Monday's Practice Comes to a Close

Another intense workout just wrapped up here on the practice floor at Target Center. The ladies were at it for a solid 2 hours, running a number of different drills including a spirited game of cutthroat (4 vs. 4 vs. 4). Baskets were tough to come by, but local product Megan Vogel was impressive sinking back to back 3 pointers from the top of the key. Navonda Moore and rookie Charde Houston also were active this morning. Now it's a few hours of rest before retaking the floor at 5:30.

Tonight's practice will mark the first appearance for 1st round pick Candice Wiggins. She won't participate in the entire workout but Coach Z said she should see action. It's been a pretty crazy couple of days for Candice, she just finished up playing in China with Team USA, flew 14 hours to Chicago yesterday, then hopped a flight to Minneapolis last night, she underwent a physical this morning and then was courtside during the last hour of today's practice. With Wiggins now in the mix that still leaves the Lynx with 7 players still out of camp. But that number should drop to 5 within the next week as both Lindsey Harding and Seimone Augustus are expected to make their return.

Training Camp Commences!

Welcome to the 10th Anniversary season of Lynx Basketball! Training camp officially got underway at Target Center this week as Coach Z and the staff welcomed 14 players to Sunday's first workout. The group does not include Seimone Augustus, Lindsey Harding, 1st round pick Candice Wiggins and 6 others who are still competing overseas (Harding & Wiggins are with US national team) and will trickle in to camp over the next few weeks. Obviously it would be ideal to have everyone at practice from the beginning, but this is life in the WNBA, every team is without their best players. The teams that deal with it the best are the ones playing deep into the postseason.

With that being said, the next few weeks are an unbelievable opportunity for some of the younger players. Every workout and practice is a job interview for them. I had an NBA assistant coach tell me this year, you never know who's watching, it could be a scout in the stands, it could be a player personnel director watching on tape weeks later, it could be the coach talking about your performance to another coach in the league. You never know who's watching, so make the most of it. And that's the type of attitude the players have taken this week in camp as they work their way towards the 1st exhibition game May 1st.

Among the faces in camp are 2nd year players Noelle Quinn and Shay Murphy and rookies Nicky Anosike (2nd round pick) and Charde Houston (3rd round pick). For these players, the next few weeks are an opportunity to show what they can do, get off to a quick start and solidify their position on the squad.

We'll see how things progress, I'll check back in after Monday's practice.

Greetings Lynx Fans

Welcome to the first installment of the Horton Report. I'm Alan Horton your new radio play-by-play announcer. And let me start by saying how thrilled I am to be joining the Lynx organization. This is a tremendous opportunity to cover a young, dynamic team that is clearly on the rise under head coach Don Zierden. I'm already looking forward to seeing what this team can do in the 2008 season.

To give you a little background on myself, I grew up in a small town in Western Massachusetts, went to school at Syracuse University, then spent close to a decade in Southern California. My play-by-play experience includes the San Diego Padres, San Diego State University football, men's and women's basketball and baseball, as well as high school football and basketball.

In 2006 I had the opportunity to move to Seattle and work for the Sonics and Storm. I was the studio host and executive producer for the Sonics radio network and play-by-play voice for the Storm. It was my first year in the WNBA and I came away thoroughly impressed with the level of play, the competitiveness and the passion of the fans.

I can still vividly recall one of the most exciting games of the year, it was late June at the Target Center, the Storm and Lynx were tied in the closing seconds until Seimone Augustus drained an 18-footer from the top of the key to put the Lynx up two. But there were still a few seconds left for the Storm to answer. Betty Lennox took the inbounds pass and raced down the floor all the way to the basket, where her last second lay-up was rejected by Nicole Ohlde's outstretched arm. Game over, Lynx win 78-76. I'm looking forward to more games like that in 2008.

Here on the Horton Report I'll keep you up-to-date on the latest in Lynx basketball all season long. And as we get into training camp and the regular season, I'll file daily reports from practice and the road. This is an interactive blog so your comments, thoughts and questions are always encouraged. I look forward to hearing from you throughout the offseason and seeing you at the Target Center in 2008.

Go Lynx!