Gotnext Women's Basketball Boards

capsman · Joined: 14 Jun 2002 Posts: 31

:evil: :evil: :evil:
Here is a player who sacrificed half a championship season at home with the Capitals to get her knees sorted out for the WNBA season and how does the Mercury repay her. With bullshit minutes and no faith in a player that was drafted first round, and was fourth in the league for assists in her rookie season!
She has done everything she could to help the Mercury and they've screwed her over. I hope they do trade Vealy and she finds a team that want her and she comes back to AWA and burns the Mercury.
Sorry, but more minutes for Veal will win games for the Mercury. Someone is obviously just too stupid to see it. I feel sorry for all the fans because watching Vealy play is awesome, but it looks like you'll have to come to Australia to see that happen.
SHAME SHAME SHAME
:evil: :evil: :evil:

skew11 · Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 372

:evil: :evil: I would hate to see her traded but then again if her minutes don't/aren't going to increase would rather watch her on another team....

Dunkin' Dan · Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2002 8:40 pm Post subject:

:evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:
My thoughts exactly!
I just got back from the ESPN board saying the very same thing - if we're not gonna use her then trade the poor girl. It's breaking my heart seeing her with these pathetic minutes!

Can't say I was impressed with the way Cooper used to be on her back all the time, but at least she let her onto the frickin' court!

This kid was 5th in the league in assists last season, as a rookie, as the youngest player in the league, with limited minutes, and now she is supposed to blossom with 5 ****ing minutes per game????

SHAME INDEED!
:evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

cbibat · Joined: 14 Jun 2002 Posts: 232

its interesting that according to the stats on the Merc site Veal has avg 10.9 min/game........which means Cooper used her way more than Sharp.

Also Katye, Bonfiglio, Tuvic and Veal have all avg more than 10 min per game.... Katye's numbers are the best, but when these 4 played double digit numbers we won more games.

clear clear difference in coaching philosophy

Seth has generally been supportive of Veal... will he find us a coach who believes in her too

cbibat · Joined: 14 Jun 2002 Posts: 232

have a question about Veal.... one of the biggest 'complaints' about her is that she is not quick and can be passed by the quicker guards in the league. For those who have seen her really play, is this accurate? From what little we've really seen I think she's of the Timms school, ie, maybe not the quickest, but can get up court fast, can settle a team down and has above avg ball control - this based on the example of Ticha, who had horrible turnover numbers her first several years but as her teammates got to know her and her passes that went down - and can be a good defender. Which from a soph/junior in college is not bad....... in other words she's young, has good potential, has already shown improvement in her skills and .... she should be a keeper

SportsFan48 · Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 1124

I haven't commented much on the Veal issue. I do believe she is our future and I think our management views her the same way. I also have some thoughts that may cause a few of you to go ballistic, but here goes.

I haven't been too upset with Veal's minutes, because I have felt that she is not in game shape. I will admit that I have only seen her in limited minutes this season (and I am referring to this season only). And I would be willing to admit that it is to be expected coming off a double knee injury. And I would be willing to admit that I may be way off base here and Sharp doesn't know what she is doing, does really does hate her, and everyone else has it out for her as well.

We have been in a situtation where we are trying to get into the playoffs. If Veal is not in game shape, with extended minutes she could be a liability instead of an asset. If we had more time and weren't in such a tight race, we could afford to give her the opportuntity to see more extended minutes without worrying about the liability.

Regardless of whether I am right or wrong, I will say that we have reached a crossroads with this team and Veal. And we need to give her a chance to show why we picked her in the 1st round. Veal has shown flashes of brilliance on the court, has a great attitude, and will be a solid player (perhaps even a star) in this league. If she is going to be the player we expect her to be, then we need give her the ball and the responsibility that goes with it. And now is the time to do it. We have nothing to lose and potentially a lot to gain.

Dunkin' Dan · Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2002 10:05 pm Post subject:

No, she's not really quick.
I haven't seen her really motor the ball up the court like Timmsy used to, but it's not all about speed anyway.
She has an excellent handle, and can advance the ball pretty fast when she wants to, but more importantly she *always* has her eyes open looking for the passing opportunities. I've seen her make passes when even after watching the replay I couldn't see the opening.

Even last season for the Merc I saw many of her games (thanks Caune ;) that left me thinking "just wait until these players are all on the same page, then Kristen is gonna get 20 assists one day"

The Ticha comparison is a good one IMO, and it's one Timmsy used to make a lot as well. I just think that Kristen has so much to offer in the long-term, and these single-figure minutes are not the way to go.

By the way I just checked the stats:
Under Coop, Vealy played just one game - against LA for 24 minutes (she got 7 assists & 5 steals that day)
Since then, she has averaged exactly 9 minutes per game, for a TOTAL of 7 assists

Dunkin' Dan · Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2002 10:12 pm Post subject:

SportsFan48, you make a valid point about the playoff situation.

If that is the reasoning, then it is a little easier to accept. Conversely, I would expect that once the playoffs are out of reach, the younger bunch get some proper opportunities to show their stuff.

