Day 16 - Fresh off its trip to Tampa, FL, the Mystics resumed training camp at the Verizon Center. Mystics players Alana Beard, Monique Currie and Laurie Koehn were in attendance as well as newcomer Chandi Jones. The team will be ready to go at 4:45 a.m. en route to New York to take on the Liberty.

Coach Rollins
“Today was great, I mean, getting our veterans back in, Monique Currie, Alana Beard, Laurie (Koehn), coming in making shots from the outside and really giving us a feel of how we really can play. I mean the decision making that AB and Monique bought in was great so now Nikki Blue does not have to worry about pressing so much and making the right pass. Once she throws ahead to AB, she going to make the right decision. So practice today went pretty good. We went a little shorter than we needed because we had a lot to get in with us leaving early tomorrow on the train to go play an exhibition game. A lot of the things New York does, Sacramento didn’t do, so it won’t be a normal kind of preparation for us.”

“I haven’t seen New York yet. We know they are going to zone; we haven’t put all of our zone breakers in. We know they are going to play pretty much aggressive defense, what we got a taste of from Sacramento. They’re probably going to run a lot of pick and rolls so we worked a little bit on pick and roll defense today.”

Monique Currie
“It was very intense, a lot of teaching. Trying to get back into the swing of things, but everyone was helpful and brought me along just fine. I feel pretty good. I’m still a little jet lagged. I’ve only been in town for two days, but there is not much time to adjust so, make it work.”

Laurie Koehn
“I’m so happy to finally be back. It seems like it’s taken forever to get back. And I’m very excited to be here and I just hope that I can catch onto everything quick and get to know the new players fast and very excited.”

Alana Beard
“First day at practice was interesting, to come out and see everyone. I think we have a great group of women. Personalities and chemistry seem to be going really well right now. I’m very impressed by Taj McWilliams and Nikki Blue; I thought she did a great job of running her team today. I feel like we have a long way to go as far as becoming that elite team, the team that we want to be. But I think that we are going to get there because we have a lot of hard workers.”

Day 14 & 15 - The Mystics continued to bring lots of energy to their weekend sessions in preparation for their game against the Sacramento Monarchs on Monday, May 5th. Saturday, members of the Tampa media participated in a shooting contest followed by a clinic for both coaches and kids. Later that evening, the team was treated to a delicious dinner courtesy of Mystics President and Managing Partner, Sheila C. Johnson and her team at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club. Following Sunday’s practice, the players attended a nutrition clinic taught by Head Chef Andre Halston.

Sheila Johnson
"This is Sheila Johnson, Saturday, May 3rd, in Tampa, Florida. Just want to let all of the fans know that we have an incredible training camp going on. We see young players with energy, enthusiasm and passion. The hardest process more than anything is trying to figure out who is going to make the team. The drama continues….”

Tree Rollins
“Practice today was great; they were back in the swing of things. Coco looked good today, making her shots. We switched the guards up with the starting unit. We are looking at the starting unit, we looked at (Amber) Jacobs a little bit with the other starters because she had not had the opportunity to play with them so she did a good job today also. (Crystal) Langhorne struggled a little it today, she did her thing with rebounds, and hopefully she can step back into it as far as scoring off the block. Nakia shot the ball better today outside. (Andrea) Gardner and (Lindsay) Taylor both played well.”

“We are in the cleanup stages of training camp now. We are getting ready for our first exhibition game so we are trying to anticipate what the team we will be playing will do. We have also been working on our first breakers, also a little trapping defense for ourselves because from last season we are Sacramento will be playing pressure defense. We had to put our first breakers in today and our counters to most of our plays.”

Amber Jacobs
“We are starting to pick it up and figure out things, slowly but surely. I think it’s great because we have a lot of veteran experience so they pretty much try to help us younger players out who are coming into this team with the sets, defense and organizing.”

Are we ready for Monday night?
“Of course!! Its game night, you are always ready on game night. I think it will be the first good test to see where we are at and the progress we still need to make and to see things that need to be focused on and what is done more than others. Obviously exhibition games are always a little more chaotic and scattered, there is probably a lot more intensity on defensive stops and maybe the offense isn’t flowing as well as you want it too. I think it will be fun and just fun to see who gels well with who.”

