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Euroleague women final four: Moscow - Brno

Just a little update on the women’s final four. Spartak Mosocw beat UMMC Ekaterinburg in the first Semi-final 78-68. Just to remember, Moscow is that WNBA ALL STAR team with players like Tina Thompson, Sue Bird, Kelly Miller, Diana Taurasi and Lauren Jackson. So you might figure that this team would win.

But it was actually a surprise looking at the boxscore. Not only were Lauren Jackson’s 35 points and 12 rebounds in 38 minutes surprising but also that players like Bird, Taurasi and Miller only had 9 points combined. On the other hand, Tina Thompson and Lauren Jackson scored 59 points! together.

In the other Semi-final, Brno managed to beat Bourges in overtime 90-81 after trailing 17 points at one time in the first half. Even with 30 seconds to go, they were down by 5. Same thing here: Not the big stars scored - Tamika Whitmore only had 4 points (also only played 21 minutes), while Zuzana Zirkova scored 28. After the game, Hamchetou Maiga was interviewed - so if you were wondering who is woman is that we interviewed yesterday - here you go.

Tomorrow at 3pm UMMC Ekaterinburg will play against Bourges for 3rd place, while the final will be held at 6pm between home town team Brno and Moscow.

Euroleague women Final Four: Hamchetou Maiga

Since Christophe published this great article on the women’s final four which already started (UMMC Ekaterinburg already lost a few minutes ago to Spartak Moscow Region 68-78) we sent a few questions to Hamchetou Maiga, who is one of the stars at Brno. Brno’s game against Bourges will tip off in about 45 minutes and can be followed LIVE on fibaeurope.com.

Here is what Hamchetou Maiga answered to Christophe’s TOUGH questions and we are very thankful, that Maiga answered our questions so fast. In the interview she even went in the interesting money question: Playing in Europe is not just about the money. Since I have met Maiga personally, I can confirm that this is not just said but true - at least for her, but read the whole interview and you will see yourself.

How do you see your chances of winning the Euroleague?
As any of the teams present here in the Final4, we have been working toward winning the title but we will first go game by game as our semifinals versus Bourges is the most important. After that we’ll see.

Who are the players to stop at the other teams in your opinion?
All the teams that made it thus far did it for a reason, which is team depth and quality; hence, there are great players out there. We know that we ought to respect each one. Our focus though will be primarily on ourselves.

Do you feel some pressure as Brno plays the final four at home? is the city really feeling the event?
Not exactly, (maybe a little bit J). Honestly though, it is awesome to be able to play in front of your home fans; so, if anything we’ll use it as a motivation. Here in Brno, the people love basketball and love their Gambrinus. They are very excited.

If you don’t win the Final Four, do you consider that as a big disappointment? Or do you feel that the supremacy of the Russian teams money-wise is too big to compete?
Considering the road we had to take to get to the Final 4, we are very happy to be here. Though, we are definitely not just content by making it to the F4. It will only be a disappointment if we do not play to our full potential because if we do and things still do not work out at least we would know deep down that we gave it our all.

What are the main differences between the WNBA and the Euroleague for you? Do you have a preference where to play? Or do you consider it just as a supplementary revenue source?
I have enjoyed both the WNBA and the Euroleague. Well the biggest difference is the time frame, in the WNBA we play so many games in a 4 months span whereas the Euroleague games are more spread out. In the WNBA, we can play 3-5 games a week. Some of the rules in the two are quite different and the way the game is called by the referees is also different. Altogether though, both leagues are competitive and many players from the WNBA have been playing in the Euroleague too as it can be noticed almost 50% of the players at this F4 are either currently playing in the WNBA or have done it in the past.

Playing in Europe is not just about the money. If we were to just play in the WNBA that means we will be without competition for almost 8 months, which is definitely too long. So, it is a win-win situation for us as we get to play the sport that we love and still get paid for it because I can tell you that many of us would still play even if we were not getting one cent (it is definitely a bonus that we sure take advantage upon). It is grueling to go from one season to the other but it so much fun that for me as an African, since neither one is my home per se, I don’t have that opportunity to say that I will only play at home if I want to continue to play at the highest level. For that matter too, playing just in Europe in order to have the summer off a bit could be a great opportunity too (and our body would love that I bet J)

You played for ODU after being in Dakar. How did the American college recruit you in Senegal?
One of the coaches from Old Dominion University was at 1997 African Championship games in Kenya. She saw me play with my National team and offered me a scholarship.

How much money is really in women’s basketball?

While the European seasons are about to come to an end the preparations for the WNBA are in full swing. There is a new team, the Atlanta Dream, that needs new players. The top stars of the WNBA (Lauren Jackson, Sue Bird, Becky Hammon and Diana Taurasi) all played in - yes you are right - Russia. This is where the money is - even for girls basketball.

The average men’s basketball guy probably doesn’t care about women’s basketball at and doesn’t expect the girls to make a lot of money. Especially when WNBA agents like Bruce Levy says: “There’s not enough money to attract sleazy people”.

Agents - doesn’t that make you listen up? Aren’t these people the most mythical people in the whole basketball business? They are so interesting that even NBA blogger genius Henry Abbott of ESPN started a web site to track these people.

But professional male athletes are all out of our league - who can really just imagine to make 10 million a year? Well, the basketball girls don’t but you would wonder how much they still make.

As you might think, the most money is made in the WNBA since it is the best league in the world, right? The minimum salary is $31,000 and the maximum is $87,000, where the agents make about 5% which is about $2,500. Not that much for an agent who probably also could be a lawyer and make that much in a week.

