
Alexandra Anogianaki: 12 points, 6 rebounds.

Paleo Faliro

Teana Miller: 25 points, 10 rebounds. However, Teana would foul out.
Karen Mourd: Only 2 points, but 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
Kristin Haynie: 17 points, 3 rebounds, and 6 assists.

Greek Women's A1 23/2008 - Paleo Faliro 20, Siemens 0 (Forfeit)

Well, it looks like everyone except me knew that Siemens had no intention of showing up for Sunday's game. The reason given is "failure to appear". I don't know if the Siemens team has been completely disbanded or not.

In any event, Paleo Faliro racks up a cheap win and gets a week off. Kristin Haynie, obviously, did not play on Sunday.

Greek Women's A1 22/2008 - Paleo Faliro 66, Olympiada Larissas 62

Paleo Faliro (14-8) have managed to stay in fourth place with just four games left in the regular season as they take to the road and defeat Olympiada Larissas (7-15) by a score of 66-62.

The box score is here.

There won't be a report on this game because Kristin Haynie did not play. I wonder why? Injury? Left team? Overslep? Anyway, we'll hope for the best for Kristin and hope to be able to report about her next week.

Greek Women's A1 Greek Cup 2009 Finals: Esperides 70, Paleo Faliro 58

Esperides celebrates their Greek Cup victory.

For the fourth straight year, Esperides wins the Greek Cup of women's basketball. This year, the victory was acheived with a 70-58 win over Paleo Faliro.

Of course, we don't have a box score for this game, so all I can write about are some highlights. We have a quarter-by-quarter score at least, and there is a translated write-up here.

It appears that Paleo Faliro fought hard. Down 36-28 at halftime, they managed to get within three points, 45-42 after three quarters and then tied the game 53-53. Unfortunately, Esperides scored 17 points in the overtime, which I suspect was a full 10 minutes instead of just five minutes.

Both Toya Kalentzi of Esperides (named Cup MVP) and Fotoula Volonaki of Paleo Faliro expressed their concern about Aris Holargos and their 93-23 loss to Paleo Faliro in the first round of the Cup. Kaletzni expressed pity that a group of under-18 girls had to suffer such a loss. Both players hoped that Aris Holargos would no longer be sending their under-18 girls to advanced cup play.

For our Greek readers out there, an abbreviated box score is here.

Paleo Faliro

Kristin Haynie: 14 points. 3-for-9 shooting.
Teana Miller: 14 points. 5-for-12 shooting. Possibly eight rebounds.

Esperides

Marina Mazic: 6 points.
Erica Davis: 19 points and 19 rebounds for the graduate of Yale University I might not be right on the rebounds, but she has put up ridiculous rebounding numbers in the Greek Women's A1.

Greek Women's A1 League Greek Cup Semifinals 2009 - Paleo Faliro 93, Aris Holargos 23

An image which might be from the Cup or just an archive image. We'll never know.

What if a country held a professional women's basketball tournament and no one cared? Such a chilling future would be found in Greece, where I only found out from the fine folks at Eurobasket.com that the Greek Cup for the women was being held over the weekend. Only four teams qualified: Paleo Faliro, Aris Holargos, Esperides and Panathinaikos.

Clearly, these seedings were determined a long time ago. With Aris Holargos's pro players walking out due to not getting paid - something I've reported at Pleasant Dreams already - according to Eurobasket, Aris Holargos is now playing with the players on their under-18 club. You can't say that the kids aren't getting some experience, but they're getting little else and most likely, not getting paid.

The only translated article I could find - forget finding a box score - is here. Here is the progression across quarters:

End of first: 29-5
End of second: 49-9
End of third: 70-16
End of fourth: 93-23

As the coach of Paleo Faliro said, this could have been a lot worse if Paleo Faliro didn't slow the game down. I wonder how much longer Greek women's pro basketball can survive with such spectacles presented as cup play.

I believe that Kristin Haynie scored either 2, 4, or 6 points. With the translation, it's very hard to tell. Paleo Faliro probably didn't need her anyway.

P. S.: It looks like some Greek fans are posting some information from these games on their blog. You can look at some pictures from the Esperides/Panathinaikos game, with even a live clip! (The author apologizes for the quality of the film, claiming that the camera had 'Alzheimers, stroke and multiple sclerosis'.)

