The WNBA Tips Off

If the future of the WNBA looks anything like today's nationally-televised opener between the Los Angeles Sparks and the Phoenix Mercury, it will be one heck of a fun ride.

Historically, early-season WNBA games are often hard to watch. Even NBA teams take a while to begin clicking, and WNBA head coaches don't have the luxury of having their entire team together for the full month of training camp. The Mercury got Diana Taurasi back only yesterday and Cappie Pondexter, as we were often reminded by ESPN on ABC broadcasters Dave Pasch and Carolyn Peck, slept but three hours last night. Imagine what Pondexter, who finished with 32 points, four three-pointers, seven assists and nary a turnover, might have done with a full night's sleep!

Instead of a sloppy mess controlled by defense, the Sparks and Mercury treated us to a highly-entertaining game that wasn't decided until Pondexter missed a potential tying three in the closing seconds.

Naturally, the big story was the play of Sparks rookie Candace Parker, who fell two assists shy of a triple-double in her WNBA debut. All Parker did was score 34 points, grab 12 rebounds and hand out eight assists. She was even better than advertised. Lisa Leslie returned from her year-long absence to post a double-double of her own with 17 points, 12 boards and four blocks.

Of course, we already knew Leslie and Parker would be great; the real question was the L.A. backcourt, and that wasn't entirely answered in the opener. Starting guards Temeka Johnson and Marie Ferdinand-Harris combined to shoot 3-for-12 from the field and turn the ball over five times. The Sparks got effective play down the stretch from Murriel Page, but Page isn't naturally a guard and doesn't shoot the ball like one. Sidney Spencer had 14 points off the bench in the first half, includinf our threes, before sitting out the second half. Spencer will feast on the open looks created by Leslie and Parker, but isn't quick enough to defend opposing guards.

The Mercury has to feel awfully good about putting up 94 points despite the limited practice time. To turn the ball over just 12 times in a fast-paced opener given those conditions is remarkable. Starter Wilnett Crockett (12 points, seven boards) and backup Le'Coe Willingham (four rebounds and strong defense) gave Phoenix solid play in Penny Taylor's spot, but we also saw what could be problematic about using traditional posts in the Paulball system; Crockett and Willingham were stuck on the perimeter taking long jumpers at times, and that's surely not their forte.

Besides Parker, the revelation of the game was Phoenix rookie Yugo OhaYuko Oga. Just the second Japanese player in league history, Oha is a jolt of energy off the bench who will continue pushing the pace when she's in the game at the point.

Officially, the Sparks won the game, but the real winner was the league. It's hard to imagine new fans tuning in to see Parker and not coming away impressed with the quality of play. The WNBA's 2008 slogan is "Expect Great." In the opener, we got just that.

Quick Preview Note

For those readers who frequent the blog but not always the homepage (something I've done myself with other Seattle sports teams), I hope you haven't missed our extensive preview coverage this week. The local papers devote one day to a preview section. Online, that doesn't make as much sense, so we spread out the same content over the last week. In sum, it's quite a bit.

Storm Preview:
Fresh Start: Cash Begins Anew in Seattle
Bird Returns to Revamped Storm
The Centerpiece: Storm Looks to Relieve Pressure on Jackson
The Veterans: Griffith and Swoopes Hoping for Familiar Outcome with New Team
Is This "The Perfect Storm?"

WNBA Preview:
League-wide picks/analysis
Western Conference Preview
Eastern Conference Preview

If you've read all that, and tonight's Insider Preview, I think you're about ready for the season to start. I know I am.

Notebook: After Waiving Lewis, Storm has its Roster

The Seattle Storm got down to its final 12-player roster to start the 2008 season on Friday, releasing guard Doneeka Lewis. Cutting Lewis meant newly-arrived center Florina Pascalau and third-round pick Kimberly Beck earned the last two spots on the Storm's roster as the team went with an extra post player in favor of an extra guard.

"Florina got in here late in training camp," said Storm Head Coach and Director of Player Personnel Brian Agler, "but we thought so much of her and thought so much of her potential that we thought it would be best to keep someone like that that's starting to coming into her own a little bit. Kim's a true point guard and we need that on this team - a good backup for Sue (Bird) and someone who can give her some rest."

"It's a dream come true," Beck said after practice and getting the official word from Agler. "This is what you dream about when you're in seventh grade playing pickup with your friends, saying, 'I'm going to be a professional ballplayer.' Now you can actually say that and mean it. It's definitely a dream come true for me."

Earlier in the week, Beck and second-year forward Katie Gearlds had joked with Assistant Coach Shelley Patterson that they were willing to pay to ensure spots on the roster. After practice ended Friday, Agler called Beck and Gearlds over to playfully tease the rookie.

"He told Katie that she was already a lock," Beck related, "and for me to get my $10 ready to give to Shelley."

Agler's other message was more serious. He told Beck and Gearlds to keep working. Beck has shown enough potential that the coaching staff sees her splitting time as Bird's backup with veteran Tanisha Wright, a role that Agler sees possibly changing game to game depending on matchups.

