Storm Waives Swoopes

The Storm's decision Saturday to waive guard Sheryl Swoopes came down to maintaining flexibility. Swoopes' contract called for her 2009 salary to become guaranteed if she was on the roster on Feb. 1, forcing the Storm to make a decision on her future in the midst of putting together a complicated free-agent puzzle with multiple moving pieces.

With Swoopes' salary on the cap, the Storm would have limited its options in addressing other needs in free agency.

"It was a very tough decision to release Sheryl," explained Storm Head Coach Brian Agler in a statement. "Our free agency priorities right now are to secure depth both at the post and point guard positions."

The Storm continues to negotiate to re-sign incumbent starting posts Lauren Jackson and Yolanda Griffith while also attempting to secure Janell Burse's return to the WNBA after she decided to sit out the 2008 season. The additional flexibility makes it possible for the Storm to retain all three players while also looking to add depth at the point-guard position behind All-Star Sue Bird.

Agler was appreciative of what Swoopes brought to the Storm during her season in Seattle.

"We were fortunate to be able to add Sheryl to our roster last year as her leadership and experience were a key part of our 22-win season. We are thankful for her contributions to the Storm on and off the court and wish her the best as she moves on to the next step in her career."

Spartak Reaches Quarterfinals

Playing on the road, Spartak Moscow Region crushed ZVVZ USK Praha's hope of forcing a decisive Game 3 in their Euroleague eighth-final matchup by taking a commanding early lead and cruising to a 92-78 win in Prague. Spartak scored 58 points by halftime to take an 18-point advantage to the break of Game 2.

Diana Taurasi led the offensive onslaught, scoring a game-high 26 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Taurasi flirted with a triple-double, grabbing nine rebounds and handing out eight assists (and, with seven turnovers, she wasn't far from a dubious quadruple-double either). Five Spartak players reached double-figures, with Lauren Jackson (13 points on 5-of-11 shooting, five rebounds, three steals) taking a relative backseat. Sue Bird needed just six shots (making five) to score 10 points, handing out four assists and pulling down four boards.

It was a long night for USK Praha's Swin Cash, who shot 2-of-14 from the field. Cash did everything else, contributing seven rebounds, three assists and three steals to go with her seven points, but could not get the shot to drop. Spartak's Sylvia Fowles blocked three shots and was a big reason why USK Praha shot but 39.0 percent on two-point attempts.

Having won the series 2-0, Spartak advances to the quarterfinals. Ros Casares Valencia is waiting, having swept Broker Kosice, winning the two games by a combined 78 points. At the beginning of the calendar year, Ros Casares added Candice Wiggins to its core of DeLisha Milton-Jones and Spanish legend Amaya Valdemoro. The result is a team that should be able to make things difficult for Spartak in the next round. The best-of-three series opens Feb. 17 in Russia.

EuroCup Playoffs Resume

More than a month after the EuroCup 16th-finals, postseason action picked back up today with the start of home-and-home aggregate series in the eighth-finals. To recap, three Storm players are scattered amongst the 16 teams still in action - Janell Burse with top-seeded Dynamo Moscow, Tanisha Wright on Tarbes Bigorre Elite and Katie Gearlds for Athinaikos.

Dynamo played the day's tightest game, ultimately triumphing on the road against Greek side Ravenna Esperides by a 75-74 final. Two Tatiana Popova free throws with 15 seconds left - her only points of the day - gave Dynamo the lead for good. Of course, because these series are decided by total points, winning or losing a single game is not of crucial importance. Either way, Dynamo is in solid shape heading back home.

Dynamo relied on its trio of foreigners - Anete Jekabsone-Zogota (23 points), Belinda Snell (19) and Burse (14 points and seven rebounds). The three players combined for 56 of Dynamo's 75 points.

Tarbes found the road a less friendly environment, falling 75-66 at Cras Basket Taranto. Taranto outscored Tarbes 25-13 in the second quarter, and the visitors never got in the game - though at least Tarbes kept things close enough to have a reasonable shot of evening the score back home. Wright was a big part of that. Held to four first-half points, Wright finished with 22 on 9-of-16 shooting. She added four assists and three rebounds.

