Megdal starts this show with Allemand, who the Sparks acquired through a trade in February. The Belgian National Team’s starting point guard is making her return to the WNBA where she last played in 2022. She is coming off a knee surgery, but is expected to play later this season.
“I’m really doing well, and I hope to be as soon as possible,” Allemand said. “It’s not easy to start a new season and to be injured, you know, especially when it’s like new staff, new players. So I was happy to at least be there, and like to try to get to know my teammates and my step.”
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Even though she’s not participating in drills yet, Allemand sees a lot of similarities between Roberts’ style of play and the Belgian National Team’s.
“We love to cut, we love to share the ball, we love to just play for the others and I feel like this is what she wants,” Allemand said. “I really think that I’m going to enjoy, but it’s always difficult at the beginning, because, like, we have to trust the process. We have to know that it will take time to build something like it will not come like this. And that’s what she’s trying to tell us, and we have to understand that too.
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Barker is also new to the Sparks, having been selected in this year’s draft out of Alabama. She talked about adjusting to life in the professional ranks and making a difference as a rookie.
“I think it’s just going in every single day and working hard and understanding that the game of basketball, like it’s not just about scoring,” Barker said. “You can impact the game in so many different ways, so many different aspects. And so for me, it’s like, if I’m not getting, you know, the number of shots that I got in college, okay, that’s fine. Like, like, I can completely go try and get somebody else to shoot, or I can try and go get extra rebounds. I can try to defend whoever I’m defending the best I can get, steals, do this, do that, do the little things, because we have so many great players on our team.”
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