Anosike missing team fellowship as Lady Vol

Despite all the fun she's having in her first WNBA season, Nicky Anosike still feels a sense of loss.

The former Tennessee Lady Vol isn't preoccupied with the actual losing. That's saying something, considering the 13 setbacks she's experienced as a starting forward for the Minnesota Lynx is almost as many as the 15 she endured in four seasons at UT.

She was adequately prepared by the league veterans - former Lady Vol Sidney Spencer among them - at rookie orientation. During a teleconference this week, Anosike recalled their advice.

"In the WNBA, you're losing, but so is everyone else,'' she said. "You don't really have time to dwell on it like you did in college. If you lost in college you probably have four or five days before your next game."

Anosike was more wistful about lost camaraderie. She was joined on the teleconference by former UT teammates Alexis Hornbuckle, a reserve with Detroit, and Shannon Bobbitt, who's starting in Los Angeles. Laughter and teasing ensued among the three, who are grabbing a second wind while the league takes its Olympics break.

"Before the conference call even started I was joking with Nicky that I texted her but I guess my text didn't go through," Hornbuckle said. "Or so she said."

There's several photos on the Lynx web site of Anosike making community service appearances with her new teammates. She's big on these activities. Compared to Detroit and Los Angeles, which have hung championship banners, Minnesota doesn't have the same profile.

"We know that we have to get a buzz going in the community,'' Anosike said. "I think we have a greater responsibility than a lot of teams that have been good because the Lynx haven't been good."

Still, there's no recreating the college atmosphere. Those good ole days are days gone by.

"At Tennessee some of us were in class together, we were pretty much all in study hall together,'' Anosike said. "We were in practice like a million hours together.

"Here it's more of a job setting where you go to practice and then you go your separate ways. I do miss that college feel of team dinners and team talks."

As for a few other random rookie thoughts:

Hornbuckle didn't think the July 23 scuffle between Detroit and Los Angeles was all bad for the league's image.

"Obviously, we're not going to promote fighting,'' she said. "I would say it did help. It was on YouTube, ESPN, the news and it was everywhere. Every channel you turn on people were talking about it. That's just what people see. Yes, we're women, but we're competitive. It's our job and we're just as serious as anyone else playing a professional sport."

As for the most difficult transition to the pro game:

"For me it would have to be the IQ of the game and the changing speed,'' Bobbitt said. "To this day, I'm still learning and getting better at that."

Hornbuckle has had to cut out the mental breaks.

"I have a tendency to zone out; my attention span isn't really that long,'' she said. "In the WNBA, everybody is so smart that you have to know what's going on."

Anosike and Hornbuckle already have offseason basketball jobs lined up in Israel and Turkey, respectively. As for Bobbitt? She's working on more work.