Tree Rollins
“Today was wild and wily. The anticipation of finally playing against different people was the theme of practice today. They are ready to go against more competition. Nakia and Taj really played well today. Still a battle with the point guards, I can’t give you a clear cut who is winning it. (Lindsey) Pluimer shot the ball better today. (Krystal) Vaughn picked up the 3 spot better today. She is starting to learn about all of the intricacies of playing the 3. Each day we try to give her a little bit more at 3. Presently we only have TJ (Tamara James) and Vaughn at the 3 so she is going to have to play 3."

“We only have the minimum to start playing right now as far as offense and defense. Sacramento is a tough team to play because they just come with applying pressure. We put our pressure release in, our press breakers if they do press us.”

Day 13 - Today’s practice was much more to the coaches’ liking. After a pep talk by Coach Rollins, the team showed energy and effort. Nikki Blue and Krystal Vaughn had great outings while the consummate professional, Taj McWilliams-Franklin continued to share her wisdom with her teammates.

Coach Rollins
“My speech to them was we are professional, even thought this is the sunshine and it’s nice and warm. We are here to get ready for the season. They responded to that today. The veterans that we have, Nakia, Taj, Coco, I think they bought everybody back together today on the court and got everybody focus on the job at hand. Today’s practice was much better. We did a lot of breakdown sets on the offense so we can see each and every option. It was a little bit time consuming but I felt we needed that so everybody knows what we are looking for. We took one set and went click by click, option by option, so I think it really helped us out there.

“(Krystal) Vaughn came back strong today. She has played well. (Andrea) Gardner has played well. The point guards are still battling, they about cancel each other out I guess. Coco shot the ball very well today so did (Lindsey) Pluimer. Kia made some moves; she is getting her camp wind. Everybody played really well today.”

Coach Kenlaw
“Today felt great. There was a lot more energy. The players seemed to be a lot more focus. I thought we did a much better job of executing. We had an opportunity to breakdown sets in the half court which I think was helpful so the players were able to make better reads when we started the scrimmage.”

“Taj is like a breath of fresh air because of what she brings to this team and to our practices. It felt like having a coach on the floor. She is constantly teaching and helping the players with the little things. She is very verbal about it. That is very refreshing to me. her experience and her leadership are just immeasurable, she just does so many little things, I love that about her.”

“Nikki Blue did an awesome job today running her team. It is going to be very important for us that she takes the lead early in training camp and I thought she stepped up to the plate today. Usually, Crystal has her but today I had the chance to coach her team. She listened, she executed and I am just really happy with her execution and her decision making.”

Krystal Vaughn

On training camp
“I am loving it. I am getting the hang of everything. Rebounding, everything is flowing, I feel like I am doing well. I am trying to fit in the best way that I can. I see the old players are coming back and they are stepping up. I like the fact that if we do something wrong they step up and let you know the way it’s done, take you under their wing and help you out.”

On the move to the 3 spot
“Good, great, I feel better about it now. I feel much better. I feel much more comfortable. I just need to keep getting in a lot of reps and working on it and hopefully it will grow on me.”

Day 12 - Today was the team’s first day of practice in Florida. Since the mystics are practicing at Palm Harbor University High School, practices have been moved to the afternoons for the next two days to accommodate the high schoolers. Coco Miller and Taj McWilliams-Franklin were finally able to join their teammates on the floor.

Bernice Mosby
“Practice was really good. All of our newcomers did well, Taj, Coco. Taj did a lot of teaching today which is so helpful with a lot of young people on the team. Crystal Langhorne did well as usual and Nakia. Nakia is just a great player, you learn a lot from her. She really dominated today as well as Andrea Gardner.”

Coco Miller
“It feels great to be back; I am a little tired today, still a little jet-lagged. It feels good seeing everyone and getting in a good practice. Practice went pretty well, still working out the kinks and everything. Getting everyone back together a little bit to try to get that cohesiveness going again. It will take a little time but I think we will be in good shape.”

Taj McWilliams-Franklin
“For me, I feel ok; I am learning new stuff, new people, the plays, and the defense. I feel that the practice was a little choppy because Coco and I were learning some things. I also think that this is beautiful weather, there might be a little let down mentally we were not really ready to practice really hard and focus. You can practice hard and you can practice smart and I think we were practicing scattered. We were not really playing mentally, understanding what we needed to do and doing it. Sacramento is not a play-by-play team, they preach defense so we have to get it together really soon.”

