EuroLeague Women - Regular Season Week 11 Review

MUNICH (EuroLeague Women) - Paul Nilsen takes a look back at Week 11 action from EuroLeague Women, which features some streaks, good and bad.

Augustus is the key for Kursk
Seimone Augustus is a fine player and perhaps even she would confirm that this year hasn't exactly been a classic for her because she has struggled for the kind of form and consistency which has illuminated previous campaigns. However, with Dynamo Kursk desperately looking to get over the hump and finally collect a first road win of the campaign, I thought she looked somewhere near to her best in the landmark win at Good Angels Kosice.

I have written previously that her good mood and form could have an immeasurable impact on how far last year's Final Four competitors ride. So, while the main news was a first road win, I think Augustus hopefully turning the corner was an exciting sub-plot. And, there are certainly few better players to watch when she is fully on her game.

AGU Spor nearing an implosion
At the end of December I chose multiple platforms to sing the praises of Agu Spor from the rooftops in respect to their stirring progress in EuroLeague Women and soaring to the top of the KBSL. So far, 2016 has been a disaster and the team are sleepwalking through what has turned into the realms of a spectacular implosion. I have no idea why their collapse has taken place - hopefully I didn't put a curse on them! Perhaps it has coincided with head coach Ayhan Avci signing a long term deal and everybody feeling a little too comfortable.

They opted to make changes with the departure of Katalin Honti to Uniqa Sopron who didn't score much, but played big minutes and the team looks a pale shadow of its former self and a little imbalanced. More alarmingly are the manner of the losses and the opponents - since Agu Spor have now lost to the two bottom teams in Group B and having wrote that they bullied teams, now the shoe looks to be on the other foot. This kind of slide is always hard to stop at this critical part of the season, but if they don't stem the bleeding soon, their fall could be every bit as spectacular as their rise - if not more so.

Hop onto the Girona elevator
Yes, Spar CityLift Girona waited several months for a win and then bang! They record back-to-back EuroLeague Women wins for the first time in their history after following up a home success against Mithra Castors Braine with success against Agu Spor. They are back on the rise again and even more impressively for me was that they did it when Noemi Jordana who had a rare off night and that was critical. That showed the value of real team-work and in Krisi Givens - they have cause to celebrate landing what could be the best pick-up of the season. Although without wanting to rain on their parade, it's a revival might be short-lived with UMMC, Prague and Bourges to finish off their regular season schedule.

Weekly gongs
Team performance of the week: Tempting as it is to throw it to Girona, I am sending it westward across the Iberian peninsula to Pabellon Wurzburg and Perfumerias Avenida for taking down Beretta Famila Schio at home. I know that Schio were depleted without the formidable physical presence of Isabelle Yacoubou, but Alberto Miranda and his Avenida players still had to go out and deliver - which they did. Intriguingly they also did it within the context of a poor shooting debut for Alana Beard, but she will still prove a highly valuable asset.
Individual performance of the week: There were plenty of contenders including a masterfully efficient effort from Candice Dupree for ZVVZ USK Prague, a great double-double by Jantel Lavender for Fenerbahce and huge scoring productivity by Lynetta Kizer of Galatasaray. But, I'm handing the gong to Astou Ndour who was brilliant in Avenida's excellent win. She shot a fabulous 73% from the field as the plundered 17 points and also contributed eight rebounds. It was also important since it was both her highest tally and best shooting display of the entire season.
Unsung hero: Kizer quite rightly took the plaudits for her sparkling 26 point effort for Galatasaray in their tight and nerve-shredding win at Villeneuve d'Ascq. However behind that headline was a fine 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists from veteran star Nevriye Yilmaz.
Rising star: In the same game and against such a strong and experienced opposition frontcourt, I thought French centre Aby Gaye did reasonably well for Villeneuve with seven points and will have learned plenty in that contest defensively.

Crunching the numbers
- The 8-of-9 effort by Dupree for ZVVZ USK Prague was the best shooting display of the season in the competition at 88.9%, although the best high volume (over 10 shots) remains the 81.3% by her compatriot Nnemkadi Ogwumike who made 13-of-16 two weeks ago.
- The 14 defensive rebounds pulled down by Lavender for Fenerbahce was the best by any player in that category all season.

Footnotes
- In a similar vein to having praised Agu Spor only for the wheels to then come flying off, I mentioned whether Schio could be a dark horse last week and they go and lose at Avenida - barely breaking 50 points! At least being without Yacoubou was significant mitigation.
- It was a tough night for Wisla Can-Pack without two of their rotation in Cristina Ouvina and Katerina Zohnova as they crashed to defending champions Prague. I was particularly drawn to the ongoing situation of Laura Nicholls who never really has been prolific or a volume shooter/scorer in the paint. But she has played more than 30 minutes in the last four games and shot the ball five, six, five and four times - so an average of five times per game. It has got me watching the games closely over again! Not a criticism but just really caught my eye considering she is a a senior and well-established player of the FIBA Women's World Championship Finalists.

Go to fibaeurope.com/euroleaguewomen for full coverage of EuroLeague Women.

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