Off the Record - Dec. 05
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Overseas Update
Posted on December 20
Have you voted for the inaugural Euroleague All-Stars? Vote early and often! The bad news is two of the three players listed on the main ballot are at the same position - centers
Suzy Batkovic and 
Janell Burse (the third is 
Natalia Vodopyanova). The good news is you can write in 
Sue Bird and 
Iziane Castro Marques, as well as Alicia Thompson. The Storm is so well represented overseas that you can almost make an all-Storm ballot.
Bird made her Euroleague debut on Dec. 8, but it came in a losing effort as Lietuvos Telekomas blew out Dynamo Moscow 71-51. Bird played 22 minutes and had six points and two assists in her first game. She was on her game last Wednesday as Dynamo went into Slovakia and handed K Cero ICP an 82-65 defeat. Bird put up a versatile stat line of nine points, eight rebounds and six assists, while buddy Diana Taurasi scored 15 points. The win moved Dynamo to 5-3, third place in Group C behind Valenciennes (7-1) and Lietuvos (6-2). Phard Napoli, featuring former Storm players Thompson and Francesca Zara, is just a game behind at 4-4.
Entering Euroleague's holiday break (no games are scheduled between Dec. 15 and Jan. 11), Batkovic's UMMC Ekaterinburg squad sits 4-4 and tied for third in Group B. On Dec. 7, Batkovic led the way with 18 points as Ekaterinburg used a 19-0 run to take control of a 99-74 win over MKB Euroleasing. Batkovic shot 8-for-10 from the field and pulled down seven boards in the win. Batkovic had a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) on Dec. 15 against Bourges Basket, but UMMC was defeated 74-55.
As you surely have read about in 
Castro Marques' off-season blog, USK Praha earned its first Euroleague win on Dec. 7, defeating Dexia Namur 81-73 in Prague. Burse had 14 points and 11 rebounds for her fifth double-double in seven games to lead the way. Praha could not keep the momentum rolling against Ros Casares, losing 71-60 on Dec. 14. Burse had 16 points, seven rebounds and three steals, Castro Marques four points and two boards. Burse continues to rank fourth in Euroleague in scoring at 17.9 points per game and third in rebounding at 10.1 boards per game.
USK Praha played on Dec. 9, beating Karlovy Vary 89-73. Bothered by foul trouble, Burse had a quiet game, playing 19 minutes and finishing with four points and four boards. Castro Marques stepped up to score 13 points and grab six rebounds. Praha is 11-1 and remains behind undefeated Gambrinus Brno in the Czech League.
Overseas Update
Posted on December 6
As promised, at long last an update from Europe on how your favorite Storm players are progressing. Although Phard Napoli no longer technically has any Storm players on the roster, with Francesca Zara selected by Chicago in last month's Expansion Draft and Alicia Thompson retired, we'll still provide some brief updates. Napoli is now 3-3 in Euroleague play, having won two games in a row. Napoli has extended its Italian League winning streak to six games, remaining tied for first place.
Only one Euroleague team with Storm ties is above .500, and that's 4-2 Dynamo Moscow. Dnyamo earned a 66-60 win at Napoli on Nov. 17, getting eight points and nine rebounds from Natalia Vodopyanova. Back at home, Dynamo defeated Wisla Can-Pack 68-58, getting 11 points from Vodopyanova. Playing without the Storm's forward, sidelined with a broken leg (see below), Dynamo fell 80-56 to Valenciennes in Diana Taurasi's first game.
Suzy Batkovic's UMMC Ekaterinburg's squad sits at 3-3. On Nov. 16, Ekaterinburg fell at home to Gambrinus, 78-65. Batkovic had 14 points and seven rebounds in defeat. On the 24th, Ekaterinburg snapped its two-game winning streak by defeating Lotos Gdynia 71-58. Batkovic had 14 points and six rebounds, but shot just 6-for-17 from the field. On Wednesday, Ekaterinburg was dealt a 69-60 setback by Famila Schio.
The third team with Storm ties in Euroleague, USK Praha, is still looking for its first victory. VBM-SGAU earned a blowout win over Praha, 78-62, on Nov. 15. Janell Burse had 14 points and 15 rebounds in the game and new teammate Iziane Castro Marques made her Euroleague debut, scoring two points in nine minutes. MiZo-Pecs then handed Praha a 73-58 defeat on Nov. 24. Burse had 12 points and nine rebounds, Castro Marques four points and four rebounds. Praha played well last Wednesday against USO Basket but still dropped a 79-71 decision. Burse keyed Praha's charge, finishing with 31 points and 10 rebounds and shooting 12-for-17 from the field. Castro Marques had three rebounds.
Though her team hasn't been able to translate it into victories, Burse has been truly dominant. She now ranks fourth in Euroleague in scoring (18.8 points per game), second in rebounding (10.5), tops in blocks (2.0) and fourth in field-goal percentage (61.8%). Batkovic is 13th in scoring average (15.3) and 18th in rebounding (7.0). In play in the Czech Republic, USK Praha is 9-1 after defeating Sparta Praha 105-59 on Saturday. Castro Marques was the star of that game, posting 28 points on 11-for-19 shooting, including a trio of 3-pointers. Still, USK trails 10-0 Gambrinus Brno in the Czech League. Burse missed the game. (She appears to be injured, but the Czech-to-English translations I've been able to find are limited at best.)
In Russia, UMMC Ekaterinburg and Moscow Dynamo sit second and third, respectively, at 7-1 and 7-2. VBM-SGAU has dominated league play thus far, undefeated at 9-0. But both Ekaterinburg and Dynamo have made big pickups - literally in the case of 7-2 Connecticut center Margo Dydek, who recently signed with Ekaterinburg and will form quite a high-low duo with Batkovic; more figurative in the case of Sue Bird and Taurasi, who have both recently joined Dynamo. Ekaterinburg suffered its first league loss Saturday, 65-57 at Kursk Dynamo. Batkovic struggled in the game, shooting just 2-for-9 from the field.
Overseas Contingent Swells
Posted on December 5
 Castro Marques |
Iziane Castro Marques has joined teammate Janell Burse in the Czech Republic with USK Praha. She's played in four games thus far, averaging 10.8 points and 3.0 rebounds. In an ironic twist, Castro Marques replaces Sheri Sam on the USK Praha roster - just as she did last year with the Storm. The other newcomer was expected, but is ahead of time. A well-placed source tells me that Sue Bird flew to Russia over the weekend to join Dynamo Moscow, where Diana Taurasi debuted last week. Taurasi and Bird should help Dynamo replace some of the production lost when Storm forward Natalia Vodopyanova recently broke her leg.
Vodo Injured
Posted on December 1
 Vodopyanova |
Natalia Vodopyanova has broken her right leg during a Dynamo Moscow practice. While details of the injury haven't been reported, the report from FIBA Europe's Web site indicates that Vodopyanova will be out six weeks. The good news is that puts her back in the Dynamo lineup in middle to late January, in plenty of time for the Euroleague and Russian Superleague playoffs (and, by extension, well before the start of the 2006 WNBA season).
We'll try to check in with an overdue overseas update tomorrow, time permitting.