Day 11 - The team had a light practice today prior to its first road trip of the season. Washington is taking its training camp on the road for the first time to Tampa, Florida. Taj McWilliams-Franklin and Coco Miller were delayed at the doctor, thus were not able to practice but are expected to be on the court tomorrow.

Coach Rollins
“We went very light today. I was hoping to have Taj in, but she didn’t make it in. We had another injured player, (Rashida) Suber went down with a slight ankle turn. That gave us only nine players so we couldn’t really go up and down like we wanted to. That’s a part of training camp and the regular season where you don’t have a whole surplus of players.”

“Everybody was about the same. I thought Nikki Blue in the shooting drills, shot the ball very well, TJ did a good job. Of course Nakia, she’s doing her thing so she’s picking up where she left off. Again (Krystal) Vaughn is still looking good. Today, it’s about average today I mean she hasn’t pushed the envelope more then the previous days.”

Nakia Sanford
”I felt a little bit better. I felt that I had my legs under me a little bit more. I’m still adjusting, it’s really weird as I play more and more overseas and I play in the states also it’s that adjustment. I can really see the difference in my body when I’m coming and going back and forth. I’m excited about having our first preseason game. I still really miss my teammates, but I’m happy that everybody is doing well overseas. They are going to bring back a lot of experience, a lot of championship experience a lot of playoff experience, so I’m excited about that.”

Coach Kenlaw
“Our practices didn’t flow as usual because of the injuries I’ll say that. we were able to do get some stuff done in half court in terms of our offensive execution and that’s important right now for the new people coming in just to give them a lot of repetitions in terms of looking at the different options in the half court sets.”

“We didn’t really scrimmage or anything today, so it wasn’t like anyone stood out today. It wasn’t like that kind of practice. I think it was to get them loose, go through some reps and so we can get out of here.”

Day 10 - Nakia Sanford and Tamara James made their training camp appearance today. Taj McWilliam-Franklin and Coco Miller are scheduled to arrive tomorrow. The team will practice at the Verizon Center for the first time this season. Washington trimmed its roster to 15 players per WNBA rules.

Coach Rollins
"We got Tamara James back at practice; she looked good, back home from Turkey. Of course, we got our starting five (Nakia Stanford), so I’m happy to see that. She came in, hasn’t missed a beat. She looks a little thin, but she says she hasn’t lost weight. I’m just overwhelmed to have those two back in. I expected Coco, but she’s not back yet. Practice went pretty good, a little sluggish today because we had to introduce the new plays to the veterans that just got back into camp. I was expecting a little drop from the free-agent players. Sometimes when the vets come in they kind of stop playing but hopefully they keep playing and make our jobs as coaches, tough to make a decision.

Refs at practice
“I think with the refs it gets the players accustomed to the calls and what they can and cannot do. Even in our teaching, especially in the WNBA, with me especially, I teach from the men’s side and what I learned from there so I want to make sure we are doing everything from the WNBA side.”

Shining Stars
“Nikki Blue did a good job today I think at the one. That was about it for me today, but everyone else was about average. We are pushing a little bit longer, we did about an hour and a half worth of up and down today so that’s probably the most we have done in training camp. We are trying to get them used to up and down more than just drills.”

Nakia Sanford

Welcome back, how does it feel to be back?
“Just getting acclimated to being back in the States and then back in DC also, so I’m just kind of still switching my brain back to being home, but I’m really happy to be back in DC and ready to get started.”

Talk to me about today
“Today just felt really good to be back at this level of basketball again. I really missed AB and some of the other players that aren’t here right now. I was looking forward to seeing them, but they are still out working overseas. It felt really good being in camp and it feels good seeing the young talent that is coming up so it’s pretty exciting.”

Tamara James

Talk to me about being back
“I’m excited to be back. I’m a little winded the first day, need to get some treatment, and can’t wait to get my wind up. I’m excited about our new players we have. I’m excited about Crystal Langhorne, I like her work ethic. New coaches, new staff, so I’m just ready for a positive season.”

