Practice Notes
Welcome to The Furtado Center, where we've got the world's first dueling Storm live blogs going between Alan Horton and myself. We've been let into practice just in time for a drill with two squads working in the half-court against each other 5-on-5, then working on starting the break (but not finishing it) with a stop.
The team wearing white features Tanisha Wright, Victoria Lucas-Perry, Chameka Scott, Katie Gearlds, Ashley Robinson and Sarah McKay. Alexis Kendrick, Yolanda Paige, Cameo Hicks, Iziane Castro Marques, Wendy Palmer, Andrea Bills and Aya Traore make up the Black team.
Man, is it great to see Wendy Palmer on the court. Wendy played so well during training camp and the first couple of weeks of last season before her Achilles injury ended her campaign. Wendy's veteran savvy is immediately apparent. She is wily. I don't think the impact of a healthy Wendy Palmer can be overstated.
It just isn't Storm training camp until you hear a point guard yelling "motion," Anne Donovan's standard offense of choice. It will be fun to hear Francesca Zara uttering it in her Italian accent again when she joins the team later in training camp.
Center Sarah McKay, a 6-7 rookie out of Indiana, has left the practice court after coming down awkwardly on her right ankle.
It is really strange seeing Cameo Hicks in a Storm practice jersey after four years in the purple and gold at UW.
I'm pleasantly surprised by Katie Gearlds' quick hands on defense. She's had a couple of deflections so far. We know all about Katie's ability to shoot the basketball, but we're still learning about her defense. Alan has a little more on the topic.
Izi hits two free throws and we're done. More after we speak with Anne and the players.
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2 comments:
Wow, 11 spots. There are 12 I'd like to keep. The starting five of Bird, Lennox, Castro Marques, Jackson, and Burse. Off the bench: Zara, Gealds, Palmer, Fluker, Turner, Robinson, and T.Wright. The last 3 are the ones I'm not so sure about. Kevin, your take as you watch practice? Any sense of which position Donovan would like to "stack", guard or forward/center? How much does risk of injury play into that decision? I'm thinking about Palmer's achilles, LJ's shins, and JB's shoulder/foot.
Pretty early to say at this point, especially with so many players still overseas.
Anne usually likes to keep seven perimeter players and five posts, which would match up with your group of 12.
As you allude to, five posts were needed last year because of injuries, so I would guess Coach Donovan might lean that direction ... but that's only a guess.
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