Tarbes scored at a strong clip, yet could not get enough stops. Megan Mahoney scored 20 for Taranto, which also got 14 points from former Storm center Suzy Batkovic. Old Storm favorite Michelle Greco ran the point, handing out eight assists while scoring 11 points and grabbing five boards in an excellent well-rounded performance.

The lone Storm team in EuroCup that is the lower-seeded team this round is Athinaikos, which crushed Elitzur Ramla 88-73. Gearlds paced the Athinaikos attack with 20 points on 7-of-16 shooting, while LaToya Davis contributed a double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds. Athinaikos shot 61.3 percent on two-point attempts and was 26-of-32 at the free-throw line in the win. Ramla apparently had to release all of its American players - including Adia Barnes - due to financial considerations, so Athinaikos is in good shape to maintain its advantage going on the road and advance to the quarterfinals.

The deciding games of the aggregate series will be played a week from today.

Spartak Takes Postseason Opener

The Euroleague playoffs kicked off today with all Storm eyes on the matchup between Spartak Moscow Region and ZVVZ USK Praha, featuring Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson squaring off with teammate Swin Cash.

Spartak, the two-time defending Euroleague champs, is heavily favored but USK Praha was able to keep things close on the road in Game 1. The margin was nine at halftime and eight late in the third quarter before Spartak pulled away to win 102-86.

Spartak got a combined 75 points from its three leading scorers - Sylvia Fowles (27 points, 11 rebounds), Jackson (25 points and 14 boards) and Diana Taurasi (23). Jackson had a tough time inside the arc, missing 13 of her 17 two-point attempts, but knocked down a trio of three-pointers and was 8-of-10 at the free-throw line. Bird played her customary role leading the Spartak attack, finishing with 13 points, five assists and three three-pointers.

Cash had 11 points, nine rebounds and three assists for USK Praha, but the Spartak D pressured her into seven turnovers. Praha got big scoring efforts from Evanthia Maltsi (27 points) and Lindsay Whalen (20 points, eight boards, five assists). Despite the best efforts of Cash and Whalen from the perimeter, USK Praha was beaten badly on the defensive glass, surrendering 20 offensive boards - seven by Jackson and five from Fowles.

Spartak will try to close out the best-of-three series on Friday, when the action shifts to Prague for Game 2.

Gearlds Blog: Travel Troubles and a Big Win

I hope this finds everyone starting their New Year off exactly as they envisioned. My time at home for Christmas was very short. I think I had four or five days there, but at least I was able to make it home. I would have had more time, but I was stuck in Rome's airport for almost 28 hours. I flew from Athens to Rome on Alitalia Airlines at six in the morning with no problems, but when I got to Rome the flight was supposed to leave at 10 a.m. and it was delayed until noon. Again, no problem. I found a corner, cuddled up in it and did what I do best ... sleep! I woke up to find a group of about 40 people around the check-in counter screaming only God knows what. I asked around only to find out that the airline's grounds crew members had gone on strike and our flight was to be delayed another two hours. Again, no problem - I'll grab something to eat and by then it will be time to board the plane. Wrong again. I came back to the counter to find about 75 people screaming at the same woman. To make a long story short, the airline kept delaying the flight every two hours and would never flat-out cancel it because they didn't want to be responsible for accommodating passengers with food and hotels.

I met a group of about seven other Americans and we learned that the flight wasn't going to take off at all that day or any time in the next three days. My new friends decided to stand in line and get reimbursed for everything. I assumed that if I did that I would never make it home. I was able to purchase a ticket on a different airline scheduled to fly out the next morning.

With about 14 hours to waste in Rome, I figured I would wander around and check out the sites. Bad idea - everything was closed. No tourist spots were open, and there was nothing for me to do but find another corner, curl up and go to sleep. The group of Americans I met was just getting to the front of the line of the Alitalia line when I boarded my plane the next morning. I hope they all made it home safely! I never in my life have been so happy to be on American soil. I drove straight to Taco Bell, showered and slept until the next day. I had a great time at home, but of course my bags didn't arrive in the U.S. until after I had already left to go back to Athens.

Anyways, I can't believe it's the end of January already! Soon enough we'll all be back in the Key starting a new season. I was so excited when I talked to T and she said she was coming back to Seattle. She was a huge part of our success last season and I am sure she'll be even better this summer. I talked to Shy after she had signed with Chicago and told her that while I was very sad she was leaving, I was happy for her because it sounds like a good fit. I am sure she'll be a huge success there and it's only about three hours to Nap-town!

