[Sac Bee]Walker Understands Decision to Waive Her

[Monty'sBiggestFan]

Walker understands Monarchs' decision to waive her

By Debbie Arrington - Sacramento Bee


Published 12:00 am PDT Monday, May 26, 2008

DeMya Walker wants no sympathy.
"Don't feel sorry for me," said the former WNBA All-Star, her right leg again in a massive brace. "I appreciate all the well-wishes, but … it's just a broken bone. I'll get over it." (more)

 

[6th]

What a great attitude. You da bomb, DeMya!!!

 

[raybrun]

Does that mean there is cap space to sign someone else?

I wonder who is out there that could help? If they bring anyone else in she better be real good. Unfortunately continually tweaking the lineup won't help the 20 turnover a game issue that is destroying us so far. This team made it to the playoffs 5 times in a row because they had more continuity and chemistry than anyone. Integrating 4 rookies and Kim(who has not really played in a couple years) into the lineup looks painfull at times. That will get better with experience, but we still need to work Sho and Chelsey in yet as well. That means we will likely spend the pre-Olympics period just fighting to stay out of a lottery position. (Although the Paris girl would be a nice consolation prize for some lucky team).
We have seen the Monarchs overcome bad starts lots of times, but it is going to take a lot of patience this time. Is a new player the answer or do we stay put?

 

[Monty'sBiggestFan]

Cap space? Not unless you cut the 12th and 13th players they are carrying on the roster and just went with 11 I reckon and even then I think you'd have to cut one of the 11 to make room for the person you brought in....bringing Yo back, from what had been written already was going to make it a tight squeeze with Walker so I don't get the sense that they've saved a whole lot of money, they just get to keep some depth on the bench.

You don't replace a DeMya Walker with somebody who doesn't have a job right now IMO unless there is a 12-15pt/7-8reb per night veteran post player sitting by her phone right now. I can't think of one off hand who is.


The 20+ turnovers get relieved with time and acquaintance..which, um is an element of time lol....The halves and quarters were this team plays well I think are more indicative of the talent they have assembled than anything else...they just need to build on that and teach the young ones how to sustain that and wheveever I read Kara Lawson say this, learning how to withstand runs also takes a little time. And when you haven't built on the familiar and haven't learned what your teammates can do individually and collectively, it's hard to play together within your system and maintain a level of composure with another team is jumping the hell out of you. I think they've show flashes of good to better than expected. They just simply need to build on it and they may have to take a few lumps to learn.

 

[uncommonclay]

Well Good for DeMya ...

What a stand up gal ... and, what a nice way to start a Tuesday morning ... ; )

 

[Purple Reign]

Powell is Struggling

I was very happy to hear that DeMya is still a part of the fold, and I look forward to seeing her next season.

I think the number one priority for the Monarchs is to get one Nicole Kristen Powell where she needs to be. She looks way out in space. This team goes nowhere without her being "the player", right now I would settle for "a player". Right now she is shooting 32.6 percent, NO FREE THROWS ATTEMPTED!! AND CLOSE TO FOUR TURNS PER GAME!!!! There is a huge problem when you have shot 19 3's and no free throws.

 

[Monty'sBiggestFan]

Nicole Kristen Powell should be fine once she has more than one practice under her belt and figures out what the hell is going on in the offense and has a more formal introduction to her new teammates and system. Chalk the turnovers to that.

The other issue raised by the broadcasters on this roadtrip as a seemingly recurring theme that they were going to watch...they even asked coach about it pregame during one of the segments....is the foul calls Nicole is not getting right now as well. I believe the first foul she got in the game on Saturday was one in which she was driving to the basket and got called for the charge rather than getting the blocking call. Koz was noting on air that he had just talked about it and also noted that coach was and contined to be unhappy that her player continued to not get a little bit more respect. I chalk her lack of freethrows to much of that. That might change soon too.

She may also be still readjusting from a different time zone. This was not a trip to help one get acclimated since they played 3 games in 5 days in three different time zones.

I definitely think there is a multitude of things going on for Nicole right now that can be rectified in the near term.

 

[Purple Reign]

Nicole is my favorite Monarch, and I would never give up on her. MBF, I hope that that is all it is. Powell is way too good to struggle like this. The whole fouls thing I am not buying though. I will say that she seems to struggle to create separation between her and her defender which means more forced outside shots, when you can't get by your man.

 

[Monty'sBiggestFan]

I'm not privvy right at the moment to where her shots over the first 4 games have come from (perimeter vs paint) ...if she's taking more shots away than she usually would, then maybe she's forcing things. But if you can't drive without getting called for an offensive foul you might change your shot selection a wee bit to accomodate.

I just don't see how that can be dismissed away, how many times has she fouled out in her career thus far? And how often has she averaged nearly 5 turnovers a game. Right now, in my quick math, she's averaging nearly a quarter of this team's turnovers. Is it a coincidence that she was the last one (save Crystal Kelly who is just happy to still have a job right now but also didn't just fly in from Europe only to slowly lose 3 hours traveling in WNBA travel hell)

How many free throws relative to their opponents have the Monarchs shot this season? The last time I looked at it closely there was a notable disparity. Seemingly the only ones I remember shooting free throws have been Ticha, Laura and Crystal. There may have been more regular visitors to the free throw line. But the fact that I can remember two that have shot a lot suggests to me the Monarchs haven't gone that often as a team.

If Nicole looks like this two weeks from now, then I'd say it's all on her and it's time to panic and to start calling her out. . If she gets better on Friday and starts to look like her old self then we will forget this early swoon.