Talk about a transition game. It was only Wednesday night that Mystics forward DeLisha Milton-Jones was playing with her professional team in Spain.
By Thursday morning, Milton-Jones was on a plane out of Barcelona, and by Thursday afternoon she was at MCI Center going through her first practice with her new team in preparation for tonight's WNBA season opener at Charlotte.
Milton-Jones hasn't had a chance to see much of Washington yet.
"I saw the Pentagon and the White House as I went by, but that's about it," Milton-Jones said. "But I'm here, and that's all that matters."
Milton-Jones, who was traded to the Mystics by the Los Angeles Sparks for Chamique Holdsclaw in March, represents one of several changes for the Mystics as the franchise prepares to begin its eighth WNBA season.
Richie Adubato becomes the eighth head coach in team history, replacing Michael Adams, who left to become an assistant for the University of Maryland men's program. Adubato spent the last five seasons coaching the New York Liberty and coached 19 seasons in the NBA. He has a strong reputation as a solid teacher.
The Mystics must replace the production of Holdsclaw, who was the team's leading scorer and rebounder, as well as guard Stacey Dales-Schuman, who started 26 games and averaged 8.2 points. Dales-Schuman retired to become a full-time analyst for ESPN.
The Mystics finished 17-17 last season, which put them in fourth place in the six-team Eastern Conference, and lost 2-1 in the first round of the playoffs to the Connecticut Sun.
The good news is that second-year guard Alana Beard emerged as one of the league's bright young stars last season, averaging 13.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists.
Beard will miss tonight's season opener with a sprained ankle but expects to play in tomorrow night's home opener against Connecticut at MCI Center.
Milton-Jones is not a scorer in the mold of Holdsclaw but has been a steady player throughout her six-season career with Los Angeles; she helped the Sparks win a pair of WNBA championships.
Milton-Jones, who has won a pair of Olympic gold medals with the U.S. women's basketball team, expressed excitement about making the move from Los Angeles to Washington and said it shouldn't take her long to find a comfort zone with her new teammates and coaches.
