Traditional Statistics

A really good set of statistics should tell us something. They great thing about baseball statistics, for example, is that they are simple to understand - a .300 batting average means that the player gets three hits for every ten hitting chances - and translate into something meaningful. To be a .300 hitter is to be a great hitter; to say "so-and-so hits .300" is meaningful shorthand equivalent to "great hitter".

Baseball has good statistics, in part, because it's a game of individual vs. individual. Baseball is a great sport to break down into pieces like that.

Team sports, on the other hand, aren't as meaningful because you can't look at them outside of context. Football really only has a few meaningful stats. A running back's total rushing yards. A quarterback's pass completion percentage. There have been some coined stats like quarterback efficiency rating but those numbers don't have much meaning.

As for basketball, the traditional stats are "points per game", "rebounds per game" and "assists per game". They're the stats that are used for the "abbreviation line" to sum up a player's total contribution. All of them are context dependent. For example, "points per game" might depend on what sort of scoring role is assigned to the shooter. All of them depend not just on position played, but on total minutes played.

What sorts of relative value due these three stats have?

Let's take an example: Suppose you're a GM and you get a shot at three players (A, B, and C). This is all you know about them:

Player A: 20 ppg, 0 rpg, 0 apg
Player B: 0 ppg, 20 rpg, 0 apg
Player C: 0 ppg, 0 rpg, 20 apg

Which one do you want? A, B, or C?

Well, how do you win in basketball? You win by scoring more points than the other team. Therefore, the Iron Law of Basketball Worth is "a player's worth is dependent on how many points she helps her team score". Note that the definition says nothing about scoring points - you can help someone else score points and still have value.

I imagine that Player A must be some kind of shooting guard or shooting forward, a #2 or #3. Clearly, she has value to the team: she scores 20 points a game, and brings the team 20 points closer to victory on the average. However, she doesn't pull down any boards - at all - and doesn't assist either. She's probably a shoot-first-ask-questions-later ballhog with no strength or size. But she will give you 20 points a night.

Player C also has some value, too. She doesn't score 20 points a game, but she contributed to 20 field goals scored by other players. Of course, the definition of "contribution" is rather weak in the United States, since the definition requires that the pass to other player actually "assisted" the scoring player, and sometimes scorers are so liberal that they virtually award an assist to the player touching the ball before the scorer touched it.

In order to assess C's value, we'd have to determine how many of those assists were "real" assists. Undoubtedly, however, C has value. How many players do you know who average 20 assists per game? Magic Johnson didn't even do that well.

Player B's case is more problematic. There's a difference between an offensive rebound and a defensive rebound. One gives you the chance to shoot again, the other takes away the opponent's chance to shoot again. Unfortunately, rebounds do not necessarily lead to scores. If they were all offensive rebounds, then why wasn't player B able to score with any of them. Still, Player B's rebounding rate is almost that of a Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain. What's surprising is that if Player B is a center - which I suspect - then why wasn't Player B able to dish out at least once and score an assist?

So who is more valuable? A, B, or C.

I'm actually leaning towards Player C due to the rarity of her accomplishment. However, I'd think that Player A might be more valuable than Player C, with Player B being of (relatively) lesser value.
All are good players, but each is astonishingly one-dimensional.

So:

a) does an assist equal a field goal? Or just part of one? Half a field goal? Or more?
b) is a rebound equal to some fractional part of a field goal?

The fact that traditional basketball stats might not tell you much has led to some stat mavens creating their own basketball stats to determine a player's true worth. I'll talk about the simplest kind of coined stat - the "linear metric" - next.

An Update on the 2009 Atlanta Dream

Okay, with the Snow signing yesterday, this is what we look like:

A: Players Who Played Last Year

C Mattera (married name of Katie Feenstra)
C Snow (free agent signing)

F/C de Souza
F Lacy
F Lyttle (acquired from dispersal draft)

G/F Castro Marques
G Haynie
G Latta
G Young

B: Players Who Didn't Play Last Year, But Whom We Expect To Play

C Anderson
G Teasley

C: Players Who Might Or Might Not Be Signed, Or Show Up

F Holdsclaw
C Leuchanka
?? #1 Draft Pick

D: Players Who Played Last Year, and Have Been Traded/Waived

Ann Strother
Chioma Nnamaka
Alison Bales
Betty Lennox
Kasha Terry

Dumb Headlines Department

"Atlanta Dream Sign Woman Who Can Dunk".

Words fail me, my Lords and Ladies. If you didn't read the article, you might be forgiven for believing that this person didn't possess a name. Perhaps she was born under a full moon in the land of Dunksyvlania.

Wait till Brittney Griner hits the WNBA. We'll never hear the end of it.

The Snow Marketing Program

Does the Dream Front Office know how to market or what? Looks like they had this well prepared ahead of time.

P. S. How did they get Michelle in that Dream uniform? Photoshop?

Michelle Snow Signs With the Atlanta Dream

This hasn't been posted at the Atlanta Dream website, so I'll just post the press release "verbatim":

Atlanta, February 18, 2009 - The Atlanta Dream announced today that the team has signed unrestricted free agent center Michelle Snow. Snow was widely regarded as one of the top available free agents this off-season. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"We are excited about adding an experienced post player to our roster," said Dream General Manager and Head Coach Marynell Meadors. "Snow is an extremely athletic center and we expect her to make an immediate impact for us. We are thrilled that she chose to be here in Atlanta."

Snow, a 6-5 center, spent her first seven seasons in the WNBA as a member of the Houston Comets where she was originally selected with the tenth overall pick in the 2002 Draft. The two-time All-Star started all 34 games last year for Houston, averaging 9.9 points and 6.8 rebounds while shooting 52.9% from the field.

"I am so excited to become an Atlanta Dream team member," said Snow. "This is an organization that I believe exemplifies inspiration, hope and commitment to its fans, as well as to the business and community sectors at large. The namesake alone 'DREAM' creates a mindset and feeling that allows for the reality that anything is possible. I look forward to adding my leadership abilities to an already strong group of professionals who are committed to establishing 'The Dream' as a stellar team that uplifts all."

A standout at the University of Tennessee, Snow averaged 10.9 points and 6.5 rebounds in four seasons for the Lady Vols. Snow scored over 1,000 career points in her collegiate career and earned Associated Press All-American Honorable Mention recognition as a senior. She also made headlines by recording three dunks in her collegiate career.

"We are thrilled not only about adding Michelle to our team on the court, but also excited about the opportunity Michelle will have to make a difference in the Atlanta community both with her charitable work and her passion for building her business career here long-term," said Dream President and COO Bill Bolen.

The Atlanta Dream: offering a daily dose of OH HELL YES! We might even have an Atlanta Dream dunk next year, if Marynell allows it.

LSBL 22/2008 - SK Cēsis 82, DU/Swedbank 52

It would be hard to think of two teams more mismatched than SK Cēsis (20-2) and DU/Swedbank (2-20). DU/Swedbank is at the bottom of the Latvian League and SK Cēsis is in second place.

So what do you hope for when you're the better team? You hope that you win and that no one gets hurt. Even though SK Cēsis pulled away with the 82-52 win, SK Cēsis would lose Anda Eibele after a collision with Ēriku Mauriņu in the second quarter. The full extent of Eibele's injury is not known.

The box score is here.

For SK Cēsis, the win was very much a blowout. DU was held to just 11 points in the first quarter and only 10 in the second, leading 42-31 at halftime. They led by over 30 at one time in the third quarter, and had no trouble winning every quarter of the game.

DU/Swedbank only shot 39 percent from the field, but hit 9 out of 18 3-pointers. SK Cēsis would shoot 44 percent and almost match DU 3-pointer for 3-pointer. SK Cēsis had 14 offensive rebounds in the game.

No one would have confused this game with good basketball. It was sloppy. SK Cēsis turned over the ball 18 times and DU/Swedbank turned the ball over 27 times. Furthermore, DU/Swedbank only visited the free throw line four times - and only hit one free throw.

Leading DU/Swedbank were Olesja Jevsejeva with 10 points and eight rebounds, and Kristīna Egle with 18 points, shooting 6-for-12 from 3-point range. The other performances from DU/Swedbank were negligable.

What about visiting SK Cēsis? Rima Maregeviciute was the player of the game with 18 points and nine rebounds. Kristīne Kārkliņa scored 11 points in just 19 minutes of play. Former Dream player Kristen Mann scored only two points but had six rebounds. Tamera Young only played 18 minutes, and shot just 3-for-10 for six total points and four turnovers.

As for Anda Eibele, she was averaging 6.3 ppg/4.3 rpg/2.3 apg. We at the Pleasant Dreams blog hope she gets better soon.

I'm hoping to find some pictures from this game. Maybe later.

"You Forgot Latvia"

I feel like John Kerry being chided by George W. Bush. And who could forget Tamera Young? It came to me in a dream. She said, "Pet, I'm being neglected."

And therefore, I've fixed the schedule below.

A Bevy of Stats

Player Efficiency Rating (PER) can be found in here....

A commenter asked me to break down John Hollinger's Player Efficiency Rating, or PER. To whom I say with a grin, "Sure."

Now, according to Mr. Hollinger himself, "The PER sums up all a player's positive accomplishments, subtracts the negative accomplishments, and returns a per-minute rating of a player's performance."

