Notebook: Smith Asks for Release
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Gallery: Storm ScrimmageKevin Pelton, stormbasketball.com | April 30, 2010
The Seattle Storm made its first roster move of training camp before Friday's practice, waiving rookie wing
Tanisha Smith, the team's second-round pick out of Texas A&M. Head Coach Brian Agler explained afterwards that the decision was a mutual one. Smith came to Agler to discuss her future and came to the conclusion that it was better to return to school to complete her degree in leadership studies.
"She's got three classes she needs to get her degree," relayed Agler. "She's missing that. I think she's looking around, saying, 'Do I stay here and try to get through this and take my chances of making the team and then not get that done, or should I go back and finish it up?' I think the priority to her was, 'I need to get my degree.' There's no question she's going to go back and finish up her school. When she relayed that to us, I said, 'Good thinking. I'm not going to try to talk you out of that.'"
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When the Storm selected Smith, Agler indicated she had a legitimate chance to make the team despite the fact that few players drafted in the second or third rounds did so last season, the first after the WNBA cut its rosters to 11 players. Smith started slowly, however, and the addition of veteran 
Loree Moore increased competition for guard spots. Agler could give Smith no guarantees about her spot.
"She was seeing what was going on her, she knew who was coming in and wasn't here yet," he said. "I couldn't say, 'Look, Tanisha, stay away from school. Stay here and go through this and get cut.' I couldn't say she was going to be on the team. Then she said, 'I appreciate the opportunity, but I want to get my degree.'"
With several players due into camp, the Storm would have needed to make a roster move by the middle of next week. Smith's departure leaves 18 players on the roster, 10 of them currently in camp. 
Swin Cash and 
Lauren Jackson are scheduled to arrive on Saturday, with 
Abby Bishop due in either Saturday or Sunday. 
Sue Bird will join the team next week, and 
Le'coe Willingham will meet the Storm in Tulsa prior to next Sunday's exhibition game.
When the Storm returns from Tulsa, international players 
Svetlana Abrosimova and 
Jana Veselá will join the team in Seattle. Guard 
Tanisha Wright is the lone Storm player still playing overseas. Game 4 of the Polish PLKK Finals series will be played tomorrow.
EXHIBITION OPENER
The Storm will take on the defending WNBA champion Phoenix Mercury on Sunday (1:00 p.m., 
) in the first of two preseason games.
"Obviously, you don't go into that worrying about whether you're going to win or lose," said Agler. "It's still an evaluation tool. We're looking at what we have in, how that carries into game mode. Then you get to the point where you do a combination of things - you get your rotations in, you get everybody to play, you evaluate what's going on, you coach the game, you coach the players, and if you get a chance to win, you try to win. We wouldn't sub to win until the last couple of minutes. The most important thing is to see where we're at."
Agler said that, most likely, the Storm will start the same group that began Wednesday's scrimmage against the Chinese National Team - guards Moore and 
Alison Lacey, forwards 
Camille Little and 
Ashley Walker and center 
Ashley Robinson. Cash and Jackson, who will need to complete physicals, will not play, giving the Storm a 10-player rotation.
Wednesday's scrimmage already gave Agler one opportunity to evaluate the Storm's players against outside competition.
"Our offense is ahead of our defense," he said he learned from the scrimmage. "Don't take this the wrong, but I was surprised by how well we played. I'm not saying we played well, but I'm saying I was surprised how organized we were after three practices. A lot of that had to do with the fact that we spent a majority of time to that point on offense. We hadn't really talked about our defense and gotten that defined. We talked a lot today about our defense and going through some things you have to do to be a good defensive team. I hope we'll be better defensively on Sunday."
Storm players and coaches will be on hand tomorrow at Green Lake Community Center for the annual Stormin' the Lake event.
"The one I was at last year was pretty fun," said Agler. "There were a lot of people there. I hope the weather works with us a little bit. It's a good time for our team to get out there and interact with a lot of Storm fans."
Stormin' the Lake, which is free, will run from 2-4 p.m. and includes a variety of fan-friendly activities including face painting, shooting hoops and learning moves from the Storm Dance Troupe.
