This team has something that the Vs should definitely copy. They have a four person brass band that stands up and plays a short tune every time they make a basket. Then they have a group of three drummers, large drums, which does a Ratatat tat.
Conde stats. FG14.1, RB 5, 3P% 33%. Second highest scorer on team.
I watched a Euroleague game and they had some crazy police sirens going when the home team was defending. Highly distracting and probably not allowed in the US.
Matchup details: Mersin found itself in a tighter-than-expected game last week against a depleted Avenida squad, but held on in the final seconds to remain undefeated. Schio, meanwhile, led by as many as 15 over Brno, coasting to victory in its own second-round opener. These results set up a game between probably the two strongest clubs in Group E: Mersin, which boasts elite playmaking in its backcourt and a frontcourt that can single-handedly take over a game, and Schio, which has scorers at every position and leads EuroLeague Women in 3-point shooting accuracy (38.6 percent). Schio has also done an excellent job of taking care of the basketball, averaging just 13.6 turnovers per game, but will need to be extra cautious against Anderson, who was last season’s Defensive Player of the Year.
By the way, a quick personal aside: I use a old phone so some features are limited for me on substack sites, namely “liking” posts and comments for some reason. So add a “like” in spirit to every post you put up, Eric! And maybe I’ll write “like” out on comments where I’d like to hit the heart, if that doesn’t get annoying and where I don’t actually just post a full comment. Okay, I hope you all remember that so you know why I never “like” anything going forward heh.
I was a little like, “hmmm” when Lacob first set that 5 year championship goal for the Valkyries because of them starting from scratch, which is pretty different from the circumstances when he declared that for the Warriors way back when.
But it looks like he gets that, and maybe kinda softens it up a little by saying they should be “elite” instead of “champions.”
But who knows—it’s a smaller number of teams to pass over to get to the top in the W so…
What makes it plausible to me is that there will be a league-wide shakeup in 2026 free agency... basically every non-rookie, non-core-supermax contract player will be available, so there will be a chance to instantly attract a strong group of players.
See Maria Conde play tomorrow.
KGHM BC Polkowice (1-6) vs. ZVVZ USK Praha (4-3)
When: 1 p.m. ET
Where: Královka Arena in Prague, Czech Republic
How to watch: FIBA YouTube live stream
Notable players: Alexis Peterson, Amanda Zahui B., Rennia Davis, Emma Cannon (KGHM BC Polkowice); Ezi Magbegor, Brionna Jones, Maite Cazorla, Valeriane Ayayi, Maria Conde, Emese Hof (ZVVZ USK Praha)
https://www.youtube.com/live/Hp93-dJzKmk?si=2DhDocDPDwIzIKxv
ZVVZ women’s Euroleague game ( with Conde).
This team has something that the Vs should definitely copy. They have a four person brass band that stands up and plays a short tune every time they make a basket. Then they have a group of three drummers, large drums, which does a Ratatat tat.
Conde stats. FG14.1, RB 5, 3P% 33%. Second highest scorer on team.
I watched a Euroleague game and they had some crazy police sirens going when the home team was defending. Highly distracting and probably not allowed in the US.
See Kayla Thornton in Euroleague game on YouTube.
Beretta Famila Schio (5-2) vs. ÇBK Mersin (7-0)
When: 11 a.m. ET
Where: Servet Tazegül Spor Salonu in Mersin, Turkey
How to watch: DAZN
Notable players: Kitija Laksa, Jasmine Keys, Janelle Salaün, Ivana Dojkić, Dorka Juhász (Beretta Famila Schio); Marine Johannès, Natasha Howard, Teaira McCowan, Kayla Thornton, Karlie Samuelson, Yvonne Anderson, Iliana Rupert, Marine Fauthoux, Regan Magarity (ÇBK Mersin)
Matchup details: Mersin found itself in a tighter-than-expected game last week against a depleted Avenida squad, but held on in the final seconds to remain undefeated. Schio, meanwhile, led by as many as 15 over Brno, coasting to victory in its own second-round opener. These results set up a game between probably the two strongest clubs in Group E: Mersin, which boasts elite playmaking in its backcourt and a frontcourt that can single-handedly take over a game, and Schio, which has scorers at every position and leads EuroLeague Women in 3-point shooting accuracy (38.6 percent). Schio has also done an excellent job of taking care of the basketball, averaging just 13.6 turnovers per game, but will need to be extra cautious against Anderson, who was last season’s Defensive Player of the Year.
Thorton’s numbers on Mersin. FG, 4.3, RB 2.3, 3 %, 14.1.
Rupert’s numbers on Mersin. FG 12.8, , RB 8.4, 3% 35.7.
the best players available, nah. they picked a few good players & held on to max cap space. That’s ok too bad Lacob cant say it.
By the way, a quick personal aside: I use a old phone so some features are limited for me on substack sites, namely “liking” posts and comments for some reason. So add a “like” in spirit to every post you put up, Eric! And maybe I’ll write “like” out on comments where I’d like to hit the heart, if that doesn’t get annoying and where I don’t actually just post a full comment. Okay, I hope you all remember that so you know why I never “like” anything going forward heh.
Instead of a like, I will accept as a substitute a short poem about how cute my pug face is
Hmm every time, then…ok I guess I’ll have to do one line poems or shorties like that. #1 coming up:
Pug face, flat and fat. But not a smug face. I approve
I was a little like, “hmmm” when Lacob first set that 5 year championship goal for the Valkyries because of them starting from scratch, which is pretty different from the circumstances when he declared that for the Warriors way back when.
But it looks like he gets that, and maybe kinda softens it up a little by saying they should be “elite” instead of “champions.”
But who knows—it’s a smaller number of teams to pass over to get to the top in the W so…
What makes it plausible to me is that there will be a league-wide shakeup in 2026 free agency... basically every non-rookie, non-core-supermax contract player will be available, so there will be a chance to instantly attract a strong group of players.
Ah, yes, definitely, there is that too!