1.jpg
The male practice players are huge! Back in the ABL days, the Portland Power played two exhibition games against Lewis and Clark alumi and got thumped both times.
|
2.jpg
Yay, we got a rebound!
|
3.jpg
And don't say these guys aren't earning their comp tickets...
|
4.jpg
Ouch!
|
5.jpg
|
6.jpg
|
7.jpg
|
8.jpg
And what didn't we want to see? Sue getting her schnoz popped in her first day of practice.
|
9.jpg
|
10.jpg
|
11.jpg
|
12.jpg
Uh oh, practice player sees a path to the basket...
|
13.jpg
...the Storm see this and try to cut him off with a triple team...
|
14.jpg
...which they pass right over. Houston loves to do this by the way.
|
15.jpg
|
16.jpg
|
17.jpg
AD saying "something something something...now fix it!"
|
18.jpg
|
19.jpg
|
20.jpg
Boxing these players out is tough. They looked like they were trying to push cars uphill...
|
21.jpg
...and even then these guys could get a hand on the ball.
|
22.jpg
|
23.jpg
|
24.jpg
|
25.jpg
|
26.jpg
|
27.jpg
The only player that could really set a block on the guys was Fluker...
|
28.jpg
...BAM!
|
29.jpg
The old "where is the ball?" trick.
|
30.jpg
Some times thin arms help.
|
31.jpg
|
32.jpg
|
33.jpg
The Sue goes ahead and fouls him.
|
34.jpg
|
35.jpg
|
36.jpg
|
37.jpg
|
38.jpg
|
39.jpg
I haven't seen deltoids like this since Azzi retired.
|
40.jpg
A basketball tattoo? What guy would have a basketball tattooed on his bicep? Oh wait, I keep forgetting about mine.
|
41.jpg
|
42.jpg
A-Rob almost gets this rebound...
|
43.jpg
...but the visiting team still gets it.
|
44.jpg
"You gotta shoot the ball." I think he knows how the shot clock works!
|
45.jpg
Geez, kinda hard to steal the ball from these guys.
|
46.jpg
|
47.jpg
A-Rob jumps to the sky and this guy blocks the shot with his toes still on the floor.
|
48.jpg
Fluker can set great defensive blocks against the guys...but man, she paid the price here...
|
49.jpg
...right to the ribs.
|
50.jpg
|
51.jpg
|
52.jpg
|
53.jpg
A-Rob finally manages to jump over this guy, but note he still has his toes on the floor!
|
54.jpg
|
55.jpg
Sue joking with the practice players.
|
56.jpg
|
57.jpg
One thing the Storm could definitely do was shoot from the outside.
|
58.jpg
|
59.jpg
|
60.jpg
|
61.jpg
This got some laughs. Betty was totally comitted to getting the ball...
|
62.jpg
...that it look like she got something of a piggy back ride around this guy.
|
63.jpg
|
64.jpg
|
65.jpg
|
66.jpg
|
67.jpg
Our new radio crew.
|
68.jpg
|
69.jpg
As they were setting up, Sue and LJ shared bags of ice.
|
70.jpg
|
71.jpg
So we did get to sing "Happy Birthday" to LJ.
|
72.jpg
|
73.jpg
Karen giving us basically the same news about the team moving or staying.
|
74.jpg
|
75.jpg
In the off season, Sue has been practicing her funny looks.
|
76.jpg
|
77.jpg
|
78.jpg
|
79.jpg
Please, people, don't ask anything about Tennessee around Sue.
|
80.jpg
Sue kindly hands the microphone to someone who might know a little about playing for Tennessee.
|
81.jpg
|
82.jpg
|
83.jpg
The most interesting question to Sue: "How can those Euro teams pay big bucks to players when only 3,000 people show up to the games?"
|
84.jpg
She said that the owners are rich guys with nothing better to do with their money. I still say this is hogwash...
|
85.jpg
...the fifth richest man (at the time) pulled the plug on the Fire and he was losing less than an Euroteam's season payroll.
|
86.jpg
|
87.jpg
Betty talking about how fun it was to play in Poland. Coaching involved lots of "pointing"!
|
88.jpg
JB explaining what happened last night. She went up...
|
89.jpg
...and her shoulder got slightly dislocated. She could have gone back in, but that wouldn't have been smart.
|
90.jpg
|
91.jpg
Here's what you need to know about Izzy: she's a riot!
|
92.jpg
With her accent and her broken English, she makes everything funny.
|
93.jpg
She talked about before she picked up English, she often misunderstood plays but still scored on them. Ironically built up her confidence and impressed the coaches.
|
94.jpg
Well, Shayla just looked great. For some reason I can't remember what she said but I did take lots of pictures of her.
|
95.jpg
|
96.jpg
|
97.jpg
|
98.jpg
Wendy kindly struck some alluring supermodel poses for me...
|
99.jpg
...but come on! She looks best with that smile!
|
100.jpg
|
101.jpg
|
102.jpg
Tanisha saying she's commiting herself to be the backup point guard this season which she said she had trouble accepting in previous seasons.
|
103.jpg
|
104.jpg
|
105.jpg
The question: "Are all practices this intense?"
|
106.jpg
The answer: "We were not putting on a show for everyone today!"
|
107.jpg
|
108.jpg
|
109.jpg
|
110.jpg
|