French League Rolls Forward

There has been a lot of movement in the French League since round nine:

Bourges are the only team with a perfect record and are three games clear at the top of the regular season’s standings. They also confirmed their improvement in Europe with a road victory against UMMC Ekaterinburg as they moved from last place to second in their group.

Montpellier are hot on Bourges’ heals as they are in second place and are currently on a nine-game winning streak. Montpellier’s rise is mainly due to the return of all their players from the injured list. Since her return to action Gunta Basko, one of the injured players, list has been in imperial form and now leads the scoring statistics. The only disappointment for Montpellier was the elimination for EuroCup in the first round of the knock-out stage.

It is never easy to change 80% of the team and simultaneously change the coaching structure. The proof of how difficult it can be is well illustrated by USVO this season. They have had a roller coaster ride in Europe and domestically they are three games down on Bourges. After conceding a heavy defeat to Bourges Hérve Coudray was subject to embarrassment as his former team Mondeville came to Valenciennes and worked away with a victory. The third defeat came at the hands of Reims as USVO failed to finish the game off after leading comfortably at half time. USVO have been regular season champions for the last seven seasons. Now they will require other clubs to beat Bourges if they hope to make it an eighth regular season championship title.

Mondeville may be out of EuroLeague but their three-point shooting was one of the highlights of the group stage. They are currently fourth in the domestic standings and are looking good to qualify for the championship play-off. They have lost Caroline Aubert who has joined Ekaterinburg but they have acquired the service of Milca Dabovic.

Reims is the club promoted from NF1 last season. They have won their last four games and lie currently fifth in the table with an 8-8 record. Yet Saint Amand have a game to play and could displace Reims from this position. Reims are difficult to beat at home, so their victory against USVO, although historical, is not surprising. Zuzanna Klimesova is the best known player internationally in this team and her unselfish work off the ball has enabled other players to flourish as the team move slowly away from the relegation battle.

Clermont-Ferrand started the season well but have fallen off the pace recently and do not appear to have the roster depth to challenge anymore for a top 4 finish but should still expect to finish in the top half of the table.

Challes-les-Eaux’ European adventure has cost them a lot of energy. They are one of the most exciting teams in the League. They have been on the wrong end of some close games lately which has resulted in them dropping down the table. Tiffany Jackson’s absence due to injury has not helped matter. They have just signed Desire Wheeler, « Dee Dee », as medical cover for Slavka Frniakova. Jessica Davenport and Martina Luptakova are both playing well and if the team can start to win the close games they should move up the table.

Saint Amand have been the second surprise of the season. They are aggressive and play well as a unit. If they win their outstanding game they will move into fifth place in the table. They have one of the most homogenous rosters in the league with the scoring shared between five players.

Villeneuve d’Ascq have been unlucky with injuries all season and have not been able to play to their potential maximum. The EuroLeague experience has been useful but they are currently three games behind Mondeville which makes the domestic championship play-off qualification difficult.

Currently the following teams are seriously involved in the relegation battle. It is mathematically impossible for any of these teams to catch Bourges with 10 rounds remaining:

Tarbes are on their third head coach for the season with François Gomis. Isabelle Yacoubou is back after three months off and Fatima Silva has joined the team. With the way French rules are, the arrival of Silva means with the reinsertion of Yacoubou that the Bulgarian youth international, Jaklin Zlatonova, will not be able to play in domestic games. Tarbes are still involved in the EuroCup, but have a 20-point deficit to make up if they hope to qualify for the quarter-finals.

With four straight defeats Calais is back in the relegation zone. This is a club that have been involved in numerous relegation battles in the last few seasons and ironically are better prepared for the battle in the next few weeks then some of their direct opponents.

Aix-en-Provence have had what can be described a bizarre season. They signed Nathalie Lesdema as medical cover at the beginning of the season. She was the team’s leading scorer but once her contract expired mid-December she was unable to play in their last game of 2007. Kelly Santos had already been released and her replacement Syril Baker was also released.

Anda Jekabsone is finally back and yesterday, herself and K. B. Sharp led Aix to an important victory against Saint Amand. They are now tied with Tarbes and Calais with a 5-11 record and will have Anastasia Kostaki on board for the final matches.

Arras started the season well but won on the 1st December for the last time. A series of eight defeats has seen them fall to 13th place. Elzbieta Miedzik joined the club in January from Dexia Numur and they have just signed Arina Lysyuk.

Mourenx are bottom of the league with only two victories. The club decided to let their coach, Pascal Delaliaux, go and promote Aurélie Lopez into the position. They have also brought in Enjoli Izidor as medical cover for Penda Sy. Mourenx have armour in the form of Ana Lelas, Kaayla Chomes and Polina Tzekova. Mourenx now just need to start winning games.

www.womensbasketball-in-france.com