Sounds nice, doesn't it? Now, let's go to the definition of PER from Basketball-Reference.com:


uPER = (1 / MP) *
[ 3P
+ (2/3) * AST
+ (2 - factor * (team_AST / team_FG)) * FG
+ (FT *0.5 * (1 + (1 - (team_AST / team_FG)) + (2/3) * (team_AST / team_FG)))
- VOP * TOV
- VOP * DRB% * (FGA - FG)
- VOP * 0.44 * (0.44 + (0.56 * DRB%)) * (FTA - FT)
+ VOP * (1 - DRB%) * (TRB - ORB)
+ VOP * DRB% * ORB
+ VOP * STL
+ VOP * DRB% * BLK
- PF * ((lg_FT / lg_PF) - 0.44 * (lg_FTA / lg_PF) * VOP) ]

Most of the terms in the formula above should be clear, but let me define the less obvious ones:

factor = (2 / 3) - (0.5 * (lg_AST / lg_FG)) / (2 * (lg_FG / lg_FT))
VOP = lg_PTS / (lg_FGA - lg_ORB + lg_TOV + 0.44 * lg_FTA)
DRB% = (lg_TRB - lg_ORB) / lg_TRB


Did any of that make a damn bit of sense to you? I have a degree in mathematics, and the first time I looked at that formula, I said, "huh"? It's certainly clear that field goals, assists, turnovers, rebounds both offensive and defensive, steals, blocks, and some league averages and team averages go in there somewhere.

However, there is nothing intuitive about any of this. If you read Hollinger's book (which I don't have), he'll be glad to go over each component with you in an explanation probably requiring several pages. And all of the above is just the first part of PER!

So our anonymous Jennifer Lacy fan might ask the question, "Pet, if not even you can explain PER, why the hell do you use it?" My answer:

a) I trust John Hollinger,
b) the results pass the "smell test": by that I mean that you'd expect the people you'd think are the best players in the league to have high PER and the worst to have low PER - which they do - and
c) the final number can be translated to something meaningful.

If you've got a PER of 30 or more, you're having one of the WNBA's great seasons. If you've got a PER of 15, you are an average WNBA player. The arithmetic mean (average) of a bunch of unadjusted PER numbers is taken, more adjustments are made, and the number "15" is thrown in there so that the mean PER for the WNBA comes out to be exactly 15.00. We have defined "average mean unadjusted PER" to be precisely equal to 15.00.

Once you get into a PER of 9.00, we're pretty much at what Hollinger called "replacement level", meaning that you could probably find some overlooked college player who just missed being drafted or got cut at training camp, get her up to speed, throw her out on the court and she could probably rack up a PER of 9.00 under good conditions. I don't really agree with that, because Hollinger's analysis was done with NBA players and not WNBA players. I will agree that a PER of 9.00 is nothing to be proud of.

PER has its weaknesses, and its detractors. For one thing, PER undervalues defensive contribution, so a player who is a defensive specialist won't have that value reflected in PER. Those players will have lower PER than a more just and fair allotment of PER should give them.

I keep all of this crap in a spreadsheet which I'll be glad to send anyone. Unfortunately, if you didn't understand any of that above formula (and I'm with you), you might not feel any better. PER suffers from the "black box problem" - you dump a bunch of stats in one end of the black box and out comes one number from the other end, but you don't really know what takes place inside the box.

There were 193 people who took part in the WNBA season last year: here are the top PER performers.

Leaders in Player Efficiency Rating, 2008

1. Diana Taurasi 29.83
2. Candace Parker 27.28
3. Sancho Lyttle 27.17
4. Lauren Jackson 26.63
5. Lindsay Whalen 24.68
6. Janel McCarville 24.57
7. Sophia Young 23.39
8. Tamika Catchings 23.14
9. Candice Wiggins 23.13
10. Jia Perkins 22.94

These numbers seem to make sense, although the computer would have given Taurasi the MVP and not Candace Parker. This might be why computers don't award MVPs, although I think Phoenix Mercury fans would jump up and say, "PER was right! PER was right!"

Who is the WNBA's "Most Average Player"?

61. Ivory Latta 15.03

Now there's a surprise!

Out of the 193 players, where does Jennifer Lacy show up? In the #135 slot.

134. Quianna Chaney 8.33
135. Jennifer Lacy 8.31
136. Sandora Irvin 8.31

"Okay," you might say, "this is just a bunch of numbers. It doesn't prove anything."

I agree. But here's the question: "do the results pass the smell test?" Suppose were were talking to say, Bill Laimbeer or Bill Dolan or whoever. And suppose we were to say, "given all things being equal - that is, we're not looking at salary or team need - who would you rather have on your team, Diana Taurasi or Ivory Latta?"

Is Diana Taurasi better than Ivory Latta? I would say "yes" - and I LIKE Ivory Latta! Likewise, who is better, Ivory Latta or Jennifer Lacy?

I think Ivory Latta is better than Jennifer Lacy. I'm not knocking Jennifer Lacy, I'm just saying that Ivory Latta brings more value on the floor than Jennifer does. In terms of leadership or the locker room or coaching or gameplan, it might be a different story. However, I think that Latta is more productive than Lacy, in which case, I agree with PER.

PER might not be right every time - was Sancho Lyttle worth more to the Comets than Lauren Jackson was to the Storm last year? - but it's right often enough for me to like it.

Of course, the next question would be "why don't you just use traditional stats?" More on that later. I'm just getting warmed up. :D

Euroleague Quarterfinals 1/2008 - Spartak 65, Ros Casares 57

Diana Taurasi threatens to throw a ball at Erika de Souza for her impertinence.

In the best-of-three quarterfinals of Euroleague, every game is critical. For Ros Casares, it's even more critical as El Ros does not have home field advantage. They had to travel all the way to Russia to face a virtual all-star team in Spartak, a team with players like Lauren Jackson and Sylvia Fowles.

And believe it or not, they managed to close to within two points with less than two minutes to go. Unfortunately, close only counts in horseshoes as Ros Casares lost on the road 65-57.

The box score, write-ups and game gallery can all be found here.

Spartak took off with the lead and almost never lost it. They led 21-13 after the first quarter and led by 13 points at one time in the second quarter. At haltime, they led 33-24.

In the third quarter, however, Amaya Valdemoro of Ros Casares scored three straight field goals, including a layup that put Ros Casares ahead 42-41, their first lead in the game. Spartak fought back and led 47-42 after three quarters.

Spartak was like a rabbit with a hound dog on its heels - they could never establish a significant lead over Ros Casares in the first part of the fourth quarter. Delisha Milton-Jones hit a 3-pointer with 3:34 left to tie the game at 55-55, and her next jumper would close the score to 59-57 Spartak with 1:43 left in the game.

But if a team knew how to win, it was Spartak. Diana Taurasi found Sylvia Fowles for the layut which turned into a 3-point play on a Delisha Milton-Jones foul. Valdemoro tried a 3-pointer with 34 seconds left that didn't fall - but the 3-pointer by Lauren Jackson with 14 seconds left found its mark and Spartak would win by eight. (Spartak would only hit two of their 21 3-point attempts, but that one would be a killer.)

Spartak only hit 33 percent of their field goal attempts, due to going 2-for-21 behind the 3-point line. Fortunately for the home team, Ros Casares only hit 30 percent of their attempts. Both teams had similar rebounding and turnover stats. Foul trouble hurt Ros Casares, as they sent Spartak to the line 21 times and Spartak hit 81 percent of its shots.

Four players scored in double figures for Spartak. Lauren Jackson, a former MVP and now free agent, scored 17 points and seven rebounds. Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury) and Sylvia Fowles (Chicago Sky) scored 12 points each, with Fowles adding nine rebounds. Sue Bird of the Seattle Storm had 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Kelly Miller of the Phoenix Mercury also threw in six points. Jurgita Streimikyte, who last played for the Pacers in 2005 only scored two points - but both points were free throws with less than three minutes remaining.

Amaya Valdemoro picked up a double-double for Ros Casares with 20 points and 11 rebounds. The other WNBA players on Ros Casares's roster didn't do so well. Elisa Aguilar was the only other Ros player in double digits with 11. Delisha Milton-Jones only scored eight points and seven rebounds, Candace Wiggins only had four points and two rebounds, and the Atlanta Dream's own Erika de Souza could only add six points and six rebounds in 21 minutes of play.

(* * *)

The next game for Ros Casares is at home on Friday, February 20th. According to Bert at the Painel do Basquete Feminino blog, Ros Casares's goal is to have 6500 people show up on Friday. This would be a Euroleague record, and Ros Casares is an interesting club and has a shot of reaching that goal.

Letter to ESPN Ombudsman

To: Le Anne Schreiber, ESPN Ombudsman

Dear Ms. Schreiber,

I understand that you are the journalistic ombudsman for ESPN. In which case, I would like to register a complaint regarding one of your better-known journalists, Mr. Bill Simmons.

It is my understanding that he made the following quote during a podcast:

"Oh I have some good news for you. WNBA probably done after this year. I don't know if that's good news. Yeah it's not good news, I take that back, cause, you know, it's nice that we have a professional league that girls can aspire to play in. Unfortunately, it loses money hand-over-fist and it's a bad business plan. So at some point...you know...at what point does it just become charity?"

It is implied that Mr. Simmons has some inside information about the status of the WNBA. In which case, why does he not quote a source, or if he wishes to keep his source a secret, then why does he state explicitly that he heard this information from a highly-placed NBA or WNBA insider? Without such quotation, Simmons implies that it's simply common knowledge that the WNBA is "done" -- knowledge so common that sources need not be quoted. And who could foist an argument against that tsunami of hot air that passes for "common knowledge" in the sports world?

In effect Simmons - and ESPN in extension - are influencing the future financial health of a league that has several fans that watch ESPN. With the economic downturn in the United States and the suspension of operations of the Arena Football League for one year, every sports franchise is in financial trouble and small operations like the WNBA the moreso. What effect will Mr. Simmons's pronunciamentos have when the WNBA seeks future advertisers?

