RebKell's Junkie Boards

[mysticsfan07]

Charlotte
1 Janel McCarville
24 Jessica Moore

Good Draft. Added much needed post depth. They could have used a PG, but there really wasn't an opportunity for them to draft one, although DeeDee Wheeler and Jenni Dant were available when the picked Moore.

Grade: B

Indiana
2 Tan White
16 Yolanda Paige
29 Ashley Early

Tan White will be great for them. She is exactly what they needed: a SG who can score and create her own shot.She is prob. the early favorite for ROY because she will be able to start right away and get a lot of opportunities to score. Paige is another good pick-up. They needed a back-up PG since Ivey sign with Detroit.

Grade: A

Phoenix
3 Irvin
18 Angelina Williams
31 Jamie Carey

Irvin adds rebounding and interior defense that the Mercury lacked last year. I could see her starting at the 5 over Vodichkova. Williams is a very good player that I think will make the roster. With the 31st pick I think they should have gone with someone like Blackmon.

Grade: B

San Antonio
4 Wecker
14 Shrya Ely
27 Catherine Kraayveld
*Traded Dydek for #8 Katie Feenstra

Wecker is also just what they needed, a wing that could shoot. Why did they go with Ely @ 14? Hodges was still on the board, and they really need a back-up SG. They Dydek trade was a good move. Margo needed a change I think, and the Silver Stars get a good prospect in reurn.

Grade: B

Houston
5 Sancho Lyttle
15 Roneeka Hodges
28 Jenni Dant

Great Draft. They got another big in Sancho Lyttle, a back-up SG in Hodges and a good back-up PG in the third round, Jenni Dant. I don't think they could have done much better.

Grade: A+

Washington
6 Temeka Johnson
19 Erica Smith
32 Tasha Moorehead
*Traded the 13th pick for Iciss Tillis

The only pick saving us from an F is Erica Taylor. Temeka Johnson is not the answer at PG, and we could have had Braxton and Jackson. No way Moorehead make the roster.

Grade: D

Detroit
7 Kara Braxton
13 Dionnah Jackson *fron Tillis Trade
20 Nikita Bell
33 Jenni Lingor

They added possibly the ost talented player in the draft, Kara Braxton, and a great defender, Dionnah Jackson. They they got Nikita Bell, a nice role player, and Jenni Lingor, a great shooter.

Grade: A+

Connecticut
21 Erin Phillips
34 Megan Mahoney
*Margo Dydek for #8 Feenstra

The trade for Dydek benefitted Connecticut as well. They got a player who can play the 5, allowing Taj to move to the 4. I don't know anything about Erin Phillips. Megan Mahoney is a player that can do just abut everything, but she is coming off an injury and it will be tough for her to make the roster.

Grade: B-

Sacramento
9 Kristin Haynie
22 Chelsea Newton
39 Anne O'Neil
35 Cisti Greenwalt

Haynie will be a great back-up for Ticha, and will allow Kara to play the two and not worry about playing PG. Newton could make the roster as a defensive stopper, and O'Neil is a GREAT shooter who could make the roster as well. The best thing of all- they stayed away from inside players.

Grade: A

New York
10 Loree Moore
23 Tabitha Pool
36 Rebecca Richmon

What were they thinking? Loore Moore would have been available at #23, they could have had both her and Wright/Hodges/Jackson. Also, What is up with picking Rebecca Richmond? I know it was the third round, but my goodness ahe averaged 2 points and 3 rebounds for Rutgers.

Grade: F

Minnesota
11 Kristen Mann
17 Jaqueline Batteast
37 Monique Bivins

I was suprised they took both Mann and Batteast. Both are good players, but they could have pick Jackson with the 11th pick to be their back-up PG. Batteast was a steal at 17th, however, and they probably weren't expecing her to be there.

Grade: B

Seattle
12 Tanisha Wright
25 Ashley Battle
38 Steffanie Blackmon

Great draft. They got two defensive players in Wright and Battle, and a steal with Steffanie Blackmon. All three could potentially make the roster.