Any divas so far? “I don’t know I have to see tomorrow, when we have to have our business attire, then I will start writing my fashion tickets. I will bring my note pad.”

Coach Kenlaw
“I was so excited to see Nakia Sanford in camp today. She brings energy, athleticism, and leadership to this team. I was very excited to have her back in camp she definitely made a difference. I could tell from when we circled up this morning she would make a difference in camp and she did. Also, Crystal Langhorne I thought did a really nice job, very instinctive around the basket. I just see us being really good inside, our post players are very skilled, their athleticism. I think we are going to be tough to match up with inside.

“I liked that we are starting to come together as a team, I thought it wasn’t one of our best days in terms of getting up and down and offensive execution, but what I did like about it was, we are seeing more Mystics players coming to camp so that was the bright side of it for me.”

Day 9 - Mystics first round draft pick, Crystal Langhorne joined the Mystics today following her run with the USA Basketball team that captured silver in Beijing.

Coach Rollins
“Today was pretty good. We did a lot of scrimmaging today, really working on defending the pick and rolls. Overall, we worked on our pick and roll defense, stopping and popping to the wing and I think it went pretty good. We got (Crystal) Langhorne in today which is a good body, good to see a new body. We are expecting some more of our regulars so we can really get down to the nitty-gritty now of what we are going to be doing during the season.

How did Langhorne do today?
“Taking in the flight that she took across county, across the world I should say, pretty good. She is a great body, a great offensive rebounder. She was really aggressive today so, that was great.”

Shining Stars
“I think Langhorne for what she did, she did a great job. (Krystal) Vaughn is still looking good. Our two point guards, now that we released Rita Williams, they are battling. I just had a talk with them, it’s their team pretty much now, not that we won’t be looking for another point, but it’s now time for them to start taking over the team and earning the respect of the players. I thought they did a pretty good job at pushing it.”

Coach Kenlaw “We had another good day; the most productive part of practice for me was the half court offensive execution. We did a lot more teaching, we just kind of broke some things down, we gave each team five possessions to execute and a lot of things were exposed, but we just spent a lot of time just helping them make the right reads in terms of executing the offense. I thought they did a great job.”

Shining Stars
“Crystal Langhorne. I thought she did an excellent job, although I know she came in jetlagged and I think it’s 1:00 am her body time but it’s like she didn’t miss a beat. I just love her intensity on the defensive end and rebounding the basketball that was very refreshing to see. I thought Nikki Blue had a very productive day.”

Nikki Blue
“Today was really exciting because we got our rookie Crystal Langhorne and she came in and automatically made an impact. I’m definitely a fan, I’m glad she is on our team it was a very good pick and a very good player, a great player. She’s going to do a lot of big things for us this year.”

Thoughts on practice
“Practice was good. Our team is trying to get into the flow of things; our offense is looking very good, our defense is looking even better. I mean it’s very competitive out there, people are trying to fight for a spot and I think its fun.”

Crystal Langhorne

On her first day
“It was good. Yeah I’m tired, but practice went well, I’m happy about that. I think nothing can get more nervous then getting ready to practice with Lisa Leslie, I mean I was nervous for this, but that little USA thing kind of prepped me for this.”

On being at home
“This is good, I’m glad I’m staying in the DC area just to be around Maryland and my family can still come and see me play. I’m just really excited; it’s going to be good.”

Notes
Mystics players Nakia Sanford and Tamara James are expected to make their first appearance at training camp tomorrow…The team released Meg Bolger, Danielle Hutcheson, Michelle Stueve and Rita Williams.

Days 7 & 8 - The Mystics continued with training camp this past weekend. The team has been going non-stop for the past seven days as the players continue to learn the playbook. Following Sunday’s practice, the team attended the Wizards game against the Cavaliers at the Verizon Center. The following are the coaches’ assessment of the weekend sessions:

Coach Robinson
“Andrea Gardner looked great today, Rashida Suber played good today. They just seemed to be getting it today and that means, once you first put a group of new people together and everybody’s trying to learn the system and it’s a growing process and today they kind of put it all together. We actually, kind of looked like a team today. It didn’t look like everyone was thinking and learning in their heads, it just kind of came natural.”