Also: It looks like some troublemakers from the Panathinaikos fans began throwing water bottles on the court with just 28 seconds left, hitting a referee in the foot. To paraphrase Rebecca of Game Notes of Doom, "Greek basketball, this is why you can't have nice things."

But it looks like there will be a new basketball-devoted website at womba.gr and it looks like the fans have taken reporting into their own hands. Applause to the Greek bloggers.

Greek Women's A1 21/2008 - Paleo Faliro 52, Apollon Ptolemaidas 51

Man, this game looks good. Paleo Faliro (13-8), playing a rare Saturday game, defeats visting Apollon Ptolemaidos (10-11) by a score of 52-51. But the sad part about it is that finding any information about this game through the Greek media is virtually impossible.

The box score is here.

Looking at the quarter-by-quarter score, you know that this game must have been tight. 12-12 after the first quarter. 27-26 in favor of Paleo Faliro at haltime. 40-39 in favor of Paleo Faliro in the third quarter, and both teams score 12 points in the fourth as Paleo Faliro escapes with the win.

Unfortunately, what wasn't tight about the game was any sort of shooting accuracy. Both teams were throwing up bricks, or as they say at Rebkell, there was a lot of 'chucking' going on. Paleo Faliro shot 29 percent from the field - and won. That's because Apollon Ptolemaidas only hit 32 percent of their attempted free throws.

Apollon Ptolemaidas won the battle of rebounding 42-35. However, they turned the ball over 23 times, negating the "advantage" of shooting 31 percent. Apollon Ptolemaidas was slightly better at the free throw line, but two extra free throws wasn't enough.

Paleo Faliro

Fotoula Volonaki : 10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists. If she hadn't only played 18 minutes....
Kristin Haynie: 22 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals. 8-for-11 shooting.
Karen Mourd: Only 5 points on 3-for-11 shooting.
Teana Miller: Only 3 points on 2-for-8 shooting, but 8 rebounds.

Apollon Ptolemaidas

Chloe Kerr: The graduate from Southern California 18 points and 11 rebounds on 12-for-21 shooting.
Starvoul Spanidou: 12 points, 11 rebounds.
Crystal Smith: 3 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 turnovers for the Washington Mystics guard.

Greek Women's A1 20/2008 - Apollon Kalamaris 70, Paleo Faliro 65

With Kastoria having folded and with Aris Holargos playing junior high basketball, it shouldn't be too hard to sneak into the Greek Women's A1 playoffs. Paleo Falrio (12-8) hoped to pick up another road win this Sunday but faltered on the road against Apollon Kalamaris (12-8). It was a disappointing 70-65 road loss.

The box score is here.

Paleo Faliro actually led 24-17 after one quarter and kept a five point lead going into halftime, 43-38. Unfortunately, the second half would tell a different story. Apollon Kalamaris caught up with Paleo Faliro in the third quarter and led 56-52 with ten minutes to go. All we know is that Paleo Faliro would go down to defeat after that.

Paleo Faliro was more accurate than the home team in field goal percentage, 49 percent to 43 percent. However, Apollon Kalamaris hit 9 out out of 23 shots from long range. Paleo Faliro's rebounding was better overall, but they would turn the ball over 17 times. Apollon Kalamaris was greatly helped by hitting 11 out of 13 of their free throw opportunities.

Apollon Kalamaris

Johanna Solverson: 28 points, 7 rebounds. Solverson was a senior at Iowa during 2007-08.
Nelli Bibiri: 3 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals. All in just 21 minutes of play.
Alex Giannopoulou: 7 points in 18 minutes.

Paleo Faliro

Karen Mourd: 15 points, 10 rebounds. 7-for-11 shooting.
Teana Miller: 8 points, 12 rebounds. 5-for-7 shooting.
Kristin Haynie: 12 points, 5 assists. However, she had four turnovers.

Greek Women's A1 19/2008 - Paleo Faliro 67, Panionos 57

Paleo Faliro (12-7) is determined to secure its place in the Greek Women's A1 playoffs. With only seven games left, they needed just two wins to assure themselves a .500 record in a Greek league of 14 teams - one of which has folded (Kastoria) and one of which is no longer competitive (Aris Holargos). They are one step closer to qualifying with a 67-57 win over visiting Panionos (9-10).

The box score is here.

