Atlanta Dream has selected 13 Players in the Expansion Draft held on February 6th. These picks include: Ivory Latta (Detroit Shock), Chantelle Anderson (San Antonio Silver Stars), Ann Strother (Indiana Fever), and Anne Wauters (New York Liberty).
Ivory Latta was one of the most highly touted player's coming into the 2007 WNBA Draft. Some people were surprised that she went as the 11th pick, including myself. Moreover, even more people were disappointed that Latta never really got her chance to shine in Detroit due to the depth of the team. Will the ATL Dream give her a chance to finally shine? Ivory Latta packs a lot of heart and energy in that 5'6" frame. She's like a little Energizer bunny on the court. I believe building a team around such a dynamic player can fulfill dreams for both the WNBA and Ivory. Just wind her up and watch her go!
Chantelle Anderson is a player with a ton of potential and talent who just loves the WNBA. How do I know this? I have personally seen her at several WNBA events, always wearing that beautiful smile and loving every minute of it. She just loves her job. Unfortunately Chantelle has been plagued with injuries, which have limited her playing time. She is currently playing overseas in Turkey for Galatasaray where she was named the MVP of the Turkish Basketball League All Star game, which shows that there is promise there. I think that this is a good move for ATL. I hope to see Chantelle live her WNBA dream out in Atlanta.
Ann Strother is no slouch. She was one of the University of Connecticut's key players averaging 12.9 PPG during her college campaign. Behind Diana Taurasi, she became only the second player in UConn history to amass more than 1600 points, 600 rebounds, 400 assists, 100 steals, and 100 blocks. She was selected by Houston in the 2006 Draft as the 15th overall and traded to Phoenix where she got very little playing time. Last year she was picked up by Indiana and played limited minutes with this team as well, but still posted a .400% shooting average from behind the arc. I feel that if given the opportunity, Ann Strother will prove that she can be the player that she was when she attended UConn.
Lastly, Anne Wauters. She missed last season due to other commitments and is currently playing overseas for CSKA Moscow where she is currently averaging 19.2 PPG, 9.8 RPG, and 2.3 APG. I think that it will be a dream come true for Atlanta if she decides to come back to the states next season. I would personally love to see her come back being that I enjoyed watching her play with the New York Liberty.
Other notable picks include: Betty Lennox (Seattle Storm), Izaine Castro (Seattle Storm), Kristen Haynie (Sacramento Monarchs), Kristen Mann (Minnesota Lynx), and Katie Feenstara (Detroit Shock).
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