Happy BELATED Birthday! On behalf of Mystics fans everywhere (yes, even in Latvia), the BasketCases send happy birthday greetings to Nikki Blue, who turned 22 two months ago today (or you might think her birthday is today, if you make the mistake of believing the DOB in Nikki's personal information on today's Mystics homepage). (Talk about feeling old...the BasketCases have moldy jars in their refrigerator older than Nikki!) Blue, whom we've already referred to as the steal of the draft (second rounder, 19th overall), continues to prove us right. (We like that.) The Mystics' rookie from UCLA has been a great spark off the bench, allowing the team to rest PG starter Nikki Teasley without so much as missing a beat. While the BasketCases expect overall number one draft pick Seimone Augustus to win Rookie of the Year, if the WNBA had an award for the player selected lowest in the draft who performed like a player selected much higher, the BasketCases would nominate Nikki B for it. Maybe it could be called the Draft Differential Award: Draft position minus end-of-season rookie ranking equals DDA score. Augustus: 1 - 1 = 0, Blue: 19 - 4 = 15. And, the winner is Mystics PG Nikki Blue!

Our favorite Blue moment to date: seeing her palm the ball, with her arm fully extended, parallel to the floor! She's done this several times, and given her size (5' 8"), it continues to amaze. BTW, it's no accident that the number on Blue's uniform matches her number in the draft. Blue was so disappointed at not being drafted during the first round that she chose to wear Number 19 as motivation: "I was totally heartbroken and it was total disappointment when I didn't go in the first round. So I got number 19 to remind me of that every day and keep pushing me."

The BasketCases love Blue's attitude!!