Today the Phoenix Mercury announced via press release that Brittney Thomas has been cut from the Training Camp roster. Thomas, a 5-11 guard from Michigan State, was vying for the opportunity to make the roster which has been trimmed down to 18 players as of today.
With forward Penny Taylor out for the season with a knee injury the Mercury are in need of play makers to compliment star guard-forward Diana Taurasi.
Thomas was a standout guard as a senior for Michigan State in 2010-2011. Last season she played in Sweden for Telge where she appeared in 33 games averaging 13.4 PPG and 3.9 APG. She would have been a great addition to the Mercury, if they had not used the No. 6 Overall pick on point guard Samantha Prahalis out of Ohio State.
Prahalis has been impressive in training camp showing a great handle and feel for the game. She will have some trouble adjusting to the level of strength at the WNBA level, but all positive out of camp so far.
As of today the team still has a lot of decisions to make to get the roster down to 10 players by mid May. The locks of course are Taurasi, Prahalis, and the trio of forwards Candice Dupree, DeWanna Bonner, and Charde Houston. That leaves five open roster spots for head coach Corey Gaines to fill with 12 candidates.
The depth of size most certainly has to be addressed.
Right not Avery Warley (6-3), Krystal Thomas (6-5), Zane Tamane (6-7), and Nakia Sanford (6-4) are the options at center on the roster. Tamane is the clearly the biggest giving the Mercury a legitimate post threat. Last season she played 26 games in Turkey for Fenerbahce averaging 8.5 PPG 5.1 RPG and 1.1 BPG. If she can step in and make an impact the Mercury will have the fourth tallest player in the WNBA behind Lindsay Taylor, Elizabeth Cambage, and Astan Dabo to protect the paint.
As camp continues the team is also preparing to battle the Japanese National Team on Tuesday night in a pre-season game starting at 7pm local time.