While naturally tinged with sadness due to off-court matters in Moscow, the second round of EuroLeague Women still delivered from its usual magical menu.

Indeed the competition looks set to serve up an even bigger treat after the arrival of another bona-fide worldwide star in Becky Hammon and that in itself has thrown up a good starting point for this weeks round up.

A Big Question

The most interesting quote of the week came from Galatasaray coach Zafer Kalaicioglu who claimed "Maybe after Russia, the Turkish league TBBL is the best league in Europe. More than 20 WNBA players play in Turkey each year. No one knows the result in advance." I think it is a wonderful statement and a great basis for a healthy argument since it throws up so many questions, some of which may be answered over coming months. Is the number of WNBA players playing a true way to gauge the strength of a league? What about respective performances in European competition? What about the Liga Femenina in Spain? Pertinently after the loss of CSKA and now the uncertain future of Spartak, is the Russian league still considered the best? I don't have the answers but thanks to Coach Kalaicioglu thoroughly enjoyed debating them with a friend over a coffee during the weekend!

Forget Jet-Lag, More Like Jet-Fab!

I must have heard players complain and make excuses about the rigours of travelling to games a million times so it was fantastic to see Iziane Castro Marques flip the tables with a priceless contribution I can now (politely) back to players whining in the future. Jetting into Krakow from her home city in Brazil, she endured a marathon and gruelling 18 hour journey with a couple of stopovers but then subsequently stepped off the plane, grabbed her kit and  basketball shoes and headed straight into a practice with her new team mates. Then tearing up the plan that had her pencilled in for a Saturday domestic debut, she promptly tore up Mizo Pecs by playing in EuroLeague Women and scoring a superb 22 points to fire Wisla Can Pack to an 85-78 success over Mizo Pecs 2010. Just for good measure and to show it was no one-off, she followed that up with another 18 points in her league debut over the weekend.

Lyttle Wonder

It has been a tough opening for Halcon Avenida in this years tournament. A home defeat by Wisla Can Pack was followed by an error strewn, scruffy but nevertheless hugely important win at Gospic last week. One player who has shrugged off the bumpy start is power forward Sancho Lyttle as she continues her excellent WNBA form from the summer. Having made the move from Ibiza and EuroCup to the Spanish mainland and EuroLeague Women, Lyttle has been unstoppable in the first month or so of the new season. Not only is she averaging a fine double-double in Europe but she has also scooped the domestic MVP for October with a magnificent 25 point plus average valuation during the month. Is it any wonder her former team are currently stranded to the bottom of Liga Femenina without her?

Schio Magic

If there is one team capable of staying slightly under the radar and springing a surprise in the knockout stages then perhaps it is Beretta Famila Schio. It was interesting to listen to Coach Orlando waxing lyrical about his teams performance against Lille and he read my mind when he drew comparisons with a win in Turkey last season. He explained "From a technical standpoint, perhaps in Istanbul last year we played better, but considering the importance of this race, I would say that this was perhaps the finest European game in recent years." Interestingly he also spoke about Marissa Coleman who Schio have big hopes for this year after her rookie season in the WNBA for the Mystics and taking into account the fact that she is still finding her feet in Italy and yet to really explode it looks like there are exciting times ahead. With two wins already racked up and a winnable home encounter with Gospic this week, they look well set.

Crystal Clear

If there is one thing that the first couple of games have maybe proved, it is that Rivas Ecopolis are clearly looking to be the real deal. Of course it is still early days but when now talking about the realistic prospects of Spanish clubs making the latter stages, it would seem prudent to throw Rivas into the mix with Salamanca and Valencia. Apart from their real team ethic which I mentioned last week, they have, in Crystal Langhorne, a real powerhouse with the EuroLeague Women All Star center finally delivering a first monstrous performance since her switch from Teo Vilnius. Langhorne has taken some time to ease her way into the Madrid club but she really exploded last week in the superb road win at Prague. Her stunning 12 of 15 shooting helped her amass a spectacular 32 point haul which was not only a career high in Europe but a career high effort full stop. Sensational stuff.

French Prefer The Paint

It was mesmerising watching Bourges play against Good Angels Kosice with the French side pretty much putting put all of their eggs in one basket and going pick and roll crazy. It was a truly relentless effort and as I watched the game unfold, I inadvertently scribbled down ‘zone them', a note that I doubt I will need to pass on to Coach Szekely of MKB EuroLeasing for this weeks game in France! I am sure he will be prepared and I wonder if Bourges will be able to make an outside shot on their home floor because they only managed one solitary effort from Serbian Katerina Manic in Slovakia!

Ouch!

On the subject of MKB Euroleasing and Coach Szekely, he has a bigger problem than stopping Bourges inside to contend with after losing the influential Jelena Milovanovic for the next three to four weeks. Having risen from her hospital sick bed last week to shrug off a virus in exchange for a game high 21 points, she found herself heading back to hospital with a hand injury. Thankfully for Szekely, his team have the cushion of two wins behind them already because losing the Serbian is truly a major blow. She was the heartbeat of last years run to Final Four with 15 points a game and having delivered pretty much the same this year to date, can her team-mates make up for her contribution? I suspect they can offensively but perhaps the true issue is whether the team can somehow replace that defensive intensity she brings to the team. So often, her ability to steal the ball helping her team out of a tight spot - we will be watching with interest.

All Eyes Forward

As if the match-up between Ros Casares and UMMC Ekaterinburg wasn't tasty enough, we now have the added ingredient of Becky Hammon potentially stepping out onto the floor for the Spanish hosts. Taking into account the red-hot form of Valencia and the statement they have made to their rivals in acquiring Hammon, I just can't wait to watch this one as a potential final of the 2009-10 season just arrived early! It is however worth taking note that while Hammon will be pulling on the vest of Valencia, that her presence is as a replacement for the injured Amaya Valdemoro whose absence is very much a big deal.

Meanwhile in the Czech Republic, Frisco Sika Brno have made some changes with Linda Frolich being cut and Australian World title winner Hollie Grima and EuroLeague Women veteran Jelena Skerovic both arriving as replacements for Frolich and the injured Zuzana Zirkova. It will be interesting to see what they bring to the table this week in a tricky tie at Tarbes who have certainly met their pre-season promise of being fun to watch!