Iziane Castro Marques and the Player Mailbag

Iziane sent us this picture, but I don't think she took it herself.

The Atlanta Dream website asks Iziane Castro Marques a few questions while she's in Poland:

An excerpt:

What are you looking forward to about returning to Atlanta this summer?

I am definitely looking forward to seeing my teammates, coaches and staff and of course the fans back at Philips Arena! I know that we have a long way to go and a lot of work to accomplish our goal this year, but we are capable of doing great things and picking up where we left off last season.

Iziane also sent some pictures from her games. Take a peek!

This Week's Games

The Polish League doesn't have another game until March 10th. There are also no post-season games in the Slovak Extraliga this week.

In Krakow, Poland, the winner of the Krakow-Brno game will move on to the Euroleague semifinals, where they will play Spanish team Ros Casares.

Monday

Russia Superleague A: Dynamo Moscow (4-8) vs. Dynamo Kursk (5-7)

Wednesday

Euroleague Quarterfinals: Krakow vs. Brno (Game 3)
Cypriot League Semifinals: K. V. Imperial vs. Etha (Game 2)

Saturday

Russia Superleague A: Dynamo Kursk (5-7) vs. Spartak Moscow (12-1) (*)
LFB: Perfumerias (19-2) vs. Estudiantes (5-16)
LFB: Ibiza (3-18) vs. Ros Casares (20-1)

Sunday

TBBL: Mersin (14-1) vs. Samsun (6-10)
TBBL: Fenerbahce (15-0) vs. Galatasaray (13-3)

(*) - Record as of March 1, 2010

Latta's New Do

This is a picture from last week's Mersin-Tarsus game. There are new pics up on the Turkish League website, but this is the only one of Ivory Latta.

I don't remember Ivory Latta's hair being that long. It's a nice look. But isn't that Chantelle Anderson's hair?

TBBL 16/2009 - Galatasaray 85, Besitkas 61

Fenerbahce is at the top of the Turkish League - they were just eliminated by Spartak Moscow in Euroleague. Following Fenerbahce is Mersin (Ivory Latta's team), and after that comes Galatasaray. Galatasaray is comfortably in third place, and will remain there after an 85-61 home win against Besitkas.

Galatsaray advances to 13-3. Besitkas falls to 7-9. The box score is here.

Galatasaray galloped off to a 10-3 lead and led 25-12 after ten minutes. They'd win the second quarter, the third quarter, and the fourth quarter. Leading 51-34 at halftime, Galatasaray faced little trouble. Galatasaray shot 10-for-20 from 3-point range.

Shavonte' Zellous led Besitkas with 18 points and six rebounds, most of her points coming from 10-for-11 shooting from the free throw line. (I still remember that game in Atlanta....) Nykesha Sales and Kelly Santos each scored 15 points for Besitkas.

Tamika Catchings had two 3-pointers on the way to a 14 point, four rebound game for Galatasaray. Yasemin Horasan had 12 points, five rebounds and six assists.

Yelena Leuchanka had 13 points and a good game.

13 points
5-for-7 shooting
6 rebounds
21 minutes of play

LFB 21/2009 - Perfumerias 78, Gran Canaria 67

Licking their wounds after being swept by Ros Casares in the Euroleague quarterfinals, Perfumerias made themselves feel better by beating Gran Canaria 78-67 in a Liga Femenina game in Salamanca.

Perfumerias advances to 19-2 and remains in second place. Gran Canaria falls to 9-12. The box score is here.

No pictures, and no write ups just yet. It looked like a close game initally, with the first quarter ending 21-20 and the first half ending 35-34 in favor of Perfumerias. It seems like Perfumerias established a good third quarter lead, holding Gran Canaria to just 10 points. The pendulum swung back in favor of Gran Canaria in the fourth quarter, but not by enough.

Rosuara Sanchez Lujan had 15 points and two rebounds for Gran Canaria, which was led by Morgan Warburton with 21 points, six rebounds and five assists. Warburton graduated from Utah and was drafted by the Sacramento Monarchs but didn't make the team.

