Basketball Hall-of-Famer and ESPN analyst Nancy Lieberman answers your questions and e-mails throughout the year. Click here to submit a question of your own.

You're interrupting a barbecue lunch with University of Houston coach Joe Curl. But oh my gosh, I am in heaven. You should all see this thing! Aside from Emeril, he is the best cook I've ever been around! Ribs, chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, roast loins… it is absolutely crazy the things he can cook! It's a big ole barbecue pit that's all Houston-ed up. He can put 80 racks of ribs on this thing… and it just melts in your mouth.

You should be jealous, because I'm getting fat as I take your questions. So without further ado, let's go.

(Editor's note: Nancy's responsed to your questions on Wednesday, June 20, prior to that evening's games)

Do you think that Indiana has the potential to get past the Detroit Shock and make it to the WNBA Finals?
-Amanda, Monroe, N.C.

In my preseason picks I have Indiana winning the championship, although I have Detroit as the top team in the East during the regular season because I thought it might take a while for the Fever to get their chemistry together with all of their new players and their roles on the team. I don't know if their game last weekend was a real indicator because Cheryl Ford didn't play, and she is a star. It changed the whole dynamic of the game.

But that wasn't Indiana's fault. Their job was come off back-to-back games and win at a very difficult arena against the best team in the league. And they did.

Hello Nancy, as a hard-core Becky Hammon fan, I am still a little confused about why the N.Y. Liberty could not have at least dealt with her in such a way (e.g., a phone call) that she personally could know before the press did that she was traded. I can understand if N.Y. wanted to rebuild, but it just seems that they could have treated a marquee player who had put her heart and soul into that team a little better. I do not understand the business side of basketball that well. Is it expected of players that they understand they are "simply pawns" that can be moved around at any time?
-Dave, Fort Collins, Colo.

On Friday, Becky is coming back to play in New York for the first time since the trade. That should be interesting. And I agree that basketball is business, but loyalty should beget loyalty. Someone who is as good a kid as Becky Hammon should be treated with the ultimate respect. She's a wonderful woman, role model and player. I count Becky as a close friend, and I know her heart and I know how hard she works. My wish is that New York and Becky can always look back on her time with the Liberty with mutual admiration for each other. How it transpires, I don't know. I hope that everyone in the building on Friday will break out their Becky Hammon jerseys, stand up and say thank you. I suspect that New York's great fans will do just that.

What is the problem with the Comets? Tina Thompson is doing a good job, but she cannot carry the whole thing all by herself. Sheryl was not much help the last game she played because of her back but will she be on the mend in time for the Comets to win at least one game this year?
-Tish, Houston

I think the Comets will win a game this year. It's so easy when a team is down and struggling to focus only on their problems. We continue to state the obvious: they're young, they don't have veteran guard play and they rely too much on their two incredible players, Tina and Michelle Snow. Karleen Thompson is a very accomplished coach, but to win in this league you need players to coach. When she gets her players in there with a healthy Swoopes and she makes some trades, I think they'll be a very different team. They're struggling right now, but they'll have to look inside themselves to improve.

I love your insight! With the influx of talented college players and the potential for more players coming from other countries, do you see the league being forced to increase the number of teams? Or do you think it just makes the league stronger with the limited number of current teams?
-D, Kelowna, B.C., Canada

In theory, expansion would be wonderful because it means more jobs. I'm all for it. And there are a lot of quality players out there, who by virtue of the league having only 13 teams, don't have jobs. But expansion is not guaranteed. This is business, and it really comes down to ownership. There has to be someone with the interest in owning a team and a passion for women's basketball who sees the possibility of making a profit. That's the reality. It can happen, but it will take committed ownership. Unfortunately, expansion is not dictated by the level of play or the quality of players out there. It's dictated by the business.

Having the opportunity to watch Lauren Jackson play 17 to 23 times a season, I often wonder why you fail to talk about her on the ESPN telecasts. Is there a bias for U.S.-born players in the media?
-Grog, Seattle

Huh? How can we not be talking about Lauren Jackson? Along with Tamika Catchings, Lisa Leslie and Diana Taurasi, Jackson is a perennial MVP-type player! Everybody talks about her! Nobody else in the WNBA has her skill set. How can we not talk about one of the best five players in the world?! And aside from that, you should be traveling to the Storm's away games, too! Don't write me again until your percentage of games is higher. If I had the opportunity to see Lauren Jackson play every day, I'd go.

And no, there's no bias against non-American players. If there's any sort of preference, it has to do with how well we here in the States know the players. Jackson and many of the other foreign players didn't have the benefit of going to high school at Christ the King and playing for four years at UConn or Tennessee, so both fans and announcers know less about her. People in the U.S. are still learning about who Lauren Jackson is.

Hi, Nancy. First time writer, here. :) I was really happy for the Chicago Sky when I heard about the Melvin-Currie trade. Looking at the Mystics since the trade, though, do you get the sense that they traded away any shot at the playoffs (and chased away Coach Adubato, at that) by sending Melvin to Chicago? The Mystics have had several good individual games since then but no cohesive team play (the game against the N.Y. Liberty is a PRIME example). What do you think?
-Matt, Wilmington, Del.

I think it was a brilliant trade for Bo Overton in Chicago. And wow, Chicago is just playing unbelievable basketball! I'm happy for them, because they have great owners, a wonderful staff and coaches and good kids.

On the other side of it, I can't speak for what's going on in Washington… other than that we're coming up on a Presidential election year (laughs). I'm not a fan of the trade because quality bigs like Chasity Melvin are difficult to come by in our league. But Monique Currie has settled into her game and has played well the last few games. They have the talent there to right the ship.

Hey Nancy, what is the reason that they don't hold the All-Star Game on the West Coast? A lot of us out here have traveled to MSG, including a big group in 2003. Even if they held it in Houston, that would be semi-close. What is the scoop?
-Golfingal59, Los Angeles

That's a league decision, where they choose to put the game. The All-Star Game was in Phoenix in 2000 and the Mercury did a splendid job of hosting the league, so there is precedent for holding it somewhere other than the East Coast. But let me say this: these decisions that the league office make are well thought out. They're discussed, they're planned and they're not on a whim. Nothing happens by accident.

Temeka Johnson from the Los Angeles Sparks is only 5-foot-3, and I'm pretty sure there are more players under 5-6. Do you think anyone under 5-3 can play and make an impact in the WNBA?
-DJ, N.C.

I do, absolutely. If you were to ask NBA players like Tyrone Bogues, Earl Boykins, Michael Adams or Spud Webb, what do you think they'd say? They did it! Why can't someone like Temeka? She has overcome that obstacle her whole life and I can't see any reason why she can't play and be very successful.