Tina Charles: Trio of Double-Doubles, Pair of Weekly Honors Early in Euro Season

Nov. 28, 2012

Players of the Week
USA Basketball National Team members Tina Charles, Candice Dupree and Diana Taurasi have each snagged one EuroLeague Player of the Week honor in the first three weeks of the season. Week 4 Player of the Week went to Croatia's Mirna Mazic, who produced 24 points and 14 rebounds in Novi Zagreb's loss to ZVVZ USK Prague, and beat out the USA's Candace Parker by one efficiency point. Charles, after claiming the honor in her 2012-13 debut, collected it again in Week 5. Perhaps the only reason she didn't snag it in Week 4 was because her team had a bye. We'll never know.

While We Were Out
Last week, while all of us in the United States were celebrating Thanksgiving, Tina Charles was earning EuroLeague Player of the Week honors for the second time this season. She finished with 26 points and 13 rebounds as Wisla Can-Pack Krakow picked up its first win by knocking off previously undefeated Startak Moscow Region Vidnoje 76-64. … Also dropping out of the unbeaten ranks was Group B’s Famila Schio, which dropped a 79-69 game to Good Angels Kosice.

Charles in Charge
Coming off of her 2012 WNBA MVP season, Tina Charles is continuing to impress on the hardwood. In three weeks she has racked up a trio of double-doubles and collected a pair of EuroLeague Player of the Week honors. Currently leading the league in scoring at a clip of 29.7 points a game, Charles propelled her team to its second straight victory.  In a close game against Rivas Ecopolis (3-2), which Wisla (2-3) pulled out 66-62, Charles posted 31 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots to help propel her side to victory. Also helping in the win was former USA National Team member Alana Beard with 17 points, while Oleksandra Kurasova scored a team-high 25 points for Rivas.

Trailing 62-61 with just over a minute to play, Beard nailed a 3-pointer to lift her team 64-62 at 1:11. From there neither team was able to score and finally Rivas was forced to foul to stop the clock. Dora Horti hit both her tries from the line with three seconds to play to ice the victory.

"It has been a team effort win, not just me,” Charles told FIBAEurope.com. “It has been a difficult game, and looking at the stats I had good numbers, but that's because everyone has a role in this team, and many times my role is to provide those points. We played good in key moments, hitting some clutch shots. I think it's awesome to have logged this win.”

Angel on Fener’s Side
After quandering its 10-point, 49-39, halftime lead and allowing the visiting Good Angels Kosice (3-2) to knot the game 67-67 after three quarters, Fenerbache (4-1) managed a 93-91 victory. The win was made possible in part by a 23-point, 10-rebound performance from Angel McCoughtry and 16 points from Cappie Pondexter. Plenette Pierson scored 20 points in the Good Angels loss.

Well-Balanced Attack Keeps Ekat Untouched
Going up by 10 points in the first quarter, UMMC Ekaterinburg (5-0) remained undefeated with a 94-62 blowout of Perfumerias Avenida (1-4) in Russia. Ekat used a balanced scoring attack which saw Candace Parker lead the way with 21 points, Deanna Nolan scored 19, Ewelina Kobryn had 14 and Sandrine Gruda and Diana Taurasi chipped in 12 points apiece.

Dynamic Duo
Nadezhda (3-2) eked out a 73-69 victory over UE Sopron (1-5), thanks to the one-two punch of DeWanna Bonner and Renee Montgomery, who scored team-highs of 18 points apiece. Bonner picked up a double-double after securing 12 caroms. On the opposing bench Jelena Milovanovic (30 points) and Shenise Johnson (26 points) combined for 56 of their team’s 69 points.

She Still Has It
Two-Time Olympic gold medalist DeLisha Milton-Jones put her team on her back and powered Tarsus (1-4) to its first win of the season, a 90-70 blowout of host BK Imos Brno (1-4). Milton-Jones led her team with 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field, while also contributing nine rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals.

Missed it by That Much (Again)!
CCC Polkowice (2-4) has lost its four games by an average of 4.3 points an outing, including today’s 67-65 heartbreaker to ZVVZ USK Prague (2-3). Nnemkadi Ogwumike had another stellar game, contributing 16 points and eight rebounds in the loss that had 13 lead changes. CCC had a chance to send the game into overtime, but Laia Palau missed both her attempts from the line with a second remaining as ZVVZ breathed a collective sigh of relief. A pair of former USA National Team members, Rebekkah Brunson and Kia Vaughn, came up big in their team’s win with 19 and eight points, respectively.

In Other Games
In front of a home crowd Bourges Basket (4-1) dropped Uni Gyor (3-3) 57-47 with the help of Emmeline Ndongue and Endene Miyem, who contributed 16 points apiece … After losing the first two games of the season, Municipal Targoviste (3-2) has won three in a row. The latest victim was EuroLeague newcomer Arras (0-5) to a tune of 72-64 … Ahead 39-32 at halftime, host Novi Zagreb (1-4) used a third-quarter 23-10 surge to pick up its first victory after rushing past USO Mondeville (2-3) 82-60.

Playoff Watch
While there is still much basketball to be played, we thought we’d start considering possible playoff teams. Looking at the standings and knowing their personnel, it’s not hard to postulate that Spartak, Fener, Ekat and Gala will advance to the next round. With the top four in each group guaranteed to advance, there will be some important games down the stretch. Some big deciders if you will.

While Wisla Can-Pack is just 2-3 at the moment, let’s not forget that two of the Polish club’s losses came before the arrival of Olympic gold medalist Tina Charles, who currently leads the league in scoring. With Charles in the line-up, Wisla is going to rise through the ranks.

In Group A, Tarsus and Brno are obvious unlikely candidates for advancement.  It’s anyone’s guess right now as to Group B’s top four teams as it’s a mish-mash in the middle. EuroLeague newcomer Arras is still looking for its first victory and this season is slowly slipping away from 2009 Final Four upstarts Sopron.

UMMC Ekaterinburg and Galatasaray have separated themselves from the pack in Group C, leaving behind in their wake a number of teams fighting for a good playoff slot. One such team features the talented Nnemkadi Ogwumike, CCC Polkowice. While her squad only has two victories in six games, the four losses have come by an average of 4.3 points a contest. But with five teams in the bracket owning one or two victories apiece, the playoff race is still wide open.

2012-13 EuroLeague Standings: Week 6