Becky would've caught that bat, too
(via silverstarsnation.com)
A Silver Stars post? At this time of the year? I'm afraid that's what you're seeing, guys.
We'll get back to our scheduled Spurs obsession soon, but I thought it would be interesting to know what our gals are up to during the offseason. For those of you who don't know, in women's basketball European leagues (in particular the Russian league) actually pay much higher salaries than the WNBA, so just about every qualified WNBA player makes the trip to the Old Continent once they're sent fishing here. It's an interesting reversal of the NBA situation, isn't it?
The alchemical secret to turn the WNBA into a goldmine, after the jump:
For Starters
Most of this information (and the photos) comes from Silver Stars Nation. It's the best Silver Stars blog out there, and I wholeheartedly recommend it.
As I said, the European basketball season has begun, and our gals are working their craft overseas. I'm going to simply do a player-by-player breakdown of them, and tell you what they are up to these days. You can follow the links to Silver Stars Nation's pages for more information and some chatting.
The Team
BECKY HAMMONStatusIn love. ...I mean, eh, that Becky has actually left Russia not a week ago, and she signed for Spain’s Ros Casares, one of the juggernauts of the Spanish league. I'm sure she was paid big bucks, too, because she was one of the better paid athletes in the Russian league. Belinda Snell, DeLisha Milton, Anna Montanana, Amaya Valdemoro and Erika De Souza all play in Ros Casares.
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SOPHIA YOUNG
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MEGAN FRAZEE
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BELINDA SNELLStatusBelinda will also be playing for Ros Casares of the Spanish league. Prior to Becky's signing, Snelly’s team started their season on the right foot with Snelly leading it to victory in the Super Cup. Snelly had 22 points to lead all scorers.
Ros will also be in Group A of FIBA’s Euroleague and will began their season winning against TT Riga of Latvia on October 28th.
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EDWIGE LAWSON-WADEStatusEdwige of the quick hand will be playing for Russian giant Spartak Moscow. Eddy has been playing in Russia for the last five seasons. Her previous team CSKA Moscow has lost its financing leaving its players to find other teams. Eddy joins Spartak in a three month contract, and Spartak will actually be playing in the Russian Super League A as well as Euroleague Group D.
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ANN WAUTERSStatusAnn will be playing for another Russian powerhouse: UMMC. This will be Ann’s first season with UMMC having previously played for Russia’s CSKA Moscow and left it this past spring in free agency. Ann’s team will be defending their Russian Super-league A Title and is once again expected to dominate. In addition to Super-league they will also participate in FIBA’s EuroLeague Group A.
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SHANNA CROSSLEYStatusShanna will be playing for Polish team Kosice, which will be in Group C of EuroLeague. Shanna’s team has already started play and has done fairly well, all things considered. Read more at SSN's thread.Links |
Ruth Riley and Helen Darling are enigmas I can't crack. (Not true, I'm just a bum.)
Extra Stuff
- I recommend reading Paul Nilsen’s Euroleague preview. He breaks down each group and goes through the best players you have to keep an eye on.
- Sports Page Magazine did a photo tribute by Carmen Santiago on the great Vickie Johnson. Check it out.
That's it for the moment. We'll check back in a couple of months to see how the gals did in their respective tournaments.