The game was less close than the final score lets on. Paleo Faliro led 18-13 after the first quarter, expanded their lead to nine points at halftime (32-23) and to eighteen points at the third quarter (52-34). Panionios staged a slight comeback at the end...

...or maybe they didn't. It's very hard to tell. Women's basketball in Greece takes place in a vacuum. There are no game write-ups. There is no press coverage. There are no pictures. We have only box scores.

Paleo Faliro hit field goals at a 51 percent clip - oddly enough, they only attempted 51 baskets - whereas Panionos ould only hit 32 percent of their baskets. Panionos was generally outrebounded, but only turned the ball over 13 times compared to Paleo Faliro's 18. The problem is that having your opponent turn over the ball is only half the game - if you can't do anything with the basketball once you get it, it's meaningless. Both teams shot in the 60 percent range during free throws; I'm surprised a few players didn't get agressive and give away fouls.

Teana Miller was the player of the game with a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds. Her teammate Karen Mourd scored 18 points and had 11 rebounds of her own. It almost makes Kristin Haynie's effort of 17 points, five rebounds and four assists look positively weak.

As for visiting Panionos, it looks like Sheri Sam must be playing somewhere else now. Pelag Papamichail led Panionos with 13 points and nine rebounds. Lindsey Wilson must have come over from Teo Vilnius to play for Panionos, and scored 13 points and had five assists. Wilson is not the small NAIA school in Kentucky but is a graduate of Iowa State in 2003. Katerina Deli added 11 points for the visitors. Tye'sha Fluker, who played for the Chicago Sky in 2008, only scored six points in 25 minutes but had eight rebounds.

I suspect that Greece will restore the monarchy before we find any game pics.

Greek Women's A1 18/2008 - Paleo Faliro 105, Aris Holargou...23?

Yep, that score is right. Paleo Faliro (11-7) crushed visting Aris Holargou (6-11) by a total of 82 points. How did that happen?

I reported in January that the women of Aris Holargou staged a walkout on the team. They were not being paid in a timely manner (some hadn't been paid in months) and they walked out. It looks like the walkout was a permanent one. I don't know the circumstances of what happened next, because I'm lucky to get box scores from the Greek press. What is clear is that Aris Holargou is getting blown out by fifty-plus point margins. They're a joke.

The box score is here. While you gaze upon it in awe, note that first quarter score - 27-0, Paleo Faliro. Talk about being in a hole after the first quarter.

Kristin Haynie did not play. There was no point in her playing. None of the Americans played, except for Karen Mourd who scored nine points in 18 minutes of play. Aris Holargou doesn't have any Americans on the team.

Like I said before, when playing basketball in Greece, make sure you have the money. And if it's not coming, just walk.

Greek Women's A1 17/2008 - Esperides 65, Paleo Faliro 50

Paleo Faliro (10-7) is in the middle of a three game losing streak. They have no trouble with the underdogs of the Greek Women's A1 but when they play the elite teams (or what passes as elite), they seem to hit a wall. This time, it was Esperides (15-2) which got the best of the visiting Paleo Faliro squad as they lost 65-50.

The box score is here.

Paleo Faliro's problem was a simple one - they got behind in the first quarter 22-9 and no matter how hard they played after that, they could never catch up. Paleo Faliro was behind 37-24 at halftime, and the gap betwen Esperides and Paleo Faliro seems to have stayed in the double digit range throughout the entire game.

As for the keys to the game, the truth is fairly straightforwards - Esperides won the battle of overall shooting, 50 percent to 40 percent against Paleo Faliro. They won the battle of rebounding and even though Esperides committed 19 turnovers, Paleo Faliro answered back with 24 turnovers. The only place Paleo Faliro beat their counterparts was in trips to the free throw line - but Esperides only sent the visitors to the line eight times. 7-for-8 overall free throw shooting wasn't enough to overcome a double digit deficit.

Leading the fight for Esperides was Erica Davis, who scored a double-double of 16 points and 15 rebounds. She also had four steals. Davis graduated from Yale University in 2007. Stella Kaltsidou added 15 points and five rebounds and Olg Hatzinikolaou scored 11 points for Esperides.

Teana Miller scored 13 points and eight rebounds for Paleo Faliro and Fotoula Volonaki would be the team's lead scorer with 14 points. Kristin Haynie had a particularly disappointing showing with eight points on 3-for-10 shooting and four turnovers.

