19-year-old Australian PG Erin Phillips, Connecticut's second-round pick, "doesn't feel she is ready" to play over here, and may not make the move till '06. Injured third-rounder Megan Mahoney can't play this year either.

Erika Valek's chances to make the roster have just gone way up. At Purdue, Valek became a wonderful floor leader who closed her college career with a painful moment. Drafted and traded last year, then cut from the guard-heavy Mercury, Valek never played in a WNBA game.

"I always have had three point guards," T-Bone explains; "I think Lindsay's safe, but Jen [Derevjanik], Erika, and whoever else is signed is going to have to work hard to win a job."

(Partly via Keegan.)