World Basketball

How many Americans may be in One Team and on the court during the match?

Quote from dexter

Teams only have 2 non European (USA, Australia etc.) players on the court (I mean in the roster) in Euroleague Women.
At the beggining of the season teams must inform Fiba about their roster.(for example GSMP has 3 Americans but they must choose 2 of them. And teams cannot change these names, they have to play with these players to the end of the season.)

This rule has been in Euroleague Women for many years but two years before If players has got an another citizenship in an European country, They can play as European, but now players must have in the national team of a European Country to play as an European.(for example Epiphanny Prince and Becky Hammon.They are playing in Russian NT)

In 2009 Spartak had Kelli Miller, Noel Kuin, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Sylvia Fowles, Lauren Jackson. But last year they only have Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson.

Thanks

Maybe some of these Players will play in Europe: http://www.ncaa.com/stats/basketball-women/d1

Fenerbahce announced on Tuesday that former Lotos Gdynia and current Latvia national team boss George Dikeoulakos is to coach the Turkish giants next season.

Elina Babkina, the Latvia national team point-guard is joining the Greek coach in Istanbul along with Latvia national team center Zane Tamane.

Turkey international Kubra Siyahdemir has also agreed a deal with Fenerbahce, who recently won the Turkish domestic title.

Fener, who lost to Sparta&K M.R. Vidnoje in the EuroLeague Women Quarter-Finals, are going to find it very difficult to defend their domestic title with rivals Galatasaray having recently bolstered their line-up with Diana Taurasi.

Nevertheless, Dikeoulakos, who has replaced Laszlo Ratgeber at the helm, has a very good track record.

In 2009 he was assistant to head-coach Kostas Missas at the EuroBasket Women 2009 in Latvia when Greece achieved a fifth-place finish to qualify for the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women. Later that summer Dikeoulakos helped Missas coach the Greeks to the U20 European Championship for Men gold medal in Rhodes.

Dikeoulakos then led Sony Athinaikos to Greek Cup, EuroCup Women and Greek league treble before last summer steering Latvia into next month's EuroBasket Women in Poland.

His last club performance was solid, too.

Joining a struggling Lotos Gdynia in early January, the team went on a long unbeaten run and won the Polish Cup, with Babkina named MVP of that event.

Tamane averaged 11.5 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks for MKB Euroleasing Sopron in the EuroLeague Women this season.

Babkina played at the EuroLeague Women All-Star Game in Gdynia after averaging 13.2 points and 4.0 assists in the Qualifying Round.

In seven EuroBasket Women Division A games last summer, Siyahdemir averaged 4.7 points in 16.6 minutes per contest.

Last month, Fenerbahce announced that Australia international Penny Taylor had agreed to return to the team for next season.

Ivana Matovic and Angel McCoughtry will also play for Fenerbahce while the club has also signed Turkey international center Nevin Kristen Nevlin to a contract extension.

Former Fenerbahce players Hana Horakova and Anete Jekabsone-Zogota have left the club to play for UMMC Ekaterinburg.

Quote from dexter

Teams only have 2 non European (USA, Australia etc.) players on the court (I mean in the roster) in Euroleague Women.
At the beggining of the season teams must inform Fiba about their roster.(for example GSMP has 3 Americans but they must choose 2 of them. And teams cannot change these names, they have to play with these players to the end of the season.)

This rule has been in Euroleague Women for many years but two years ago If players has got an another citizenship in an European country, They can play as European, but now players must have in the national team of a European Country to play as an European.(for example Epiphanny Prince and Becky Hammon.They are playing in Russian NT)

In 2009 Spartak had Kelli Miller, Noel Kuin, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Sylvia Fowles, Lauren Jackson. But last year they only have Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson.

How many may in the Euroleague play the Players from Other Country's from Europe on the court? F.ex in GSMP may play 2 Americans but how many from the rest of Europe

Lotos Gdynia have appointed Javier Fort as their new coach.

The Polish club announced on Tuesday they had signed the Spaniard on a two-year contract, thus ending his four-year tenure as the boss of Rivas Ecopolis in Spain.

Gdynia, the Polish Cup winners this season, have a rich tradition in Europe and domestically and Fort, who made quite a name for himself at Rivas the past couple of seasons in the club's first two EuroLeague Women campaigns, is excited to have a new challenge.

"I believe that Lotos Gdynia is a club with great traditions and rich history, and for every coach, it is essential to be successful not only in his own country but also in others," Fort said.