Greek Women's A1 16/2008 - Athinaikos 59, Paleo Faliro 58

Paleo Faliro (10-6), which had managed to keep up slightly with a tough Panathinaikos team on Wednesday, had to host the toughest team in Greek women's basketball today - undefeated Athinaikos (16-0). Paleo Faliro came to within one point of dealing Athinaikos its first defeat in league play, but fell short by one point, 59-58.

The box score is here.

Athinaikos must have been surprised by Paleo Faliro as the home team took a 21-12 lead over the visitors after the first quarter. Athinaikos came out tough in the second quarter, but Paleo Faliro would take a 32-27 lead into halftime. By the end of the third quarter, Athinaikos had caught up with Paleo Faliro and led 47-45.

So what happened in that exciting fourth quarter? Was it a last-minute basket at the buzzer? Did Athinaikos score a pair of critical free throws? We'll never know. The Greek media records only very abbreviated boxscores, and never any play-by-play. It appears that women's basketball has no advocates in Greece, at least not in the Greek media.

Athinaikos outscored Paleo Faliro at a rate of 41 percent to 35 percent, with Paleo Faliro taking 54 shots and Athinaikos taking 48 shots. Both teams were effectively even in rebounding on both the offensive and defensive sides. Paleo Faliro turned the ball over 16 times and Athinaikos turned the ball over 13 times. Both teams went to the free throw line with great regularity - Paleo Faliro went 16-for-21, and Athinaikos shot 15-for-29. Clearly, Paleo Faliro shouldn't have sent the best team in the Greek Women's A1 league to the line so many times, even if they barely hit 50 percent of their free throws.

Paleo Faliro spread the ball around, with only Teana Miller scoring in double digits. Miller scored 14 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double. Kristin Haynie scored eight points and six rebounds. Karen Mourd would only score two points in 13 minutes of play.

For Athinaikos, LaToya Davis led all scorers with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Davis graduated from Texas Tech in 2006. Katie Gearlds of the Seattle Storm scored 22 points and six rebounds for the undefeated Athinaikos. Nikol Souli added nine points for the eventual winners.

Greek Women's A1 15/2008 - Panathinaikos 58, Paleo Faliro 51

Paleo Faliro (10-5) hoped to stay in third place in the A1 Greek Women's League all by itself, but they would have to come visiting hungry fourth-place Panathinaikos (10-4) to stay there. Paleo Faliro had a horrible second quarter that they couldn't climb out of - no matter how hard Panathinaikos tried to let them - and lost third place to the home team by a score of 58-51.

The box score is here.

Paleo Faliro managed to keep up with the home squad and were only down by five at the end of the first quarter, 22-17. Unfortunately, Panathinaikos would outscore Paleo Faliro 25-8 in the second quarter and put Paleo Faliro down by 22 points at halftime, 47-25. However:

- Panathinaikos would only score six points in the second quarter. Paleo Faliro wouldn't catch the hint...they only scored ten themelves, and were still down 53-35.

- Panathinaikos decided to give the vistors a stronger hint. They only scored FIVE points in the fourth quarter, and only scored 11 points in the second half of the game. Paleo Faliro woke up but could only close the gap to seven points at the end.

Panathinaikos's 42 percent shooting managed to eclipse Paleo Faliro's 32 percent shooting. Paleo Faliro won the battle of offensive rebounds 20-15 - but did Panathinaikos even try to rebound in the second half? There might have been some hope that Paleo Faliro could win it at the foul line, a place they visited 19 times compared to Panathinaikos's six times - but Paleo Faliro only shot 10 from 19 from the free throw line.

Agh.

Three players scored in double figures for Panathinaikos. Erin Thorn scored 15 points and nine rebounds, but shot 7-for-21. Thorn currently plays for the WNBA's New York Liberty, and will play for the Chicago Sky in 2009. Ekateri Spartharou scored 10 points in just 14 minutes of play. Anastasia Kostaki scored 10 points and five rebounds. Kristen Rasmussen would score just four points and play for only nine minutes. (Maybe she's depressed about being waived by the Minnesota Lynx a few weeks ago.)