In attempting to mix journalism with opinion, he gets the journalism wrong and the less said about his opinion, the better. How important is ESPN's journalistic credibility? If Mr. Simmons is given carte blanche to pass off opinion as fact then my answer would be "not very important, obviously".

Yours,

--Pet

Jennifer Lacy Re-Signs With Atlanta Dream

Jennifer Lacy has signed up for another season with the Atlanta Dream. The news from the Atlanta Dream organization is here.

Here are Jennifer Lacy's Player Efficiency Ratings (PER) for her three years of professional basketball:

2006 - Phoenix - 9.21 - 22
2007 - Phoenix - 5.70 - 23
2008 - Atlanta - 8.31 - 24

The final number is player age.

With 9.00 being replacement level, we see that Lacy hasn't had much of an opportunity to shine - Phoenix was more hurt than helped by Lacy in its 2007 championship season. I don't expect Lacy to be much better in 2009.

However, Lacy brings a couple of intangibles with her. The first intangible is that she is a very close friend of Chamique Holdsclaw. The second is that according to the press release, Lacy was one of the Dream's team captains last year. (Who were the other captains for 2008, I wonder?)

This means that Lacy, despite the somewhat unproductive seasons, is a player that has the admiration of either Marynell Meadors or her fellow Dream teammates. And believe it or not, that counts for a lot on a team. Staying on a team is as much a function of chemistry - that the team has a better experience when you're with them - as it is raw output. I hope that Lacy can lead the Dream - maybe not on the floor, but in the locker room - to a 2009 playoff spot.

Annie Oakleys

Azzi: A Hall of Fame Gunner

Why will Jennifer Azzi be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame? Oh yeah, she had a great college career and she won two gold medals for the United States, and she played in both the ABL and WNBA, but what's amazing about Jennifer Azzi is her ability to hit the long-range shot.

You need at least a 0.300 clip from beyond the 3-point line to be considered a long-range gunner. That's equivalent to a 0.450 2-point field goal percentage. Hitting 0.400 from beyond the 3-point line is nothing short of astonishing if you can do it regularly. Not surprisingly, there are only nine women who have played in the WNBA with a percentage over 0.400 and who have over 100 3-point attempts.

Even though Azzi is only 60th all time in 3-point shots attempted - Katie Smith has far and away the most tries with 1,862 - Azzi has the most attempts among our Annie Oakleys.


Highest 3-Point Field Goal Percentages
(minimum 100 attempts)

1. Jennifer Azzi, 158-345, 0.458
2. Laurie Koehn, 92-205, 0.449
3. Cathy Joens, 46-110, 0.418
4. Sidney Spencer, 85-205, 0.417
5. Kristen Rasmussen, 59-142, 0.415
6. Sandy Brondello, 114-278, 0.410
7. Jackie Stiles, 65-160, 0.406
8. Jamie Carey, 84-207, 0.406
9. Eva Nemcova, 131-326, 0.402
10. Korie Hlede, 83-209, 0.397

Update: Fixed at least three typos in this post. Sheer dogged professionalism here at Pleasant Dreams. Where's my proofreader?

"One Team. One Dream."

Atlanta Dream season ticket holders have spoken. This is the motto for 2009 - "One Team. One Dream." A little nonspecific, but it works for me!

The announcement is here. I'm going to abbreviate the slogan as 1T1D.

Israel Women's D1 16/2008 - Maccabi Ramat Hen 73, Elizur Ramla 70

Latta was perfect at the free throw line for Ramat Hen.

Not a good sign when you get the first game on your week's schedule wrong - it appears that the game happened yesterday, and not today. And I had the wrong team penciled in. Oh well, for Atlanta Dream fans that won't matter as Maccabi Ramat Hen (13-3) came back from behind to win 73-70 against home team Elizur Ramla (11-5).

The win puts Ramat Hen tied for first with Electra Ramat Hasharon with just five games to go in the season. The box score is here.

Visiting Ramat Hen took a 21-19 lead and edged out to a 41-36 lead at halftime. They began to extend their lead, at one point leading by 12 points early in the third quarter. It was then that Elizur Ramla woke up, and started their run. They led 58-57 at the end of three quarters and led by six points (70-64) with just 2:30 left in the game. Shay Doron of Ramat Hen would hit a 3-pointer to start a nine point run as the home team was shut out by Ramat Hen for the rest of the game.

Home team Ramla only hit 39 percent of their field goals compared to Ramat Hen's 48 percent. In terms of offensive rebounding, however, Ramla crushed Ramat Hen, getting 10 offensive rebounds compared to Ramat Hen's pitiful three. Ramla would also only turn the ball over 10 times, keeping them in the game.

Undoubtedly, the clincher for the visitors was that they were sent to the free throw line 24 times. Furthermore, they hit 20 of their shots, an 83 percent free throw percentage. Two Ramla players would end up fouling out.

The home team was led by Abiola Wabara, who scored 24 points, including 12-for-13 free throw shooting. Matalya Belvin, a graduate of NAIA Langston University, scored 13 points for Ramla but was one of the two players to foul out. Tamara Moore, who last played for the Houston Comets in 2007, scored 12 points for the home team with eight rebounds and four assists.

Two players from Ramat Hen would break the 20-point mark. Ivory Latta would score 23 points, hit four 3-point shots and go 7-for-7 at the free throw line for the visitors. LaToya Pringle would scored 22 points and 13 rebounds for a double-double. Tamara James scored 12 points in forty minutes of play and Shay Doron scored 10 points.

Ramla's bench would score only six points. Ramat Hen's bench would only score 16. You don't need much depth in the Israel Women's D1, it seems.

Schedule

Here is the week's upcoming schedule of teams in Europe involving Atlanta Dream players:

Monday

Israel Women's D1: Elizur Ramla (11-4) vs. Maccabi Ramat Hen (12-3)

Tuesday

Euroleague Quarter-Finals: Spartak (Russia) vs. Ros Casares (Game 1)
LSBL: DU/Swedbank (2-19) vs. SK Cesīs (19-2)

Thursday

BWBL: SK Cesīs (5-1) vs. Kazakhstan NT (4-4) (Kazakhstan)

Friday

Euroleague Quarter-Finals: Ros Casares vs. Spartak (Russia) (Game 2)
LSBL: Turība/Kolonna (9-13) vs. SK Cesīs (20-2) *

Saturday

LFB (Spain): Extrugasa (5-14) vs. Hondarribia (9-10)

Sunday

LFB (Spain): Ros Casares (18-1) vs. Celta (10-9)
LFB (Spain): San José (10-9) vs. Ibiza (10-9)
Greek Women's A1: Apollon Kalamarias (11-8) vs. Paleo Faliro (12-7)
BWBL: Lemcon (Lithuania) (6-3) vs. SK Cesīs (5-1)

* - Standings as of February 18, 2009

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.

Gran Canaria: "Extrugasa are cheaters!" - Extrugasa: "Gran Canaria are LIARS!"

I found out from Bert at the Painel do Basquete Feminino that there has been some dispute in the Spanish League over Extrugasa's win over Gran Canaria. At the Gran Canaria website, Gran Canaria have made many accusations against Extrugasa - that Extrugasa played dirty, that Extrugasa's fans were allowed to sit behind Gran Canaria's bench and be disruptive with noisemakers and insults, and that Extrugasa was getting the benefit of biased refereeing.

Some named "Jlsaav" posted a video at YouTube as a response. (I keep getting a message that the video is no longer available - you might have better luck watching it at the PBF website link, above.) It's a very creative response that appears to combine a children's song about liars and video clips from the Extrugasa-Gran Canaria game. If you can get the video to load, look at #11 in the white jersey: that's Iziane Castro Marques, and she's putting on quite a show.

(I now have a headache from that children's song....)

Georgia Tech and Their Pink Uniforms

I took some film of the Georgia Tech women's basketball team on February 8, 2008 during their game against N. C. State. The pink uniforms were in honor of the late coach Kay Yow.

After some YouTube experimentation, I was able to load the videos up onto YouTube. Therefore, you get to watch my amateur cinematography.

LFB (Spain) 19/2008 - Ibiza 69, Cadi la Seu 54

For Atlanta Dream players in Spain it has been a good week. Ros Casares won. Extrugasa won not once, but twice. It was up to Ibiza (10-9) to complete the trifecta, and at home Ibiza sent Cadi la Seu (6-13) to another loss with a 69-54 home victory.

It is Ibiza's seventh win in the last eight games. The arrival of Sancho Lyttle and Shannon "Pee Wee" Johnson was the key to turning Ibiza's season around.

The box score is here.

The first quarter was an even one, but it was the second quarter that secured the game for Ibiza - Ibiza scored 23 points in the second quarter and held Cadi la Seu to just six points. Leading 39-20 at the half and 58-35 after three quarters, Ibiza allowed Cadi la Seu a little mini-run in the fourth quarter -- but 23 points is just usually too much to overcome in ten minutes.

Despite only hitting 2 of 17 3-point attempts, Ibiza still had a 42 percent field goal percentaes. Cadi la Seu only hit 2-for-10 from three-point land and shot just 40 percent overall. Ibiza had 44 rebounds - with Sancho Lyttle doing most of the work. Ibiza's greatest weakness was in hanging on to the ball, turning the ball over 22 times in the game - but Cadi la Seu was even worse, turning the ball over 23 times.

