Shelden Williams had been battling an injury during the preseason and wanted to make it back in time for the team's opener on Thursday, but he ended up missing the game. Shelden is playing for Elan Chalon, the reigning champions in France, this season. His teammates include former Loyola (Chicago) player Blake Schilb, ex-Missouri and Spurs' second round pick Marcus Denmon, and ex-North Carolina State player Ilian Evtimov. The teams opener was the French Match of Champions between the defending top-division champions and the winner of the second division from last year, Limoges. Elan Chalon had an early lead, but fell behind late and had a comeback fall just short in a 78-76 defeat. Schilb had 23 points and 7 assists in the loss while ex-Pitt player Brad Wanamaker had 23 points and ex-Wake Forest player Ty Walker had 11 points in the win.

On Saturday, Marty Pocius and Real Madrid participated in the semifinal of the Super Cup to open the season. The team got the lucky draw and faced the host team Zaragoza and held on for a 72-64 win to advance to Sunday's final. This is Marty's second season with Real Madrid. His American teammates include ex-San Diego State player Marcus Slaughter, ex-College of Charleston player Dontaye Draper, who plays internationally for Croatia after being naturalized, and ex-Utah State Jaycee Carroll, who made his debut for Azerbaijan after being naturalized there. Rudy Fernandez returned to Real Madrid from the NBA, joining former NBA player Sergio Rodriguez. A couple more members of the team were drafted by NBA teams, Nikola Mirotic, whose rights are held by the Bulls after being picked in the first round in 2011, and Sergio Llull, who was picked in the second round in 2009 and has his rights held by the Rockets. In this game, Marty grabbed a pair of rebounds in a quiet 11 minutes. Mirotic led the team with 14 points and 11 rebounds, Llull had 13 points, and Carroll had 10 points. In the loss, ex-UCLA player Michael Roll and ex-Texas A&M player Joseph Jones had 10 points each. Here is the game's boxscore:
http://www.acb.com/fichas/SCOPA13002.php

On Sunday, Marty and Real Madrid tried to win the Super Cup again while facing their heated rivals FC Barcelona. A solid second half led the team to a 95-84 win. Marty had 2 points in 9 minutes as Rudy Fernandez had 22 points, Jaycee Carroll had 17 points, Sergio Llull had 14 points, and Nikola Mirotic had 11 points. In the loss, ex-JC and brief NBA player Nathan Jawai had 20 points and ex-Michigan State player and 2005 second round pick Erazem Lorbek, whose rights are still held by the Spurs, had 14 points. Here is the boxscore:
http://www.acb.com/fichas/SCOPA13003.php

The French women's league started their game this weekend with all games taking place in Paris. On Saturday, the team that Mistie Bass will join after her WNBA season is finished, Lyon, beat Arras 75-63 in her absence. Lyon bought the remainder of Mistie's old team Challes, which had financial issues, so several of her former teammates, including ex-Nebraska player Danielle Page, are on the new team. In this game, Page had 10 points, while in the loss, ex-James Madison player Dawn Evans had 10 points and 7 rebounds. Here is the boxscore:
http://www.basketfrance.com/_livesta...df/lsg3004.pdf

On Sunday, Sheana Mosch's team was in action, but she was unable to play due to unresolved issues with the club. Sheana will be playing for Charleville, also known as Flammes Carolo, and her teammates include ex-Georgetown player Aminata Diop. Without Sheana, Charleville beat Villeneuve 59-48. Here is the boxscore:
http://www.basketfrance.com/_livesta...df/lsg3003.pdf

One former Duke player who did get to play in France this weekend was Carrem Gay, who starts her second season with Toulouse. The team was able to bring her back for their return to the top division in France after she played such a large role in helping the team win promotion last season. Her teammates include ex-South Carolina player Demetress Adams. Their first game was against tough opposition, and they fell 65-45 to Lattes Montpellier. Carrem had 10 points and 8 rebounds in 35 minutes. Ex-WNBA player Edwige Lawson-Wade had 10 points and 7 rebounds in the win. Here is the boxscore:
http://www.basketfrance.com/_livesta...df/lsg3006.pdf