Bird, Parker, Pondexter Advance to EuroLeague Final Four

February 25, 2011

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Three USA National Team Members Still in the EuroLeague Hunt
Sue Bird, Candace Parker and Cappie Pondexter have helped their teams return to the EuroLeague Final Four. For Bird, it marks a string of five straight Final Fours - Spartak has won all four previous finals - and for Parker and Pondexter, it's their fourth. They've finished third the last three years and are looking to unseat Bird and Spartak for a shot at the 2011 crown.

Birdy Flying High
Sue Bird has won two NCAA titles, four EuroLeague championships, two WNBA crowns, a pair of Olympic gold medals and two FIBA World Championship golds. Over the last year alone, her teams captured the 2010 EuroLeague, 2010 WNBA and 2010 FIBA World Championship titles. Suffice it to say, teams with Bird on the roster have a pretty good shot at winning. She is now two games away from winning a fifth straight EuroLeague title after helping Spartak sweep Fenerbache in the quarterfinals. Currently averaging 12.0 ppg. and 3.1 apg, Bird has two more games left in this EuroLeague season. Spartak could meet up with its nemesis UMMC Ekaterinburg in the April 8 semifinal clash for the fourth straight year. If Bird’s squad wins, and that’s not a given, she could become part of yet another championship team on April 10.

All Final Four Teams Known
Four teams advanced to the 2011 EuroLeague Final Four today with clean sweeps in their respective best-of-three quarterfinals series, including Spartak Moscow Region (10-5), Halcon Avenida Salamanca (12-2), Ros Casares Valencia (12-3) and UMMC Ekaterinburg (12-2). The four teams hail from women’s basketball hot spots Spain and Russia and all of the teams have been in previous Final Fours. In fact, a combination of at least two of the four have comprised the last four standing since 2007.

2011 FINAL FOUR TEAMS - EUROLEAGUE HISTORY
Everyone knows by now that Spartak is the four-time defending EuroLeague championship and is looking to make it five in a row. But, how have the other Final Four teams fared in EuroLeague play?

Halcon Avenida Salamanca
Halcon Avenida Salamanca advanced to the 2009 EuroLeague Final Four and fell to Spartak in the championship game, capping the season with a 12-5 slated. This marks Halcon Avenida’s fifth consecutive season in EuroLeague play, after competing in the 2006 EuroCup, where it fell to a Lisa Leslie-led Spartak squad in the semifinals.

Ros Casares Valencia
This marks the third Final Four appearance for Ros, and second in a row for the Spanish club. It fell to Spartak in the final last year and also in 2007. Prior to joining the EuroLeague for the 2001-02 season, Ros competed in the European Cup for Women’s Champion Clubs five years (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996), came away with the 1992 and 1993 championships and finished second in 1994 and 1995.

Spartak Moscow Region
Four-time defending champs Spartak Moscow Region advanced to the Final Four for the fifth straight year. After claiming the 2006 EuroCup title, Spartak was elevated to the EuroLeague and has captured every championship since then.

UMMC Ekaterinburg
UMMC Ekaterinburg captured the 2003 EuroLeague championship and has finished in third place in each of the last three seasons. However, due to the EuroLeague’s ruling of not having teams from the same country compete in the final game, UMMC had the unfortunate luck of playing Spartak in the semifinals over the last three Final Fours. Could this be the year Ekat advances past Spartak? Time will tell.

Next Up: 2011 EuroLeague All-Star Game
The season isn't over for the USA National Team players who failed to advance to the Final Four. Four USA National Team members earned starting nods for the 2011 EuroLeague All-Star Game, to be played on March 8 in Gdynia, Poland. Seimone Augustus, Candice Dupree, Sylvia Fowles and Angel McCoughtry will suit up as starters for the 2011 Rest of the World Team, alongside 2010 USA Select Team member Monica Wright. Additionally, USA National Team members Rebekkah Brunson, Tina Charles and Sue Bird will play for the Rest of the World. The final four Rest of the World All-Stars are Dewanna Bonner, Catherine Joens, Megan Mahoney and Allie Quigley.

Named as starters for the Europe All-Star Team were Celine Dumerc, Sandrine Gruda, Sancho Lyttle, Alba Torrens and Amaya Valdemoro; while Elina Babkina, Liron Cohen, Hana Horakova, Ewelina Kobryn, Yelena Leuchanka, Eva Viteckova and Justyna Zurowska have been named as subs.

QUARTERFINALS GAME 2 RECAPS

No. 1 Fenerbache vs. No. 8 Spartak
Four-time defending EuroLeague champion Spartak Moscow Region (10-5) handed host Fenerbache (12-2) a pair of losses in sweeping the quarterfinals series.