Four players on the Ibiza squad scored in double figures, but the Queen of the Game was future Atlanta play Sancho Lyttle, who dominated the game. She scored 20 points and 21 rebounds for a 20-point double-double. Silvia Morales scored 12 points and six rebounds, and had eight assists for Ibiza (but she also had eight of Ibiza's 22 turnovers). Shannon Johnsonscored 10 points in 24 minutes of play. Johnson was Lyttle's teammate last year in Houston, but was not chosen in the dispersal draft.

Marta Zurro lead all Cadi la Seu players with 13 points. Sonia Borges dos Reis scored 12 points and four rebounds for the visitors.

LFB (Spain) 19/2008 - Extrugasa 65, Rivas Ecópolis 55

Perhaps, winning is just a matter of habit. It seems that way for Extrugasa (5-14). Extrugasa hadn't won a Liga Feminina game in almost four months. Taking a two-game winning streak on the road, Extrugasa traveled to third place Rivas Ecópolis (14-5) and with neither team playing ten players, Extrugasa scores a surprising 65-55 road win for its third in a row.

The box score is here.

Extrugasa would end the first quarter with a 20-15 lead, but the hard part would be keeping the lead against a tough team. With a halftime lead of 38-33, Extrugasa managed to hang on to their lead and held Rivas Ecópolis to just 22 points over the second half.

Extrugasa had a great shooting day - they shot 54 percent from the field compared to 38 percent from Rivas Ecópolis. The visitors even out rebounded Rivas Ecópolis 36-24. Despite Extrugasa's 17 turnovers, Rivas Ecópolis would only visit the free throw line eight times and hit six shots.

Petra Ujhelyi scored 18 points and seven rebounds for home team Rivas Ecopolis. It almost seems like a different team from the one that played Extrugasa in November. Roneeka Hodges - recently added to the Minnesota Lynx after being "dispersed" from Houston - scored 12 points and five assists. Ruth Riley of the Silver Stars would play nine minutes, go 0-for-4 and commit four fouls. Laura Camps Collell, a Spanish native that once played for Florida International, scored only two points in 22 minutes of play.

Iziane Castro Marques had another great game, shooting 6-for-9 from the field and scoring 19 points and 8 rebounds. Elisha Turek scored 16 points and nine rebounds for Extrugasa. Veteran Taru Tuukkanen added 14 points to the winning team's total, and scored six rebounds.

Basketball Fans Interviewed about the W

Jason Burke on Vimeo talks about how he likes the NBA and doesn't like the WNBA. He decided to interview three people who watched the NBA (at least occasionally) and asked them about their feelings regarding the WNBA.

The blog link is here where you can read his inital comments about the process. It inspires me to grab my own camera and see what people think about the W.


NBA vs WNBA from Jason Burke on Vimeo.

LFB 19/2008 - Ros Casares 85, Gran Canaria 64

When Gran Canaria (4-15) allowed Ros Casares (18-1) to visit, the message sent by El Ros was most likely, "Look, don't exert yourself. Sit down. Relax, and this will be painless." Ros Casares would win on the road, in a 85-64 victory that could have been a lot worse.

The box score is here.

In the first quarter...well, the less said about that the better. Ros Casares scored 37 points in the first quarter alone, or about two baskets every minute. With Ros Casares taking a 20-point lead after the first quarter, Gran Canaria would only win one of the remaining quarters. Life isn't easy when you're at the bottom.

Ros Casares won the shooting battle, hitting 47 percent of their field goals to Gran Canaria's 40 percent. They also outrebounded the home team 41-29. Ros Casares had more turnovers but...were they really trying.

As for free throw shooting? Ros Casares visited the free throw line 18 times. They hit 15 free throws. Whereas Gran Canaria visited the line 16 times, and hit only nine.

The best performances from Gran Canaria probably came from Vanessa Ble (it looks like she's not calling herself Doukole Ble anymore) scoring nine points and ten rebounds. Iva Perovanovic scored 14 points and seven rebounds, but committed four turnovers and turned the ball over four times. Tiina Sten, a graduate of St. Johns, scored only two points in 13 minutes of play.

The player of the game was Ros Casares's Erika de Souza, who scored a double double with 16 points and 17 rebounds. Jana Vesala added 13 points and four rebounds. Former and curent WNBA players like Amaya Valdemoro (13 points), Delisha Milton-Jones (11 points) and Candace Wiggins (five points) probably enjoyed the rest in a game where no one on the visiting team played more than 22 minutes.

Ros Casares is definitely in the post-season. As for Gran Canaria, they have fallen to last place in the Liga Feminina, and only have seven games to dig themselves out or face relegation.

LSBL 21/2008 - SK Cēsis 98, TTT Rīga Juniors 49

"No one to pass to? No prob. I'll just score again."

There are two things that I've learned about Latvian women's basketball. The first is that there are only two good teams - TTT Rīga and SK Cēsis (19-2). The second is that there's a big gap between the second place team and the third place team, which are the TTT Rīga Juniors (14-8). (And isn't it strange that TTT Rīga is so good that they have a juniors team playing in the A League?) Or at least, there's a big gap between Tamera Young and the TTT Rīga Juniors as she almost singlehandedly demolished the Juniors 98-49.

The box score is here. A picture gallery from the game is here.

With a 98-49 win, you'd expect SK Cēsis to win every quarter. They did. They held the TTT Rīga Juniors - an all-Latvian team - to just seven points in the first quarter and the score was 48-19 at halftime. Believe it or not, that first quarter was the Rīga Juniors best performance, as they only lost the first quarter by nine points. All other quarters were lost by at least double digits.

This was a real butt-whipping. SK Cēsis shot 53 percent. The Juniors shot only 29 percent and lost every single key of the game. They turned the ball over 24 times, and 19 of those turnovers came from SK Cēsis steals. They sent SK Cēsis to the free throw line 30 times and SK Cēsis hit 23 of those shots.

Did any of the Juniors have good performances? Only two scored in double digits - Anna Sonka, for example, scored 17 points and only had one turnover. Līga Šurkusa only had five points but she had fifteen rebounds. The rest of the performances were forgettable. Oh well, that's why they're the TTT Rīga Juniors - every game is a learning experience.

And the Master Instructor was Tamera Young, who showed that she was ready to play some ball.

36 points on 13-for-24 shooting.
6-for-8 at the free throw line.
13 friggin rebounds for a double-double.
Six steals.

Of course, there were other players earning a paycheck from SK Cēsis. Ieva Tāre had 16 points and eight rebounds. Rima Maregeviciute also had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Former Dream player and now Mystic Kristen Mann did not play.

LFB 18/2008 - Extrugasa 64, Gran Canaria 55

The only pic I could find. The person shooting is Izi. Or maybe not.

Extrugasa (4-14) has had a great last four days or so. Not only have their won their second game in a row - this time against fellow cellar-dweller Gran Canaria (4-14) at home by a score of 64-55 - but they are no longer alone in last place in the Liga Feminina and if they can keep their level of play up, they might avoid relegation at the end of the year.

I almost overlooked this game. There certainly wasn't any notice on the FEB website. This game was a make-up game that had been postponed due to bad weather that kept Gran Canaria's team from leaving their island paradise.

The box score is here.

For a few moments, Extrugasa fans wondered if their team was going to be on the ropes again. Gran Canaria took an 18-13 lead to start the game in the first 10 minutes and Extrugasa was looking at a six-point halftime deficit, 34-28. However, in the third quarter Grand Canaria was held to just seven points and after three quarters Extrugasa led 47-41, a lead they were able to extend by three points before the final buzzer.

Neither team exactly shot the lights out. Extrugasa's field goal percentage rested at 40 percent, but Gran Canaria only shot 33 percent from the floor. Gran Canaria turned the ball over 18 times to Extrugasa's ten. However, Gran Canaria hit 18 of 22 free throws compared to the 11 of 13 free throws from Extrugasa - for Extrugasa, it was definitely an atypical day at the free throw line.

The MVP of the game was undoubtedly Atlanta's own Iziane Castro Marques, who scored 24 points with 9-for-16 shooting and hit five of six of her free throws. Extrugasa veteran Taru Tuukkanen scored 15 poitns and six rebounds for the home team, and Elisha Turek scored six points and five rebounds for Extrugasa.

Left to carry the burden for Gran Canaria were Doukole Ble with 14 points and 10 rebounds and Iva Perovanovic with 12 points and 10 rebounds - it's very odd that the only double-doubles of the game were scored by the losing team. Tiina Sten, a graduate of St. Johns, only scored two points in just three minutes of play.

Chantelle Anderson Signed to Training Camp Contract

According to the 2009 WNBA Transactions board, Chantelle Anderson has been signed to a training camp contract in 2009 with the Atlanta Dream.

For those who follow the women's BB message boards, this is no news, and for those who have been following the Dream, this is no surprise. (Kasha Terry's being waived was news - I hadn't heard about it - but it wasn't a surprise.) Anderson has been doing all sorts of community work and interviews and talking about the upcoming season in the future tense as if she'd be a part of it.

There's that old saying from athletes: "all I want is a chance to prove myself". Anderson has now got her chance, although if Michelle Snow ends up on the Dream - and the rumbles of that happening sound fainter and fainter - it might be a snowball's chance, if you know what I mean.

Here's what I find interesting: some WNBA players get "signed" (Hamchetou Maiga-Ba, Ashley Robinson, Chasity Melvin) and some get "signed to a training camp contract" (Anderson, Yuko Oga, Crystal Smith).

So what is the difference between the two? It appears that being signed to a training camp contract is no guarantee of being signed for the season. Is there pay involved in being signed to a training camp contract, or are you just given the opportunity to participate? (Bring yer own shoes.) Is there an upper limit to the amount of people that can attend training camp?