As for the conditioning thing, well I'd be surprised if she was in such bad shape that she is only good for 5 minutes per game. If anything they should be scaling her minutes up, not down.

Anyway, I'll back off a little about it now. I've said enough. I'll admit that I'm a little biased towards Vealy, so I'd like to hear what the rest of you all have to say about it.

Keegan · Joined: 13 Jun 2002 Posts: 977

Um I wouldn't say more minutes for Veal would mean more wins but this is a farce. Poor Moises as well. Sharp doesn't seem to understand the concept of BENCH. Also Tracy Reid is NOT a 2 guard.

Play Veal and Moises or trade them. They're both too good to play garbage minutes.

Tezza · Joined: 13 Jun 2002 Posts: 27

One thing you can say is that Kristen has a very strong desire to play for the Mercury this year, even to giving up her opportunity to play in the World Championships in September.

See a recent article in the Canberra Times:

http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=Sport&story_id=163595&subclass=national&m=7&y=2002

Mercury fans need to give Kristen credit for her attitude.

caune · Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 1558 Location: Phoenix

First thing, Capsman, it is really bad form to call for Vealy to come back and burn the Merc...'cause she'd be burning the fans, and if you haven't noticed, we do support her and have been begging for more minutes for her, either in print or by calling management.

They obviously have lost sight of Veals potential :x
I still have a tape of Vealys MVP performance in the Grand Finals a few years back, she took over that game and scored 26 points, she was awesome! That's the Veal that management needs to focus on and coach back into existence. I will get that tape to someone in management and hopefully they can get Sharp to watch it...anythings worth a try right now.

mb · Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2002 9:33 am Post subject:

Having borrowed that tape from C. Aune, I too saw the Grand Final MVP performance with 26 pts.

Veal is our only true point guard. She may not be 100%, yet she definately can play more minutes. Many more minutes, please.

For godness sakes, in her first game back she played 24 minutes against the best team in the leauge. Perhaps the quickest team in the league as well. All she did then was produce 7 assists, 5 steals, and 6 points.

In one of the next games she played, she was 2-2, both three pointers I think. Not having researched it, I bet her assist to turnover ratio destroys Moises' and even beats that of Grubin's when extrapolated over 40 minutes.

Last year, as a rookie, she was 4th or 5th in the league in assists.

Previously I have posted her virtues. Sharp was quoted, saying "She is the truest point guard we have. She understands who the shooters are and she can get the ball to them. She gives us more stability."

Has she forgotten her words? The commentators regular say how Grubin is better at the SG, and Veal settles the team down. Jeff Metcalfe gave her a thumbs down for not using her more in todays article. Which leads me to beleive she appears in good enough shape during practices and the minutes she is getting.

Must we say it again? More minutes for Veal and Christensen please!!!

caune · Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 1558 Location: Phoenix

We need to ride out this season, then get a coach (Graf?) who understands the point. Maybe some ex NBA PG is out of work J/K!

We are truly wasting one of our real assets and it's very disturbing :!: :!: :!: :!: : :

Vealy and Kayte and Jay are the future od this team and as long as we suck on the road, we might as well play them :x

sc · Joined: 15 Jul 2002 Posts: 3

I read the story about Veal losing her position on the national team by comming back to play in the WNBA this year and have to ask WHY?

Unless I misread information on the Opals web site this rule doesn't apply to Jackson, Brondello, and a few others. Why Kristen? It seems that every other year the Aussies are asked/pressured/threatened to stay home. Some do, some don't. Some keep their spots and some don't. What's going on. If winning a world championship or Olympic gold is so important, you would think the only way to really improve your team is to have as many of them as possible play against the best competition.

I understand that the coaches want them to play together but it doesn't matter how long you play together if the players don't have the skill to play against the best teams in the world. Lets face it, playing China and a weak Brazil whose best players are playing in the WNBA, is no preparation for a team who really wants to beat the USA.

Why should Veal and the other Aussies who come back be penalized for wanting to improve their game? Any thoughts?

Dunkin' Dan · Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2002 4:22 am Post subject:

Before I answer:

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/mercury/0719merc.html

Thanks Jeff. Glad someone has their finger on the pulse. Write it enough times & maybe Linda will believe it too :)

As for your question...
I've had thoughts on the matter for a long time! It's pathetic the way Maher used to bully the players to stay in Australia, and now new coach 'Not Happy' Jan is doing the same thing.
They don't to players like Timmsy & LJ because they know full well that these are required players in the national team anyway. Threatening to leave LJ or Captain Kristi out of the Opals would be too stupid for even our coaches to do.
"Fringe" players have always had to deal with it though.

As you said, I can't imagine anything better preparation-wise than 3 hard months in the best competition around, but I guess they have other ideas.
Playing these other teams in the region - teams that even our national junior team can beat - will only achieve so much.

As long as there is reasonable time to prepare together then these stay-at-home demands are unfair.

Oh, one other thing, I think Basketball Australia give these players an allowance for staying here. Maybe once WNBA salaries become a little better this won't be an issue at all.