Category Archives: WNBA Previews

WNBA Offseason Overview/Preseason Preview: Connecticut Sun

Current roster certainties and virtual certainties:

PG: Renee Montgomery/Kara Lawson

SG: Kalana Greene/Tan White/Allison Hightower

SF: Danielle McCray

PF: Asjha Jones/Kelsey Griffin

C: Tina Charles/Mistie Bass

Fighting for the final roster spot: Sidney Spencer, Jessica Breland, Dawn Evans, Chay Shegog

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Well this one’s dull. Sun head coach Mike Thibault is so convinced that his roster is all set and that no one could break into his rotation that he used the 9th pick in the draft on a Malian 19-year old playing in the French second division. Free agency produced forward/center Mistie Bass as a serviceable replacement for Jessica Moore to back up the post players, and WNBA running joke Sidney Spencer. The last time Spencer had any real success on a WNBA floor was in her rookie year in 2007, but somebody’s going to have to fill that 11th spot on this roster and it could easily end up being her.

That’s about it. Sorry Sun fans, but when your team basically does nothing in the offseason, there’s not much to write about in a wrap-up.

WNBA Offseason Overview/Preseason Preview: Chicago Sky

Current roster certainties and virtual certainties:

PG: Ticha Penicheiro/Courtney Vandersloot

SG: Epiphanny Prince/Shay Murphy

SF: Swin Cash/Sonja Petrovic/Tamera Young

PF: Le’coe Willingham

C: Sylvia Fowles/Ruth Riley

Fighting for the final roster spot (or maybe to beat out Young, Murphy or Petrovic): Carolyn Swords, Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton, Felicia Chester, Shey Peddy

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Well, being in Russia coaching Spartak Vidnoje certainly didn’t hinder coach Pokey Chatman’s WNBA activity this offseason. They made a big splash early, turning the #2 overall pick in the draft into Swin Cash and Le’coe Willingham in a deal with Seattle. The addition of proven veterans continued in free agency, as point guard Ticha Penicheiro and center Ruth Riley were both brought into the fold. Chatman also made a deal with San Antonio for the rights to Serbian forward Sonja Petrovic, who’s been playing for her at Spartak, and even she could be a useful addition if she can adapt to the WNBA game.

The Sky have lost the likes of Erin Thorn, Dominique Canty and Michelle Snow from last year’s squad, but the players they’ve added give the roster a much stronger, deeper look. Continue reading →

WNBA Offseason Overview/Preseason Preview: Atlanta Dream

With training camps underway across the WNBA and the preseason schedule tipping off on Saturday afternoon, it’s time for WNBAlien to take a look at what everyone got up to in the offseason. From trades to free agent signings, draft selections to injuries, Olympic absentees to the battles for roster spots, this is your team-by-team catch-up for what you might’ve missed over those long months between W seasons. We’ll also take a look at what each team might still be trying to work out during training camp before the real games begin on May 18th. Sticking with WNBAlien tradition, it’s Eastern Conference first, in alphabetical order, then the West.


Atlanta Dream

Current Roster certainties and virtual certainties:

PG: Lindsey Harding/Ketia Swanier

SG: Armintie Price/Coco Miller

SF: Angel McCoughtry/Tiffany Hayes

PF: Sancho Lyttle/Cathrine Kraayeveld

C: (Erika de Souza)/Yelena Leuchanka

Fighting for the remaining one or two spots: Courtney Paris, Aneika Henry, Laurie Koehn (I’m not going to be listing every random training camp invitee for every team)

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It’s not been the greatest of offseasons for the Dream. It started with assistant coach Carol Ross being stolen away by the Sparks to take over in LA, followed by backup point guard Shalee Lehning announcing that the knee injury that ended her 2011 season would in fact mark the end of her WNBA career, and backup post Alison Bales also deciding to retire from the WNBA. Brazilians Erika de Souza and Iziane Castro Marques will spend at least the first half of the season with the Brazilian national team preparing for the London Olympics. Erika was re-signed and is expected in Atlanta following the Games; Castro Marques remains an unrestricted free agent.

Free agency didn’t exactly result in a deluge of additions or improvements either. Continue reading →

WNBAlien 2011 Previews: Tulsa Shock

PG: Ivory Latta/Andrea Riley

SG: Amber Holt, it looks like/Marion Jones

SF: Kayla Pedersen/Sheryl Swoopes/Chastity Reed

PF: Tiffany Jackson/Jen Lacy

C: Elizabeth Cambage/Miranda Ayim

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Head Coach: Nolan Richardson

Significant additions: Cambage, Pedersen, Swoopes (at the box office, they hope)

Significant losses: Hard for much to be too significant given how bad they were last year, but they gave away Scholanda Robinson for nothing, Chante Black and Shanna Crossley are both out hurt, and Nicole Ohlde walked (and retired, possibly in disgust).

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Aw come on, it’s the last one, can’t I just say “they’re horrible” and leave it at that? You want more? Really? Fine. They’re really, really horrible. Despite two high draft picks and a year to mess with the roster at will, Nolan Richardson’s opening day squad in 2011 is probably worse than it was 12 months earlier. Continue reading →

WNBAlien 2011 Previews: Seattle Storm

PG: Sue Bird(/Wright/Smith)

SG: Tanisha Wright/Katie Smith(/Snell)

SF: Swin Cash/Ify Ibekwe/Belinda Snell

PF: Camille Little/Le’coe Willingham

C: Lauren Jackson/Ashley Robinson/Krystal Thomas

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Head Coach: Brian Agler

Significant additions: Smith, maybe Snell or Ibekwe if either can get off Agler’s notoriously short bench.