I just find these sorts of things interesting.

Update: The press release from the Atlanta Dream.

Atlanta Dream Waives Kasha Terry

The news was right here. Under my nose, all along. It wasn't reported on the WNBA Transactions Board, I don't remember seeing it posted at RebKell and it isn't on the Atlanta Dream Message Board. Unless season-ticket holders got the news, this might be the first time anyone's heard about it. At least, I'd like to think so. Maybe I'm just clueless.

So Kasha Terry goes from being out of a job in Poland to out of a job...period. Egad. And it only took me a week to find out.

P. S.: Now I know why it went unnoticed. It was probably overlooked in all the hoop-la over Betty Lennox being waived and Lisa Leslie retiring.

P. P. S.: This frees up #35 for Angel McCoughtry to wear.

On Shooting Field Goals

Jackie Stiles (#10) should just let Cara Consuegra shoot.

One of the great things about basketball is that there is a lot of action. It was the invention of the 24-second clock that changed basketball from becoming something like football and baseball. Baseball's selling point is that there is a potential for action, and every ball or strike changes that potential by forcing the pitcher to adjust what he does. Football's action is actually the result of a long march downfield and all of the "hard hitting" disguises the fact that there's really not much of anything going on in football - the famous phrase is "violence punctuated by committee meetings", with a lot of that clash of bodies contributing nothing to the final result.

Instead, basketball is a collection of mini-dramas with the goal of taking a ball and putting it into the basket. Each of these dramas is interesting in itself, and each of these dramas plays out in brief periods of time. If the attempt succeeds or fails, the other team will get a chance to do what the first team couldn't.

Baseball doesn't care where the ball is hit, as long as it's hit between the two foul lines. Football doesn't even require that you carry the ball to the endzone to score - you can always kick the ball between the uprights if you are forced to. Basketball, on the other hand, requires that the ball be fired through a small circular rim not much bigger than the ball is. (Basketball and golf have that much in common.)

Like making a putt from six feet, people underestimate just how difficult this task is. It's very hard to put that ball through the rim when a) you only have 24 or 30 seconds to do it, b) there are very specific rules as to how this ball may be carried to the hoop, c) you can make only minor physical contact with someone while moving with the ball, d) for women, the rim is suspended in the air so high that it can't be reached by a simple jump and e) there are possibly people who are taller than you who could just bat the ball away as you hurl it.

For some reason, Europeans look at the 2-point field goal and the 3-point field goal as entirely separate acts. They are calculated in different columns, with record-keeping separate. In America, the 3-point field goal is seen as a special kind of field goal, with the 3-point column a subset of the 2-point column. Even though the record keeping doesn't really matter, I think the Americans are looking at it the right way.

There are 48 WNBA players who played their entire careers without scoring a field goal. You would think that those careers would be short, but they're not as short as one might think. Cara Consuegra was given 15 games and 50 minutes of play to try to get the ball in the bucket. Five attempts. All in vain. She did, however, make two of four free throws, but a free throw is not a field goal.

At the other end of the table, there are only 31 players in WNBA history that have made 1,000 field goals. Only one has made 2,000, and one is very close behind her. Those players might end up playing on the same team this year. It's truly an amazing thing to make a field goal.

Here are the WNBA leaders in field goals made:

Most Field Goals, Career

1. Lisa Leslie, 2188
2. Tina Thompson, 1915
3. Sheryl Swoopes, 1721
4. Tangela Smith, 1701
5. Lauren Jackson, 1615
6. Katie Smith, 1575
7. Vickie Johnson, 1545
8. Chamique Holdsclaw (*), 1531
9. Yolanda Griffith, 1497
10. Nykesha Sales, 1481

(*) contracted to the Atlanta Dream

High Endurance Players

#14 just keeps going and going and GOING and....

What does it mean to have a high average minutes per game? It means three things:

a) that you have a lot of talent,
b) that you have a lot of endurance, and
c) that you avoid drawing fouls.

Any coach would want a player that was good at all three. As a matter of fact, when you look at the WNBA carrier leaders in minutes per game, it's a virtual all-star list. The following are the players that you can't get to leave the court for love nor money - nor would you want them to leave.

Most Minutes Played Per Game, Career

1. Cynthia Cooper, 35.185
2. Katie Smith, 34.800
3. Jennifer Azzi, 34.674
4. Tina Thompson, 34.440
5. Chamique Holdsclaw, 33.876
6. Tamika Catchings, 33.693
7. Candace Parker, 33.606
8. Sheryl Swoopes, 33.375
9. Sue Bird, 33.221
10. Seimone Augustus, 32.919

- bold indicates contracted to the Atlanta Dream

Nikki Teasley's Missed Opportunity

Nikki Teasley had the chance to come back and play in Israel for Elizur Ramla, but that didn't happen. Why? Visa issues, the words that no European team likes to hear. Eventually, Elizur Ramla gave up and acquired Tamara Moore.

So what are "visa issues"? Basically, a visa is a document that allows one to visit another country. There are all kinds of visas - everything from a "single-entry tourist visa" which allows one to visit a country for a limited period of time (maybe a week) and which expires when you leave the country, to a "multiple entry business visa", which would be used for someone seeking long term employment in the host country which allows the person to enter and leave the country as needed.

We are therefore dealing with a government bureaucracy, in this case, the government being Israel. With the Gaza War, I'm sure that Israel's government had been overwhelmed with short-term journalism visa applications. There are also issues regarding whether the person arriving has either a residence or insurance set up. Maybe the person applying for the visa has a passport that is due to expire soon and the government is edgy about allowing a visa. Or maybe, the person is simply applying on short notice.

In any event, there can be all sorts of reasons why the visa process slows down. Women's basketball is so far down the list of the concerns of the government of Israel that they probably see no need to expedite the visa process. There are cases of people being lost in visa limbo. Elizur Ramla simply didn't want to wait for Teasley's application to work its way through the red tape.

Sorry Nikki. Better luck next time.

Israel Women's D1 14/2008 - Electra Ramat Hasharon 80, Maccabi Ramat Hen 66

All Ivory Latta (#7) can do is watch Laine Selwyn (#5) go.

According to the writeup at Safsal, "being the underdog is important when these two teams meet". Ramat Hen (11-3) thought it had insulated itself against an upset. They were playing at home and had just acquired Shay Doron, a former player for the New York Liberty and the only native-born Israel ever to play WNBA ball. Unfortunately, none of this was enough as Ramat Hen was upset at home 80-66 by Electra Ramat (11-3)

The box score is here. With only four games left in the regular season, the Israeli Women's D1 League faces a four-way tie for first place.

Both teams were tied after the first quarter, and Electra Ramat edged out to a 36-32 halftime lead. It was in the second half, however, where Electra Ramat was decisive, holding Ramat Hen to just 11 third quarter point and topping Ramat Hen's 23 points with a 26 point fourth quarter effort.

Electra Ramat had the better shooting day, hitting 46 percent of their field goals to Ramat Hen's 40 percent. Rebounding was more or less even but Electra Ramat grabbed 11 offensive rebounds compared to just six for Ramat Hen. Undoubtedly, however, the key to Electra Ramat's victory was the fact that they only committed six turnovers for the entire game. If you can keep the ball in your hands, you'll likely win and Electra Ramat did everything possible to make that happen.

Shay Doron had a good homecoming, with a 19 point game where she shot 9-for-10 from the field. Tamara James would also score 19 points and Michal Epstein would break into double digits with 12 points.

Part of the loss could theoretically be laid at Ivory Latta's feet. She only scored eight points in 38 minutes of play and was a horrible 3-for-12 from the field. Ice cold.

Four players scored in double digits for Electra Ramat, including Jia Perkins of the Chicago Sky with 17 points and Ebony Hoffman of the Indiana Fever with 12 points and seven rebounds. Tatyana Troina would also contribute 16 points and Naomi Kolodny would score 15 points in the upset win.

Top Ten WNBA Players Who Have Started Every Game

One of the few times you'll see Lisa Leslie resting.

Even with the over 600 players of the WNBA, there are exactly 20 players who have started every single game they played. If you came to the arena to see these people play, you knew not to miss a minute.

Top Ten WNBA Players Who Have Started Every Game They Played

1. Lisa Leslie, 340 games
2. Lauren Jackson, 237 games
3. Sue Bird, 226 games
4. Nikki Teasley, 186 games
(tie) Vicky Bullett, 186 games
6. Nicole Ohlde, 170 games
7. Diana Taurasi, 167 games
(tie) Cheryl Ford, 167 games
9. Alana Beard, 162 games
10. Cynthia Cooper, 124 games

- bold type indicates Atlanta Dream player

Schedule

Here are this week's international games which involve Atlanta Dream players:

Monday

Israel Women's D1: Maccabi Ramat Hen (11-2) vs. Electra Ramat (10-3)

Thursday

LSBL: TTT Rīga Juniors (14-6) vs. SK Cēsis (18-2)

Friday

LFB (Spain): Gran Canaria (4-13) vs. Ros Casares (17-1)

Saturday

LFB (Spain): Ibiza (9-9) vs. Cadi la Seu (6-12)
LFB (Spain): Rivas Ecopolis (14-4) vs. Extrugasa (3-14)

Sunday

Greek Women's A1: Paleo Faliro (11-7) vs. Panionos (9-8)

LFB (Spain) 18/2008 - Ibiza 85, Joventut 78

There are only eight more games left for Ibiza (9-9), and with Ibiza hanging around the eighth and final playoff spot, this is the best time for a push. Taking on fourth-place Joventut (11-7) at home, Ibiza overcame a slow start to win on the road by seven points, 85-78.

