"There is no offseason"
Times listed are CET followed by EDT:
Dynamo Kursk vs. Carolo, Wednesday, 5:00pm/12:00pm:
Bourges vs. Nadezhda, Wednesday, 8:00pm/3:00pm:
Avenida vs. Fenerbahce, Wednesday, 8:30pm/3:30pm:
Castors Braine vs. Villeneuve, Wednesday, 9:00pm/4:00pm:
Ekaterinburg vs. Polkowice, Thursday, 3:00pm/10:00am:
Hatay vs. TTT Riga, Thursday, 4:00pm/11:00am:
Sopron vs. Olympiacos, Thursday, 6:00pm/1:00pm:
Schio vs. USK Praha, Thursday, 8:30pm/3:30pm:
Group A:
All games in this group were played on Wednesday, starting with the game in Orenburg where Alyssa Thomas led USK Praha to an 83-78 win over Nadezhda. Temi Fagbenle and Polkowice did not have their start go as planned as Bourges dominated from the start on the way to a 73-56 win. Ekaterinburg crushed Villeneuve as expected 99-51 while still short of their full roster. Schio’s new look team came up short in Belgium as Castors Braine won 63-60.
October 24, 2018
Nadezhda vs. USK Praha 78-83 NAD Jones 19/11r Ygueravide 18/9a Maiga 15/6r Shilova 13 Bulgak 4 USK Thomas 21/15r Hanusova 15 Kat. Elhotova 14 Rezan 12 Ayayi 11/6r/7a Romero 2
Polkowice vs. Bourges 56-73 CCC Fagbenle 20/7r Hayes 12 Bone 9 Thomas 7 Leedham 6 BOUR Johannes 19 Chartereau 10 Raincock-Ekunwe 10 Plouffe 9/8r Sharp 2 Berkani 0
Villeneuve vs. Ekaterinburg 51-99 ESBV Diallo 11 Mendy 10 Bjorklund 10 Evans 4 UMMC Vandersloot 16/9a McBride 13 Torrens 12/7a Griner 11/10r Meesseman 11 Vadeeva 10/6r Baric 9/6a Musina 7/10r
Castors Braine vs. Schio 63-60 CAST Samuelson 18 Delaere 12 Mayombo 11 Trahan-Davis 5/11r Hamblin 2 SCHI Gemelos 17 Gruda 15/8r Lavender 8/7r
Group B:
Olympiacos started well at home on Wednesday, but Kelsey Plum and Fenerbahce showed their experience at this level in a 63-54 win. Sopron will no longer be able to sneak up on teams this season and it was Charleville that got the opening win 80-74. TTT Riga was almost able to get the surprise win, but Breanna Stewart’s immediate impact on Dynamo Kursk continued as they escaped 70-69. There was one game on Thursday as Courtney Paris led Hatay past Avenida 88-80.
October 24, 2018
Olympiacos vs. Fenerbahce 54-63 OLY Thomas 11 Sotiriou 11 Johnson 10/8r Pavlopoulou 6 Mazic 4 FENE Plum 20 Vaughn 11/7r Cora 11 Zandalasini 4/6r Canitez 0
Carolo vs. Sopron 80-74 CARO Peters 19 Hruscakova 18 Casas 18 Mosqueda-Lewis 15/6r SOP Zahui B 13/9r Turner 13/6r Salvadores 12 Dupree 10
TTT Riga vs. Dynamo Kursk 69-70 TTTR Vitola 18/6r Peddy 13/10a Brumermane 11/6r Slaughter 10/8r Pulvere 10 Basko 5 Egite 2 Kreslina 0 KURS Stewart 29/11r Petrovic 12/6r Cruz 12/6a Xargay 4 Prince 4
October 25, 2018
Hatay vs. Avenida 88-80 HATA Paris 25/10r Johnson 18/8r/7a Jones 11/6a Gajic 11 Snytsina 11 Ben Abdelkader 10 AVEN Dominguez 19/8a Elonu 17 Givens 14 De Souza 10 Putnina 6 Robinson 4
The first series finished up on Thursday in Orenburg. Nadezhda brought home a small margin and Cukurova erased it in the first half, but the hosts rallied after halftime to take it back, hanging on to an outright 76-74 win and the 136-132 aggregate win. Alina Iagupova was at her brilliant best for the visitors, but they now drop down to EuroCup and still have a fairy tale to write. Friday’s first game was the most simple series mathematically as the tie in the first game meant that the teams would play with the winner advancing. Olympiacos started well on the road in Krakow, but Wisla fought back in the second half as the scoring in the first quarter gave way to a grinder of a game, but the visitors did enough to win 47-46 and add some wider representation to the tournament. That theme continued in the next game as TTT expanded their lead early against Reyer winning 73-56 for a final margin of 140-112 as having one Latvian player in Anete Steinberga proved not to be enough for the hosts. The last game was played on Wednesday as Magali Mendy and Villeneuve cut the deficit by halftime and then controlled the second half to beat Frida Eldebrink and Szekszard 77-61 and advance 145-132 on aggregate to complete the group picture.
