| | Associated Press
NEW YORK -- Seattle Storm coach Lin Dunn hadn't even seen
Kamila Vodichkova play in person when she selected her in the first
round of the WNBA draft.
But the 6-foot-4 Czech Republic star will be the centerpiece of
the expansion team's offense as WNBA training camps opened Wednesday.
The league expands to 16 teams this summer, adding franchises in
Seattle, Miami, Indiana and Portland.
The 28-year-old Vodichkova, a member of the Czech Republic
national team, has played the past two seasons for a pro team in
her native country and averaged 16.8 points and 9.6 rebounds per
game.
"She's big, strong and physical," said Dunn, who saw the
ninth overall pick only on tape. "I talked with other WNBA coaches and
we all had her ranked higher and thought she'd go sooner. We just
jumped at her."
Dunn, who turned the last-place Portland Power of the ABL into a
conference champion in one season, looks to ABL players and free
agents to help fill the 11-player roster.
The league assigned free agents to teams on Tuesday, giving
priority to expansion teams. Training camps can field 18 players
before the final roster cuts on May 28, the eve of the WNBA's
fourth season.
The Storm were allotted eight free agents, including Jamie Redd,
the University of Washington's leading career scorer.
"I am ecstatic over our free agents," said Dunn, who submitted
a wish list of 16 names over the weekend. "We got some players
with experience and we got athletic players. We got the kind of
players I want to build this franchise around."
The expansion Miami Sol received 10 free agents, the most of any
team. Coach Ron Rothstein will search for a backup to center Elena
Baranova, who injured her right knee last month and is out for the
season.
Rothstein had acquired Baranova and guard Debbie Black from Utah
in the expansion draft in December. He'll turn instead to 6-5
center Marlies Askamp, acquired from the Minnesota Lynx last month
for three draft picks.
"Her size, athletic ability and veteran leadership will help us
in building a strong base for our new team," Rothstein said.
Michelle Marciniak, who led Tennessee to the 1996 national
championship and played in the ABL, was assigned to the Portland
Fire on Tuesday. She joins ABL dunk champion Sylvia Crawley and
Vanessa Nygaard, formerly of the New York Liberty, among the Fire's
free agent pool.
The Indiana Fever look to local star Stephanie White-McCarty to
bring in the fans. White-McCarty led Purdue to the 1999 national
title. Coach Anne Donovan, a gold medalist in the 1984 and 1988
Olympics, will bolster her team with another former Boilermaker,
free agent Stacey Lovelace. | |
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