Grade: A+

Los Angeles
26 DeeDee Wheeler
39 Heather Schreiber

Did good with what they had. DeeDee Wheeler could be a good back-up to Nikki Teasley.

Grade: A


Way too High: Loree Moore
Way too Low: Steffanie Blackmon
Best 5 Not Drafted: Anna Montanana, Caity Matter, Laurie Koehn, Jess Strom, Kelley Suminski

[CamrnCrz1974]

[mysticsfan07]

I'm just not that high on Jamie Carey. I think Steffanie was the best available.

[Keegan]

[Luuuc]

Glad to have Irvin in Phoenix

Nice choice by the Sun to pick Phillips too. Congratulations Erin!
As Keegan mentioned, she could turn out to be quite a steal if she can manage her health.


I tell ya, internet connections are damn hard to get in the jungles of Borneo (not to mention slow) - but I just had to check in & see how it all went.
My condolances to all the Liberty fans.

_________________
Thanks for calling. I wait all night for calls like these.

[Admiral_Needa]

[sambista]

my take:

detroit wins, hands down. if braxton delivers, laimbeer's got a four-headed monster - and no one had yet figured out how to slay the three-headed one!

washington comes in second, in my book, but not all directly as a result of yesterday. temeka johnson, in my mind, pulls it all together for the mystics - an outstanding floor leader who's gonna make beard and company very happy. getting tillis will be better than it looks on its face, i think. the whole is greater than the parts, and when you start adding up the parts (delisha, tillis and, yes, even chas), the team looks to be gelling so much that it almost doesn't matter who stands in as coach. i know this'll be an unpopular assessment, but i think it'll be a mistake (no pun intended) to blow off washington. things are gonna click for this team, in spite of the dysfunction, and temeka will see to it.

seattle comes in third, for a keen eye for battle and blackmon. some other teams did well for picking at least one player that will help them immensely - indy, sacto and new york.

another unpopular view: new york's whole season was riding on whether it solved the issue of point guard. the liberty needed a point, and it got a point with good pedigree. why not loree moore? and if it had waited till the second round and she was gone, everyone would've trashed blaze to no end. no, they did the right thing. they needed a point, they picked one with good work ethic, good college upbringing/coaching, good experience under pressure, against good competition and for high stakes. not a combo guard, to further muddy the picture, but a true, solid point guard. and ny needed one so badly, it should've taken temeka if she was available. no, this was a good call, and i'll go down in flames with loree moore if it was wrong.

though i don't necessarily dislike houston's choices, and despite chance's penchant for destroying point guards, he should've taken temeka johnson. he'd have been very happy. instead, houston still has a problem.

right now, detroit and washington are looking formidable (yup, even more than charlotte, because i'm convinced they're just flat out jinxed) in the east; in the west, seattle and sacto (not l.a., because i predict seriously bad chemistry with the mix of the hard-nosed bibby and too many starters with bloated egos).

_________________
no justice, no peace.

[Keegan]

[herrade]

[Queenie]

Tennessee is a good pedigree... except when it comes to point guards.

Marciniak? Jolly Harper? Clement? Have ANY of these made an impact in the W? (No, 3M's epic battle with Latasha Byears does NOT count as an impact.)

_________________
Ardent believer in the separation of church and stadium.

[sambista]

[Keegan]

[pilight]

CHARLOTTE: I think Moore is an intriguing prospect. I'm not sold on McCarville and even less sold on the idea that she's what Charlotte needs. Grade: B

INDIANA: I love White, I like Paige, and I picked Earley as my draft sleeper. Grade: A

PHOENIX: My prediction is that Irvin is the only one that makes the roster. Irvin is really good, though. Grade: B+

SAN ANTONIO: Will Feenstra start? Will Wecker ? What about Ely? All four could make the weak SASS roster. Grade: A-

HOUSTON: Got good value with all three picks. Houston has needs at pretty much every position, so the best available route was the proper one to take. Grade: B

WASHINGTON: My take is the same as mysticsfan, except that I'm not so high on Taylor. Grade: F