My team here in Athens is playing some pretty good ball right now. After returning from a very short Christmas break we had two tough games in the Greek league. I don't think there was any way we could have played worse in that first game, but fortunately we were able to sneak by and win by a point. The second, the one that probably determined whether or not we would win the Greek championship, was against last season's champs. My team was down by three at the half, but was able to hold them to only four points in the third quarter and take over the game. We were never threatened during the final period. Everyone on my team is on Cloud 9 and hopeful that we are able to run the table the rest of the Greek league season.

In Eurocup, we are still alive and kicking and play a team from Israel this coming week. They are seeded higher than us, so we will play at home first. I am not sure on where the second game will be played, because even though the war has calmed down in Gaza we are still cautious to fly anywhere near there. Adia was on that team, but they recently released all their American players for financial reasons. I'm currently trying to talk Adia into giving me some tips on her former team - I think she might be willing to help. ;)

Outside of basketball, life is good here. I spend a lot of time with my teammates - they are really great people. I had a friend come visit for almost two weeks and that was fun. My mom and brother are coming over here in March, so I am counting down the days until then. The majority of my time is spent playing PlayStation - I recently won the World Series with the Cubs. Yes, it's just a video game, but one of these days (in real life) they are going to win it all. Now I am finishing up a season in NCAA 09. My team is Davidson because Stephen Curry is just flat out nasty! Lastly, here's my Super Bowl prediction: Steelers over Cardinals (... and yes, that really hurt to say T)!

Until next time,
KG

RIP Coach Yow

Weekend Overseas Update

A light weekend for games involving Storm teams, with two games on the schedule. The biggest came in Greece, where Athinaikos got another test against Paleo Faliro, a middle-tier team in the Greek A1 league. Athinaikos trailed by nine after one quarter and five at the half before holding on for a 59-58 win. Athinaikos would have been doomed without a strong effort from Katie Gearlds, who scored 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting and pulled down six boards. Athinaikos remains undefeated in league play at 16-0.

Despite an off night for Kelly Santos (six points on 3-of-12 shooting, five rebounds), Cadi La Seu got back on the winning track by defeating Gran Canaria 70-68. At 5-11, Cadi La Seu is tied with Mann Filter Zaragoza for 10th in the Spanish Liga Feminina.

RIP Coach Yow

Ned Dishman/NBAE/Getty Images

Sad news from the world of college hoops this morning, as legendary North Carolina State Head Coach Kay Yow lost her lengthy and inspirational battle with breast cancer, passing away peacefully early Saturday. Her absence will be felt throughout the women's basketball community.

From N.C. State's press release:

She entered her 34th season as head mentor of the Wolfpack women’s program in 2008-09. Her NC State record of 680-325 left her as one of only three women’s coaches at the Division I level to coach 1,000 games at one institution. On Dec. 14 in a victory over Ole Miss, Coach Yow took her place alongside legendary Tennessee coach Pat Summitt and former Texas coach Jody Condradt.

Yow’s all-time collegiate record of 737-344 spanned 38 seasons, four with Elon College. She was one of just six coaches to ever compile over 700 victories and began this season as the most tenured coach in the active ranks.

Of course, to summarize Yow's career and life in wins and losses would be to significantly understate its magnitude. Her influence was as strong if not stronger in the way she led off the floor, including the the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund established in 2007 in partnership with the V Foundation to battle women's cancers.

The WNBA's leadership has paid tribute to Yow. From President Donna Orender:

This is certainly a profound loss for the family of basketball. Kay's legacy will be the many lives she touched and will continue to touch as the lessons she delivered in life will live on.

and WNBA Chief of Basketball Operations and Player Relations Renee Brown:

I consider myself blessed to have known - and learned from - Coach Yow throughout my career. Without a doubt she will be remembered as one of the most beloved coaches in the history of women's basketball. Her players adored her but it was so, so much bigger than basketball. They adored and respected her for the life lessons she imparted along the way; she taught them the value of being a good person and representing themselves and their families in the proper manner. Kay did more than prepare her players for basketball; she prepared them for life.

As you would expect, ESPN.com's Mechelle Voepel has a heartfelt column that encapsulates Yow's life and career as best possible.