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Admiral_Needa · Joined: 21 Jul 2004 Posts: 63 Location: Tiburon, CA

Quote: Penny Taylor to skip rest of WNBA season

Taylor took off the first half of the season to train with Australia and prepare for the Beijing Games. Now, she has decided not to go back to the WNBA.

"I did make it clear to the team that I wouldn't be coming back this season after the Olympics," Taylor told The Associated Press while practicing at the FIBA Diamond Ball tournament. "I want them to be able to get a team together and didn't want to leave any doors open."

Instead she will head home to Australia to spend time with her family and rest.

Taylor's decision caught her Mercury teammate Diana Taurasi off guard.

"Whoa, that's the first I'm hearing of it," said Taurasi over breakfast.

http://www.lcsun-news.com/apcontent/ci_10098376

Bad news just got worse... :shock:

Sad... I wanted to see her play. I believe PHO still has a decent chance of running the table and going 7-0 after the break, but they'll still need a good amount of luck. 2006 Part Deux.. :?

I guess Penny just needed to take a break... :arrow:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v436/Admiral_Needa/08-19-07%20SAC-PHO/PennyAfterSigningHerMillionthAutogr.jpg

mandih23 · Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 9:15 am Post subject:

:roll: ... Gee, Thanks for allowing us to "put a team together" with 7 games left in the season.

SportsFan48 · Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 1137

I think Penny was referring to the fact that she never made any committment to the Mercury from the beginning and it was very early on that she told them she was not coming.

Many of the media, including some of our local guys, printed that she was going to return before the season even started but I am not sure where they got that info. Certainly not from the Mercury because they did not have a commitment from PT before the season started and they responded accordingly. I think they still would have gone after LeCoe and Barbara even if Penny said she was coming back but I know they were looking and building the team with the thought that she wouldn't.

Many in the media have been very irresponsible in reporting what Penny was going to do. I don't know if the website Admiral posted with the info on PT is an official site or not. If it is, having the information posted there that she WAS coming back could definitely be misleading.

I wasn't in a position to ask Penny what she was going to do but I did see and ask Ann Meyers Drysdale before the season started what Penny's status was (primarially because of the conflicting reports about PT). Ann said that they did not have any indication at that time that Penny was going to return. They (MFO) were hopeful they could get her to sign for the last 7 games but it was not a definite thing.

MercuryBoFan · Joined: 29 Aug 2004 Posts: 258 Location: Glendale

I am sure Penny Taylor made it clear to the organization that she wasn't coming back this season.

The Mercury Organization was probably hoping that she would return much like the fans were. ( Holding Out Hope )

All I know is I am a little bit pissed because I feel I have been mislead but its just sports and entertainment so nothing for me to really get my panties in a bunch.

I'm just afraid that the next thing we hear from Penny is that she's going to miss the '09 season because of pregnancy and I don't mean that in a negative way. She's entitled just like the next person to start and have a family if she wants. That's life !

The Mercury need to come out and play their tails off after the break. I am not sure if they are championship caliber this season especially with-out Penny but there is no reason for this team not to make the playoffs !

mandih23 · Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 2:52 pm Post subject:

Maybe my niaveness is coming through but I would like to think if Penny "made it clear that she would not be coming this season and left no open doors" then it wouldn't be the first DT is hearing about it nor do I believe that the MFO would not have to do more in terms of bulking up the post.

SportsFan48 · Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 1137

mandi...I would be interested to know the whole conversation with Dee when she commented it was the "first" she "heard of it." Dee said after our first game with Atlanta, when I first heard an official announcement, that Penny was not coming back after the Olympics. She knew then, so either the conversation with DT over breakfast happened a long time ago or "it" was something other than PT not coming back.

As far as the Mercury bulking the post, I don't think there were many options...and none that could have replaced Penny. Personally, I think some of the moves they made have paid dividends that I didn't expect.

While not having Penny is definitely an impact, I think the Mercury's current record is as much a result of our perpetual poor start of training camp, western conference teams getting better and our not so wonderful schedule at the beginning of the season.

This team has been a little inconsistent and has a problem starting games well which could be a result of no PT and/or different personnel. It could be a difference in coaching style too. I don't really know.