You can't miss Margo Dydek, the 7-foot-2 San Antonio Silver Stars center. And sometimes, that's not such a good thing for Dydek.
"You can see all my movements. Little players can give me an elbow down low and you can't see it. But if I want to get someone, and I'm not going to say foul, the refs and fans can see every move I make. I can't hide on the court."
The 29-year-old Dydek began playing organized basketball at 12-years-old in her hometown of Poznan, Poland. After her finishing her collegiate basketball career, Dydek went on to play six years of professional basketball throughout Europe. Then in 1998, Dydek was selected by the Utah Starzz with the first overall pick of the WNBA Draft.
Dydek was an immediate success with the Starzz, starting 30 games and averaging 12.9 points while leading the league in blocked shots. But Dydek wasn't about the individual accolades, she wanted to win.
"When I arrived in Utah, we were the worst team in the league, " Dydek recalls. "But each year we progressed. Pretty soon (2000) we had more wins than losses. Then by last season we made the Western Conference Finals."
Now the Starzz are no longer, they are now the Silver Stars. The move has brought about many changes for the team: a new city, a new arena and some new faces.
"The city is more open for me than in Utah. A lot more stuff to do -- more restaurants and things to go out and enjoy life.
"We haven't even played one real game yet and already we have so many (season) ticket holders," said Dydek. "Our team is working hard and going to give everything we have to play well and bring wins to San Antonio"
The Silver Stars are one of the deepest teams in the league. They have players who can put up double digits at every position. From Jennifer Azzi at the point to All-Stars Adrienne Goodson and Marie Ferdinand at the swing positions to Dydek down low in the post, all four returning starters can score. Add in newcomers 6-foot-5 forward Sylvia Crawley and rookie Gwen Jackson out of Tennessee and the Silver Stars are going to be very difficult to defend.
So what is Dydek's goal for her team this season? A WNBA Championship.
"The (preseason) games against Los Angeles were very close. We are a champion level team. We can fight like an equal to them now. And as the year goes on, we are going to keep progressing, getting better and better."