Anke de Mondt and Emilija Podrug had 15 points each for Perfumerias. Sancho Lyttle had a good game, but only played 22 minutes:

14 points
6-for-11 shooting
2 rebounds
2 assists
4 turnovers
22 minutes played

LFB 21/2009 - Ros Casares 88, Olesa 73

After knocking Spanish League rival Perfumerias out of the Euroleague on Friday, Ros Casares returned to Valencia and resumed their march through the Liga Femenina, ovrecoming a temporary third-quarter setback to defeat visiting Olesa 88-73.

WIth five games left in the Liga Femenina season, Ros Casares advances to 20-1 on the year, where Olesa falls to 10-11. The box score is here.

No game writeup as of yet, and no pictures. Ros Casares only put seven players on the floor, while only eight Olesa players saw any minutes. Olesa was held to only ten second quarter points and El Ros led 41-27 at halftime. However, Olesa exploded in the third quarter for 31 poitns and closed the gap to 60-58 at the end of thirty minutes. Ros Casares would prove to be the toughest team, scoring 28 points in the final quarter to seal the victory.

Michelle Maslowski led Olesa with 20 points and 6 rebounds. Maslowski is a graduate of Drexel University. Iva Perovanovic added 14 points and 11 rebounds in the losing effort.

Belinda Snell had 20 points for Ros Casares, but the player of the game was clearly Erika de Souza. Some writers are saying that Erika de Souza might challenge fellow Atlanta Dream player Sancho Lyttle for the MVP title of the Spanish League.

Erika de Souza's game:

24 points
12-for-15 shooting
11 rebounds
4 assists
30 minutes played

Other Games (Thursday-Saturday)

Good Angels Kosice 92, Ruzomberok 65. How crazy it is to play a possibly meaningless post season "Stage Two" game in Slovakia the day before what could be a decisive Game Two of Euroleague on Friday? However, both Angel McCoughtry and Candice Dupree took part in the Good Angels's ass-whooping of Ruzomberok. McCoughtry had 22 points and eight rebounds; Dupree added 21 points and nine rebounds.

Mersin 79, Botus 71. Mersin remains firmly in second place with a victory on the road against Botas. Ivory Latta lit up shooting with 26 points, hitting 4-for-6 from 3-point range. Erlana Larkins had 25 points and nine rebounds for Mersin. Chasity Melvinled the losers with an 18 point, 12 rebound double-double.

Friday's Euroleague Games

Ekaterinburg 65, Good Angels Kosice 60. Ekaterinburg wins the second game of the best-of-three series, knocking out Angel McCoughtry's Good Angels Kosice team.

According to Angel McCoughtry, ""It was a very good match. It was difficult, but I'm very proud of my teammates. We played well against a very tough opponent." The Good Angels were down by only one point after three quarters (42-41) and led 43-42 after a layup by McCoughtry, but after that the closest the Good Angels could get was two points. McCoughtry scored 16 points and had six rebounds in the loss.

Brno 87, Krakow 72. Brno's 87-72 win over Krakow in the Czech Republic forces a game three of the best-of three seres. Brno won every quarter and led by as many as 24 in the final ten minutes. Iziane Castro Marques led KRakwo with 19 points. Taj McWilliams had 20 points and nine rebounds for Brno.

Ros Casares 63, Perfumerias 57. Ros Casares sweeps the series 2-0, defeating Perfumerias on their home court. Tied at 57-57 with three minutes left, Perfumerias didn't score for the rest of the game.

Erika de Souza led Ros Casares with 21 points and eight rebounds. Her Atlanta Dream teammate, Sancho Lyttle had 17 points and 10 minutes.

Eurocup Games on Thursday

So since I couldn't write anything in detail - long days at work Thursday, Friday and today! - here's what happened in Eurocup if you didn't already know.

Orenburg 66, K. V. Imperal 61: Orenburg wins the second game of its best-of-two Eurocup quarterfinals series, and moves on to the Eurocup semifinals. K. V. Imperial - Chamique Holdsclaw's team - is eliminated. K. V. Imperial led 51-40 late in the third quarter, but Monique Currie helped the Russians close the gap and the Russians went up for good with four minutes left.

Holdsclaw had 15 points and 7 rebounds, but the high scorer of the game was Currie who had 30 points for Orenburg.

Dynamo Kursk 76, Targoviste 55. Dynamo Kursk recovers from their loss in Romania to roll over Targoviste in Russia. Even though the series was split 1-1, Dynamo Kursk advances on total points.