"We'll play Tanisha there some too," Agler said, "but we'll start grooming (Beck) to play some of those minutes."

Early in the Storm's training camp, Beck emerged as the leader of the young point guards competing for roster spots. She worked with the Storm's first unit regularly before veterans Lewis and Wright arrived in camp and even started the Storm's first preseason game. Still, Beck knew nothing was guaranteed to her as a third-round pick.

"You always want to be confident, but you never know," she said. "You never know when they're making cuts, how many people they're going to cut. A lot of people had good camps. I know it was a tough decision for him because Doneeka had a great camp. Dee (Davis) had a great camp. You just really never know."

As a result, when she talked to the media after practice, Beck had yet to share the good news with her family.

"I haven't really told them yet because I wasn't really sure," she said. "I knew they had one more cut to make today. I'm sure my mom will be elated and sending out mass e-mails and stuff like that."

The Storm's decision on a roster wasn't made until the final day, with the league requiring teams to get down to their rosters by Noon Pacific Friday. It was a tough decision, and Agler praised Lewis' great training camp. Ultimately, however, the potential of Pascalau to be a contributor in the frontcourt once she adjusts to the U.S. and the WNBA game won out.

Friday's practice wasn't all about the final roster. There's also a game to prepare for, as the Storm is just a day away from taking on the Chicago Sky at KeyArena on Opening Night (7:00 p.m., 1150 AM KKNW, TIX). Agler and the staff have been so busy with all the decisions late in camp and running practice there's been little time to think about the opener as anything more than another game in the schedule.

"People have asked me a lot about it, but when you're dealing with roster moves and practice and players coming in and leaving ... besides watching film on Chicago and preparing for them, I haven't really thought about tomorrow night as Opening Night," said Agler. "I know it's a game and a big game for us, like all opening nights are, but am I thinking about the atmosphere here and things like that? I really haven't. I anticipate there being a lot of energy, I do think that, because I think we'll have a good crowd, but just trying to stay focused on what we have to do."

The players, for their part, seemed to play a little differently Friday with Opening Night looming ahead of them.

"I can tell they're anxious because of how they're playing," Agler said. "They were rushing and forcing things because they want to do so well. If we come out and focus defensively and if we come out and play with poise, I can guarantee we'll play with energy. I'd be shocked if we come out and don't play with a lot of energy. I think we'll play well."

Coming off of a good, healthy week of practice, Sheryl Swoopes will start for the team at shooting guard. As for a rotation, Agler said he expects Wright on the perimeter and Ashley Robinson in the frontcourt to be the first two players off the bench in their respective spots. Gearlds and Shyra Ely also will be in the rotation, while Agler would like to get new post Kelly Santos some minutes if possible.

Audio: Agler

Notebook: Storm Wants to Keep O'Neill Around

The Seattle Storm waived wing Kristen O'Neill Thursday morning, but there was O'Neill on the floor at KeyArena during the Storm's practice later in the day. It was the start of what could be a new role for O'Neill as a practice player this summer, continuing her relationship with the organization. Despite having to make the difficult decision to cut O'Neill, Head Coach Brian Agler would love to have her around.

"We just want her to stay involved in case there's an opportunity that could come about sometime during the course of the year and she's ready to go," Agler explained after practice. "That's why we're going to encourage her to stay here and be a practice player for us. I know that our organization is looking for her to possibly have some other responsibilities, which would be great.

"It's nice to have somebody that's real familiar with what you're doing that can be there in a moment."

Agler noted that O'Neill does have to make a living, which could force her to give up the role of practice player. After practice, however, O'Neill sounded like she was planning to stick around.

"I'm very grateful for the opportunity that the coaches and the organization presented to me to continue training and working with the team," she said. "I was obviously delighted to take that opportunity. I'm going to be here and continue to keep working to get better and make this team better."

According to Agler, it was a numbers situation that forced the Storm's decision with O'Neill. During her time in camp, she had impressed the coaching staff with her play and especially off the floor.

"The quality of person that she is, those types of people are few and far between coming into your life," said Agler. "She's one of those."

Having received the news from Agler Wednesday, O'Neill remained upbeat. Her former college coach at UW, current Washington State Head Coach June Daugherty, was at Thursday's practice and chatted with O'Neill afterwards. For her part, O'Neill enjoyed with her experience with the Storm during training camp.

"The experience has been incredible," she said. I truly have enjoyed every day. I'm just so thankful for the opportunity from the coaching staff, my teammates and the organization. It's been an incredible opportunity.

"I feel like I've grown so much as a player throughout this experience. Having a strong work ethic and trying to push myself to work as hard as I can every day but also having the element of playing with the best makes the situation that much more competitive. Just playing with such a high level, that's what makes you better. Through being around these incredible women, I've learned so much about professional basketball, the way they carry themselves on and off the court. It's been a great learning experience."

