SAN ANTONIO SILVER STARS Roster | 2008 Schedule Head coach: Dan Hughes is entering his fourth season with the team. Purchase Silver Stars tickets now! Fan Voice: Talk about the Silver Stars! 2008 PROJECTED STARTERS: PG: Becky Hammon SG: Vickie Johnson SF: Erin Buescher PF: Sophia Young C: Ruth Riley 2008 DRAFT RESULTS: Rd. 2: Morenike Atunrase (via trade) Rd. 3: Alex Anderson

San Antonio entered 2007 with a new-look team that consisted of a mix of proven veterans and promising young talent, and the two generations played well as one to become a force to be reckoned with in the West. Leading the way for the Silver Stars was All-Star point guard Becky Hammon, who the team received from New York in trade that sent Jessica Davenport to the Liberty on the day of last year’s draft. While the team was hit with injuries to key players (Erin Buescher and Hammon), it didn’t skip a beat under Coach of the Year Dan Hughes and finished the regular season with a 20-14 record.

Following a first-round defeat of Sacramento, San Antonio’s playoff run ended in the conference finals when it collided with eventual champ Phoenix.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Hammon

In her first season in San Antonio, Hammon gave life to a team that hadn’t made the postseason since it moved from Utah. She contended for the MVP Award (which ultimately went to Seattle’s Lauren Jackson) all season as she averaged a team-best 18.8 points per game and led the league in assists with 5.0 per game.

The team’s other superstar, forward Sophia Young, gave opponents fits in the paint with her quickness and leaping ability. She averaged 16.8 ppg and 5.9 rpg and raised her level of play in the postseason.

Fellow sophomore Shanna Crossley proved to be one of the most dangerous three-point shooters in the league, as well as one of the best reserves. She shot 41 percent from beyond the arc and helped the team to the second highest three-point field goal percentage in the league (37 percent).

The Silver Stars also did it on defense, holding teams to an average of just 73.1 points per game -- third-best in the league. Ruth Riley averaged 1.97 blocks in her first season with San Antonio and trailed only Connecticut’s Margo Dydek for the league lead.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Buescher

Despite possessing one of the best rebounders in the game in Young, San Antonio averaged just 32 boards per contest, the second-lowest rebounding average in the league. However, that was probably a side effect of Coach Hughes’ up-tempo approach on offense.

Outside of the team's rebounding woes, its biggest obstacle in the 2007 season was the injury bug. Several players were sidelined during the season, including Hammon, Buescher, Chantelle Anderson and Vickie Johnson. Even Coach Hughes missed some games due to an Achilles injury. As a result, the team struggled with consistency and Hughes (with assistant Brian Agler) was forced to change the lineup multiple times in order to adapt to the ever-changing active roster.

LOOKING AHEAD

The majority of San Antonio’s key players have been acquired over the past two seasons, meaning the group they had last year will only getter better with more experience playing together. The shake-up that occurred prior to last season has been replaced by stability, as during the offseason Hammon signed an extension and Johnson, Darling and Riley all re-upped.

San Antonio only lost a few players from last year’s roster, with Chantelle Anderson being picked up in the Atlanta Dream expansion draft, Marie Ferdinand-Harris signing with L.A and Camille Little being shipped to the Dream.

Wauters

The team's big addition comes in the form of veteran big Ann Wauters, who returns to the WNBA following a two-year hiatus. Wauters was acquired from Atlanta along with Morenike Atunrase and a 2009 second-round pick in exchange for Little, the draft rights to Chioma Nnamaka and a 2009 first-round pick.

The native of Belgium, who took off the '06 and '07 season to give her body a rest and attempt to help her country qualify for the '08 Olympics, has the potential to be a huge steal and the player that puts the Silver Stars over the hump. She averaged 13.7 points and 6.6 rebounds in her last WNBA season -- 2005 with the New York Liberty -- while shooting 54 percent from the field. She's also very familiar with Hammon, having been a teammate of hers on the Liberty and overseas.

The competition has gotten tougher since 2007, especially out West with the upgrades made by Seattle, Los Angeles and others. But the Silver Stars have improved, too, and the pieces are there for San Antonio to contend for a title should they stay healthy and focused.