Teana Miller would try to carry Paleo Faliro on her back, scoring 25 points and 14 rebounds. Unfortunately, no other Paleo Faliro play would come to within double figures. Kristin Haynie would score only three points in 30 minutes of play. Fotoula Volonaki scored seven points and nine rebounds for Paleo Faliro.

Paleo Faliro now has to travel to (currenty, as of this writing) undefeated Athinaikos on Sunday. Good luck, Kristin!

P. S.: Shout out to Rebecca for the corrections.

Greek Women's A1 14/2008 - Paleo Faliro 75, Megas Alexandros 55

A picture of Kristin Haynie! From the Ano Liosa game, but still...!

Paleo Faliro (10-4) picked up their 10th win of the year against visiting Megas Alexandros (3-10) by a score of 75-55 in a game where it didn't seem as if Paleo Faliro was in much danger. Paleo Faliro should at least be able to hang onto fourth place in the Greek Women's A1 as the second half of the Greek season gets underway.

The boxscore is here.

Paleo Faliro took a 24-11 lead at the end of the first quarter which it extended to 25 points at halftime, 46-21. Megas Alexandros managed to stage a mini-rally in the third quarter and closed the gap to 11 points, 57-46. Unfortunately for the visitors, they were held to just nine points in the final ten minutes and Paleo Faliro cruised to a victory.

Not only did Paleo Faliro out-shoot Megas Alexandros 46 percent to 36 percent, Megas Alexandros would only attempt eight 3-point shots and hit only two of them. Megas Alexandros was marginally outrebounded by the home team but turned the ball over more often than Paleo Faliro. Megas Alexandros was kept in the game by being sent to the free throw line 22 times, but they only hit 15 of their short. Paleo Faliro had a better showing, shooting 10-for-13.

Eleni Vlani scored 15 points for Paleo Faliro, but the best performance was probably that of Teana Miller, who scored 12 points in only 15 minutes of play, with seven rebounds. Karen Mourd would score 11 points for Paleo Faliro, with five of those points being fre ethows. After her amazing game of a week before, Kristin Haynie would only score four points in 14 minutes of play, with three assists.

Megas Alexandros - a team of Greek nationals - was led by Zoi Dimitrakou with 20 points and 18 rebounds - but she shot 5-for-17 from the floor and made 10 of her 20 points on free throws. Iro Koufogianni (one of the Koufogianni sisters?) scored 16 points and 12 rebounds for the second double-double of the game. (Tatiana Zotova of Paleo Faliro had 10 rebounds but only three points.) Niki Tsakiridou would also score 10 points for the visitors.

Pictures? Santa didn't give me any pictures, although I keep looking.

Greek Women Stage One-Game Walkout on Team

This week, Panathinaikos beat Aris Holargou by a score of 102-25 in the Greek Women's A1 League. The box score is here. I wondered what the hell happened to Aris Holargou, and now I found out the answer. There was a one-game walkout by some of the players.

This was from Superbasket.gr:

(* * *)

The remaining players of Greek Holargos Mars is not going to fall in the first game of 2009 because of financial inconsistency of the association. It made a joint statement to explain the reasons and also to sound the alarm over the construction of women's basketball.

"Unfortunately, in our case, the pride eklifthike failure. We patience has stood the lies and promises, but the mockery has limits. We decided we abstain, we have forced the administrators to stop. We do patience three and four months. The same if you were late to pay in three or four days, would revolt. And because many do not know, for our basketball is a profession. At least in terms of obligations. With daily practice, even in the mornings. As for earnings, of course, not. Live with loans. With the risk of injury to elochefei daily. Α But the word''security''is not included in the liabilities of the association.

And all this happening in presumed fourth team in Greece. ... In a group that is in the time of fainal Cup ...

The defeat not only the players of Aris Holargos, but throughout the female basketball. It is time all those wishing to raise sleeves. The men did their struggle and vindicated. Should do the same and women. Do not mistake ladies and gentlemen. The building is steraio. And those who do not care, we must stop looking only after themselves. If burning the next house, at some point and will burn their own."

Life Kechagia, Aristea Maglaras, Konstantina Ouzouni, Theoni Tzegiannaki Sofia Kyriakopoulos, Ntenia Margari

(* * *)

Let this be a lesson to any ex-NCAA or WNBA players who have stumbled across the blog: if you play in Greece, make sure you have the money in hand. Paul Shirley noted in his book about how cheap the Greek Men's League was and how payment was always an issue. Looks like the women in Greece have had just about enough of this.

