State of the Silver Stars Nation

by LatinD on Nov 3, 2009 10:22 PM CST in Outside the League

Team___9__medium
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 HAMMON Status In 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. Links Silver Stars Nation's thread Becky's blog
	SOPHIA YOUNG Status She will be playing in Turkey for the third straight season. Her team, Galatasary, will be competing in the both the Turkish league and the FIBA-sponsored Euroleague. The Turkish season already started, and Sophia's doing well for herself and her team. In EuroLeague they will be competing in Group A, the most difficult group that pits them against Russian Powerhouse UMMC and Spanish powerhouse Ros Casares (remember what I said about Becky?). The EuroLeague season already began, and Galatasary got spanked. Links Silver Stars Nation's threads: Thread 1, Thread 2 Sophia's site
	MEGAN FRAZEE Status Who? Megan Frazee, that's who. She will be playing her first overseas season with Cankaya. Cankaya is a Turkish team affiliated with a Turkish University that participates in the Turkish Professional Women’s league. Links Silver Stars Nation's thread Megan’s blog
	BELINDA SNELL Status Belinda 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. Links Silver Stars Nation's thread
	EDWIGE LAWSON-WADE Status Edwige 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. Links Silver Stars Nation's thread Edwige's blog
	ANN WAUTERS Status Ann 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. Links Silver Stars Nation's thread Ann's blog (translated by Google)
	SHANNA CROSSLEY Status Shanna 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 Silver Stars Nation's thread

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.

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Comments

Thanks for the updates, LD. As you may or may not know, I am a big Silver Stars fan and had weekend season tickets last year. It’ll be sad to not see VJ next year, but I’m hoping maybe Shanna steps into a bigger role.

Project Spurs
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http://projectspurs.com/

by Michael De Leon on Nov 4, 2009 11:24 AM CST reply actions

Thanks for the post LD. On a side note, the Silver Stars post could not have come at a better time. These last few days felt like we were back in the off-season. No games since Saturday until tomorrow when we start a SEGABABA. I will never understand why the NBA those these things to the Spurs. They could have easily split those games with the four day brake. If I had to predict a good time for Pop to pull a Popovich, bench all his starters and stick it to the man it would be in one of the next two games.

"If an expert says it can't be done, get another expert"
- DBG

by LasEspuelas on Nov 4, 2009 4:30 PM CST reply actions

We get 2 days rest before a 3 game (Toronto, Dallas, and OKC) homestand. There is another 2 days rest between those Dallas and OKC games. We have 3 days rest after OKC before we go to Dallas. With this much break, I don’t think Pop will need to bench anyone. Even Portland and Utah as an away back to back isn’t too bad as both games are late and Western games. It’s not like we have to fly from Orlando to Portland.

This 4 days of rest has been brutal though, especially with two good teams in a good back to back on the horizon.

by BlaseE on Nov 4, 2009 4:48 PM CST up reply actions

I’ve always thought that the kind of scheduling glitches you’re talking about occurred because of venue scheduling.

Gotta have those gun rally/tractor pull/professional wrestling events somewhere, don’t ya?

Consider the gun jumped
5 in 10

by J.R. Wilco on Nov 5, 2009 11:09 AM CST up reply actions

Awesome updates, LD. If I’m not mistaken, Becky’s also playing for Russia’s national team, right? She’s a national treasure in that part of the world.

The Roleplayer's Realm

by silverandblack_davis on Nov 4, 2009 5:50 PM CST reply actions

She is. The Russian league is weird – amazing players, but Phoenix Stan told me it was subsidized by uberrich Russians.

Straight from the No-Stat Zone to your computer!
Dunkin' Cheerleaders

by LatinD on Nov 5, 2009 5:17 PM CST up reply actions

Can Stephon Marbury play for any of those teams? He’ll kill there.

"Yes, it's important that I have good numbers, and I'm well-respected as a player. But I think it's more important that I'm respected as a man." - Some Tall Guy Who Wore #50

by theonlyromeo on Nov 4, 2009 10:58 PM CST reply actions

How long is the WNBA season? Because to play two different seasons in a year seems extremely punishing.

If you haven't lived with a squirrel, you haven't lived. - Bob Ross

by Hipuks on Nov 5, 2009 5:00 AM CST reply actions

Not so much when you get two different salaries.

"Yes, it's important that I have good numbers, and I'm well-respected as a player. But I think it's more important that I'm respected as a man." - Some Tall Guy Who Wore #50

by theonlyromeo on Nov 5, 2009 8:00 AM CST up reply actions