All Targoviste had to do was not to lose by more than 18 points, their margin of victory in the first game. However, Dynamo Kursk went on a 14-2 run in the last ten minutes and both sides were looking at the scoreboard carefully - Dynamo Kursk needed an 19 point win. Allready up by 19 points, the last fourteen minutes generated into a foul fest with each team trying to secure the ball - apparently by unarmed combat. Targoviste ran out of fouls first and Sandra Linkeviciene hit a pair of free throws that put Dynamo Kursk up by 21. Monika Boriga of Targoviste tried a 3-pointer with four seconds left, but the ball didn't go in.

Michelle Snow had 18 points and seven rebounds.

Dynamo Kursk advances to the semifinals of Eurocup where they will play Greek powerhouse Athinaikos. Orenburg plays German team Saarlouis.

Failed Rally

Apologies for the lack of update today. Eurocup games today, Euroleague games tomorrow. Hoping to get to everything tomorrow night, and if not then, on Saturday.

Problem Solved in Cyprus

Chamique Holdsclaw sent a few tweets earlier about K. V. Imperial's (aborted) trip to Russia when two players on the team refused to get on the plane to Russia. Looks like that problem was solved:

@chold1 We bout to start this trip to Russia again. Those two girls that fcuked up our trip on Sunday got kicked off the team. They really did a # on us bc we had great chemistry now we will play w/o our 2 and 3 scorers who were vets.

I wish Chamique Holdsclaw and K. V. Imperial the best of luck.

Euroleague Quarterfinals 1/2009 - Ros Casares 74, Perfumerias 50

Welcome to Valencia!

With the two best teams in Spain playing against each other, everyone expected a fantastic game between Ros Casares and Perfumerias. Instead, the crowd of 4,820 spectators in Valencia were treated to a happy anti-climax: Ros Casares led in every quarter and won easily, 74-50.

The game report, box score, play-by-play and a photo gallery for this game are right here.

El Ros pulled out to a quick lead, and only Sancho Lyttle's seven points in the first 10 minutes kept Ros Casares from running away from Perfumerias. Perfumerias got to 23-18 in the second, but Ros Casares was off again, and led 39-29 at halftime.

Perfumerias remained at least 10 points behind throughout the third quarter, and Ros Casares expanded the lead to 20 in the fourth. It really wasn't much of a game.

LeCoe Willingham had 17 points and eight rebounds to lead Perfumerias in the defeat. Belinda Snell scored 21 points for Ros Casares with 3-for-6 shooting from 3-point range, and Delisha Milton-Jones contributed 14 points to the victory.

Erika de Souza got on the boards, but she didn't score a lot for Ros Casares:

4 points
2-for-7 shooting
10 rebounds
3 steals
33 minutes played

Sancho Lyttle didn't have a standout game, but she had nothing to be ashamed of - she was the second leading scorer on Perfumerias.

13 points
6-for-14 shooting
6 rebounds
30 minutes played

Euroleague Quarterfinals 1/2009 - Krakow 78, Brno 74

Iziane Castro Marques was definitely needed in the Euroleague quarterfinals series against Brno - everyone was going to be needed, because most Euroleague observers figured this to be a close game. Krakow came back from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter and an exciting final two minutes ended with Krakow winning 78-74 in Poland in front of 2000 spectators.

The game report, box score, and play-by-play is here. There's no gallery of pics, not yet, anyway, but we do have...some film! (Check out Iziane Castro Marques at about 44 seconds in.)

Brno took the lead early in the first quarter but Krakow came back to tie the score at 19-19. DeWanna Bonner and Hollie Grima provided the offense punch for the Czechs and led 43-34 at halftime. Brno maintained the two-point lthrough most of the third quarter and led 62-56 at the end of thirty minutes.

Krakow came back. They held Brno to just five points in the first five minutes of the final quarter and retook the lead, 70-69. With four minutes left, Eva Viteckova hit a 3-pointer for Brno that tied the game at 72-72.

For the next four minutes, both teams tried to make something happen. Brno could get the rebounds, but couldn't take a shot. Krakow took shot after shot, and missed most of them. However, with Krakow up 76-74, Janell Burse hit a jumper with 16 seconds left that put Krakow up 78-74. With 10 seconds left, DeWanna Bonner tried to hit a 3-pointer for Brno, but Krakow got the rebound and the win.