DETROIT: Evil Bill's victim this year was Linda Hargrove. Another great draft by the Shock. Grade: A+

CONNECTICUT: The prize of the Sun draft is....Margo Dydek? Grade: D

SACRAMENTO: Whiz wasn't kidding when he said they were going guard. Haynie's intestines still worry me. Newton and O'Neil are each about half a player. Grade: C+

NEW YORK: I'm not 100% sure that any of their picks will make the roster. The Lib have dumped top 10 picks in camp before. Grade: F

MINNESOTA: Like I said before, I don't get it. Mann and Batteast are both SFs, and the Lynx already have Abrosimova and Lassiter under contract. They don't have a backup PG. Grade: C-

SEATTLE: Like Minnesota, they got decent players at all the wrong positions. They lost their starting SF and C, so they naturally draft two defensive specialist guards and a small PF. Grade: C

LOS ANGELES: Didn't have high picks. Did OK with what they had. Grade: C+

_________________
I'm a lonely frog
I ain't got a home

[sambista]

i agree with you, keegan, about keeping up on scouting. forget international - just open your freakin eyes and pay attention! if that'd happened, we wouldn't have been sitting here praying that becky hammon doesn't start as the point guard again. all i'm saying, really, is that if blaze had gone through this draft without picking a point guard first and foremost, we'd have been screwed. new york started from a very low point. right now we have no choice but to pray that loree moore is up to the starting job and will improve the liberty's lot over last year.

i confess i don't know about erin phillips. but i wonder which player others who think moore was a poor choice would've selected instead.

_________________
no justice, no peace.

[Slovydal]

If they start Moore and hope for the best (w/ Becky at 2) it might work out really well.

[sambista]

i wish. but as a longtime liberty fan just emailed me, it's very likely we'll see the very same starting five from last season in the garden, and i have no faith that coyle & blaze will change anything, even as we're being trounced by other teams. too bad that our first preseason game, against detroit in albany, won't be a wakeup call. it will be totally lost on this staff.

_________________
no justice, no peace.

[pilight]

That's the starting five that reached the East finals, right?

_________________
I'm a lonely frog
I ain't got a home

[sambista]

that's the starting five that gives us a heart attack every time they play. the starting five that makes us wanna close our eyes and be afraid to watch. the starting five that can never, ever get over that final hump in the postseason. the east finals? we are so over that.

_________________
no justice, no peace.

[short247]

[pilight]

McDivitt and Martinez are camp fodder.

Jacobs is a combo guard at best. She only played one season of PG at BC, Brianne Stepherson was the point for most of Jacobs' college career. She rarely played at the point last year, Darling and Edwards took the bulk of the point duties.

_________________
I'm a lonely frog
I ain't got a home

[mnbballfan]

"McDivitt and Martinez are camp fodder. Jacobs is a combo guard at best. She only played one season of PG at BC, Brianne Stepherson was the point for most of Jacobs' college career. She rarely played at the point last year, Darling and Edwards took the bulk of the point duties."

Pilight, you've really got to get off that stuff you are using. While McDivitt might be a long shot, Martinez is an Olympian at the age of 21, and Jacobs was the "finisher" at the point in Minnesota more often than Darling, thus the reason why she will be wearing a Sting uniform this year. Edwards was moved to the 2 position in early June and didn't see the point guard position for the rest of the season.

Look for Minnesota to kick butt in the west while all of the other teams try to figure out how to stop them.

[dtsnms]

You're too high or too harsh on the Sun. Gotta give them an incomplete. They didn't draft for this year, with the exception of getting Margo.

Remember they had Whalen, Brungo, Futrell, Le'Coe, and Jen D. all as rookies last year. Were they going to draft replacements for 2nd year players when everyone admits it was a weak draft?

Assume Palmer is gone, along with Black. You replace them with Dydek and Wycoff. Then you sign Summeton and Valek as training camp tryout material, maybe to take the injured Futrell spot for now.

They took two players for the 2006 team; let's not forget the young team they had did make it to the finals.

[Slovydal]

They went to the Finals last season. They added Margo. The Sun will do just fine this season.