It's been a month since the last update on the Storm's players during the off-season (and apologies are in order, though there has been plenty of other new content on storm.wnba.com in the interim), and there's been no shortage of activity. Since the last update, Storm guard Michelle Greco and forward Alicia Thompson have traded places, with Greco taking Thompson's spot with Acer Priolo in Italy and Thompson returning to the U.S. to play with Lubbock of the NWBL, and Trina Frierson has decided to play for Real Canoe in Spain.

Greco, who is of Italian heritage, will play in Italy. Bill Baptist/NBAE/Getty

The NWBL starts its fifth season of play on Saturday. Joining Thompson to play for Lubbock, where she hooped collegiately for Texas Tech, will be current WNBA players Kelly Mazzante (Charlotte Sting) and Shereka Wright (Phoenix Mercury), as well as former WNBA Rookie of the Year Jackie Stiles. Thompson will miss opening weekend, as she will be in Seattle to attend the Discovery Health Channel National Body Challenge at Bellevue Square Mall on Saturday and Sunday from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Teammate Adia Barnes is also participating, and will be appearing at Horton Plaza in her hometown of San Diego at the same times.

Thompson's departure has left only Simone Edwards playing in Italy over the last three weeks, as Betty Lennox returned home to the United States for the holidays and has not seen action in any of Maddaloni's three games. The team has gone 1-2 in that stretch, bringing its record to 7-6 overall and 5-2 when Lennox plays.

Edwards' Taranto team has dropped its last three games to fall to 6-7 and eighth in the league. Edwards had 19 points and 10 rebounds in a 69-60 loss to Faenza, 12 points and 17 rebounds in a 72-59 loss to Phard Napoli and 14 points and nine rebounds in a 72-63 loss to Schio.

Greco joins an Acer Priolo squad that is mired in 10th place in the league at 5-8. Thompson had 23 points in her last game in Italy, an 86-79 loss to Maddaloni. Since her departure, Priolo has split two games.

In Russia, Sue Bird has joined Kamila Vodichkova in Moscow to play for Dynamo. The squad was glad to add Bird after dropping its first two games in Euroleague play. With Vodichkova experiencing a rare off night (nine points on 2-for-8 shooting), Dynamo lost to Bourges 74-58 on Dec. 15. That was followed by an 85-76 loss to Ros Casares on Dec. 22 despite game highs of 27 points and 11 rebounds for Vodichkova. (Ros Casares star Chamique Holdsclaw had 20 points and 11 boards.)

In Bird's Euroleague debut last Wednesday, Dynamo crushed 1-8 Sporting Athens by a 95-28 final. Vodichkova played only 18 minutes in the blowout, finishing with five points and two rebounds. Bird started and had five points, three assists and three rebounds in her debut. But earlier today, Dynamo lost at MiZo-Pecsi. Vodichkova scored 21 points and had nine rebounds, but Dalma Ivanyi had 22 points and 12 assists to lead MiZo-Pecsi. Bird had 10 points and three assists.

Vodichkova is averaging 15.9 points and 7.9 rebounds for the season, shooting 59.3% from the field. She ranks 16th in Euroleague in scoring, 18th in rebounding and fourth in field-goal percentage.

After a strong run early in December, Tully Bevilaqua's Canberra Capitals have fallen off, dropping their last four games as the schedule has stiffened. Prior to the WNBL's holiday break, Canberra lost at home to second-place Bulleen, 80-75, and third-place Sydney University, 85-76. After returning, the Capitals dropped a heartbreaker to first-place Dandenong, 53-51, and lost 82-69 at Sydney.

At 8-10, the Caps trail 9-7 Adelaide by two games for the fourth and final spot in the WNBL playoffs. They have three games left to play, Adelaide five, and the Lightning has a magic number of two after winning the season series with Canberra 2-1. With matchups with 5-12 Townsville and 2-15 AIS on the schedule, that shouldn't be difficult for Adelaide, while Canberra faces a pair of difficult road games at Dandenong and Bulleen this weekend. Canberra's hopes of making the playoffs have probably reached "miracle" status.

Bevilaqua had 12 points and five assists at home against Sydney and 14 points and five assists in the rematch, but committed eight turnovers. She scored a season-high 25 points and added nine rebounds against Bulleen.

In other WNBL news, Storm forward Lauren Jackson was named as one of the 25 finalists for the WNBL 25th Anniversary Team, which will be announced a week from yesterday. Former Storm guard Sandy Brondello is also a finalist.

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