Brno was led by Eva Viteckova's 22 points. DeWanna Bonner scored 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Taj McWilliams scored eight points and 10 rebounds.

Krakow had three players score 18 points. Janlle Burse shot 8-for-11 with 12 rebounds; Ewelina Kobryn shot 8-for-12 with 11 rebounds.

Iziane Castro Marques had 18 points in 26 minutes:

18 points
7-for-17 shooting
2-for-7 from 3-point range
3 rebounds
26 minutes

Euroleague Quarterfinals 1/2009 - Ekaterinburg 81, Good Angels Kosice 56

Angel McCoughtry tries to stop Deanna Nolan.

Every team knew that Ekaterinburg would be tough, but some team would have to play them: that team was the Good Angels of Kosice. Unfortunately, they experienced exactly how tough Ekaterinburg was, as the Russians won at home 81-56 in front of 5,000 spectators.

The game report, box score, play by play and a small gallery are right here.

For the first three minutes, the Good Angels were in control and they marched to a 6-0 lead on Ekaterinburg's turf. Ekaterinburg caught up but only led by one, 17-16 after one quarter. In the second, Ekaterinburg managed to widen the lead out to ten points with a jump shot from Sandrine Gruda in the last minute: they led 47-39 going into halftime.

But the third quarter was a disaster for the Good Angels - they only scored five points in the quarter, and went 0-for-12 over their final twelve shots of the third. Ekaterinburg led 64-44 at the end of thirty minutes and there was no comeback from the Good Angels.

Candace Parker led all players with 21 points and 14 rebounds, and she hit 9 of 11 free throw shots. Sandrine Gruda scored 13 points for Ekaterinburg.

Candice Dupree led the Good Angels with 13 points and 14 rebounds. Ivaná Jalcová scored 12 poitns and had three rebounds and three assists.

For Angel McCoughtry, it was a poor shooting game - she got double digits, but took a lot of shots:

12 points
4-for-16 shooting
8 rebounds
4 steals

This Week's Schedule

The big news: Euroleague and Eurocup Quarterfinals. Given Chamique Holdsclaw's recent Twitter messages, I wonder if they'll be able to get K. V. Imperial on the same plane together.

The BIG-ASS games of the week: Ros Casares (Erika de Souza) vs. Perfumerias (Sancho Lyttle). Not once, but at least twice (and maybe three times, because I suspect this series will go all three games). This is a preview of the Spanish League championship, with the winner going to the Euroleague Semifinals.

With 21 out of 24 games played, it looks like the Polish League, the PLKK, is going to take a few weeks off. Krakow doesn't play another Polish League game until March 10th. Iziane Castro Marques can recover from her injury, at least a little bit - she still has Euroleague.

Michelle Snow's Dynamo Kursk team doesn't play another Russian League game until March 1st.



Tuesday

Euroleague Quarterfinals: Ekaterinburg vs. Good Angels Kosice, Game 1
Euroleague Quarterfinals: Krakow vs. Brno, Game 1
Euroleague Quarterinfals: Ros Casares vs. Perfumerias, Game 1

Thursday

Slovakia Extraliga: Ruzomberok vs. Good Angels Kosice, "Stage Two"
Eurocup Quarterfinals: Orenburg vs. K. V. Imperial, Game 2
Eurocup Quarterfinals: Dynamo Kursk vs. Targoviste, Game 2

Friday

Euroleague Quarterfinals: Good Angels Kosice vs. Ekaterinburg, Game 2
Euroleague Quarterfinals: Brno vs. Krakow, Game 2
Euroleague Quarterfinals: Perfumerias vs. Ros Casares, Game 2

Saturday

TBBL: Botas (7-8) vs. Mersin (13-1)
TBBL: Galatsaray (12-3) vs. Besitkas (7-8)

Sunday

LFB: Ros Casares (19-1) vs. Olesa (10-10)
LFB: Prefumerias (18-2) vs. Gran Canaria (9-11)

TBBL 14/2009 - Mersin 67, Tarsus 62

I was hoping for a chance to get some more information about yesterday's game between Mersin and Tarsus in the Turkish League, but all I have is the box score. Mersin beat visiting Tarsus 67-62 in a reunion between Ivory Latta (Mersin) and Betty Lennox (Tarsus), the two major players of the 2008 Atlanta Dream.

The win puts Mersin up at 13-1 and in second place. Tarsus falls to 7-8. The box score is here.

