2005 Record 16-18, .471 (5th in West) Award Winners & Honorees All-Star Diana Taurasi All-WNBA Second Team Diana Taurasi 2005 Draft Recap Rd. 1 - 3, Sandora Irvin Rd. 2 - 18, Angelina Williams Rd. 3 - 37, Monique Bivins Playoff History Three out of nine years Last Appearance 2000, Lost in First Round

Taurasi

Diana Taurasi continued to show why she's among the best talents in the league, doing an admirable job of playing point guard despite that role not being her natural position. The UConn grad averaged 4.5 assists per game, along with 16.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.15 steals and 0.85 blocks.

Few players at any level of basketball can rank in the top 20 in their league in the field goal, three-point and free throw percentage categories but Penny Taylor did just that with efficiencies of .464 FG% (16th), .404 3P% (11th) and .864 FT% (5th). She also ranked 15th in the league in points per game(13.2)

Good centers are just as rare yet the Mercury had a solid one in Kamila Vodichkova During her first season with Phoenix following a championship campaign in Seattle, the native of the Czech Republic ranked eighth in the league in both double-doubles and rebounding (7.0 rpg) and improved her field goal percentage(.494) by .104.

A young Mercury squad fell apart down the stretch last season, and that collapse cost them a spot playoffs. Taurasi -- as good of a job as she did last season -- is better suited for the two guard position. Phoenix lacked a veteran quarterback that could concentrate solely on orchestrating the offense. As a result, too many of their three-point attempts were taken off the dribble rather than assisted, and their three-point percentage (.330) was lower than that of their opponents (.360).

Vodichkova had little help in the paint, and the Mercury played it "power forward by committee" for much of the season.

Phoenix lacked depth, as the team's fifth leading scorer, Shereka Wright, averaged just 3.8 points per game, and the bench struggled to consistently put points on the board.

The team defense struggled, giving up 69.2 points per game, third highest in the league.

Head Coach Paul Westhead 2005 Starting Lineup G- Diana Taurasi G- Anna DeForge F- Penny Taylor F- Kamila Vodichkova C- Ashley Robinson Key 2005 Reserves Shereka Wright Sandora Irvin Belinda Snell Key Additions Kelly Miller Kristen Rasmussen Key Losses Anna DeForge

Miller

Paul Westhead is taking over on the sidelines, and the veteran head coach has built a career at the NBA and NCAA level of constructing offenses that can score. Whether Phoenix has the depth and personnel that can flourish in his run and gun style of play remains to be seen. The club needs a rebounder to hoist outlet passes and start the break.

Guard Anna DeForge had a solid year, averaging 13.1 points per game. She'll be replaced by Fever shooting guard Kelly Miller as a result of an off-season trade. Though talented in her own right, Miller certainly has some big shoes to fill. Outside of Vodichkova, it's questionable as to where the scoring will come from in the paint.