Coach Rollins
“We scrimmaged. The practices went really well, we scrimmaged and tried to get some game time situations if you will, to see how they react also to see if whether or not they can pick up plays. We drew up some plays in time out so to speak, to see their recognition of that so that went pretty good. I thought, overall we had a pretty good weekend.”

Who stood out for you this past weekend?
“Still (Krystal) Vaughn is really looking good, we kind of really love her hopefully we can find a spot for her. (Andrea) Gardner is playing very well at the five. Amber Jacobs in the battle of the point guard is holding her own right now with Nikki Blue. It’s going pretty good about what we expected.”

Coach Kenlaw
“We had a great weekend; we were very pleased with the scrimmage. I thought the young ladies played very hard and executed very well, showed some improvement in a lot of areas, it was great, a great scrimmage.”

Who are your picks this weekend?
“I don’t know if I can zero in on any one individual. I think the one person that dominated the scrimmage most in the paint for me was Andrea Gardner. I mean she showcased skills that we had not seen; she looked like a totally different person then the scrimmage with the radio station. I mean she was very physical inside, she attacked the rim, she rebounded, she ran the floor very well, and she clearly separated herself, in my opinion, from the other post players during the scrimmage on Saturday.”

Day 6 - The Mystics were back to business today. Coach Rollins reminded his players that training camp is not all about fun and games.

Coach Rollins
“We are back to business today after having a little game yesterday. I think we came in that frame of mind so we weren’t as sharp today, but you know hopefully we can get it back tomorrow. We kind of pushed them a little bit harder today to get the wind up so we took away a couple of water breaks. The result was a regular scrimmage, but that was expected.”

How’s the PG battle looking?
“The battle’s looking good. No two clear cut winners yet, so we’re going to let it go as long as we can let it go.”

Shining Stars
“I think (Krystal) Vaughn is still looking good, we got the little battle now going full blown with Rita Williams, Nikki Blue and Amber Jacobs, so we are really taking a close look at that.”

Coach Kenlaw
“I was a lot more vocal today because I’m very impatient when it comes to doing the little things right I’m big on little things and if our philosophy is to run then we need to practice good habits right now. To me it’s all about habits, you either have good habits or bad habits. When we are teaching fundamentals that are pertaining to our philosophy that we are going to be a running team, we have to run every possession. If we are going to be a good defensive team, we have to master the defensive fundamentals. So, it’s all about discipline. I think you’ve have to instill certain fundamentals on both ends of the court and I’m just starting to feel more comfortable in practice now and Tree has giving me the green light to do that so I’m just going to be myself and do more of it.”

Difference in Camp
“We changed our schedule yesterday. The players were up early yesterday morning and we finished around 11 am, so they had off all yesterday, so generally they come in more sluggish when they have a little more time off, and we just kind of wanted to remind them that in the WNBA you have to play back to back games so you are trying to establish that discipline early now, that you can not let up regardless of the situation.”

Coach Robinson

Shining Stars
“Andrea Gardner played good to me today. I think Sarah-Jo plays consistent everyday and with the point guards, they are battling. They are battling for positions and it’s a nice match up to watch. They are competing against each other like they are competing for a spot. The competition is high.”

Nikki Blue

On the PG battle
“I’m here and I think I’ve being doing well so far and I’m determined that this is my position and I’m going to speak that into existence. I really want this position. I’m going to work, I’m coming out everyday working my butt off and I’m going to try to be the best point guard, not only the best point guard but the best player in the camp everyday, and that’s my goal.”

Scouting the competition
“Rita has been in camp for the past three years that I have been here and then Amber coming in from Minnesota she’s a great competitor, a great shooter. I mean it’s really tough it’s going to be a battle but I hope that my athleticism and my shots, and everything I have will prevail.”

Krystal Vaughn
“I’m feeling great, today was my first day executing things at the three position. Overall, I think I did a good job, as long as I hustle and do things that I know how to do, continue to rebound things like that, I pretty much became comfortable. I like to run, that’s my thing, run, get out, run. There are a lot of things that I need to work on, small things, but other than that the small things take over the big picture eventually.”