The box score is here.

At the end of the first quarter, Ibiza was down by five points - 24-19 - but Ibiza outscored the home team in the second quarter to take a 42-38 lead into halftime. Ibiza was able to hold off Joventut and even slightly extend their lead over the second half.

With Joventut shooting at a 53 percent rate in field goal percentage and Ibiza shooting 50 percent, Ibiza's win would have to be explained elsewhere in the boxscore. Ibiza rebounded slightly better overall, 32 to 29, and had slightly fewer turnovers, 12 to 15. Mostly likely, the source of Ibiza's victory was in the ability to hit eight out of ten of its free throws (Joventut hit 8 out of 14) and Ibiza hit nine 3-pointers compared to Joventut's four.

For Joventut, Linda Page had the game of day with 22 points and 14 rebounds. The North Carolina State graduate put her shooting skills to work, shooting 10 for 16. Armintie Price of the Chicago Sky would score 16 points for Joventut, and Gisela Vega Remore would score 16 points as well.

Sancho Lyttle, the new acquisition for the Atlanta Dream, scored 20 points and 12 rebounds for the second double-double of the game. Silvia Martin scored 23 points to lead all Ibiza scorers and Elsa Donaire Malagelada scored 12 points and six rebounds. Shannon Johnson added just nine points for Ibiza, shooting 3-for-14 with four assists.

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.

LFB (Spain) 17/2008 - Extrugasa 70, Zaragoza 56

It would be difficult to find two teams going in more dramatically different directions than Ros Casares and Extrugasa (3-14).

The last time Extrugasa won a Spanish League game was on October 11, 2008, when Extrugasa beat Estudiantes 76-70. It would also be the last time when Extrugasa would have a winning record in the Spanish league, at 2-1. They proceeded to lose their next thirteen Spanish League games. Figures such as Victoria Sholokhova, Meredith Alexis, Tamera Young, and Mandisa Stevenson went in and out the revolving door at Extrugasa.

Coach Isaac Fernandez lost his job after eight years. Tito Diaz took over, and after his first loss last week, he has finally broken the losing streak, as Extrugasa won 70-56 over visiting Zarazoga (5-13).

The box score is here.

The fact that Extrugasa was only down by four points after the first quarter - 21 to 17 - must have given Extrugasa some hope. They would hold Zaragoza to 10 points in the second quarter (35-31 Extrugasa at halftime) and hold Zaragosa to eight points in the third quarter. By that point, Extrugasa led by 14 points and after the next ten minutes, Extrugasa had won its first Liga Feminina game in four months.

Extrugasa outperformed their opponents in field goal percentage 45 percent to 39 percent and managed to hold off Zarazoga in rebounding by a factor of 36 to 25. Extrugasa would only hit 60 percent at the free throw line - a typical poor-shooting day at the free throw line for Extrugasa - but Zaragoza only went to the line 12 times and only hit five of its shots.

Extrugasa's best player was once again Elisha Turek, who scored 17 points and 11 rebounds for wining team. It would be the only double-double in the game. Taru Tuukkanen scored 12 points and had seven rebounds for Extrugasa. Iziane Castro Marques would score 16 points with 14 field goal attempts, and had six rebounds - it was probably one of her better games.

Hopefully, Extrugasa has finally turned things around. If I can find pictures, I will.

LFB (Spain) 18/2008 - Ros Casares 78, Olesa 57

It was your typical day of Ros Casares (17-1) basketball. After setbacks early on incluing a loss to Perfumerias and some Euroleague opening round losses, Ros Casares has been dynamite. Olesa (10-8) was the latest team to be blown up, losing 78-57 at Ros Casares's home in Valencia as Ros Casares comes closer to securing a place in the post-season.

Ros Casares has set a Spanish League record for Most Consecutive Wins (including Euroleague Games). Ros Casares's win was its 22nd straight win of the year.

The box score is here.

Believe it or not, Olesa actually led Ros Casares after the first quarter by a 15-12 score, but Ros Casares won each of the following quarters. El Ros was ahead 33-30 at halftime, and led 53-47 after the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the visitors were held to just 10 points.

Both teams shot equally well - hitting 40 percent of their shots, but Ros Casares had more field goal attempts. Ros Casares clearly won the battle of offensive rebounds by a factor of 19 to 13. Olesa would also turn the ball over 24 times compared to the 19 times for Ros Casares, and Ros Casares would get 20 visits to the free throw line, where they would hit 16 of their shots.

Elene Tounikidou was probably the Ros Casares player of the game. She scored 22 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists - the only double-double of the game by either side. Erika de Souza had 13 points and seven rebounds for Ros Casares, and both of the other WNBA imports scored in double digits. Delisha Milton-Jones had 17 points and nine rebounds. Amaya Valdemoro, who was suffering a knee strain and did not play, was substituted for by Candace Wiggins added 10 points.

Crystal Kelly was visiting Olesa's showcase player with 11 points and seven rebounds. Kelly is a forward for the Sacramento Monarchs. Olga Podkovalnikova was the leading scorer for the visitors with 13 points and seven rebounds. Anna Cruz scored 11 points and seven rebounds, and Tracy Reid, who last played for the Phoenix Mercury and was a former WNBA Rookie of the Year would score six points.

LSBL 20/2008 - SK Cēsis 85, TTT Rīga 57

Is this Tamera on the bench?


Perfection is hard to achieve - it only takes one loss to ruin it. Tamara Young, returning to international play after her heartbreaking outing with Extrugasa, was signed by SK Cēsis (18-2), the second place team in the Latvian Women's Basketball League. Among the many hopes of Cēsis was that Young would help Cēsis beat undefeated TTT Rīga (20-1) in their season rematch. Young would only score six points, but TTT Rīga's hope of an undefeated season would slip away as Tamera Young's new team won 85-57 on the road.

The box score is here.

Young's minutes were essentially earned in the first quarter, where Cēsis expanded a 12-7 first quarter lead to 23-13 by the end of the first 10 minutes. Young scored a field goal to put Cēsis up 32-15 before TTT Rīga went on an 11-0 run to close the score to 32-26. TTT Rīga was at 36-28 going into halftime and scored the first five points of the third quarter to close to within three points, 36-33.

And then, TTT Rīga's offense went into a tailspin (I think it was because one of their players was in foul trouble - I can't be sure of the Latvian translation.) By the end of the third quarter, Cēsis expanded a 3-point lead into a 26-point lead, leading 66-40 at the end of the third quarter.

The fourth quarter was just a formality. SK Cēsis slept at the end and let TTT Rīga score the final seven points of the game.

Formerly undefeated Rīga only shot 31 percent from the field compared to 45 percent from Cēsis - most of which was probably earned in the third quarter. Rīga, however, outrebounded Cēsis 44-34 - but it didn't help as Rīga turned the ball over 23 times. Cēsis was sent to the free throw line 20 times, and unlike in the Liga Feminina, Cēsis hit 70 percent of their free throws.

Doing all the work for Rīga was Aija Brumermane, who never left the floor, playing all 40 minutes and scoring 18 points and 17 rebounds for a double-double. Merike Anderson would score 18 points and three assists, but turn over the ball ten times for Rīga. Zane Eglīte contributed four points and nine rebounds in a losing effort.

For the Cēsis visitors, Kristen Mann, formerly of the Atlanta Dream and now of the Washington Mystics, scored 25 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double of her own. Four players would score in double figures, including Ieva Tāre (19 points) and Santa Dreimane (14 points). Tamera Young would only play nine minutes, and shoot 3-for-7 with three personal fouls and six total points.

I think I have a good chance at getting some pics from this game as soon as the SK Cēsis website posts them. Cross yer fingers.

Update: There you go. Pics right here.

Never Got a Start

Coach Blodgett no longer has to sit if she doesn't want to.

There are some players who work hard, come to practice, give everything they've got - but when they're announcing the starting five, they just never make it there. They always get their first minutes replacing someone else.

Here are the WNBA's Top Ten in players who have never started a game.

Most Games Played With No Starts
(bold type denotes active player)

1. Laurie Koehn, 120 (WAS 2005-08)
2. Tricia Bader-Binford, 100 (UTA 1998-99, CLE 1999-2002)
3. Carla McGhee, 81 (ORL 1999-2002)
4. Linda Frohlich, 72 (NYL 2002-03, IND 2006, SAC 2007)
5. Cindy Blodgett, 65 (CLE 1998, SAC 1999-2001)
6. Sandora Irvin, 63 (PHO 2005-06, SAS 2007-08)
7. Tracy Henderson, 61 (CLE 1999, 2002-03)
8. Tiffany Jackson, 59 (NYL 2007-08)
9. Tai Dillard, 57, (SAS 2003-05)
10. Kim Smith, 55 (SAC 2006-08)
(tie) Amaya Valdemoro, 55

Now Blogging for Atlanta....SANCHO LYTTLE!!

Sancho Lyttle has a new blog entry - the first of many we hope - at Dream Diary, the official Atlanta Dream blog.

If you don't decide to click the link and welcome a player like Sancho Lyttle to Atlanta...well...you're just a dog. A dirty dog.

Eurocup 8th Finals 2/2008 - San Jose 72, Ibiza 70

Even at home, Ibiza had a tough hill to climb during the Eurocup's "Sweet Sixteen", or the "8th Finals": they would not only have to beat visiting fellow Liga Feminina team San Jose, but they would have to beat them by at least five points. Ibiza got off to a great start, but fell short in the end 72-70 in front of an announced crowd of 500 spectators.

The 8th finals were "best of two" series, where the team that scores the greatest number of points over the two games wins. Ibiza lost the first game on the road 60-56, so an ordinary win just wouldn't do.