"I spent my entire coaching career at Rivas, which is 11 years. I think this is a good time for a change."

He takes over from George Dikeoulakos, who left at the end of the season and was earlier on Tuesday confirmed as the new coach of Fenerbahce.

"The board of the club made a decision of hiring Javier, because of his basketball philosophy," Lotos Gdynia president Mieczyslaw Krawczyk said.

"He believes in hard teamwork and developing young players who can greatly contribute to the game."

Fort steered Rivas to a first-place finish in their EuroLeague Women Qualifying Round group in the 2009-10 campaign and this season led them to their first major trophy, the Copa de la Reina (Spanish Cup).

They had to beat Halcon Avenida in the semi-finals and then hosts Ros Casares in the final to lift the Copa.

Fort then led Rivas into the EuroLeague Women play-offs for the second year in a row.

He has given some insight into what his emphasis will be in an interview on the Lotos Gdynia website.

"For me, the most important thing is defense," he said.

"After a good defense, counter-attacks can follow and it is easy to score points."

Fort was also an attractive coach for Lotos Gdynia because of his willingness to work hard and expect to win, even when the team's financial might doesn't compare to what many of the opponents like Wisla will possess.

"Although the budget of the club may differ from the budgets of other teams, the money is not really playing," Fort said.

"The basketball game is a 5x5 and it's there on the court during games when everything happens.

"And do not forget that in sports, anything is possible."

The arrival of Fort means that Poland has Spanish coaches at the helm of two of its most prominent clubs.

Jose Ignacio Hernandez, also the coach of Spain's women's team, just led Wisla Can-Pack Krakow to the domestic title in Poland.

Gdynia is a beautiful city on the Baltic coast but the temperature is going to be considerably lower and there is going to be more snow than in Madrid.

"I know very well that the weather here is quite different," Fort said.

"At the end of the EuroLeague game that was here in January, there was a lot of snow.

"But the atmosphere that prevails in Gdynia makes it, in fact, a lot warmer, and certainly, it will not affect my work."

The FIBA Europe Young Women's Player of the Year Nika Baric is to play for Sparta&K M.R. Vidnoje next season.

Baric and her Slovenian club, ZKK Merkur Celje, made the announcement on Wednesday.

The point guard, voted MVP of the U18 European Championship for Women after leading Slovenia into the Semi-Finals, now has a chance to realize one of her dreams by playing in the EuroLeague Women.

She'll do so for a club that has been a dominant force in the competition the past several years, and for coach Pokey Chatman - one of the best in her profession.

On Wednesday, Baric paid a glowing tribute to her Slovenian club Celje for giving her a chance to develop into one of the most promising players on the continent.

"Right from childhood, I wanted to play for Celje, as I watched their games on television and enjoyed watching great players, for example Maja Erkic and Lucija Conkova," Baric said.

"At the time, I thought that I would like to wear the Celje jersey myself.

"I have spent four beautiful years in the city of Celje and played four great seasons.

"It's my first professional club and it will always remain a beautiful memory. I met many people and I learned how to play basketball at the professional level."

Now comes a much bigger challenge for Baric.

The level of competition is going to be higher both in the Russian domestic league, and in Europe.

"Because I want to progress, the opportunity has come to go one step further," she said.

"Sparta&K is a club that is among the best in Europe, but is also known for its good work with young people.

"I'm ready to go. I have trained hard for many years.

"I am happy, full of energy and desire and can't wait to get ready for the new season and play for my new club."

Sparta&K general manager Steve Costalas, when asked about Baric, said to Basketball World News: "We've always been into the youth movement, which is why in the past we have signed (Sonja) Petrovic and (Jelena) Milovanovic and now Baric.

"It's exciting for us to have a player who represents the future of European basketball and we're looking forward to having Nika for many years."

Matej Polutnik, the director of Celje, believes Sparta&K have made a very good decision.

"Nika has everything a player needs to be excellent," he said.

"We thank her for the four years that she has given to the club.

"We're proud and happy that she is going to one of Europe's top clubs.

"This is also the first concrete result of our club policies based on working with youngsters.

"Celje has its own name in Europe and is valued as a center that gives young players excellent conditions in which to develop."

Baric has had to work hard to get this far but knows she'll need to work even harder be a success in Russia and the EuroLeague Women.

"I realize that the success of my future career depends solely on me and my work," she said.

Hungary captain Zsófia Fegyverneky has left Pecs 2010 for arch rivals MKB Euroleasing Sopron.

