there's no ohea, no bishop , no batkovic.

PG Leilani Mitchell
PG/SG Kelly Wilson
PG/SG Erin Phillips
SG Katie Rae Ebzery, Stephanie Cumming, Tess Madgen
SG/SF Rebeccas Allen
SF Penny Taylor
SG/SF Alice Kunek
SF/PF Laura Hodges
C Gabrielle Richards
PF/C Cayla Francis
PF/C Lauren Jackson
C Liz Cambage

forgot jarry as possible swap for kunek.

Starters:
PG Mitchell/Wilson/Phillips
SG Allen/Phillips/Ebzery*Cumming*Madgen*/Wilson/Kunek
SF Taylor/Kunek/Allen/Hodges
PF Jackson/Francis/Hodges
C Cambage/Richards/Jackson/Francis

hell no to screen!
I like her hustle and shes a great communicator. But I dont believe she offers much more than that.

She is a defensive specialist. I think we need more versatility this time around.

Although it seems Joyce likes both screen and burton alot.

The shooting guard position is the key.
Allen: Good shooter, good defender and rebounder.
Ebzery: Good shooter and drive to the basket.
Screen: Good defender, communicator.
Cumming. Solid all round. Doing great in the SEABL.
Jarry: Pretty solid all round although lacks game time.
Madgen: solid also, maybe inconsistent.
Phillips: good shooter, hustle. hasnt played well in the Wnba this season.
Wilson: good shooter, assist machine. small frame.

I put francis over burton because I think she's better in every area and I put Richards over tolo because she played really well against the wnba teams.

Consider the possible Usa lineup and try to match opals against them:

Diggins
1 of Whalen, Bird or Vandersloot
Taurasi
Mccoughtry
Pondexter
Cathchings
Moore
Dupree
Parker
Della Donne
Griner

and either 1 of Schimmel, Sims, Bonner, Charles, Fowles, Jonhson, Ogwumike, Mccarville.

I think we will finish somewhere in the top 4 with the USA, Spain and France.

The european teams development has increased significantly and continues to rise. It will not be a walk over like it has been in the past.

Screen will play on SG's.
Phillips and Allen are playing the same position.

Phillips can hustle, can shoot the mid range and the 3 ball, can drive and is a good rebounding guard. (can also play backup point guard)

Allen (defensive player of the year!), can shoot, block shots(avg1st in wnbl), steals(avg1st in wnbl) and also is a very good rebounder(12th in wnbl).

Screen reminds me of damian martin without the ball handling capability.

2013/2014 screens stats: ppg-8.5 rpg-5.6 apg-3.1 total steals-18 total blocks-1

2013/2014 allens stats: ppg-13.2 rpg-6.5 apg-2.1 total steals-45 total blocks-42

imo Hurst is the best PG option. She can shoot the lights out and be a flat out scorer but also has the great ability to control a team, create for her teammates, and find the open man.

Allen vs (Minnesota Lynx)
34.26 minutes FGM-7/13 3PM-3/3 FTM-0/0
rebounds-5 assists-1 steals-5 turnovers-3 blocks-1
17 points.

Screen vs (Minnesota Lynx)
12.29 minutes FGM-0/1 3PM-0/0 FTM-0/0
rebounds-0 assists-4 steals-0 turnovers-4 blocks-0
0 points.

notables good:
Richards vs (Minnesota Lynx)
20.50 minutes FGM-8/10 3PM-0/0 FTM-1/1
rebounds-7 assists-0 steals-2 turnovers-3 blocks-1
17 points.

notables bad:
burton vs (minnesota lynx)
20.51 minutes FGM-0/1 3PM-0/0 FTM-1/2
rebounds-4 assists-1 steals-1 turnovers-1 blocks-0
1 point.

allen vs seattle storm - 16 points
allen vs atlanta dream - ? points
allen vs san antonio stars - 17

If only Kelsey Griffin could have got that citizenship instantly!

Phillips
Jarry
Taylor
Jackson
Cambage

Snell
Mitchell
Madgden
Francis
Tolo
Allen
Cumming/Screen

Unfortunately you can really only take one of Mitchell hurst or Wilson because of size and Richards might be a tad too short for big international tournament

PG'S
1. Mitchell (best true point guard we have.)
2. Wilson(assists/3's) or Hurst(hustle/mid range)
3. Phillips (SG but can run back up for taurasi at phoenix)

other option is to have all 4 of (mitchell, wilson, hurst and phillips as kelly can play SG also). I dont think its a good idea... on a 12 player roster.

Mcully - Looks to be out of the picture.
Lavey - Looks to be there for experience.

Its a real shame we don't have Kelsey Griffin yet....on the PG debate its a tough one, I would go with just Mitchell, both Phillips and Madgen can play back up PG if needed.

First bring back the tight fitting lycra uniforms, then start picking the best fitting team :)

We will look faster and play much better looking!

That is such a good team, Penny Taylor changes everything

Anon your starting 5 I agree with.

