There are just two weeks remaining in the 2022-23 EuroLeague Women group play phase, but there’s still much to be decided before the postseason begins. Three clubs — Fenerbahçe Alagöz Holding (Turkey), ZVVZ USK Praha (Czech Republic) and Valencia Basket Club (Spain) — have all clinched spots in the competition’s playoffs, with five spots still up for grabs over the next two weeks.
In a way, the current playoff picture is a good representation of this season’s balance of power. Fenerbahçe, Praha and Valencia are all competing in Group A, leaving BC Polkowice (Poland) and Tango Bourges Basket (France) to fight over the group’s final playoff seed. Meanwhile, nothing is set in stone yet over in Group B; six of the group’s eight clubs have records of .500 or better, with Sopron Basket (Hungary), CBK Mersin Yenişehir Bld (Turkey) and Beretta Famila Schio (Italy) all tied with 8-4 records.
It makes sense, then, that this week’s matchup between Polkowice and Bourges is tabbed as FIBA’s EuroLeague Women Game of the Week. Polkowice can secure the fourth and final playoff berth in Group A with a win, but the route is a little more complicated for Bourges, which would need to defeat Polkowice by two or more points and rely on help from Praha and Valencia in their respective games.
Things are considerably more open in Group B. There are two matchups this week that bear heavy playoff implications — DVTK HUN-Therm (Hungary) vs. Perfumerias Avenida (Spain) and Spar Girona (Spain) vs. Mersin — while Basket Landes (France) and Kangoeroes Mechelen (Belgium) have the opportunity to play spoiler despite themselves being eliminated from playoff contention long ago.
As always, you can catch all the action live and for free on FIBA’s EuroLeague Women YouTube channel. Here’s a rundown of each of this week’s matchups, including which players to keep an eye on and how each team’s playoff chances look, according to FIBA’s website.
Wednesday, February 22
Olympiacós SFP (1-11) vs. ZVVZ USK Praha (8-4)
When: 10 a.m. ET
Where: Peace and Friendship Stadium, Piraeus
How to watch: FIBA YouTube live stream
Notable players: Megan Gustafson, Kylee Shook (Olympiacós SFP); Alyssa Thomas, Brionna Jones, Maria Conde, Temi Fagbenle, Valériane Vukosavljević (ZVVZ USK Praha)
Matchup details: There’s not much to write home about here. Just about the only thing Olympiacós will be playing for is to not finish group play with the competition’s worst…
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