We got to see 10 players compete in real, if unofficial, basketball on Wednesday. Which means we can start profiling what each Fire player might bring to the team this season. Let’s get it!

Carla, fresh off of a grueling set of playoff games in Spain and a nasty laceration to her face/cheekbone, definitely looked like the player who just got off the plane, mostly because she kinda did. She shorted free-throws, once barely hitting the rim, which is a classic sign of fatigue. She drove to the basket a ton, but ran into a lot of traffic and was frequently unsuccessful. But she is damned good, and way better than this funky game. She did her thing by drawing fouls and leading the team in assists. I’m not worried about her, and you shouldn’t be either.

S.A.B. led the team in minutes while the team was short-staffed at the guard position, and Barker looked mature beyond her one year of W experience. She got to the free throw line well, she moved the ball well, she had a great finish at the rim after a steal. She was 0-3 from beyond the arc, which is a space she typically excels at, and was part of a starting group that looked nervous and hesitant in the opening several minutes. I think she’ll warm-up to the team and her role in it, and will let it fly more and obviously make more shots.

I cannot tell you how excited I was to see Puoch guarding Seattle’s point guard to start this game. One of my favorite moves in basketball roster construction is to have a long, athletic defender who can defend the lead ball-handler of the opposing team. Puoch fits that description: she’s incredibly long, she moves really well, and she was an eager defender. Now, was this only happening because Seattle’s point-guard is also from Puoch’s home country of Australia? Probably not, but I can’t stop thinking about it!

Our inaugural Rose-Colored Bucket-Getter of the season, Engstler showed her varied skills to start this game before leaving in the third quarter with an ankle sprain. She is a gap filler on offense and defense, she hustles, she will create shots and set a lot of screens; I think she is clearly the fan favorite candidate at this early point of the season.

Leading the team in smiles, Geiselsöder was also a much fiercer defender than I was expecting, earning a wonderful block on Dominique Malonga (that was incorrectly called for a foul) and executing the pick-and-roll coverage better than others. Her three-point shot looked incredibly smooth, and she is skilled enough to put the ball on the floor and keep it moving when her shot isn’t there. I think this was a promising start.

Jones, whose skill set I thought would look similar to Engstler’s coming into the game, had a tougher time fitting into everything in game one. 2-for-8 from the floor with 4 turnovers and some ill-advised decisions on offense, Jones looks like a player who has been practising a brand new system for only one week. Because she has! I think when the full talent of the Fire roster is available, and with these two pre-season games to feel things out, Jones’ contributions will become much clearer.

An undrafted rookie from West Virginia, Harrison had a typical first-ever-WNBA game: she showed some skills and superpowers, but sometimes looked overwhelmed and racked up 5 fouls in 20 minutes of play. Her defense and disruption are real assets, and she ran a high-motion offense pretty naturally. She is undersized, and is trying to make the team at a crowded position (with Leite, Sutton, Barker, Caldwell, and next year’s first-round pick Iyana Martin), but she clearly has upside. I think she’ll be on a roster this season, and I hope it’s Portland’s.

Gustafson looked like a veteran and champion who has been dropped into a very young team with a brand-new system. Her on-court impact wasn’t huge, but you could see her directing some actions and giving feedback to players, and her value in these games lies beyond the stat-sheet. Her on-court impact will grow as she learns her teammates and the system, and will be a valuable connector on offense.

The rookie center that Portland traded for in their last move in the draft, Williams looked pretty good! She competed hard, she showed some shooting touch, and had a great game on paper (3-3 shooting, 3-4 from the line, a block, a steal, no turnovers). I think she broke a couple of the rules that this new offense is trying to deploy, and I wonder what the coaching staff will think of that, but there is some real skill here.

Williams, one of the last players added to the training camp roster, got the least time on the court in game one, and didn’t get much opportunity in those minutes. She nailed a three after a broken play found the ball poorly passed her way. She’s got good size and can space the floor. I don’t know how quick her feet are on defense, which is a valuable trait as this team looks to defend pick-and-rolls with active centers. I hope she gets a bigger and more important portion of minutes on Sunday. She also seems like a great hang based on the Instagram content from the team so far. New teams need good culture players!

There was definitely space for a guard to be an active, aggressive scorer on Wednesday night, and I think Caldwell could enjoy and succeed being that option. I’m excited to see how her game slots in.

There was some hesitancy to launch catch-and-shoot three’s from the rookies and other new players on the roster in game one, and Samuelson will solve that problem the moment she takes the floor. I really hope she successfully gets past her foot injury(s) and can do her thing soon.

Sug, I believe, is going to bring the best day-one passing actions from the guard position on this team for this new motion offense. When the game got tough on Wednesday, Leite did her thing and attacked the basket, but the ball movement slowed down, and the overall involvement slacked. Sutton should be a great pace booster for this group.

Adding a defender and shooter with Carleton’s size and experience is going to raise the floor on this team so easily and quickly. It’s gonna rock.

Now in PDX, Buhner, who is officially in a development player role, will be an active forward that plays similar to Engstler and Jones, but with more attacking the rack. I don’t know when she’ll see action after a long overseas season, but I hope we see it ASAP. We’ll have to break-down that roster position, because it has interesting allocations for playing time in the regular season.

A big forward who loves to shoot three’s and moves off-the-ball, Bibby is going to make things easier for this new, simple offense.

I think that’s everyone! For a moment, I almost let the online haters and the national-media, who don’t frequently do deep dives on rosters they think aren’t very good, depress me a little about the outlook of this Fire team. After one pre-season game, and this little project today, I am assured in my excitement and belief in the upside of this roster, even if their best days are pretty far out in front of them. I’d rather have our ebay days in front of us than behind us!

Maybe I’ll do another check-in after pre-season game two, especially if we get more active players. Maybe I’ll do something different. Only time will tell.

See you at the Rose Garden.