October 11, 2018
Nadezhda vs. Cukurova 76-74 NAD Ygueravide 18/13a Shilova 17 Jones 11/12r Bulgak 8 CUKU Iagupova 26/8a Ndour 17 Uzun 12 Ervin 10/10r Mestdagh 7
Nadezhda advances 136-132
October 12, 2018
Wisla Krakow vs. Olympiacos 46-47 WISL Rodriguez 17 Canada 14/7r Russell 9 Conde 0 Oroszova 0 OLY Spyridopoulou 12 Thomas 7 Johnson 6/9r Pavlopoulou 6 Mazic 4/7r
Olympiacos advances 110-109
Reyer Venezia vs. TTT Riga 56-73 VENE Steinberga 20/12r Bestagno 10 Goree 10 Anderson 2 Gulich 0 TTTR Peddy 16 Vitola 14/9r Kreslina 11 Basko 10 Slaughter 9 Eglite 0
TTT Riga advances 140-112
October 17, 2018
Villeneuve vs. Szekszard 77-61 ESBV Mendy 21/11r Evans 14 Bar 11 Bjorklund 10 Diallo 10 SZEK Eldebrink 20 Kiss 12 McCall 10/6r Bishop 4/7r
Villeneuve advances 145-132
Groups:
A: Schio, Nadezhda, Ekaterinburg, Polkowice, Bourges, Villeneuve, USK Praha, Castors Braine
B: Avenida, Olympiacos, Dynamo Kursk, Carolo, Sopron, TTT Riga, Fenerbahce, Hatay
October 17, 2018
On Wednesday, the SuperCup was held with the EuroLeague and EuroCup winners from last season playing one other in one game. The fans in Ekaterinburg got their first look at something closer to their final roster and it was every bit as dominant as it was expected to be as they rolled to a 79-40 win. They should be the overwhelming favorites to win EuroLeague again while also positioning themselves for a clean sweep of all available trophies. Galatasaray will find it harder to repeat their run in EuroCup without a few additions to their roster.
Ekaterinburg vs. Galatasaray 79-40 EKA McBride 18 Torrens 13/6r Vandersloot 11/6a Griner 11 Vadeeva 9/6r Baric 6 Musina 4 Belyakova 3 Meesseman 2 GAL Macaulay 13/10r Jefferson 10/6r Abdi 3
Video:
The first of four qualifying series started on Monday. Cukurova was hosting in Turkey as they had to deal with plenty of late unexpected roster news as they were trying to make the big jump from the second division to EuroLeague in two years. Nadezhda’s experience at this level showed early as they took a big lead, but the hosts rallied late to pull within 60-58 thanks to the player that they have entrusted the ball with for two seasons, Alina Iagupova, which leaves the series poised delicately ahead of Thursday’s game in Orenburg. Two more series started on Tuesday with both schedule to finish on Friday. The two game format can lead to some unusual results, none more so than what happened in Greece as the teams finished tied at 63, eliminating any need for complex calculations in the next game. Olympiacos handed Pinelopi Pavlopoulou her professional debut, but will feel like they have a tough task to break into Europe’s elite when they go to Poland, where Wisla will be looking to draw on their vast experience at this level. TTT, the overwhelming leader in titles in this competition is trying to qualify again and they beat Anete Steinberga and Reyer 67-56 in Latvia for a solid start before the next game in Italy. On Wednesday, an intriguing game in Hungary saw Villeneuve show their experience early only to see Szekszard control the middle quarters before the French side pulled closer late to lose 71-68, which puts them in a reasonable position for the next game in week.