- After cutting O'Neill and guard Roneeka Hodges, the Storm's roster now sits at 13 players less than 24 hours away from the WNBA's Noon Pacific deadline for setting final rosters for the season. The Storm still must make one more cut, and because of the early time on the West Coast, must do so before practicing tomorrow.

"I think there's two or three ways we could go," Agler said. "If we go a couple ways, though, it might handicap us in terms of depth at certain positions. That's what we're going to sort of talk about as a staff here after practice today, what way we're going to go. We've got to make it basically before practice tomorrow because the deadline is 3:00 Eastern time and that sits right in the middle of our practice. For whatever reason, they don't want to work with us. We'll probably have a decision sometime tonight or tomorrow morning."

Without having studied the updated transaction wire during practice, Agler said he does not anticipate the Storm bringing in anyone from outside, but instead for the roster to, "probably be a combination of this group we have right now."

The early deadline means the Storm will have to make a decision on newcomer Florina Pascalau after just two practices in Seattle. Agler felt the staff got a good look at Pascalau during today's session.

"She's a good player," he said. "She's got a lot of potential. We'll see. We haven't come to a conclusion yet on that."

Storm Waives O'Neill

Aaron Last/Storm Photos

Roster decisions are never easy this time of year, but in the case of Edmonds native and UW product Kristen O'Neill, it's definitely personal. The Storm waived O'Neill this morning, ending her bid to make the team as a training-camp invitee.

"Making some of the final cuts is always difficult, but letting Kristen go was an incredibly tough decision," Storm Head Coach Brian Agler said in the press release.

Everyone who worked with Kristen during training camp came away impressed with her as a player and a person and there was certainly a strong contingent rooting for her to make the team. I know there's going to be a lot of disappointed fans out there who have watched O'Neill play at UW and even before that at Meadowdale High School.

The good news is this isn't necessarily a goodbye.

"We were all very impressed by her," Storm CEO Karen Bryant said in the release, "and have expressed a desire to keep her involved in the Storm organization this summer.”

Barnes' Scouting Report on Pascalau

Storm Head Coach Brian Agler mentioned Wednesday that some of the scouting the Storm had on newly-signed center Florina Pascalau came from 1150 AM KKNW color analyst Adia Barnes, who has played against Pascalau in Italy, most recently this past winter and spring. I e-mailed Adia for the full scouting report.

"She is a talented player. She has good size, nice post moves around the basket, finishes well, doesn't jump out of the gym but rebounds well, good hands and has a nice 15-foot jumper. Overseas, her team runs a lot of "pick and pop" offense and she consistently makes the shots. She can play in the WNBA."

Notebook: Storm Adds Pascalau

The Seattle Storm added another player for Wednesday's practice. No, not that one. While Lauren Jackson made her 2008 debut, the Storm also brought in a true newcomer, signing 6-4 Romanian center Florina Pascalau as a free agent. Friday's Noon deadline to set final rosters is looming, but the Storm will take a look at Pascalau, whose performance in the Italian League has intrigued the coaching staff. Securing a visa delayed Pascalau's arrival in camp, but she's here now and the Storm is glad to have her.

"We've followed her over in Europe," explained Storm Head Coach Brian Agler. "We've heard good things about her from (Storm color analyst) Adia Barnes and Doneeka (Lewis), who's played against her, and other people over there. It took us a while to get her visa. If it was going to take too long to get it, we felt like we wouldn't bring her over, but we felt like we just had enough time to take a look.

"We didn't really get a great chance to see her play today, but we'll see her more the next two days."

The Storm wasn't the only team interested in Pascalau. The Minnesota Lynx listed her on their initial 2008 training-camp roster, but Pascalau ultimately wasn't interested in the long-term contract Minnesota was offering. She signed a training-camp deal with the Storm.

Adding Pascalau leaves the Storm with three cuts to make before Friday.

"We've got to make some decisions here in the next 48 hours," said Agler. "That's what we have to do."

UPDATE: The Storm waived guard Roneeka Hodges Wednesday evening, meaning two more players must be cut.

- Asked for the first time about his starting lineup for Saturday's Opening Night against Chicago (7:00 p.m., 1150 AM KKNW, TIX), said the presumptive lineup of Sue Bird, Sheryl Swoopes, Swin Cash, Jackson and Yolanda Griffith was "what we project." Swoopes' status still leaves a little uncertainty there. While she has practiced all week, Swoopes said yesterday she wasn't sure she is ready to play 25, 30 minutes of game action just yet. Agler strongly hinted those extra minutes could go to Tanisha Wright.

"We're going to see how Sheryl comes along," he said. "She's working real hard. I also feel real comfortable with Tanisha. Tanisha's had a great few days here. She gives us a little bit different flavor there in terms of how she can attack the basket and what kind of defender she is. She's sort of a secondary ballhandler with Sue on the floor. I like what she brings to the table, to be honest with you. I see her really playing within that tight rotation."

Wright is also still in the competition to serve as backup point guard. The outcome of that battle is "Yet to be seen," said Agler. "Still evaluating that."

Post-Practice Audio: Agler Jackson