Taurasi shrugs off expectations heading into opener

PHOENIX — Diana Taurasi plays her first WNBA game tonight, and naturally, she expects to be the team leader.

“That’s the way I’ve been all my life,” she said.

When Taurasi takes the court with the Phoenix Mercury against the Sacramento Monarchs, it will begin the second part of what should be an exhausting year.

First, she led Connecticut to its third consecutive NCAA title, winning her second straight Final Four MVP award in the process.

Now she enters the pro game as one of the most touted incoming players in the young league’s history. A mixture of hustle, charisma and talent, she’s expected to bring new interest to the WNBA and revive one of the league’s most lifeless franchises.

“Pro sports are about stars,” Mercury general manager Seth Sulka said. “Whether it’s Randy Johnson or Charles Barkley or whoever, you’re attracted to stars, and she has that about her.”

Taurasi’s WNBA season will be interrupted by a trip to Athens, where she will be the only player from last year’s college crop to be on the U.S. Olympic team.

If the burdens of all the expectations weigh heavily, it sure doesn’t show. Taurasi takes it all with a shrug.

“You know what? There are always unfair expectations and pressures, but that’s what makes people really good,” she said. “That makes you better, if you thrive on that. So I’m not worried about that.

“If you get caught up in thinking about what you should be doing, you’ll drive yourself crazy, so I just go out there and play.”

Taurasi will have a major role in the revamped Mercury, a team with only four returning players from the 8-26 squad of a year ago.

“We’ve got a lot of roles and responsibilities for her,” new coach Carrie Graf said. “She’s a great passer. She’s a scorer. We’ll use her at times to start our offense as a point guard and we’ll use her at other times to take the ball offensively. She’s a big key to what we’re doing, but she’s not the only key.”

Graf, an Australian, had only known of Taurasi from a distance before training camp began.

“She’s what everyone says,” Graf said. “She’s a great player. She’s got a great personality to go with it. She’s the consummate team person. She’s enthusiastic, she’s energetic. She listens, she’s focused. You can’t find enough good things to say about her.”

Like most players directly out of college, Taurasi needs to work on her defense, Graf said.

There is no true point guard in the Mercury offense, so Taurasi will play all three of the perimeter positions.

Neither Graf nor Taurasi expects burnout to be a problem. Graf said she might ease up on Taurasi’s practice from time to time.

“But look, she’s 22, she’s energetic and she’s fit,” Graf said. “And I think she’ll understand her body and know when to push and when to pull back.”