October 8, 2018
Cukurova vs. Nadezhda Orenburg 58-60 CUKU Iagupova 21 Ndour 10 Mestdagh 6 Ervin 3 Ozelci 0 NAD Jones 13/11r Bulgak 13 Ygueravide 10
October 9, 2018
Olympiacos vs. Wisla Krakow 63-63 OLY Sotiriou 12 Pavlopoulou 12 Johnson 10/8r Thomas 10 Mazic 5/6r WISL Conde 14 Rodriguez 14 Russell 12/9r Canada 10/10a Oroszova 6
TTT Riga vs. Reyer Venezia 67-56 TTTR Peddy 19 Krastina 12/6a Vitola 9/9r Basko 8 Slaughter 7 Kreslina 0 Eglite 0 VENE Steinberga 21/10r Anderson 10/9r Gulich 3 Goree 2
October 10, 2018
Szekszard vs. Villeneuve 71-68 SZEK Jovanovic 14 Studer 13 Gereben 10 McCall 10 Eldebrink 10 Bishop 3 ESBV Mendy 15/7a Bremont 14/6a Evans 12/7r Bjorklund 5
Both competitions conducted their draws on Thursday. In addition to the regular season groups, all qualifying pairings were picked as the last teams in each competition will need to be decided.
Group A: Famila Schio (Italy), UMMC Ekaterinburg (Russia), CCC Polkowice (Poland), Tango Bourges (France), ZVVZ USK Prague (Czech Republic), Mithra Castors Braine (Belgium), winner Nadezhda Orenburg (Russia) vs. Cukurova (Turkey), winner ESBVA-LM (France) vs. Atomeromu-Tarr KSC Szekszard (Hungary)
Group B: Avenida (Spain), Dynamo Kursk (Russia), Flammes Carolo (France), Sopron (Hungary), Fenerbahce (Turkey), Hatay (Turkey), winner Wisla Krakow (Poland) vs. Olympiacos (Greece), winner Umana Reyer Venezia (Italy) vs. TTT Riga (Latvia)
Last season’s draw seemed to produce a rather unbalanced regular season while this year seems to have more even groups at first glance. Defending champions Ekaterinburg headline Group A, which currently features six domestic champions. Behind them, teams will be looking to compete for what will almost certainly only be three available places and all of them will feel like they should at least grab fifth or sixth place and a drop down to the EuroCup knockout stages. The qualifiers should also be able to mix it up quite well with the other teams, but the draw threw up an interesting result with Nadezhda and Cukurova matching up and preventing us from having three teams from both Russia and Turkey.
Group B has two of the semifinalists from last year compared to one for the other group. Add to that mix the top two remaining teams in Turkey and perennial playoff contenders Avenida and there will be quite a battle for the top four spots. There is plenty of room for upstarts in this group as French runners up Charleville look to make an immediate impact and one of Reyer and TTT Riga will also make it. The other qualifier will have Wisla trying to retain their place against Greek powerhouse Olympiacos and a win for them could make half of the teams in this group not the defending champions in their country.
East:
A: Artego Bydgoszcz (Poland), Sparta&k M.R. Vidnoje (Russia), Sodertalje (Sweden), Gorzow Wielkolpolski (Poland)
B: MBA Moscow (Russia), Galatasaray (Turkey), Energa Torun (Poland), winner Spartak Noginsk (Russia) vs. Niki Lefkada (Greece)
C: Besiktas (Turkey), Inventa Kursk (Russia), Tsmoki-Minsk (Belarus), loser Wisla Krakow (Poland) vs. Olympiacos (Greece)
D: Enisey Krasnoyarsk Region (Russia), Mersin Buyuksehir (Turkey), Sepsi-SIC (Romania), winner Gdynia (Poland) vs. Orman Genclik (Turkey)
E: Umea (Sweden), Beroe (Bulgaria), Botas (Turkey), loser Nadezhda (Russia) vs. Cukurova (Turkey)
Only one group in this half is already known in its entirety in Group A. The other teams will be waiting for all the qualifiers to conclude to find out where they need to a book a trip to later. As usual, the Turkish teams will be expected to qualify from their groups as there are also an abundance of Russian teams in this stage. No team will be thinking that they are out of contention for one of the top two spots in each group that will lead to automatic qualification as a pair of third place teams will also qualify from these five groups. Defending champions Galatasaray sit in group B, but keep an eye on Group E, where the likely two teams to progress, Botas and the loser of the EuroLeague qualification series between Nadezhda and Cukurova, are likely to make noise in the later stages of this competition.
