Friday, May 14, 2010

Dream Roster Finalized - Holdsclaw In, Mokango Out



The Dream were coming down to the wire - at 3 pm ET today, the Atlanta Dream would have to finalize its roster. Marynell Meadors made her list, checked it twice, and sent it in to the league office.

Here are the members of the Atlanta Dream as of this writing:

#0 - Brittainey Raven, guard. Raven most likely will be playing small forward, replacing Chamique Holdsclaw in camp. Raven was a third-round draft pick for the Dream in the 2010 WNBA Draft. She spent her senior year from the University of Texas. Raven will be the fifth youngest player on a roster in the WNBA this season, at 21.79 metric years.

#1 - Chamique Holdsclaw, forward. Holdsclaw did not appear in training camp, requesting a trade three days before camp started. It appears that Chamique Holdsclaw will remain on the Dream's roster until she's either suspended/released or until another team acquires her.

#2 - Kelly Miller, guard. The identical twin sister of Coco Miller. Kelly Miller played for the Minnesota Lynx last year and was acquired as a free agent. This will be Kelly Miller's first season with the Dream and the first time that both Kelly Miller and Coco Miller have played on the same WNBA team.

#5 - Shalee Lehning, guard. This is Lehning's second year with the Dream and her second year in the WNBA.

#8 - Iziane Castro Marques, forward-guard. This is Iziane's third year with the Dream.

#9 - Coco Miller, guard. The identical twin sister of Kelly Miler. This is Coco Miller's second season with the Dream.

#14 - Erika de Souza, center. This is Erika's third year with the Dream. She and Iziane are both native Brazilians. Furthermore, they are the only active Brazilian players in the WNBA.

#20 - Sancho Lyttle, forward. Lyttle was acquired through the Houston Comets dispersal draft and played with the Dream during the 2009 season, her first in Atlanta.

#22 - Armintie Price, guard-forward. Price was acquired in a mid-season trade with the Chicago Sky in 2009. This will be the first time that Price has been on the Dream's opening day roster.

#33 - Alison Bales, center. Bales came back to Dream training camp after an extended absence. She played the back half of the 2008 season and was there when the Dream won its very first game. She was let go in 2009 and hooked up with Phoenix, but was cut during training camp. She started taking med school classes at Wright State but was hoping to be picked up by some WNBA team, and without Leuchanka in camp the Dream needed another post. I suspect that Bales will depart when Yelena Leuchanka arrives next week.

At 6'7", Bales is the tallest woman currently on a WNBA roster.

#35 - Angel McCoughtry, forward. McCoughtry was the #1 pick in the WNBA Draft in 2009. She was the WNBA's Rookie of the Year that same year. This is McCoughtry's second year with the Dream.

Team captains have not been named.

What's more interesting is who isn't on the roster. Next week Yelena Leuchanka, a center from Belarus who attended West Virginia, will arrive in Atlanta. Someone up on that above list will probably be booted, so don't laminate your roster just yet.

The most surprising news...today...is that Chanel Mokango did not make the roster - she failed to make the team. Mokango was the team's first round draft pick and the #9 overall pick in the WNBA Draft. If this is the end of Chanel Mokango's career, then Mokango will become the highest-drafted player never to make a WNBA team. The record was formerly held by Molly Creamer, drafted #10 overall by the New York Liberty in 2003. If Mokango catches on with a team, the record will revert back to Creamer.

Despite the fact that the Dream have the highest ranking person in the 2010 Draft that didn't make the team, they have the lowest ranking pick in the 2010 Draft that did make the team. Brittainey Raven was the #33 pick, and when Holdsclaw failed to show up for camp, Raven was asked to play Holdsclaw's position. Raven apparently managed well enough to earn herself a spot. Raven must be the Hardest Working Player in Show Business, and I'm sure that she must be walking on air right now.

As for former Dream players, it looks like both Ivory Latta and Jennifer Lacy were cut by Tulsa and Washington respectively. With both players having at least three years in the WNBA and not catching on with a tame this season, it's likely that we won't see either of them on a WNBA team until 2011...if ever again.

Tomorrow, the Dream's ten players (Holdsclaw ain't coming) will travel to San Antonio to take on the Silver Stars in their first regular season game. But don't worry - on Sunday the Dream return to Atlanta for their home opener at Philips Arena. More on that later.

1 comment:

kansasdreamfan said...

I am very surprised that Makongo was waived. Didn't see that coming at all! Do any of you think she might be back if Holdsclaw is released?