Fegyverneky is one of the big changes at Sopron, who reached the Eighth-Finals of the EuroLeague Women and also came back from a 2-0 deficit to stun Pecs in the Hungarian play-off title series.

News of Fegyverneky's arrival broke on Tuesday night when more than 200 fans showed up at the arena to listen to general manager Zoltán Török and Sopron boss Norbert Székely, who is also the coach of Hungary's national team, reflect on their title-winning season and look ahead.

Török spoke about the financial constraints at the club, which haven't been helped by the worldwide economic crisis that has made it difficult to find sponsors.

Sopron have had to be creative the past few years in how they raise funds to run the club.

The outfit has organized musicals and will in August, for example, have a Miss Saigon production.

The club sold USA international Angel McCoughtry to Fenerbahce shortly before the EuroLeague Women play-offs because it made financial sense and Török spoke again on Tuesday about the need for financial stability.

The most emotional moment of Tuesday evening occurred when young Hungary international Kata Honti was recognized.

Fan favorite Honti, who has only recently signed for Ros Casares, was given a standing ovation for her contributions to the club.

"We wanted to make a team only with Hungarian players, but we had to change this plan a little bit because Kata left for Valencia," Török said.

"But we tried to stay on this way and our roster stays open."

Two of Sopron's most talented players, Tijana Krivacevic and Fanni Szabó, are signed until the summer of 2013 while along with Fegyverneky are newcomers Hanna Zavecz of Australia, who has a Hungarian passport, and former Sopron star Olexandra Gorbunova of Ukraine.

Gorbunova played for Sopron for three seasons and while she was there was named FIBA Europe Young Women's Player of the Year.

She became a mother for the first time in April.

"We are still waiting to announce a player," Török said.

"We have signed her a contract and are only waiting for her signature."

MKB Euroleasing players for 2011-12:

Zsófia Fegyverneky,
Dia Fűrész,
Tímea Czank,
Vivien Böröndy,
Adrienn Czinder,
Hanna Zavecz,
Fanni Szabó,
Olexandra Gorbunova,
Tijana Krivacevic,
Petra Vágvölgyi,
Dóra Horti,
Zsófia Licskai
Kitti Doncsecs.

Who is She?

Quote from dexter

She has been playing for Minnessota Lynx since 2006. She was the first pick of 2006 draft. And in Europe she played for GSMP from 2008 to 2011.

Wnba Profile

Thank You

Bourges have waved good-bye to boss Pierre Vincent and several players but they're now preparing to write an exciting new chapter in their history with coach Valerie Garnier.

Following Vincent's decision to leave after eight years, Bourges have turned to Garnier, a 46-year-old who had been coaching at Toulouse since the club's foundation in 2008.

France internationals Celine Dumerc and Marielle Amant are among four newcomers to the team.

Dumerc has played for the club before, the last time in 2009.

As for Garnier, she was still under contract at Toulouse, a team that struggled this season with just two wins in the LFB.

The highly-rated Garnier asked for and was granted her release.

The club said in a statement: "We wish her good luck on this new mission and it's always going to be a pleasure to see her at the Sports Palace (in Toulouse)."

Garnier was a member of France's national team and played at the 1989 EuroBasket Women.

As for her club sides, she competed for Mirande (1983-91) and Aix en Provence (1991-93), the latter when they were in the European Cup Liliana Ronchetti - the forerunner to the EuroLeague Women.

Garnier has also worked as a coach at le Temple sur Lot, with France's national team as an assistant, and at both Lattes Montpellier and Carquereine.

Jérôme Authier will serve as Garnier's assistant coach and former Bourges and two-time EuroBasket Women champion with France, Cathy Melain, has returned to the club to become the technical manager at its training center.

On the court, Bourges will not have four players that helped them win another French title this season.

Czech international Ilona Burgrova, France national team playmaker Anael Lardy, Serbia point guard Maja Miljkovic and French shooting guard Paoline Salagnac are moving to pastures new.

Bourges will be boosted, however, by the return of France international Dumerc, who spent the last two seasons at UMMC Ekaterinburg.

The 28-year-old point guard in her last EuroLeague Women season at Bourges in 2009 averaged 10.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists.

Her numbers were down considerably at UMMC, including a scoring average of less than five points per game in each of her two seasons in Russia.

Burgeoning France national team forward Amant is joining the French champions from EuroCup Women finalists Arras and the club will also add American guard Kiesha Brown and French power forward Christelle Diallo.

Brown, 32, competed in the EuroCup Women with Mann Filter Zaragoza last season.