Fever get Zellous, Waive Quigley

by Sam James on May 28, 2010 1:46 PM EDT in WNBA

The Indiana Fever has acquired second-year guard Shavonte Zellous from the Tulsa Shock, in exchange for a 2011 second-round draft pick, it has been announced by Chief Operating Officer and General Manager Kelly Krauskopf. To accommodate the move on the Fever roster, Indiana has waived Allie Quigley.

Zellous was a first-team selection on the WNBA's adidas All-Rookie Team last season while playing for the Shock in Detroit. She ranked second among rookies with 11.9 points per game. She finished second in the WNBA behind the Fever's Tamika Catchings with 155 free throws made and she averaged 1.8 assists per game. She was instrumental in leading the Shock to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Fever, averaging 15.6 points, 2.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game in five playoff appearances.
Her scoring high was 25 points at Atlanta (6/26/09) when she hit 17-of-19 free throws. Her playoff scoring high was 23 points in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Indiana.

A 5-10 guard from the University of Pittsburgh, Zellous averaged 4.0 points and 16.8 minutes per game in four appearances with Tulsa this season. She will don a Fever uniform Saturday when Indiana plays at Tulsa.

Following its first visit to the WNBA Finals and three consecutive sellout crowds during the 2009 WNBA Playoffs, the Indiana Fever is eager to pursue a sixth straight playoffs appearance and a return trip to the Finals in 2010. The Fever plays host to the San Antonio Silver Stars on Thursday, June 3 (7:00 p.m.), and entertains the New York Liberty on Saturday, June 5 (7:00 p.m.). Season tickets are available at FeverBasketball.com or by calling (317) 917-2500.

The Fever jumped at the chance to grab the high-scoring perimeter player that gave them fits in the Eastern Conference Finals. For the final roster spot in preseason, the Fever had selected Allie Quigley over incumbent Christina Wirth and favorite Joy Cheek. Both Wirth and Cheek were big and had range to shoot the three. The Fever went with 5'10" 140lb Quigley as a high scoring option instead.

Zellous, despite putting up lackluster stats this year, is a clear upgrade over Quigley. Zellous' numbers are way down in the first four games of the season, so I'm not quite sure if that's injuries, a lack of early season focus or what. Hopefully we'll hear more about that soon.

Some links

Shavonte Zellous: Success story and emotional leader

Zellous hard to defend

Zellous is the player the Shock look to when teams double Nolan, or is the focal point of the offense when Nolan is getting a rest, which, granted, is rare.
"I think that I needed to help out a lot since Katie was a big part of the offense with Deanna," said Zellous after Wednesday’s win. "So I have to come out on the floor, off the bench, and give us some energy and help with some of the scoring." And, in an odd way, replacing Smith with Zellous may have made Detroit a more difficult team to defend.

She’s faster, more athletic, just as capable of finding an open teammate...

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"high-scoring perimeter player that gave them fits in the Eastern Conference Finals"

That’s pretty much all Fever fans have to know about this trade. Zellous is a huge upgrade for the Fever and adds a dynamic they lack…sort of…

It seems like Zellous offers the Fever something similar to what Morris offers…so although it’s hard for them to turn a trade like this down, at the same time it seems to mean a little more competition there.

It does seem as though Morris is getting a look at splitting some minutes at the 1 though, so maybe it will all balance out… who knows…

More from the Messenger too: http://ht.ly/1RhKR

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by Nate Parham on May 28, 2010 2:10 PM EDT reply actions

AQ was turnover prone

And you know, there’s not much in the way of security for the 11th roster spot.

For AQ to play 8 minutes and go 0-2, then to have Jene Morris come out the next night and do all sorts of great things, that kind of sealed AQ’s fate.

Zellous is now in the hot-spot. How about going from being that sensational player last year to traded for a second round pick and the insecurity of the 11th roster spot?

FeverWeek.net - because it's getting hot in here.

by Sam James on May 28, 2010 2:15 PM EDT up reply actions

Quigley doesn't seem like WNBA material to me

Not in a contracted league, anyway.

She can make Opening Day rosters because she can shoot. But once the physicality of the WNBA game gets to her, coaches fall out of “love” with her game. She gets buried on the bench and released when a better player comes along.

If I’m her, I bulk up a little so that I can hang with the big girls. Otherwise, she’s probably done with the WNBA. She’s been cut three times already.

by just checkin on May 29, 2010 5:30 PM EDT up reply actions