West:
F: Spar CityLift Girona (Spain), Uni Gyor (Hungary), Uniao Sportiva (Portugal), winner Belfius Namur Capitale (Belgium) vs. Lointek Gernika (Spain)
G: Aluinvent DVTK Miskolc (Hungary), KP Brno (Czech Republic), winner Nantes Reze (France) vs. Liege Panthers (Belgium), loser Umana Reyer Venezia (Italy) vs. TTT Riga (Latvia)
H: Nymburk (Czech Republic), Ruzomberok (Slovakia), Cinkarna Celje (Slovenia), loser ESBVA-LM (France) vs. Atomeromu-Tarr KSC Szekszard (Hungary)
I: BLMA (France), VBW CEKK Cegled (Hungary), Rutronik Stars Keltern (Germany), Lyon ASVEL (France)
J: Landes (France), Elfic Fribourg (Switzerland), Tarbes Gespe Bigorre (France), Sint Katelijne Waver (Belgium)
This half has two groups already set as DVTK and KP Brno are still awaiting two final groupmates. Group I is one to watch as ambitious ASVEL from France will clash with the more established BLMA. Two French teams are also in Group J. Travel could be interesting in the western section as TTT Riga could drop into this half instead of the east due to more eastern teams entering the EuroLeague qualifiers than western teams. While the western teams have been less competitive in recent years, last season’s run by Reyer should be a blueprint for these teams as they try to make a run through the knockout stages.
On Friday, FIBA announced the teams competing in EuroLeague and EuroCup for the upcoming season. Draws for qualifiers and groups for both competitions will be conducted on Thursday and broadcast on FIBA’s YouTube channel. The combination of traditional powerhouses and new faces means that both competitions had more interested teams than spots, which should lead to some competitive qualifying games.
Twenty teams were eligible for the continent’s premier competition so only twelve could qualify directly with eight teams competing for the last four spots. That number of teams means that the powerhouse countries were only given two direct spots. Defending champions UMMC Ekaterinburg will be joined by Dynamo Kursk from Russia. Turkish champions Fenerbahce and Hatay will represent their league. Bourges and Carolo will represent France to round out the countries with one direct entry. A number of other traditional names also earned automatic spots as Final Four hosts Sopron will represent Hungary, Castors Braine continues to carry the torch for Belgium, and Schio of Italy, Polkowice of Poland, Avenida of Spain, and USK Praha of the Czech Republic round out the list of champions.
The number of teams involved mean that some good teams will be fighting for qualification. Fortunately, the earlier end to the WNBA season and some time off after national team competition should mean that teams will be at full strength in October. Nadezhda Orenburg of Russia and ESBVA of France are two teams that are used to not having to fight for their spots who will now have to survive this round. Turkish surprises Cukurova are taking the step up while Wisla Krakow of Poland are another traditional name who could face a test. Reyer Venezia of Italy and Szekszard of Hungary will look to increase their country’s representation at the highest level. TTT Riga of Latvia is looking to recapture former glories while powerhouse Olimpiacos continue to try to introduce Greece back to a bigger stage. Teams that lose their qualifiers will drop down to EuroCup.
The regular season will feature ten groups of four teams again. The teams will be split into an eastern section, known as Conference 1, and a western section, known as Conference 2. Sixteen teams in each conference are already known while two teams on each side will come from EuroLeague qualifying losers and each side will have two qualifying matchups to determine the final teams.
In the east, expect the Turkish teams to be strong again as Istanbul giants Galatasaray and Besiktas are joined by Botas and Mersin. Russia will also have a number of teams as Enisey Krasnoyarsk, MBA Moscow, Spartak Moscow, and promising newcomers Inventa Kursk have automatic berths. Poland’s reintegration into the wider continental scene continues as Bydgoszcz, Torun, and Gorzow will be there. Umea continues to represent Sweden, this time being joined by Sodertalje. Romania’s dominant force Sepsi returns after a surprise run, while Tsmoki-Minsk represents Belarus and Beroe will add Bulgarian participation to proceedings. Qualifiers in this half will see three teams try to further increase participation from their countries as Spartak Noginsk of Russia, Orman of Turkey, and Gdynia of Poland are joined by surprise entry Niki Lefkadas of Greece.
