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.

Before we get into some of your questions, lets talk about tonight’s game between the Liberty and the Shock on ESPN2.

Tonight's a very pivotal game for Detroit to be quite honest. It’s a make or break game considering they lost the other night at home. They have to take some sort of a stance at home and show people that they can win here because when you get on the road it is so difficult to win on the road.

They need to figure out their post situation and rotation. Cheryl Ford is still a really good player but she is not the player she was because of the injuries and being out a couple of years. Where do they make that up? You know Kara Braxton can be the most brilliant player. Kara Braxton is what Charde Houston used to be to Geno. She was absolutely brilliant but she was so inconsistent. With Kara Braxton you just live to see her do some of the things she can do on the court and some days she does them and some days she doesn’t and you live and die with her inconsistency.

So the fact that you don’t have Plenette Pierson, you have an injured Cheryl Ford who is a shell of who she was; Taj McWilliams is amazing at 39 but you can’t just keep breaking her down at that age, she’s got to have a little help; then you have Braxton, who really could have had a breakout season for Detroit, but she is painfully inconsistent. That is the problem with the Shock. They just used to beat the tar out of you because they had the best inside players in the league and now it puts so much more pressure on Tweety to knock down shots, to be athletic, to create shots, people are in Katie Smith’s face, she’s not getting open looks like she used to because people would actually have to respect the inside game. People don’t respect the shock inside game anymore. They don’t beat you to death on the boards. That is their biggest problem right now.

I’m at a loss to be quite honest as to what's wrong with the Liberty because Patty Coyle really is a good coach and these are really bright players and they brought everybody back. They didn’t lose any of their core people. That says to me that the players that returned, they didn’t come back with the goods. Anne Donovan is a heck of a coach but she needs to get in their heads and try to find their will.

I don’t see any will in New York which is very frustrating because one of Carol Blazejowski’s greatest assets was that she had the skill and she had the will and that’s always been a trademark of New York. This is team that over the last two years we thought if they get a little more experience these guys are going to be off the chain.

LA had injuries, they lost a future Hall of Famer in Lisa Leslie who is back, they lost the MVP in Candace Parker who is back and Betty Lennox has had injuries, so they have some reason for why they underachieved which gives them a hall pass. Detroit has had a magnitude of injures, they had a change of coaching so they get cut a little bit of slack as well, but New York.

Everyone thought New York had a chance to make a run in the playoffs. They have talent. They were one of the best three point shooting teams in the league and they are one of the best execution teams in the league. I’m just trying to figure it out. I don’t even know where to start with New York, I get a headache thinking about it.

Now on to your questions ….

Since she was let go by Seattle... I was wondering what Sheryl Swoopes is up to? Thanks.
-- Kathy (San Antonio, TX)

The last I heard Sheryl wanted to get an opportunity in training camp to come back and play but she’s kind of kept low, an unusually low profile for someone so high profile. But I heard that she is still living in Seattle and that she really enjoys the community.

If somebody like Sheryl is in shape you might consider taking a shot with her. Her body would have had a chance to heal from all of the injuries she’s had over time. If you really thought that you could get to the playoffs or make that run, why wouldn’t you give her a look. Sheryl Swoopes can adapt to any offense, any defense, she could be an amazing pickup down the stretch.

How hard do the WNBA players have to train? Is it as hard as the NBA players?
-- Mimi (Eau Claire, WI)

Oh my gosh, yes. It’s a year-round commitment to your body. If you don’t do that you find yourself sitting at home with the woulda, coulda, shoulda. If I would have worked out, I should have worked out, no. you have to because your body is your profession. If you’re playing in Europe it’s a different type of condition. I have to believe that these players understand the significance. That is something that you are totally responsible for. How you look, how you feel. If a player got picked up today, you better have the discipline to keep yourself in shape. I know it’s hard sometimes when you don’t see that carrot in front of you but that is when you learn how to become a professional.

Anybody that got picked up – Ivory Latta, Tan White, Anna DeForge, players like that – they have to be able to stay in shape. If you’re a player that is borderline right now because of roster reduction and you’re not staying in shape, you’re not playing pickup ball, and you’re not in the weight room five times a week, shame on you.

This even applies to elite players like Diana Taurasi. I said this in Diana’s second year in the league when we were in the studio. I said when Diana wants to be the MVP of the WNBA her body will reflect it. What I meant was when she chooses to lose the body fat, when she chooses to make her body special, that was the only ingredient that she did not have at that time. She was so good at what she did with how her body was. She now has made a commitment to her body and that has taken her to another level. There’s Lauren Jackson and there’s Candace when she’s not pregnant and there’s Diana Taurasi. You have the elite of the elite. That‘s onto to say that Cappie and Catchings can’t be MVPs but Diana has the ability to be one of those two or three players year are year.

Beyond the obvious (win basketball games) what does the Detroit Shock need to do to pull their season together?
-- Lena (San Diego, CA)

It seems that this team is tremendously disorganized in their locker room. They had the transition with Bill leaving and Rick and Cheryl taking over; not that it’s a bad thing, but its still transition. They have no continuity and there seems to be not a lot of communication. I understand that they’ve been hit with injuries but the one player to me that is most important to that organization as glue is Plenette Pierson and they desperately miss Plenette Pierson on all levels, on the court, in the locker room, she verbalizes how she feels because she’s not afraid to speak how she feels and they desperately miss her. They can make the playoffs if they get on a run. Tonight would be a good start.

Do you think the 11-man rosters will hinder the progress of young players? Becky Hammon might've never gotten into the league with an 11-man roster when she started.
-- Tony (Ruston, LA)

It won't hinder it because we have Europe and there are so many opportunities in Europe for a young player coming out of college to work on their game and to get additional reps and minutes on the court with different coaching styles. Certainly more roster spots means more jobs, more competition, I understand what you’re saying, but it is what it is. The players that get in the league have to take advantage and prove that they belong and the players that are not in the league have to be a little more resourceful and find ways to continue to improve. That could be hiring personal trainers, it could mean taking care of their bodies with diet, it could be going over to Europe and continuing to work on their game, it could be going back in the offseason to the rec center and work and play against guys. There are a lot of ways to have self improvement.