In a stunning upset, four-time defending EuroLeague champ Spartak Moscow Region swept previously Fenerbache in quarterfinals action to advance to the 2011 Final Four. Spartak, which reloaded its roster this season after the new rules regarding player nationalities, got off to a 1-2 start in EuroLeague play this season.

Spartak, which ran through last season and the playoffs without a blemish on their record, lost four games in the preliminary round this year. The squad, which lost Lauren Jackson to injury late in the season, picked up Taj McWilliams-Franklin. In the Round of 16, Spartak edged Beretta-Famila 65-60 in the first game of the series, dropped the second 66-64, and came back to win the final game 69-63. So, despite Fener’s loss of Diana Taurasi and Penny Taylor, Fener reloaded with a couple great players, including Angel McCoughtry, and it was very likely that Fener would advance past Spartak to the Final Four.

Alas, that was not to be. Playing on its home court, Spartak jumped out to a 6-0 lead, receiving four points from McWilliams-Franklin, and never trailed en route to the win. That’s not to say Fener simply gave up. After trailing by double digits in the first half, Fener cut the gap to 34-27 at the midway break.

However, Spartak came out of the locker room on fire and following a 10-2 run owned a comfortable 44-29 advantage. The hosts continued to pull away and went up 56-37 at the end of the third quarter before cruising through to the win.

Bird finished with 12 points and three assists, while McWilliams-Franklin posted eight points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

McCoughtry, who failed to reach double digit scoring over each of her last three games, was held to just eight points on 4-of-10 shooting. Three players scored 11 points each for Fener, which will now turn its sights on capturing the Turkish League title.

Spartak shot close to 55 percent from the field, while holding Fener to 40 percent and outrebounded Fener 34-24.

No. 2 Ros Casares vs. No. 7 Bourges Basket
Ros Casares (12-3) took an early 13-point lead, but Bourges Basket (9-6) fought back to go ahead by a point, 45-44, with 8:22 left in the game. Ros recaptured the lead, 47-45, on a Cindy Lima 3-point play with 7:34 remaining and never again trailed. Katie Douglas, who finished with 24 points on the night, scored nine points in a decisive 13-4 run that gave her team a 60-49 advantage with 2:42 to play. Despite a 7-0 counter by Bourges, there was not enough left on the clock for a comeback as Ros advanced to the Final Four with the 63-58 victory.

In addition to her 24 points, Douglas grabbed nine boards, dished out two assists and was credited with three steals. Douglas was the only Valencia player to score in double digits, however, Rebekkah Brunson chipped in eight points, five caroms and had a pair of blocked shots.

Catherine Joens led Bourges with 20 points and Emmeline Ndongue added 16 points and seven rebounds.

Neither team shot well in the low-scoring contest, with Ros hitting just 37.5 percent (24-64 FGs) from the field and Bourges making 30.3 percent (17-56 FGs).

No. 3 Halcon Avenida vs. No. 6 Wisla Can-Pack
Halcon Avenida Salamanca (12-2) traveled to Krakow and handed Wisla Can-Pack (9-5) a 72-60 defeat to advance to the Final Four for the second time in club history. Halcon Avenida previously hosted the 2009 Final Four and finished in second place behind Spartak. After taking a 36-28 halftime lead, Halcon steadily increased its lead to 57-40 at the end of three periods and coasted through the fourth quarter for the victory.

Anke De Mondt was Halcon’s leading scorer with 15 points, while Yelena Leuchanka had a high of 19 for Wisla. Wisla’s lone American, Nicole Powell, managed eight points and three steals, was hampered by foul trouble and only played 24 minutes.

No. 4 UMMC Ekaterinburg vs. No. 5 Cras Basket Taranto
Candace Parker scored 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field to lead UMMC Ekaterinburg (12-2) to a 74-32 drubbing of host Cras Basket Taranto (10-5).

Ekat never trailed, but at the 3:38 mark of the first quarter, it was still a one-point game, 7-6. By the end of the period, the gap was still manageable for the Italian side, 15-11. However, Sandra Gruda’s 3-point play at 6:51 gave Ekaterinburg a 10-point lead and the Russian side began to pull away from there. By halftime Ekat was up 33-17. The visitors allowed just 15 points in the second half, outscoring the Italian team 20-7 in the third quarter and 21-8 in the final for the lopsided victory.

 Parker, who played just 24 minutes, also grabbed six rebounds and had a pair of steals; while her Olympic teammate Cappie Pondexter finished with eight points, four rebounds and three assists.

Sophia Young was the only double-digit scorer for Taranto with 12 points.