Sarah-Jo Lawrence
“It’s been a great experience; it’s nice to play with a lot of good players, a lot of veterans. I’m trying to play loose and play my game. It’s been what five or six days so far, I am just trying to play well and do what I have to do to win these games and do well in the drills.

Day 5 - Today's highly anticipated match-up against DC 101's Elliot in the Morning crew ended with a 60 point spread victory for the Mystics!

Krystal Vaughn

How was that?
“That was an active team, you know, they were wild, out of control; not our type of game but other than that we worked hard and ran the floor. Our goal was to run them, you know they’re out of shape, older. Overall we did a good job, there are some things we need to work on, but we had fun and that was the point - to have fun.”

Meg Bulger

How was it?
“They were so fun. It was awesome of them to do this and it was great for the Mystics organization to be able to come out and do this. I thought it was a lot of fun.”

Were they trash talking out on the floor?
“They were. They were trying to get in our heads a little bit but we had to stay focused, we had to be professional and stay focused but they were fun.”

Rita Williams

Did you have fun?
“It was great! We had a good time; it got some exposure for the Mystics which is a great thing.”

Were they trash taking out there?
“They were trash talking at the beginning but it was just a fun game. They were subbing; every time they went up and down the court it would be a new person in.”

Nikki Blue

How was it out there?
“It was fun! I think it was a good opportunity for the girls to show what they got. I mean, it was more entertaining than anything but I think we came out here and made a point. We won by 60 points and hopefully we got the respect that we deserve.”

Were they trash-talking out there?
“Definitely! I mean I got pushed, I got hit; another guy was trying to hold my hand. It was all fun and games, but I think a couple of times they really wanted to show how physical they were. You know, guys are guys and sometimes they can’t put their pride aside and just let us girls be girls, so we just played hard. It was fun.”

Elliott

How was today’s game?
“Today’s game was great ... it was awesome! I played professional athletes and it’s great!”

You had a good time?
“Yeah! Oh my God it was great! The girls were awesome, although I think a couple of them did get mad at me during the game. You can tell that when they snap into game mode like really quickly; and it happened a couple of times where I think its just like a loose ball and they go and it’s just like instinct kicks in. That’s scary! I think that if they had gone like that the whole game … 83-23 they would have held us without one more basket. But it was awesome, it was great!”

Diane
“Well, I saw limited playing time. I guess they wanted to go with the more seasoned players, since the first time I was on a basketball court - aside from playing HORSE when I was a kid - was last week for our one and only practice, and even then after halftime we decided we were going to come out with a request ... I know it is kind of unconventional for a professional basketball game, but we wanted to see if we could switch to half court cause we were getting kind of winded. But no. They definitely schooled us, 83-23, that’s quite a spread wouldn’t you say?”

Tyler
“You know what? It was close ... and then we had the jump ball and it was over. We scored 4 points in the first quarter so that was exciting, and then in the second quarter we didn’t score. So I think that was demoralizing for the team; and at halftime we should have had this really strong, passionate pep talk and Elliott was nowhere to be found because he was hosting a halftime contest.”

On the second half “We didn’t have the guys we needed at halftime and we came out in the third quarter looking like a mess. Fourth quarter, started to finally come together I think if we had maybe 100 more quarters we could have maybe pulled within 50 but we lost by 60 so it’s a moral victory in itself.”

Roche

Seems like you were the coach of this team, were you?
“I like to compare myself to Jack Haley and Mark Madsen, the greats, the towel wavers, the guys that led from the bench, because I obviously wasn’t doing anything on the court. Thanks to the Mystics for letting us play and I thought we kept it close, it could have gotten out of hand but luckily we manned up for the second half and we really came back strong.”

The Washington Mystics organization would like to thank everyone at the EITM show for a spirited game and look forward to the extensive coverage of the 2008 season.

Day 4 - The team took it easy today in preparation for tomorrow’s game with the Elliot in the Morning crew.

Amber Jacobs
“We have been out here working hard. I think we are really starting to come together as a team, understanding each other, what each other can bring to this game. I think we are going to go out and have some fun. It’s nice to get away from a practice day and be able to play a real game.”

Is this a real game?
“Well, no, but a fun game. Maybe we can do a little AND1 style.”

Will you break a sweat?
“I HOPE so. Actually, I will. I sweat like crazy. I will probably break some kind of sweat. I would rather just run the ball down their throat and score a million lay-ups while they are huffing and puffing down the court.”