It looks like a back and forth game: Tarsus led 16-15 at the first; Mersin led 32-27 at halftime. Tarsus closes the gap to 47-45 at the end of three quarters, but Mersin makes a final push at the end and gets over the top.

Chantel Black scored 17 points and 10 rebounds for Tarsus. Betty Lennox added nine points and 10 rebounds in just 21 minutes of play.

Erlana Larkins and Olympia Scott had double-digit games for Mersin. The leading scorer for Mersin? Ivory Latta:

16 points
3-for-8 shooting
5 points
2 assists

Toby Wyman Makes Transition to COO of Dream

There's a new article in the Enterprise News about new Chief Operating Officer Toby Wyman of the Atlanta Dream.

Some comments:

“Put people in the seats, at the end of the day, that’s what it comes down to,’’ said Wyman, whose has a son and daughter with wife Nancy. “One of the things we have a shared vision of here is we have to widen our target. We want to build loyalty from the fan base.

...

“We have a good product from a family standpoint. We’ve got a team that people can feel good about. The players we have are educated women, they’re mothers, they’re Olympians. With everything that’s going on, that’s a good group of people to be part of.

If you want some background on the forces behind the Atlanta Dream, give the article a read.

The Circus at K. V. Imperial

Chamique Holdsclaw Twitters about an incident at her club K. V. Imperial in Cyprus:

At airport headed to Russia and 2 players decide they don't wanna fly. Next thing I know the president and coach talk tells us we not taking the flight. Come on now the other 8 players r pissed as hell

Man I'm so pissed and so are the other players. Coaches are even pissed this is just SELFISH. Man I wanna go up aside their heads for this stunt.

Man I just don't understand now we waiting for baggage and they at the crib. Wowzers. You know me so u know how I feel right now

Man right now I don't wanna hear no shit about no one is bigger than the team. Its obvious from actions that its not true or else we wud be on that plane.

head back home to my flat catch some zzz's and figure out with these folks gonna do.

Man this situation is crazy

TBBL 15/2009 - Galatsaray 93, Kocaeli 50

Yelena Leuchanka gets some work in.

Let's talk about Galatasaray. I'm going to keep my eye on Galatsaray in the Turkish league for a little while as Yelena Leuchanka is playing there and the Dream have signed Leuchanka as a free agent.

The team had such big names as Sophia Young, Jia Perkins, Katie Douglas and Tamika Catchings. (I don't think that Young and Perkins are with the club now.) Leuchanka is averaging about 24 minutes a game, with 10.7 points/8.2 rebounds per game.

Furthermore, the team was a Euroleague competitor. Galatasaray finished 4-6 in a tough Group A that had Ekaterinburg and Ros Casares. The 4-6 finish was good enough for fourth place and the Turks moved on to the 8th Finals. Galatasaray took on Ekaterinburg out of their own group - this was Leuchanka's team during the 2008-09 season. It was an unhappy homecoming, as Ekaterinburg won 79-55 at home and then won 61-50 in Turkey, knocking Galatsaray out of Euroleague competition.

Over the 11 games Leuchanka played in Euroleague, she averaged 10.3 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game.

As for Galatsaray, they had no problem with Kocaeli, leading 26-8 at the end of the first quarter and winning every other quarter. Kocaeil's strategy? Play each of their starters a full forty minutes, and pray. Yep - only five players played for Kocaeli. It didn't help.

The box score is here. The bulk of the scoring for Kocaeli came Ceyda Kozluca who scored 21 points...and had eight turnovers. Asli Sevinc scord 12 points and 13 rebounds.

However, Galatsaray shot 59 percent from the field. Six players scored in double figures. Bahar Caglar scored 11 points and had 14 rebounds for Galatasaray. Esra Sencebe scored 17 points. The big guns - Douglas and Catchings - didn't score much.

Yelena Leuchanka had a good game:

17 points
8-for-12 shooting
3 points
3 assists

Pics from the Mersin-Kayseri Game

A couple of pictures of Ivory Latta from last week's Mersin-Kayseri Game. These were snagged from the TBBL website; you can find that website right here. The pictures are displayed in the upper left hand corner; these are #9 and #10 in the sequence.




Two impressions:

1) I don't like those Mersin uniforms, and
2) It doesn't look like a well-attended game.