That is probably the reason why most of the girls also come to Europe when the WNBA is in its off-season. Earning some Euros - well what does “some” mean? Now for the non-millionaires - hold tight to your seat when you hear the figures. The average salary for an American players with NO WNBA experience in the top leagues (Spain, Italy, France, Russia) is about 5,000-6,000 EUR a month.

What about the WNBA girls? Of course being part of a WNBA team doesn’t increase your value for sure but we are talking about 10,000 EUR a month. If you are lucky to be picked up in Russia it will probably only start with 10,000 EUR. To give you a few facts - The EuroCup team of Taranto, Italy carries three WNBA players from the Sacramento Monarchs - Linda Froehlich, Yolanda Griffith and Rebecca Brunson.

I am sure most of the people that read this article don’t know these girls but after I tell you Rebecca Brunson’s salary per month in Taranto you will remember that name: 30,000 EUR a month - tax free, directly into her bank account per wire transfer. Of course - Rebecca is leading the Italian league in points and rebounds.

So if you should stumble upon wnba’s web site and read “European Vacations” as a headline for what is going on with the WNBA players in Europe - think about those 30,000 EUR made during “vacation” and about that “poor” agent who probably makes about 15,000 EUR for a phone call.

Ladies, who wants a Russian passport ?

Remember JR Holden ? The ultimate proof that granting a Russian passport to an American citizen ain’t a bad idea to win a European Championship. Read more

Friday cigarettes

• A replacement for Tanoka Beard is found - well at least center Michael Bradley tries to fill the shoes of Tanoka. Bradley’s resume sounds impressive if you just read that he played for the Raptors, Magic and 76ers in the NBA and won the NCAA championship with Kentucky in 1998. Bradley has played for ALBA Berlin in Germany this season but canceled the contract with the team November 1st. It looks like the club and Michael weren’t really happy with the situation so far.
• Ronny Turiaf, who recently played really well and made it to the Top 10 European Players of the week and is a really, really good dancer, sprained his ankle at practice. He won’t play tonight against the Detroit Pistons which might give Vladimir Radmanovic more minutes.
• We know that 40 points for a player are not always a guarantee for a win. At least Kobe Bryant showed this a few times last year. But is it also possible to be up by 16 points PLUS have a player score 40 points and still lose? Well, Chorale Roanne did exactly this last night in their loss to Fenerbahce Ulker. Maybe we will get a first hand statement from Adam Hess on his Euroleague blog. We would appreciate it Adam!
• We got 65 days left to vote every European player to the NBA All Star game - lets go!
• I am sure a few guys took the beating of the Euroleague fantasy game the last two days. Maybe it is time to check out this tool to improve your team.
• A frequent reader of BallinEurope, Arkadios, made an interesting stats post about the Euroleague. Is anybody surprised that Brose Baskets Bamberg is on top of one category? TURNOVERS ..
• Does the name Tammy Sutton-Brown ring a bell for you? No? Well the WNBA star plays for Fenerbahce in the Euroleague right now. Still doesn’t ring any bells? Well I am sure after you saw this photo of Tammy you will remember her forever. EDIT: This picture takes part in the photo of the year contest of the WNBA … Poor Tammy- I guess it is just fair to post this photo also.
• It looks like the Celtics should have kept Esteban Batista. With Nikola Vujcic out because of a knee injury Esteban is playing well in the domestic league as well as the Euroleague, that it is worth mentioning it for the celticsblog.
• Bad news for Lynn Greer and Olympiakos: Not only did they lose the game against CSKA, where they played pretty good (27 points from Greer), also Lynn Greer got injured during this game. I am not sure what really happened but it looked like he pulled a muscle in his hamstring.
• Does the signing of Jasikevicius make Sani Becirovic want to leave Panathinaikos?
• This weeks’ last cigarette goes to Prokom for signing Jovo Stanojevic. Jovo just left ALBA Berlin where he well be remembered as on of the best center players and joined Belgrad at the beginning of the season - now he is with Prokom Trefl Sopot. Quo vadis, Prokom?

Things about Italy you did not know

I am sure this might be interesting for some players, coaches, well even fans from the United States even from around the world since this is really something that is so different from what I have seen in other countries or continents.

Remember that Mike Grange from globeandmail.com was asking us about pick up games in Europe? Well I have played pick up games in France, Spain, Germany, Austria even in Poland and it worked as we told Mike. As I just found out this also works in Italy. Read more

The What if Interview : Cathy Joens (Rivas Futura, Spain)

The What if Interview makes you know what your favorite players would look like if they played a different position on the basketball court or in the basketball world. Read more

The basketball family from Italy

I am talking about the Ress family. If you like men’s basketball you probably know Tomas Ress. If you are into women’s basketball you probably know Kathrin Ress. Even if you are not from Italy you might know them. They both grew up in Salorno, Italy, but played high school and college basketball in the US. Read more

WNBA coming to Europe

We already reported that the Finals MVP and WNBA champion Cappie Pondexter will come to Europe again this year and play for Turkish club Fenerbahce Istanbul to compete in the Euroelague group “A” against Phard Napoli, TTT Riga, ESB Villeneuve d’ascq Lille, MKB Sopron and CSK A Mosow. Read more

Suprise at the women Eurobasket 07

If you have followed the Eurobasket Championship in Chieti, Italy, you probably know that the Czech Republic is one of the only unbeaten teams and a favorite to win it all. So the Czechs went on the Germans who only won one game so far. Nobody really expected something from the Germans around WNBA players Linda Froehlich and WNBA rookie Martina Weber. Read more

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