Steal of the Draft? In tonight's convincing preseason win over Houston (81-63), veterans Delisha Milton-Jones and Chasity Melvin may have scored more points (15 & 11 respectively), but it was rookie Nikki Blue who made the biggest impression. Nikki B, a second round (!) pick scored 10 points, had 4 assists and only 1 turnover in her first home appearance at the Verizon Center. WOW!

All the Pieces Come Together? If the Mystics have a weakness, they did a very good job of hiding it tonight. They looked strong, capable of scoring from all five positions. The bench was impressive. 3-point specialist Laurie Koehn celebrated her birthday by hitting her first 3 shots (of 4 attempts, all 3 pointers, of course). Kudos to GM Linda Hargrove for her draft picks, free agent pick-ups and off-season trades. Finally, it looks like all the pieces are in place for a great run this season.