WNBA: Ready to rebound
When the Seattle Storm won the WNBA title in 2004, Lauren Jackson, Sue Bird and Betty Lennox celebrated together.
As the faces of the team, they answered the questions when Seattle bowed out in the first round the last two years.
Now, with Seattle preparing to play its first-round playoff game against the top-seeded Phoenix Mercury tonight at KeyArena, there is a possibility that the three could be playing their final games together.
Jackson, who has been with the Storm since she was the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2001, is under contract for next season. But the Australian national team will likely want her to stay home next summer and train for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Asked this week if she has thought about not playing in the WNBA next year, Jackson said: “A little bit. It’s not something I’m going to make a decision or comment on right now.”
Jackson has also been the most vocal critic of the possibility of the Storm relocating, which could happen before next season if the Oklahoma City-based ownership group doesn’t get an agreement to build a new arena by Oct. 31. Whether or not the city of Seattle will let the SuperSonics and Storm out of their lease agreement with KeyArena remains to be seen.
The leading candidate to win her second WNBA Most Valuable Player award, Jackson has said repeatedly she will only play in Seattle. If the team moves, she won’t follow it.
The team’s uncertain future also led to Bird signing a one-year contract for this season. Lennox is playing in the final year of a two-year contract.
“This will be the most important free-agency period during the off-season in the history of the franchise,” Karen Bryant, the Storm’s chief operating officer, said. “(Seattle coach) Anne (Donovan) and I have had zero conversations so far about next year. But there will be a lot of work to do.”
A lot could depend on how Seattle (17-17) does in the postseason, especially since this team has fallen short of expectations this summer. Although many pundits proclaimed the Storm as one of the most talented teams in the WNBA during the preseason, Seattle was 14-17 on Aug. 9 and needed to win its final three games to finish at .500.
“We didn’t have the greatest regular season, but we are aware that this could be the last time this team is together, the last time this team is in Seattle, a lot of last times,” Bird said. “We have a chance in the playoffs to really finish the story of what is the 2007 Storm and put a good ending on it because the regular season was very up and down.
“The playoffs is a whole new season – this is a new beginning for us.”
The Storm have exited the postseason in the first round the last two years. As the No. 2 seed, Seattle won Game 1 in Houston two years ago only to drop the next two games at home. Last year, fourth-seeded Seattle knocked off top-seeded Los Angeles in Game 1 at KeyArena, and held a comfortable lead in Game 2 before letting it slip away. Two days later, the Storm’s season ended after a loss in Game 3.
“We’ve learned a lot and experienced a lot in the last two years,” Jackson said. “This year, I just hope that there are no regrets – I don’t want to finish the season off having any regrets. I want to know that we’ve done everything we possibly could to win a championship, to be as successful as we can be with the team that we have. My whole thing is having no regrets.”
Sun 93, Fever 88 (3OT): At Uncasville, Conn., Nykesha Sales scored 25 points to lead Connecticut to a triple-overtime victory against Indiana in the first overtime playoff game in WNBA history.
Anna DeForge had a season-high 31 points for the Fever, while Tamika Whitmore added 24.
Asjha Jones, who missed the final three games of the season with an ankle sprain, returned to give the Sun 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Monarchs 86, Silver Stars 65: At Sacramento, Calif., Nicole Powell scored 22 points, Rebekkah Brunson had 17 and the Monarchs played sterling defense in a victory over San Antonio in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.
Kara Lawson added 16 points and hit three 3-pointers for the Monarchs. Sacramento made 28 free throws and piled up a 41-22 rebounding edge while rolling past Becky Hammon and the second-seeded Silver Stars.