The box score and play-by-play are available here.

In the first quarter, down 5-4, Ibiza went on a 14-0 run to take an 18-5 lead, but San Jose answered with a 9-0 run and Ibiza only led by six, 20-14, after the end of the first 10 minutes. San Jose managed to tie the game in the second quarter, but it looked hopeful for Ibiza as Ibiza led 42-35 at halftime.

Even though Ibiza was up 47-37 with 9:44 to go in the third quarter, Ibiza marched back to tie the game with and Kimberly Butler hit two free throws to put San Jose up 51-49 with 5:56 left. Ibiza wrestled the led back, but only led by two (63-61) at the end of the third quarter.

With the game tied 64-64 with 7:06 left, Ibiza scored the next six points and led 70-64 with 3:21 to go. If they could hold on to their six-point lead, they could advance to the Eurocup quarter-finals. Unfortunately, Iziba would commit four fouls in the last three minutes of the game, two by Sancho Lyttle. San Jose would score the last eight points of the game and Ibiza could only watch as the victory slipped out of their hands.

San Jose was more accurate with the free throw by a factor of 52 percent to 47 percent. Ibiza, however, won the battle of rebounds, 32-33. They hit 10 of 12 of their free throws and turned the ball over 22 times to San Jose's 19. It was a close game all around.

Leading for Ibiza was future Atlanta Dream player Sancho Lyttle, with 16 points and 14 rebounds for the only double-double in the game. Lyttle was 7 for 9 in shooting and hit two of three of her free throws. Alicia Lopez would lead all players with 21 points and Sandra Morales would score 17 points. Shannon Johnson, who was not selected in the Houston Comets dispersal draft this year, would only score eight points and two rebounds for Ibiza.

Maria Revuelto Sanchez Aguilera would lead San Jose with 13 points and six assists. Eshaya Murphy of the Washington Mystics would score 16 points and six rebounds as San Jose's high scorer. Kimberly Butler out of Oregon State would score 13 points for eventual victors San Jose and Shona Thorburn would score 11 points. Thorburn last played for the Seattle Storm in 2007.

I'm sure the FIBA Europe site will post pics soon; we'll just have to wait.

Liaoning are WCBA Champions

Liaoning, the team that knocked out Jennifer Lacy's former team Beijing out of the WCBA playoffs has been crowned the WCBA champions with a 79-64 victory. The loser was Bayi Telecom.

This still leaves unanswered the question of whether Jennifer Lacy will attend the WCBA All-Star Game, which is scheduled for February 15th in Beijing. I believe that on January 26th the Chinese Basketball Association invalidated the lineups and removed Lacy from the starting position. I don't see her on any current All-Star list.

It's a shame that her fans in Beijing didn't get to see her one more time. Maybe she'll be back next year.

Trivia

If I were to ask someone "what is the greatest number of regular season games ever played in a WNBA season by a player?" I'm sure the answer would ring back "34". Why? Because there are 34 games in a typical WNBA season, and it's impossible to play more than that maximum number.

Unfortunately, the answer would be wrong. Let's say that a player on Team A is traded to Team B in mid-season. The player has played in all of Team A's games up to this point. However, Team B has not played as many games as Team A, and has more games left to play than Team A. The player goes to the new team, and plays in all of Team B's remaining games. The result is that such a player could end up playing in more than 34 reguar season games.

There are two WNBA players who have played in more than 34 regular season games in one year, due to such a mid season trade. One has played 36 games in a season and the other has played 35 games in a season

Hint: they were both traded to the same team in the same year. Furthermore, they are both still playing for that team.

Update: Answers in the comment section.

Longevity Since 1998

It really wasn't that long ago.

With the announced retirement (after 2009) of Lisa Leslie, and with the number of players who took the court in 1997 who are still playing in the WNBA down to about seven, I thought I should take a look at the players that debuted in 1998 that are still playing in the WNBA.

Players who started playing in 1998 that were still playing in 2008:

Allison Feaster (missed 2007)
Olympia Scott (missed 2003)
Tully Bevilaqua (missed 1999)

Players who started playing in 1998 who have played every year since:

Margo Dydek
Murriel Page
Tangela Smith
Ticha Penicheiro

We Need More of This

What basketball fandom looks like. A picture from Gydnia, Poland, during their Euroleague 8th Finals Game against Turkish power Fenerbahce.

Lisa Leslie of Sparks to Retire at End of Season

It was rumored, and now, it's official. The 2009 season will be the last season for Lisa Leslie. She will most likely retire as a 3-time WNBA MVP and the only WNBA player to score 6,000 points in a career.

Furthermore, she was one of the two players who tipped off the very first game played - on June 21, 1997. (Her tip-off opponent was Kym Hampton of the New York Liberty). She's been part of WNBA history since the league literally started.

Is this going to be a championship season for the Sparks? (Candace Parker is out with pregnancy, but Tina Thompson might be a new Sparks addition.) However the season turns out, I think it will all end in only one place for Leslie - the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tennessee. What a long way from Morningside High School.

Update: Lisa Leslie's ESPN chat today.

Continental Basketball Association Ends Season

It looks like one of the oldest basketball organizations in the United States, the Continental Basketball Association, might have given up the ghost. The CBA, now whittled down to just four teams, is ending its season two months ahead of schedule.

What killed the CBA? Probably two things. The first was Isiah Thomas's management which drove the CBA into its first bankruptcy. The second was the NBDL, the National Basketball Development League. If the NBA needed to fill roster spots in case of emergency, it could always go to its brand new minor league and not to an outside source.

I don't think the CBA will survive this blow - not in this economy. This leaves the NBDL, the WNBA and the NBA all controlled (more or less) by David Stern. Pro basketball at any level and any gender goes through his office. He's got to be a very happy man right now, but it is a shame that a league which lasted for over fifty years is closing the ol' barn door.

Betty Who?

Well, I guess the Betty Lennox Era is officially over.

How do I know? I refreshed the Atlanta Dream home page about 25 times and not once did a picture of Betty Lennox appear in the overhead border. Such luminaries as Ivory Latta, Tamera Young and Coach Meadors appeared, but Betty's pop-up appears to be gone.

Now if they can only change Kit's last name to "Mattera"....

2009 WNBA All Star Game to Take Place in Connecticut

From the WNBA website:

NEW YORK, Feb. 3, 2009 - WNBA All-Star 2009 will take place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., this summer, league President Donna Orender announced today. The game will be nationally televised on ABC on Sat., July 25, at 3:30 p.m. ET. This marks the second time that the WNBA All-Star Game will be played at Mohegan Sun, which also hosted the 2005 All-Star festivities.

Very cool. Given the dire financial situation that all sports are facing and the loss of two roster spots for each team, there was some question about if an All-Star game would even be played. Now, we know it will.

Hmm...my wife likes to gamble on the penny slots...I wonder...?

Lennox Waiver Hits AJC

The story hits the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The Dream are expected to announce another high profile free agent signing in the coming weeks.

“We really appreciate what Betty contributed to this franchise in our inaugural season and we wish her the best,” Dream General Manager and Head Coach Marynell Meadors said in a statement. “We hate to see her go, but really we needed to address our experience and strength at the small forward and center positions.”

Okay.

So who is the high profile free agent? It can't be Holdsclaw, since she was mentioned in a previous paragraph. Snow?

What Does the 2009 Atlanta Dream Look Like?

With all the changes and waivers, you really do need a scorecard to keep up with the current roster.

I've divided the current roster into A, B, and C classes. Class A is the most likely to see time, Class B is the second most likely, and Class C is the third most likely.

I think Dream fans might want to see the list, in case they blinked when their favorites were waived.

A: Players Who Played Last Year

C Mattera (married name of Katie Feenstra)

F/C de Souza
F/C Terry
F Lacy
F Lyttle (acquired from dispersal draft)

G/F Castro Marques
G Haynie
G Latta
G Young

B: Players Who Didn't Play Last Year, But Whom We Expect To Play

C Anderson
G Teasley

C: Players Who Might Or Might Not Be Signed, Or Show Up

F Holdsclaw
C Snow
C Leuchanka
?? #1 Draft Pick

D: Players Who Played Last Year, and Have Been Traded/Waived

Ann Strother
Chioma Nnamaka
Alison Bales
Betty Lennox

Betty Lennox Waived by Atlanta Dream

Update: It's official: Betty Lennox has been waived by the Atlanta Dream. The initial post below remains unaltered. Betty, best of luck in wherever you go.





Rumor has it at the WNBA message board places that Betty Lennox might be waived by the Atlanta Dream organization. She's a cored player, but she can be waived if she's not signed to a contract by mid-February. Was 2008 the last Atlanta will see of Betty Lennox?

It's no secret that Betty Lennox and Dream head coach Marynell Meadors did not see eye to eye on a number of issues. If Betty leaves the Dream...well, how many teams has B-Money been on? This would only add more fuel to speculation that Betty is a Milo - a great player, but an emotionally troubled one.

I guess we'll know the answer to this one soon - we'll either hear it over the waiver wire, or not.

You know, Donna Orender is showing up at the Mohegan Sun today for some "major news" - which I expect is the announcement that the WNBA All-Star Game will be held at Connecticut's home court. But, you know, it could be "Betty Lennox has just signed with the Connecticut Sun".

Israel Women's D1 13/2008 - Maccabi Ramat Hen 104, Maccabi Tel Kabir 81

Ivory Latta (#7) and the rest of her teammates celebrate.