Sarah-Jo Lawrence
“It’s going to be a fun game. It’s going to be a blowout. We are going to show what women can do. We are going to show them what we got.”

Score?
“The score will be 100-25. I'll give them 25”

Coach Rollins
“We will be easy on them”

On men thinking they can win just because they are men.
“Well, I think a lot of men feel that way until they get out on the court. This is not, no disrespect to my mom, but it’s not my mother’s generation of women’s basketball players. They go up and down the court just as hard as the men so they will be in for a big surprise just running with them, keeping up with them.”

What happens if we lose?
“Well, I will have plenty of time for my grandson then.”

Nikki Blue
“I kissed the ground when I got off the plane. I was so happy to be back in the USA. It was tough. It is always tough overseas but you appreciate it much more when you come back home.”

On tomorrow’s 'game'
“Truthfully, I am not even going to put on my sneakers. I am going to wear my pumps. I am going to put on my size 11 Baby Phat heels. I am going to go out there and play.”

Chances that Mystics will lose?
“No CHANCE of losing, AB’s life is safe.”

Last advice to Elliot:
“Save yourself the embarrassment-don’t embarrass men in general.”

Click here to listen to the live broadcast of the Elliott in the Morning Show, as the Mystics take them on in a friendly game of basketball.

Notes
The Mystics will take on the Elliot in The Morning crew on Thursday, April 24th at 8 am at the Comcast Center. The event is free and open to the public.

Day 3 - It's hump day at training camp, but the players managed to get through it with flying colors. Amber Jacobs was the clear star of the day and gave the coaches exactly what they wanted.

Coach Kenlaw
“We continued to build up on some of our defenses and some of our offense. We put in a couple new sets. Every day what we try to do is build up from the day before so from an offensive standpoint, we put in a couple counters and we build up on some of our sets."

"For me, it was Lindsay Taylor and Amber Jacobs. I thought those two were great, there were other but I always pick the two that stood out the most to me. Amber was incredible with her decision making and just shooting the ball. She ran the point and kind of showed her versatility. Lindsay was a lot more aggressive today in the paint, she blocks some shots and I was very impressed with her today. She showed some range. She hit a three and I didn’t even know she had that kind of range, so I was really pleased with her today."

Coach Robinson
”Camp was great. It was hump day and they push themselves through the day and they are starting to grasp the things that we are trying to do. Everyday we build on the things that we are teaching."

“Amber Jacobs looked great. Sarah Jo Lawrence looks great everyday. She is consistent, she comes in, she plays hard and she makes good decisions. She is just playing well. She sticks out to me. I love consistency. I would rather have a consistent player than a player that can score 30 points one night and two the next. Just give me 12 every night.”

Coach Rollins
“Today was great. I thought it was going to be a little sluggish since it was going to be the third day, hump day as we call it but they got out and competed."

"Amber Jacobs really ran the show, she stepped it up. Amber did a good job with her squad. The execution was great. She had a perfect day.”

Notes
Nikki Blue arrived in D.C. today and will be at practice tomorrow … Rashida Suber signed a training camp contract with the Mystics. She recently played at Coppin State and attended the Mystics tryout camp on April 16th … The Mystics waived Tierre Wilson.

Day 2- The second day of training camp left our coaches pleased with the effort of the players.

Coach Rollins
“Today’s practice was a little bit calmer and you know that first day you have all that energy and adrenaline flowing so you find it kind of tough to really concentrate but I thought today went much better. What we are going to do today also is give them a copy of the sets so tomorrow should be even better.”

Coach Kenlaw
“We are just doing some buildup drills we kind of repeated some of the drills that we did yesterday, but we have a series of progressions that we are working on with both our offense and our defense so we did work on both of those things today.”

Coach Robinson
“You could tell that they were a little tired and sluggish from yesterday’s practice but it went really good. They were picking up things really fast and we are moving right along.”

Shining Stars
Coach Rollins
“I mean you know, the battle, I really like what (Krystal) Vaughn is doing, our 3rd round pick I mean she is doing a good job, Rita Williams at point, her and Amber Jacobs are doing a pretty good job running the team and they are hitting shots, which is pleasant to see.”

