As expected, Rebekkah Brunson will get her first start of the season tonight against Atlanta at Target Center.
Brunson, who has been out since having pre-season knee surgery, will be put right back in the starting mix and has no official limitation on her minutes. That said, coach Cheryl Reeve said she'll be careful with Brunson.
"It's all in how she feels," Reeve said. "I know I'll get her out early, to let her catch her breath and regroup, then get her back out there. It really how she feels as the game goes. If she's going well and her lungs feel good – her knee's not going to have any problems. It's more her conditioning that is the issue.
With Brunson starting that means rookie Damiris Dantas will be coming off the bench after starting up to this point. It's an expected move. But Dantas is a Brazilian who still isn't fluent in English, so Reeve had to resort to Google Translate to give Dantas the news. "I typed, 'Rebekkah Brunson will start tonight,' '' Reeve said. And Dantas nodded.
"And I said, 'You'll be the first sub off the bench,' '' Reeve said. And Dantas nodded again.
"I said, "Keep playing hard and aggressive,' '' Reeve said. That was it. She was good with it.
Meanwhile, Seimone Augustus warmed up with the team, but Reeve is still point towards Friday's game against San Antonio for Augustus to return. That means she will miss her eighth straight game and her ninth overall due to left knee bursitis.
That's about all for now. Have a good night. Tonight's game is on FSN-plus.