Significant losses: Svetlana Abrosimova (maybe not for the whole year), Jana Vesela, and Erin Phillips (sort of). Young Aussie big Abby Bishop isn’t coming this year either

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So, the team that romped through the 2010 WNBA regular season, losing only six games all year before sweeping seven straight in the playoffs, brings back the top six in their rotation and adds an all-time great to the bench. You can see why Vegas had the Storm as their overwhelming favourite to repeat as champs in 2011. Continue reading →

WNBAlien 2011 Previews: San Antonio Silver Stars

PG: Tully Bevilaqua/Danielle Robinson

SG: Becky Hammon/Jia Perkins

SF: Scholanda Robinson/Roneeka Hodges (yeah they’re both mostly guards. Someone‘s gotta play here)

PF: Sophia Young/Danielle Adams/Porsha Phillips

C: Ruth Riley/Jayne Appel

—–

Head Coach: Dan Hughes

Significant additions: Perkins, maybe Robinson, maybe other Robinson, and throw Tully in there as the latest in their line of point guards who don’t score. Hughes back as coach could be the most important change.

Significant losses: Chamique Holdsclaw, Michelle Snow, and purely because they’d been there so long, the two-headed pointless point-guard pairing of Helen Darling and Edwige Lawson-Wade.

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So considering I’m writing to this two days late, and as a result we all got to see San Antonio win by 20 last night, I should be all upbeat and positive about their season, right? Right? Yeah, not so much. Continue reading →

WNBAlien 2011 Previews: Phoenix Mercury

PG: Temeka Johnson/Ketia Swanier

SG: Diana Taurasi/Alexis Gray-Lawson/Marie Ferdinand-Harris(/Bonner)

SF: Penny Taylor/DeWanna Bonner

PF: Candice Dupree(/Bonner)

C: Kara Braxton/Nakia Sanford/Olayinka Sanni(/Bonner)

—–

Head coach: Corey Gaines

Significant additions: Sanford, I guess, and Braxton from the start of the season instead of the middle. So not much, except the hope that Taurasi’s rested and angry.

Significant losses: Tangela Smith.

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It was tumultuous offseason for the Mercury, despite the minimal changes made to the actual roster. Diana Taurasi’s reported positive drug test, later rescinded by the Turkish lab that performed it, led to all kinds of debates about whether Taurasi could play in the WNBA while FIBA suspended her, a potential lifetime ban from the Olympics, and whether all the Americans playing in Europe every year could trust that they’d be treated fairly. Continue reading →

WNBAlien 2011 Previews: Minnesota Lynx

PG: Lindsay Whalen/Candice Wiggins/Alexis Hornbuckle

SG: Seimone Augustus/Monica Wright

SF: Maya Moore/Charde Houston (I refuse to call her a power forward)

PF: Rebekkah Brunson/Amber Harris

C: Taj McWilliams-Franklin/Jessica Adair

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Head coach: Cheryl Reeve

Significant additions: Moore (duh), McWilliams-Franklin, Harris, a healthy Wiggins, and a hopefully healthier Augustus.

Significant losses: Nicky Anosike. Maiga-Ba and Hollingsworth are gone as well, but no one’ll care.

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Can you have too much talent? After stinking it up for so many years that they’re starting to rival the T-Wolves, the Lynx have assembled so many good players that it’s getting a little ridiculous. Continue reading →

WNBAlien 2011 Previews: Los Angeles Sparks

And we’re back. You guys are just gonna have to trust me that what you find below was mostly written and entirely conceived before last night’s game. I promise.

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PG: Ticha Penicheiro/(Quinn if they’ve got any sense, Lacy and Toliver if they don’t)

SG: Noelle Quinn/Kristi Toliver/Natasha Lacy

SF: DeLisha Milton-Jones/Jenna O’Hea

PF: Tina Thompson/Ebony Hoffman

C: Candace Parker/Jantel Lavender/LaToya Pringle

—–

Head coach: Jennifer Gillom

Significant additions: A healthy Parker, and a completely revamped bench.

Significant losses: Nothing much. Marie Ferdinand-Harris, Betty Lennox, Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton and others have left – big deal.

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This one isn’t complicated. The decidedly aging starting lineup is yet another year older and closer to retirement; the bench is almost entirely turned over from last year’s reserves (quite rightly, considering the last lot stunk); the head coach is still completely unproven at this level – and yet it’s all about one woman. Continue reading →

WNBAlien 2011 Previews: Washington Mystics

PG: Kelly Miller/Jasmine Thomas

SG: Alana Beard/Matee Ajavon

SF: Marissa Coleman/Karima Christmas

PF: Crystal Langhorne/Victoria Dunlap

C: Nicky Anosike/Ta’Shia Phillips

Bench in street clothes because they refuse to waive her: Monique Currie

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Head coach: Trudi Lacey

Significant additions: Return of Beard, Anosike, and the host of rooks.

Significant losses: Lindsey Harding, Katie Smith, Monique Currie, Nakia Sanford, Chasity Melvin, head coach Julie Plank, and GM Angela Taylor. And the faith of many supporters.

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Some fans may be disappointed that their teams didn’t make many changes over the offseason; to those people I can only say be careful what you wish for – you could be a Mystics fan. Continue reading →