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Kristin Haynie enjoyed three seasons in Sacramento, including the Monarchs Championship run in 2005. After being selected by the Dream in the Expansion Draft, she now looks to guide Atlanta in its first season. The always quick to smile guard was back in Sacramento Friday to scrimmage her former team and SacramentoMonarchs.com caught up with her.

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How did it feel to be back in Sacramento and scrimmage your former team?
Kristin Haynie: "Obviously it felt different, but it was good to be back out here. I’m glad we got to come out here and scrimmage before the season started. I miss the team, I miss the players, the city and the coaches. But it’s a new opportunity for me to step up and be a leader in Atlanta and I’m ready for the challenge. It’s going to be a fun, exciting season. We’re young, but we’re going to be a pretty good."

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It looked like you had the ball in your hands quite a bit, shooting and passing. Can you talk about your new role?
Haynie: "Definitely. There are shots I need to take and I need to be more aggressive on the offensive end as well as get my teammates involved. I’m ready for this role."

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What will you miss most about playing in Sacramento?
Haynie: "Everything -- the crowd, the atmosphere, Danette (Leighton). This is a good atmosphere to play in at ARCO. In Sacramento everybody works hard and everybody plays together. It looked like they had fun out there together today. I miss the players a lot."

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Do you miss your Buddy?
Haynie: "Yeah, the buddy system. I miss Chels (Newton). It’s good though, we stay in touch online, we instant message. We’ll see each other a lot."

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What was it like getting the call that you were drafted by Atlanta?
Haynie: "I was shocked. It’s bittersweet. I’ve been in Sacramento since I was drafted. I’ll miss everything about Sacramento. But, at the same time, it’s just a new opportunity for me, so I’m excited."

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What’s it like to be with a new franchise?
Haynie: "Going into this season with a new franchise, we don’t know what to expect. It was nice that the Atlanta Hawks made it to the playoffs and took Boston to Game 7. Hopefully that is a big boost. The fans and community will think basketball and the Hawks hopefully give us a little boost. Coming into the season, hopefully we can carry over and we can get fans in the stands. We had 6,000 or 7,000 fans for the first exhibition game, so that was pretty good. I hope we can keep it up."

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Are you going to miss being the videographer for the Monarchs website's postgame interviews?
Haynie: "Yeah [laughs], I’ll definitely miss it. Hopefully I can get a job like that in Atlanta. We’ll see."

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What did you work on during the offseason?
Haynie: "In the offseason I worked on being more aggressive on offense and worked on not looking for my teammates so much. I think that kind of hurts me as a player, if everybody knows I’m going to pass, pass, pass. I think I’m a pretty good shooter, so I need to step up and just knock that shot down."

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Aside from the Championship in 2005, what is a fond memory you have of your time in Sacramento?
Haynie: "I’m just going to miss the cookouts we had at our apartments. We’d grill by the pool. Me, Scho (Robinson) and Chameka Scott would pretend we knew how to cook, so that was fun times."

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