Greek Women's A1 13/2008 - Paleo Faliro 77, Paghiakos 61

Paleo Faliro (9-4) is busy riding a six game winning streak - if you count the forfeit from disbanded Kastoria as a win - and at home they were too much for visiting Paghiakos (2-10), winning by a final score of 77-61.

Indeed, Kastoria gave Paleo Faliro some help - while Paghiakos had to play on Wednesday, Paleo Faliro got to take the day off due to their no-shows. Another advantage Paleo Faliro had over Paghiakos is that Paghiakos's team is composed entirely of Greek nationals, whereas Paleo Faliro has ex-NCAA and current WNBA players on their roster.

The boxscore is here.

Paleo Faliro won almost every quarter. They led 19-14 after 10 minutes and took a 43-27 lead into halftime. At the end of the third quarter, they managed to stretch their lead to nineteen points (64-45), and Paghiakos just couldn't close the gap.

Paleo Faliro shot 56 percent from the field, compared to the 41 percent of Paghiakos. However, Paghiakos managed to out-rebound Paleo Faliro 33-26 - maybe Paleo Faliro wasn't trying that hard. After all, Paghiakos turned the ball over 24 times in the game, and they probably figured they'd just take the ball out of the visitor's hands sooner or later.

Three players scored in double figures for Paleo Faliro, and all have either WNBA or NCAA experience. Kristin Haynie had her best showing in the Greek league this year, shooting 10-for-13 from the field and scoring 23 points and seven rebounds. Teana Miller scored 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting and blocked four shots. Atalanti Tasouli scored 12 points and had five rebounds.

For Paghiakos, the bulk of their scoring was done by Sonja Dafkou, who shot 12-for-19 from the field and scored 30 points and eight rebounds. "D. Mastrogiannidou" (I don't have a first name for her, but I'm sure she has one) scored 11 points and had eight rebounds and five assists.

Greek Women's A1 12/2008 - Paleo Faliro 20, Kastoria 0 (Forfeit)

Yep, Kastoria (0-12) didn't show up again, so that's an automatic win for Paleo Faliro (8-4), which is Kristin Haynie's team. I think that Kristin will like the time off. Her next game is on Sunday.

Also: Panathinaikos beat Aris Holargou by a score of 102-25. That's not a misprint. Check out the boxscore.

Greek Women's A1: Paleo Faliro 65, Ano Liosa 44

I don't know if Kristin Haynie was the key or not, but there's something in the eggnog they're drinking at Paleo Faliro (7-4). Their 65-44 win against Ano Liosa (5-6) is their fifth straight win of the year. Paleo Faliro is holding on to fifth place in the Greek A1 Women's League.

The boxscore is here.

Here's the amazing fact of the game: ANO LIOSA WAS HELD TO ONE FIRST QUARTER POINT. That's "one" and not "eleven". Of course, it could be just some sort of transcription error, but we'll never know because Greek media pretty much ignores women's basketball. However, the 34-16 score at halftime makes me think I'm right. It was 53-28 after three quarters, so no, this was not a game that was in doubt in any way, shape, or form.

Paleo Faliro shot only 42 percent from the field, as opposed to the 33 percent from the field for Ano Liosa. Believe it or not, Ano Liosa won the battle of rebounding, picking up 13 offensive rebounds - so how come none of those rebounds translated into more than a single first-quarter point? Ano Liosa turned the ball over 22 times. They won the battle of free throws, but when you only go to the line 11 times and hit six of them, you're not going to make up that first quarter deficit through making free throws.

Foutoula Volonaki led all Paleo Faliro players with 13 points and five rebounds. Atalanti Tasouli, a former draft choice of the Houston Comets, scored 12 points and six rebounds. Teana Miller picked up 13 points and eight rebounds.

As for Kristin Haynie, she scored five points and four rebounds in 30 minutes of play. Karen Mourd scored two points in a brief appearance.

For Ano Liosa, Kari Koch led all players with 18 points and 10 rebounds, a double-double. Koch was a WNBA prospect and is a graduate of Missouri State University. Olga Smirnaiou was the only other player in double figures for Ano Liosa with 12 points. Meg Tierney, who is probably the Oregon State '03 Meg Tierney, only scored two points but had seven rebounds in 30 minutes of play.