Catching Up with ... Allie Quigley

Kevin Pelton, StormBasketball.com | Feb. 2, 2012

All offseason long, StormBasketball.com will help you keep in touch with your favorite Storm players with regular Q&As. We're already charting all the stats in StormTracker. Here, we'll try to learn a little bit more about what life is like off the court overseas. This week, we catch up with guard Allie Quigley, who re-signed with the team earlier this week. Quigley talks about coming back to Seattle as well as her experience playing in Hungary for Pecs 2010, where she is in her third season.

StormBasketball.com: Now that you've played in Pecs for several seasons, how well do you know the city and Hungarian culture?
Quigley: I know it very well now. I'm still working on my Hungarian but I got the restaurants and sight-seeing down pat haha.

Does that familiarity make it easier to return than it would be going to a new location?
It definitely does. It's hard enough leaving your friends and family at home, so it really helps to come back to familiar faces.

Have you mostly played with the same local teammates or is there a lot of turnover?
For the most part, yes. If anyone has left, they've just gone to another team in Hungary, so I still see them!

What's your favorite part of the area?
My favorite part is probably the center or downtown area. There's a lot of good restaurants and when it's warmer outside, it's fun to just walk around and hang out.

Have you taken to any local cuisine?
Yes! I really like the goulash soup here. Whenever I have visitors, I always make sure they try this Hungarian specialty. Other than that, my favorite place to go is Lemon Cafe. They have really good omelets and the atmosphere is perfect.

Since Pecs is near the border, do you ever visit the other nearby countries?
Yeah, sometimes if we have free days. I've been to Serbia and Austria over the years and, just recently, one of my teammates and I went to London and saw Big Ben and company. It was awesome.

How has this season been different not playing in the EuroLeague?
It was a lot different at first but I'm kind of in a routine now. It's nice not having to travel so much but I definitely miss the EuroLeague competition and seeing different countries.

What's been the highlight of your season?
The highlight has been growing as a team. We've had some difficult times and maybe aren't as good on paper as previous years, but it's been a good experience to go through. I'm excited about the end of the year and the playoffs and wouldn't want to go through it with anyone else.

What made returning to Seattle the right fit?
From coaches to management to teammates, Seattle is top notch. I couldn't ask for a better opportunity.

Do you look forward to being around for training camp after coming in midway through last season?
Yes, I definitely do. I'm excited for this opportunity and I can't wait to get there.