For both teams in the Israeli league, it was the same old, same old. Tel Kabir (0-13) hasn't won a game all season and after today, they're still winless. Ramat Hen (11-2) was on top of the Israel Women's D1 League and is still on top of it after a decisive 104-81 win on the road.

The box score is here.

So far, there really isn't much to say about this game. Tel Kabir actually hung in during the first quarter and was only down 28-25 after the first 10 minutes. But then, the slide began. They slid to being 14 points behind at halftime, 56-42, and during the third quarter they were blown out 27-8. Tel Kabir managed to score 31 points in the final quarter, but Ramat Hen managed 21 points of their own and by that time the deficit for Tel Kabir was much more than ten points.

Ramat Hen was certainly more accurate that the home club, hitting 51 percent of their baskets compared to 43 percent for the winless Tel Kabir. Ramat Hen also dominated on the boards, outrebounding the home team 47-35 as well as winning the offensive rebounding battle. The visitors were sent to the free throw line 22 times, and Ramat Hen hit 18 of their shots for a further advantage over Tel Kabir that they most likely didn't need.

Carrying the burden for Tel Kabir was Brooke Reeves, who scored 30 points and 13 rebounds for Tel Kabir. You might congratulate her on those amazing numbers, but only six players took the floor for Tel Kabir. (Only seven would take the floor for Rabat Hen.) Reeves was a graduate of Kansas University and played for Aris Holargos in Greece earlier this year. I suspect that when the Greek players walked out of Aris Holargos for not getting paid, she either walked out too or was bought out by Tel Kabir. (This explains why Aris Holargos is in a tailspin in Greek play.)

Oregon State graduate Shannon Howell scored 26 points and nine assists for Tel Kabir and Dominique Carter, a graduate of San Francisco, scored 10 points.

For the women of Ramat Hen, Michal Epstein led with a double-double of 29 points and 10 rebounds. LaToya Pringle had already hit 19 points and 12 rebounds for her down double-double before fouling out after playing 25 minutes. Ivory Latta scored 27 points, htting six out of 10 3-point field goals in an amazing long range game. Tamara James would also contribute six points.

Maybe somehow, I'll be able to find some pictures to post, nu?

Minnesota Lynx Roll Out New Draft Central Page

The Minnesota Lynx have a snazzy new draft headquarters where you can look up the stats and info about the future prospects.

I give this site a definite thumbs up.

2009 WNBA Draft Date Finalized

The WNBA has posted information on the 2009 WNBA Draft. The Draft is to take place Thursday, April 9th at the NBA Entertainment Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. This is two days after the 2009 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament concludes.

ESPN will provide live coverage of the first round of the draft.
ESPNU and NBATV will provide coverage of Rounds 2 and 3.

Supposedly, WNBA.com will also provide prospect information in the near future. I look forward to it. My question, however, is where do you buy tickets to the draft?

Three Third Round Picks for Atlanta

Jacqua Williams makes a Dookie's life miserable.

There has been much discussion about two matters at RebKell:

a) The fact that WNBA roster sizes are shrinking from 13 to 11, and
b) The fact that a third round pick is going to have very little chance of getting on a roster somewhere - there has been some discussion as to whether or not the third round of the WNBA Draft should be dispensed with.

I don't agree with the above proposition found in b). First, when the economy gets better about 10 years from now, the roster sizes might expand. Heck, Donna Orender has talked about the league expanding in 2010. In which case, that third round is going to be useful.

Second, as Clay Kellam wrote at RebKell, the third round of the WNBA Draft gives a chance for papers all across the country to write "Local Girl Drafted in Third Round of WNBA" papers. It's free publicity at least. Furthermore, it might help some of these young women catch on in European ball or even around the league.

Therefore, here is my choice of potential third round draft picks for Atlanta. I hope to have 10 of these, but I'll just name the first two so far....

1. Jacqua Williams, Georgia Tech. Williams has just set the record for most steals ever in an ACC career, so there's no question that Williams can play defense - and Atlanta has been lacking defense. There's already a Georgia Tech-Atlanta Dream connection in that both Kasha Terry and Chioma Nnamaka ended up in Powder Blue last year. Why not pick Williams for the third round? Let's see if Williams can harass WNBA players as well as she harasses her ACC opponents.

2. Brittany Hollins, Georgia State. Why not look at the other Division I school based in Atlanta? She was team captain as a sophomore and junior, so you know she provides leadership? She was on the CAA-All Defensive team for the last three years, so you know that she can play defense. Furthermore, she's in the Top 10 in steals all time for the CAA. She's not much of a scorer, but if Tamera Young from the CAA can make it to the bigs, why not give Hollins a look?

3. Greteya Kelley, Kennesaw State. Another Georgia school. Kelley is a redshirt senior who was the Atlantic Sun Defensive Player of the Year and she also led the Atlantic Sun in steals in 2008 - unfortunately, Kennesaw State is the middle of transferring into Division I, so her "fifth-ranked in steals nationally" doesn't count.

That's just three. Hopefully, seven more to come.

LFB (Spain) 17/2008 - Ros Casares 89, Perfumerias 50

This Michelle Snow rebound was one of the few high points for Perfumerias.

This was a major match in the Liga Feminina - the rematch of Ros Casares (16-1) and Perfumerias (14-3). In Spanish league play, Ros Casares's only loss of the year came at the hands of second place Perfumerias, a 91-86 loss at Perfumerias on October 18th. After three months, the two teams meet again and Ros Casares doesn't need the home court advantage to dominate Perfumerias 89-50.

The box score is here.

Ros Casares thundered out to a 31-12 first quarter which would set the pace for the entire game. By halftime, El Ros led 50-25 and by the end of the third quarter, the lead was over thirty points.

Ros Casares easily won the field goal accuracy battle, 52 percent to 33 percent. Perfumerias took 54 shots overall - slightly more than the number of shots (53) that Ros Casares took from inside the 3-point arc. (Ros Casares went 6-for-16 outside the arc.) Ros Casares forced 27 Perfumerias turnovers and decisively won the battle of the boards. Perfumerias was simply never in this game.

Undoubtedly, the player of the game was Erika de Souza, who scored 22 points, and had four rebounds and six assists for Ros Casares. Jana Vesala would score 11 points and six rebounds. Delisha Milton-Jones and Elena Tornikidou would add 12 points each.

With such offensive firepower, players such as Amaya Valdemoro (10 points, 20 minutes) and Candace Wiggins (four points, 17 minutes) weren't much needed. Call it a day of rest for Ros Casares's all-star players.

Carrying the battle for Perfumerias was Michelle Snow - formerly with the Houston Comets, now a free agent - who scored 13 points and nine rebounds. Le'coe Willingham (Phoenix Mercury) would lead all Perfumerias scorers with 16 points. They were the only true high points for Perfumerias, which didn't have any other players in double figures and whose other players had disappointing performances.

This Week's Schedule

It's been a busy weekend, so I'm late with a writeup of the Ros Casares-Perfumerias game. I'll get to it. Below is a schedule of all of the games overseas involving players from the Atlanta Dream this week:

Monday

Israel Women's D1: Maccabi Tel Kabir (0-12) vs. Maccabi Ramat Hen (10-2)

Thursday

Eurocup 8th Finals 2/2008 - Ibiza vs. San Jose

Friday

LSBL - TTT Rīga (19-0) vs. SK Cēsis (14-2) - debut of Tamera Young *

Saturday

LFB (Spain): Ros Casares (16-1) vs. Olesa (10-7)
LFB (Spain): Extrugasa (2-14) vs. Zaragoza (5-12)
LFB (Spain): Joventut (11-6) vs. Ibiza (8-9)

Sunday

Greek Women's A1: Paleo Faliro (10-7) vs. Aris Holargos (6-10)

* - Standings as of February 2, 2009

Sheryl Swoopes Waived by Seattle

Sherly Swoopes was waived by Seattle on January 30th. The explanation given on RebKell is that her contract with the Seattle Storm had a clause that if she were still with the team by February 1st, her salary would have to be guaranteed.

Swoopes is the #4 scorer in WNBA history and is one of only eight players in WNBA history to score 4,000 points in a career. Only she and Lisa Leslie have won three WNBA Most Valuable Player awards.

Except for 2001, she has played in every WNBA season. The most similar player that the Similarity Scores system can find for Swoopes is Andrea Stinson, of all people, which is a testimony to Swoopes's greatness - great players have no one that is truly similar to them as players.

Here are Swoopes's Player Efficiency Ratings, followed by year and age in parentheses - remember that a PER = 9 is replacement level, 15 is average and that 30 is a superstar MVP season:

26.87 (1997-26)
24.43 (1998-27)
29.01 (1999-28)
31.83 (2000-29)
25.42 (2002-31)
23.38 (2003-32)
20.52 (2004-33)
26.65 (2005-34)
19.13 (2006-35)
10.06 (2007-36)
15.37 (2008-37)

Aside from a dip in 2007, Swoopes is capable of being at least an average player in the WNBA, easily above replacement level. The big question is whether anyone is going to play a superstar salary for a player who will be 38 years old this year. My guess is that in order for Swoopes to have a job this year, she's going to have to take a pay cut. Does Swoopes really want to put herself through the ringer of a WNBA season for less pay?

Swoopes needs 396 points to reach the 5,000 point plateau with Lisa Leslie, Tina Thompson and Katie Smith. I don't think she can get it this season; she has passed her peak as player and can't create those kind of points in a season anymore. She needs at least this season and 2010 to be sure. But would she get those kind of minutes as a bench player?

Swoopes's future as a player is definitely uncertain. My thought is that she should find a spot on a bench somewhere for one more season, and then at the end of 2009 retire on her own terms. She deserves that.

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.