Coach Kenlaw
“The person that stood out for me today was Jillian Robbins. She kind of separated herself on both ends of the court. Offensively she was like a jet I mean she was rim to rim, she did a nice job in rebounding and taking on the offensive end and she is just so quick and athletic and she did a very good job on the defensive end so over all I would say she was the person that stood out to me today.”

Coach Robinson
“Jillian Robbins played great today at practice. I think Sarah Jo Lawrence played great both days but I think Lindsey Pluimer is just consistent, she is a consistent player. I like the productivity that she gives us.

Thoughts on today’s camp
Jillian Robbins
“I felt good about it. I felt good about the black team; we were doing big things out there. We started out down and then we kind of came together and meshed and got in our head you know we have to run, we have to make shots, we have to rebound and that’s what happened I think. A lot of times in training camp you come in and you think you have to show your own skills but this is a team sport and you have to show how you help the team and stuff like that. I felt that the black team did that.”

You are one year out of college, how does this feel now?
“I feel more prepared. I came to Houston last year, I had no clue what was going on, was really just kind of happy to be there and I think now I have a better idea of what is going on, I’m more prepared. I know what I have to do and you know, you know what you have to do, but it’s actually doing it that’s the thing so just have the right mindset everyday no day off

Thoughts on today’s camp
Sarah Jo Lawrence
“It went well I think. We are finally gelling as a squad with different players and it is really going well and we are all doing our thing and it is fun.”

So how does this feel different from last week?
“Last week there were a whole lot of people here so it didn’t have the whole team feel that we do know. I mean, we are working hard we are cheering each other on I mean it’s tough when we go three hours two days in a row and we are all pumped about it as well helping each other out as well.”

Day 1 - April 20th marked the opening of training camp across the WNBA. The following are the thoughts and views of our coaches and players.

First day of Camp Coach Rollins:
“Our first day here at camp, we got 12 pretty good players coming out and I think they worked pretty hard so far, and we’re going to see what we can get out of this camp so that when our vets get back, you know, we can have a good pool to pick from to more or less fill in the voids we may or may not have with our veterans.”

Coach Kenlaw
“We worked on a variety of things today. The biggest thing we wanted is to instill in them two things today. One on offence, we wanted them to run, so that was one of the main things that we talked about being able to instill in them; a running mindset. Defensively, we were just talking about pressuring the ball and getting good position just trying to introduce good habits today was a main thing, introducing the philosophy and talking with them about practicing good habits and that is something that we just have to drill everyday.”

Talk about Krystal Vaughn?
Coach Kenlaw
“I thought Krystal had a very productive practice, I mean she stood out to me simply because she is so athletic and I was kind of surprised to see her hit some of the face up shots, I knew she could rebound, I knew she is very athletic, but what I didn’t know if she could hit the turnaround jump shots and she showed a little bit of range and that was a surprise to me, I would say she kind of separated herself a little. Meg (Bulger) shot the ball really well once she got going, I mean I think she was a little nervous early on, but once we started the scrimmage I thought she did very well.”

Rookies

Mystics second round pick, Lindsey Pluimer

Thoughts on today
“Good, you know, came out here and we all played really hard and it went well and we all went over a lot of plays, but kind of got the nerves out and everything.”

Were you nervous?
“A little, I mean, it’s just like going into college and you just don’t know what to expect and it’s at a higher level but you have to come out with confidence and play hard and do what you can do.”

What are your thoughts on being drafted in the WNBA?
“Yeah, very excited, I mean, I’m so excited to be here in DC. I mean just driving through here a lot of history you know I’m such a Cali girl been there my whole life, so its good to get out and exciting and just trying to get on that roster right now.”

Any diva moments with Nikki Blue from your UCLA days?
“Oh yeah, Nikki walks around all the time like a diva. But Nikki’s my girl, I love her to death and she was calling me from Greece all excited when I got drafted and you know what, She’s just great, a great teammate, a great leader.”

Mystics third round pick, Krystal Vaughn

Thoughts on today:
“It is a new level you know there was a lot of intensity and I met a lot of new people but today overall I think I did well you know I just got to continue to stay focus, stay on the boards and keep doing things I’m doing and building on it.”