San Antonio coach Dan Hughes, traversing the hallways of old Municipal Auditorium during the Big 12 tournament in March, was sure of something he'd been watching. But not so sure of something else.
As he talked about it, you could tell he was really wrestling with it. It wasn't a case of "Go with your gut," because that was conflicted, too.
Hughes was there in Kansas City doing one more scout on players he was already very familiar with as he contemplated the following month's WNBA draft. He had picks No. 6, No. 20 and No. 30. He has been around the league long enough to know there was a possibility -- regardless of how much time was put into scouting -- none of the selections ultimately would pan out.
Players who seem to be sure things aren't always. Others, who teams take just to fill out the draft, can turn out to surprise them. Every draft, you want to be right. But this draft had particular importance for the Silver Stars.
They were coming off what you might call a very emotionally odd season. Hughes had stepped away from coaching to focus only on being general manager while his former assistants, Sandy Brondello and her husband Olaf Lange, took over the team. It made for a great story: coaching as a family affair, with Hughes talking about how well Brondello, the head coach, and Lange, the assistant, complemented each other.
In retrospect, though, maybe it really was all too much to expect to work. Brondello was in her first head-coaching position, a role Lange was more accustomed to, as he formerly was his wife's coach when she played overseas. And Brondello delivered the couple's second child at the end of May.
Still, San Antonio made the playoffs along with three other Western Conference teams with losing records behind on-its-way-to-the-title Seattle. The postseason was over quickly for the Silver Stars, dispatched 2-0 by Phoenix.
Then Brondello and Lange were let go, which certainly did not appear to be Hughes' call. He wanted them to get more time to resolve whatever issues had arisen during the season. Furthermore, he liked the experience of being in the GM role solely. But he's also a company man with a vested long-term interest in the Silver Stars, so he gritted his teeth and dealt with it.
Several months later, what everyone suspected was confirmed: Hughes was again coach and GM. Whether, in a different economy, the Brondello/Lange coaching regime would have been given more time by San Antonio Spurs/Silver Stars upper management well, we can't know.
Regardless, it was a return to double-duty for Hughes, which brings us back to him at the Big 12 tournament, contemplating the draft. He liked a lot about Oklahoma point guard Danielle Robinson: her speed, her savvy, her heart, her eye for playmaking.
Was she an established perimeter shooter? No. Did she sometimes take those hell-bent-for-the-rim drives to the basket and seem out of control? Yes. But don't almost all fearless penetrating guards look like that occasionally, even a veteran such as San Antonio's Becky Hammon?
Speaking of whom she was a big part of why this draft was important. Hammon turned 34 in March and is in her 13th WNBA season, and fifth in San Antonio, where she quickly became the face of the franchise.
If you are a WNBA follower, you probably are in one of these categories:
• Devout Hammonite: You think Mount Rushmore deserves one more head carved alongside those of the presidents -- that of a certain guard from Rapid City, S.D.
• Hammonite: You're slightly embarrassed by the devout branch, but you're in the same "church."
• Secret Hammonite: You'll never admit it, but uh-huh.
• Situational Hammonite: You're not a San Antonio fan and don't forsake all other games for the Silver Stars if they're on at the same time. But when you are watching SASS, you find yourself cheering for Hammon.
• Positive reactor to Hammonites: You don't dislike her, but you LOVE poking fun at her legion.
• Negative reactor to Hammonites: You're in permanent eye-roll mode at those you consider the golden girl's delusional disciples.
• Cold warrior: You're just never going to get over that playing-for-Russia thing.
The majority of fans fall in the first five categories, and it's safe to say most appreciate what she has meant to the league and would be happy to see her get a WNBA title. Hughes very much wants that for Hammon. But while "sense of urgency" might sound a little too dire, the window can start to close quickly as athletes approach their mid-30s.
Unless they are like Tully Bevilaqua, who will be 39 in July but seems to still be "aging" backward. Hughes wanted another tough-as-nails, great-chemistry veteran for this team, so he got Bevilaqua, who'd spent the last six seasons at Indiana.
There were other moves to be made. Forward Chamique Holdsclaw, who played effectively for the Silver Stars last year before suffering a torn Achilles tendon near the end of the season, is a free agent and currently not playing in the WNBA. But most of what Hughes concentrated on in terms of player acquisition outside the draft was for more perimeter help, trading for guards Jia Perkins and Scholanda Robinson.
As for the draft, as mentioned, he liked Danielle Robinson. When the opportunity came to get her with the No. 6 pick, Hughes did. But there was still the other Danielle who'd been on his mind at the Big 12 tournament.
Texas A&M's 6-foot-1 forward, Danielle Adams, was playing at home in the league tourney, as she's from the Kansas City suburb of Lee's Summit. Adams' assets were obvious -- her dazzling, multidimensional offensive skills -- but so was her perceived weakness: fitness.
Hughes wondered if she could fit into his system defensively. He debated whether the pro game would wear her down too quickly and too much. It's not as if coaches really expect a lot from a No. 20 pick, yet Hughes didn't want to waste it. You could tell he was debating with himself about Adams.
After chatting that day with Hughes, I thought: "Ultimately, he believes in the best aspects of this kid. If he gets the chance, he's going to take her."
This was all before Texas A&M's run to the NCAA title, with Adams being named the Final Four's most outstanding player after an exceptional championship-game performance.
But that didn't necessarily change a lot of other WNBA minds, as 19 picks went by before Hughes selected Adams. In the third round, which feels like a shot in the dark to a large degree, Hughes took Georgia's 6-2 forward Porsha Phillips.
And by the time the Silver Stars' roster was set, there were plenty of questions. Would the rookie Danielle Robinson get time to develop with so many veteran guards such as Hammon, Bevilaqua, Perkins and Scholanda Robinson on the roster? Could the inside pairing of Sophia Young and Ruth Riley get enough help, including on the boards, from younger posts Adams and Phillips?
At what point would last year's Silver Stars top draft pick, center Jayne Appel, be healthy enough to contribute in 2011? She had arthroscopic knee surgery in May and is expected back in late June.
The answers seem to be good so far, as the Silver Stars have started 3-0. There are some big caveats: Two of those games were against winless Tulsa. The other was against an Atlanta team that got off to a slow start. Adams had 32 points against the Dream last Saturday, a game in which she looked as she did in her best Texas A&M performances.
It's easy, though, to crash hard and fast in the WNBA. Adams is just three games into what is an especially grueling season for rookies, and opposing coaches now will be strategizing against her. Next up for the Silver Stars are two games against Phoenix -- which is looking for its first victory this season -- then another Western Conference rival, Los Angeles.
Still, it's a start to build on for San Antonio, which is the host for the WNBA All-Star Game on July 23. How nice would it be for the league to have the Silver Stars playing well to add to the local enthusiasm about that event?
If you'd asked Hughes on that day in March how happy he'd be with a 3-0 start and one 30-plus-point game already from Adams, he probably would be thrilled.
Mechelle Voepel, a regular contributor to ESPN.com, can be reached at mvoepel123@yahoo.com. Read her blog at mechellevoepelblog.com.