The west should have strong French teams again as Tarbes, ASVEL, BLMA, and Lattes all know that they will be playing. Hungary will provide three teams as Gyor, Cegled, and Miskolc are all threats. KP Brno and Nymburk make the Czech Republic the other country to already know that they are sending multiple teams. Girona of Spain, surprise Germany champions Keltern, and Fribourg of Switzerland all rejoin proceedings. Ruzomberok is the lone team from Slovakia as they are now set up to be the powerhouse in the country. Celje of Slovenia had an exceptionally young and talented team last season and this will be a good step for them to grow in stature as a club while Uniao Sportiva will be ready to welcome teams after they make long trips out to the Azores. Sint-Katelijne-Waver is the only known Belgian representative, but the qualifiers will be make or break for the country with Namur and newcomers Liege Panthers looking to progress. Nantes of France and Gernika Bizkaia of Spain are also looking to boost their countries’ numbers.
April 22, 2018
The final was played on Sunday. Ekaterinburg showed their edge in talent early, building a lead. Sopron reduced the margin several times as they tried to get the crowd behind them again, but they fell short 72-53. The favorites got their title after a midseason retooling as they now look to extend domestic dominance. Yvonne Turner led the hosts, which found a way to scrap their way to results after forced roster changes of their own. The day started with the third place game as both teams looked to recapture momentum ahead of a tough domestic league postseason. Sonja Petrovic and Kursk finished their campaign with only one loss, beating Elin Eldebrink and Yakin Dogu University 87-82.
Final:
UMMC Ekaterinburg vs. Sopron 72-53 UMMC Meesseman 19/9r Moore 17/7a Griner 16/9r Belyakova 5 Torrens 4 Sanders 4 Toliver 4/7a SOP Turner 21 Milovanovic 13 Page 9/7r Crvendakic 2 Salvadores 0/6r
3rd Place:
Dynamo Kursk vs. Yakin Dogu Universitesi 87-82 KURS Petrovic 24 Zhedik 18 Vadeeva 16/7r Ogwumike 12 Cruz 9/8a McCoughtry 5 YDU Eldebrink 21 McBride 17 Lavender 15/9r Gruda 11/6r Hollingsworth 8/7r Cakir 2
April 20, 2018
The semifinals were played in Sopron on Friday. The first game was the highly anticipated clash of Russian powerhouses. Neither team had their naturalized Russian guards as they fielded lineups that were not possible in their last domestic league clash. Ekaterinburg has looked like a different team since Maya Moore joined and she led the way in the 84-77 win Angel McCoughtry led Dynamo Kursk. After the games on Sunday, the two teams will now be prepared to do battle at least three more times, but with reduced lineups with stricter foreign player limitations in domestic league play. That set the stage for the hosts to take on Yakin Dogu University. They rode the energy of the home crowd early to build a lead, but the visitors fought back late in the third quarter, finally taking a lead in the fourth quarter only to see Sopron make the key plays down the stretch to take a 68-65 lead and hang on for the dramatic win. Sunday’s atmosphere also figures to be impressive even though the home team will be massive underdogs.
Dynamo Kursk vs. UMMC Ekaterinburg 77-84 KURS McCoughtry 26/6r Petrovic 18 Ogwumike 13/6r Vadeeva 4 Cruz 2 UMMC Moore 28/6r Meesseman 19/8r Griner 19/7r Toliver 15 Torrens 3/6r Belyakova 0 Sanders 0
Sopron vs. Yakin Dogu Universitesi 68-65 SOP Turner 19 Salvadores 16 Crvendakic 10/11r Fegyverneky 10 Milovanovic 9/6r Page 2 YDU Vandersloot 15/7r McBride 12 Hollingsworth 11 Lavender 10/10r Cakir 4 Gruda 3/8r
March 14, 2018
Only one series needed a deciding game on Wednesday. Fenerbahce put themselves in a position to make every game in the series go to the visitors, but Sopron found themselves in second half, using a raucous crowd to clamp down and win 67-46 behind a tremendous game from Yvonne Turner. They will now face Yakin Dogu University in one semifinal while the clash of Russian giants Dynamo Kursk and UMMC Ekaterinburg will complete the Final Four field.
Sopron vs. Fenerbahce 67-46 SOP Turner 29 Page 12 Milovanovic 9 Crvendakic 7/7r Salvadores 4 FEN Vaughn 13 Plum 8 Dabovic 5 Kizer 4 Powers 1 Canitez 0
Sopron wins series 2-1