But, you have way too many bigs.
(PF- Jackson, Francis, Hodges)
(C- Cambage, Richards, Tolo)

You only have 6 spots allocated to the other 3 positions (PG, SG and SF).

You can really only take out 1 of richards or tolo to make room for 1 other guard or small forward.

Jackson, and Francis can also play centre and hodges can play Sf.
I would take Richards, although not very tall, she proved her worth against all of the wnba teams she faced earlier in the year.

Adding to the squad another SG OR SF. (Kunek, Jarry, Cumming, Ebzery, Snell etc.)

Yeah Cummings is killing it in the seabl this season but she wasn't listed on the opals squad list.

burton over francis... crazy!

Cummings and Ebzery should get a look in.

Lacey and Burton should be starting at the world champs.

I love the Opals and everything about the clean out bringing in Joyce. However for those who think Nat Burton is worthy or even close to good enough makes me laugh.

To put my spin on the team it should be as follows;

PG - Mitchell/Hurst/Phillips
SG - Snell, Wilson/Madgen (Combo)
SF - Taylor/OHea (If she has a crack)
PF - Jackson/Bishop/Francis
C - Cambage/Tolo/Richards

Ebzery/Cummings/Allen/Burton/Hodges/Kunek/Jarry/Screen
Sorry aint up to the top player. Defensively we need to roll the dice, go hard offensively and we must take shooters who can catch fire.

Cant wait to see what Joyce does. Word on the street he's establishing some core Favorites. Might be some very unlucky ladies deep in selection phase.

Based on recent results of Internationals and SEABL games. My 12 woman squad:

PG Mitchell/Wilson*
SG Allen**/Phillips***/Cumming
SF Taylor*/Kunek*
PF Jackson****/Francis****/Hodges**
C Cambage/Richards

*SG also
**SF also
***PG also
****C also

mitchell, allen, phillips, taylor, jackson, francis, hodges, cambage and richards are all locks in my opinion.

Jarry has not played much at all in the last year but could take Cummings spot, although I think its a bad choice. plays the 3 more often.

Screen is most likely going to be added for her defense but once again i'm not a fan.

Burton-I would take at least 3 other PF's before I took burton. Francis is the standout at PF (a great european season and killing it in the seabl currently) Francis behind jackson at PF along with the reliable hodges. (Just check out the stats from the seabl and the opals game against NSW country.)

Wilson just edges hurst for the other PG spot.
Great at bringing other players into the game and is a great shooter and is always 1st in assists in nearly every game she plays. can also play the 2.

Kunek for her versatility eventhough she has a current injury. (can drive, can shoot, good size, good defender.)

Richards edges tolo at 2nd centre spot based on pre season tournament games against wnba clubs.
Jackson and Francis can also play back up centre so there is no need for another big.

Unavailable Ohea/Bishop/Batkovic
Ohea would have taken Cummings spot
Bishop would have taken Hodges spot
Batkovic would knock out 1 of francis or richards.

The evidence is clear...

burton vs u20 nsw country
21.17m 1-4FG 25% 1 rebound, 2 turnovers, 2 points
efficiency -2
SEABL stats:
avg points 12.8 FG% 60.7 3pt% 0 FT% 50
avg rebounds 5.1 avg assists 1.3 blocks 8

francis vs u20 nsw country
13.44m 3-6FG 50% 5 rebounds, 1 turnover, 9 points
efficiency +10
SEABL stats:
avg points 24.2 FG% 49.6 3pt% 33.3 FT% 83.3
avg rebounds 11.3 avg assists 3 blocks 7

Other interesting seabl stats:

Richards
avg points 23.3 FG% 59.2 3pt% 33.3 FT% 66.7
avg rebounds 14.7 avg assists 1.7 blocks 7

Wilson
avg points 21.9 FG% 43.1 3pt% 38.6 FT% 87.2
avg rebounds 7 avg assists 7.1 blocks 2

Cumming
avg points 20.2 FG% 43.2 3pt% 31.1 FT% 90.9
avg rebounds 4.4 avg assists 4 blocks 11

Burton isn't up to it. I just checked COE stats and Mijovic and Frolling have better stats than she does for the season.
Maybe Joyce has fallen in love.

Its crazy... Almost all opal shooting guards and forwards have a better rebounding avg than burton 6'4.

If she is going to play PF:
Would you put her ahead of francis 6'4? mijovic 6'6? bishop 6'3(not playing I know)? hodges 6'2? langford 6'2?

If she is going to play C:
Would you put her ahead of richards 6'3? tolo 6'5? bunton 6'5? scherf 6'5?

Could she be the 5th big and maybe be picked for her versatility in playing both the 4 and 5.

In my mind joyce is wondering who to put in the 2nd PF position after jackson.
The centres are going to be cambage and 1 of richards or tolo or possibly both, although it would leave us thin in the other positions.

The only other thing I can think of is, they think Jackson might not make it to the worlds because of her injury and are prepping burton as a replacement. (they may think hodges-lacks height, mijovic-too young, francis-more of a centre?.) who knows...

Burton replacing Jackson... Yikes.

Also, its hard to see Jackson being ready or close to 50% of her peak.