WNBA Draft 2010: let the opinionating begin

Completed draft board:

2010 WNBA DRAFT - ROUND 1

Pick Team Record

1 Connecticut Sun | Tina Charles | Connecticut 16-18
2 Minnesota Lynx | Monica Wright | Virginia 14-20
3 Minnesota Lynx | Kelsey Griffin | Nebraska (traded to Connecticut) 14-20
4 Chicago Sky | Epiphanny Prince | Botas/Rutgers 16-18
5 San Antonio Silver Stars | Jayne Appel | Stanford 15-19
6 Washington Mystics | Jacinta Monroe | Florida State 16-18
7 Connecticut Sun | Danielle McCray | Kansas 16-18
8 Los Angeles Sparks | Andrea Riley | Oklahoma State 18-16
9 Atlanta Dream | Chanel Mokango | Mississippi State 18-16
10 Seattle Storm | Alison Lacey | Iowa State 20-14
11 Indiana Fever | Jene Morris | San Diego State 22-12
12 Los Angeles Sparks | Bianca Thomas | Mississippi 18-16

2010 WNBA DRAFT - ROUND 2

Pick Team Record

13 New York Liberty | Kalana Greene | Connecticut 13-21
14 Washington Mystics | Jenna Smith | Illinois 16-18
15 Connecticut Sun | Allison Hightower | Louisiana 16-18
16 New York Liberty | Ashley Houts | Georgia 16-18
17 San Antonio Silver Stars | Alysha Clark | Middle Tennessee 15-19
18 Washington Mystics | Shanavia Dowdell | Louisiana Tech 16-18
19 Tulsa Shock | Amanda Thompson | Oklahoma 18-16
20 Los Angeles Sparks | Angel Robinson | Georgia 18-16
21 Atlanta Dream | Brigitte Ardossi | Georgia Tech 18-16
22 Seattle Storm | Tanisha Smith | Texas A&M 20-14
23 Indiana Fever | Armelie Lumanu | Mississippi State 22-12
24 Phoenix Mercury | Tyra Grant | Penn State 23-11

2010 WNBA DRAFT - ROUND 3

Pick Team Record

25 New York Liberty | Cory Montgomery | Nebraska 13-21
26 Minnesota Lynx | Gabriela Marginean | Drexel 14-20
27 Connecticut Sun | Johannah Leedham | Franklin Pierce 16-18
28 Chicago Sky | Abi Olajuwon | Oklahoma 16-18
29 San Antonio Silver Stars | Alexis Rack | Mississippi State 15-19
30 Washington Mystics | Alexis Gray-Lawson | California 16-18
31 Tulsa Shock | Vivian Frieson | Gonzaga 18-16
32 Los Angeles Sparks | Rashidat Junaid | Rutgers 18-16
33 Atlanta Dream | Brittainey Raven | Texas 18-16
34 Seattle Storm| Tijana Krivacevic | Hungary 20-14
35 Indiana Fever | Joy Cheek | Duke 22-12
36 Phoenix Mercury | Nyeshia Stevenson | Oklahoma 23-11

This actually ended up being a fairly deep draft. From top to bottom, there is a lot of talent in all 36 slots. The thing that fans might argue about is who should go in each of those positions.

Random musings.....feel free to post your own:

- As a west coast person, I'm pleased to see Vivian Frieson, Alexis Gray-Lawson and Abi Olajuwon selected. I'm praying hard that they'll stick.
- No surprise on any of the top five, although I thought Prince would go ahead of Griffin. I'm glad to see Monica Wright went number two; she's been a tremendous player these past four years.
- Surprised to see Kalana Greene and Alison Hightower go in the second round instead of the first.
- It's ironic that Jayne Appel went to San Antonio, where she just finished her college career.
- As a Sparks season ticket holder, I am mystified as to why Los Angeles took so many guards. The Sparks need a center - someone to help Candace Parker on the low blocks. No offense to Junaid, but I don't know if 5.7 points per game average will cut it. General Manager Penny Toler better have a trade in the works.
- Fans and commentators always get excited when a team picks a player who is from the area or went to school there, such as Tina Charles going to the Sun. Is the same assumption made about male players, that more people will attend a particular NBA game if an athlete is from or went to school in the area? I'm curious.
- I'm wondering why more trades haven't yet occurred. There are usually at least 2-3 good ones on draft day.
- Who came out on top today? I'll leave that up to the experts, who have been strangely silent this afternoon so far.