Hoops

Abby Bishop and Alison Lacey out of WNBA - Opals ?

In response to May, yes - Lacey did get slightly more of an opportunity in Seattle than Bishop. You know why? Because (a) She was supposed to be able to play point guard - a position that Seattle did not have a backup for once L-Mo got injured; and (b) she was their first round draft pick! She was *expected* to be able to contribute that season.
Abby on the other hand was just picked up as a free agent probably on Lauren's recommendation as much as anything, and had numerous players ahead of her in the rotation so it was a struggle just finding her the few minutes that they did.

The point is, Lacey disappointed with virtually every opportunity, and THAT is the reason her minutes were so low. She stunk it up. They were forced to play Wright as their backup PG, which forced Svet to play the 2, so the whole backcourt rotation was thrown off.
There were plenty of potential minutes for her as backup PG if she had been able to hold her own.
She will be better equipped to have another crack with a WNBL season or two under her belt. You could see the improvement in her over the course of this season just gone.


LC, I agree.
Better to go with someone young with potential (such as they have done at some other positions) than include someone who is unlikely to make it on current merit and zero chance of improving further.

Lacey did not make the Opals squad...

I think it is a shame as someone like her (not necessarily Lacey though) IMO should have been in the squad ahead of a Poto for example.

I suspect that Lacey just "pulled out" to save face. I doubt Seattle would have asked her back this season anyway given that:
a) They already signed a better combo guard (Erin Phillips), which effectively left Lacey without a spot anyway, and
b) last season she went 4/35 from the field (including 3/27 from 3PT). Not exactly "we must have her back!" material.
A couple of WNBL seasons will do her some good I think. A bit of maturing and hard work and she might be in a good position to have another crack at the WNBA for the 2013 season.
No way in hell she plays for the Opals in London either, unless we have a catastrophic series of guard injuries.
The 2014 Worlds is where she should be setting her sights IMO.


Bishop on the other hand ... that is disappointing (from a Seattle POV (who I am a fan of), and IMO from an Opals POV also).
With both Abrosimova & Vesela not returning to Seattle (so that they can help their countries qualify for London - something that is a mere formality for Australia), there are significant minutes for the taking, shots to be attempted and rebounds to be grabbed in Key Arena this season.
Abby obviously places a high priority on grabbing an Opals spot if she is willing to cave in to Graf's requests like this. While I admire her dedication to getting an Olympic gig, personally I think her best bet would have been to return to Seattle this season and continue her development, and then attack the WNBL and an Opals spot from the latter part of the year.
Not that she can't work on her game down here, but at this stage of her career I think she needs to test herself against better opposition.

Lacey would be a fringe Opal at best and was definitely at most risk of losing her spot on the Seattle Storm roster.

Bishop though is right in contention for a spot on the Opals team.

G'day,

NBA 2K7 has been out for a couple of days now.... just wondering if anyone has had a chance to play it and do they feel it's an upgrade over NBA Live 07?

Got mine not long ago but haven't had a chance to have a play just yet...