Burse Participates in Non-Contact Practice

Storm center Janell Burse participated in the non-contact portion of practice Wednesday after leaving Tuesday's session early when she experienced a subluxation of her left shoulder. For Burse, the injury was a surprise because it was the first time since May 2007 her shoulder has subluxed, or slipped out of the socket.

"It was more shocking that it actually happened again," said Burse, "because it hadn't happened in so long."

While a partial tear of her shoulder labrum has left Burse vulnerable to subluxations, she has been able to control them by strengthening the surrounding muscles. She did not experience any trouble with the shoulder during the 2007 regular season or in either of her last two overseas campaigns.

Burse underwent X-rays that showed no bone bruising in the area, and is currently day-to-day.

"They just wanted to X-ray it to get a look at everything and make sure everything was still intact because my range of motion was bad yesterday," she said. "Today it's much, much better. Hopefully I'll be fine much faster because I've kept strengthening it all this time. I think I'll come back fast because of that."

"I think we're moving forward," Storm Head Coach Brian Agler said of his team's health. "The only thing I can say is we've got two more days to move forward here and we're going to move forward."

Forward Swin Cash participated with contact after being sidelined the last two days by an allergic reaction that caused swelling in her left knee.

With two practices left before Saturday's season opener in Sacramento (1:00 p.m., Alternative Talk 1150 AM), Agler feels good about his team's progress, though he won't really know whether the Storm is ready until the game is played.

"I think when you're in a situation like this, you never know if you're prepared or not," he said. "You try to do your best and you go into the game and see how things play out. You try to prepare your team. Do you underprepare? Do you overprepare? I don't know. I guess you can answer that question after the game. That's the only time you really know."

- The WNBA waiver wire continues to be busy as teams cut down prior to Friday's deadline for final rosters for the start of the season. However, Agler doesn't anticipate at this point bringing in a player cut by another team.

"I think, to this point, unless we really get a chance to study it, our 11 I think we have here (in camp)," he said. "Well, our 11 isn't here because Suzy (Batkovic)'s not here. Once Suzy gets here, I think we'll get a better evaluation."

Taranto Advances to EuroCup Final

It was all Cras Basket Taranto this morning in the highly-anticipated return leg of the EuroCup semifinal matchup between Taranto and Dynamo Moscow. Dynamo returned home hoping to make up a six-point deficit from last week's matchup in Italy, and led by three after one quarter. From there, the visitors took control by outscoring Dynamo 23-12 in the second quarter. Taranto cruised to an 85-75 victory that gave them a 161-146 aggregate advantage.

Getting 17 points from Janell Burse on 6-for-9 shooting, Dynamo had a good day on offense. However, the home team simply could not stop Taranto defensively. Taranto shot 58.6 percent from the field and scored at least 20 points in all four quarters. It was Storm center Suzy Batkovic who powered the attack, scoring 24 points and knocking down a pair of three-pointers, hitting 9-of-15 from the field. Megan Mahoney added 19 for Taranto, which also got a strong all-around game from former Storm guard Michelle Greco (six points, three assists and seven steals).

Batkovic and company will play Galatasaray for the EuroCup title after Galatasaray beat Kursk Dynamo 62-39 - holding them to 11 second-half points - to come from behind and take that aggregate series. Galatasaray is led by Seimone Augustus, who had 38 points today to nearly outscore Kursk Dynamo all by herself, as well as Sophia Young. Taranto hosts the first matchup on April 2 before visiting Turkey to complete the EuroCup finals on April 9.

Taranto Takes EuroCup Opening Leg

Bragging rights and much more are on the line as Storm centers Suzy Batkovic and Janell Burse square off with their respective teams in the EuroCup semifinals. In Thursday's first game, Batkovic's host Taranto squad emerged with a 76-71 victory. Because of the aggregate scoring format, the outcome itself was not necessarily as critical as the differential, with teams playing through to the end of regulation. Michelle Greco scored with two seconds on the clock to provide the final margin and give Taranto an extra bucket's worth of breathing room going into the return leg in Moscow next Thursday.

It looked for a while like Dynamo might head home with the advantage. A Burse jumper midway through the fourth quarter gave Dynamo a four-point advantage, but Taranto would outscore the visitors 15-6 the rest of the way. The key was Greco, the former Storm guard who scored eight points in that span, adding three steals and an assist.

Burse scored 14 of her 17 points after halftime, adding nine rebounds. She was part of a trio of Dynamo players, along with Belinda Snell (23 points) and Anete Jekabsone-Zogota (15) who had strong games. The rest of the team, however, combined for 16 points on 4-of-16 shooting from the field.

Taranto got more balanced production, with four players scoring double-figures. Megan Mahoney led the way with 19 points, with Batkovic adding 13 points, six rebounds and three steals.

In Thursday's other semifinal opener, Kursk Dynamo triumphed 61-47 at home over Galatsaray. The two-game aggregate series will be completed next Thursday, with the winners advancing to meet each other wih the EuroCup championship - and a spot in Euroleague for the 2009-10 season - on the line.

Storm Posts Advance

A day after the Euroleague Final Four was completed, the EuroCup set its semifinals Thursday, with two-game aggregate scoring quarterfinal series moving to the return leg.

Dynamo Moscow and Storm center Janell Burse returned home Thursday with a very comfortable 27-point advantage over ZKK Hemofarm Vrsac and put it on cruise control, winning 73-65. Despite the safe margin, Dynamo's top players got essentially regular minutes. Burse played 25 minutes, scoring 12 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Oxana Zakalyuzhnaya earned game-high honors with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Cras Basket Taranto also held a sizeable lead going into the second leg of the series, but headed out on the road against CB Feve San Jose. The hosts ended up winning the game 63-60, but never threatened making up the entire 23-point difference from the first game as Taranto advanced 126-106 on aggregate. Suzy Batkovic led the way with 17 points, grabbing eight rebounds and adding three steals. Washington wing Shay Murphy tried in vain to lead a San Jose comeback, scoring 30 points on 10-of-16 shooting. Her teammates, however, combined to shoot 10 of 42 from the field (23.8 percent).

The last Storm player in the EuroCup quarters, Katie Gearlds, saw her team enter today's game with a 25-point deficit to make up against Dynamo Kursk. Athinaikos made things interesting, leading to maybe the most dramatic 20-point victory ever. Athinaikos had a 24-point lead and the ball inside the final minute, but a turnover ended the threat. Athinaikos won the game 89-69, but lost 146-141 on aggregate. Gearlds was one of three Athinaikos players to score double-figures, finishing with 16 points and eight rebounds. LaToya Davis also had 26 for Athinaikos, which made a strong run after having to play in the qualifying round just to participate in EuroCup.

After a week off, the two-game semifinal series begin March 12. The two remaining teams with Storm players, Dynamo Moscow and Taranto, play in one semifinal. The other matches Dynamo Kursk with Turkish squad Galatasaray.

Burse Update

Storm Head Coach Brian Agler offered an update yesterday on center Janell Burse, who is sitting this season out. Agler had spoken earlier in the week to Burse, who was headed to Russia yesterday to prepare to play for Dynamo Moscow this upcoming season.

"She said that three or four weeks into the season or even when she got back, she really missed it," shared Agler. "She's excited about coming back to play and has been following us. She's feeling better and refreshed and she's going to go over and play in Moscow, so she'll be in the same league as Sue (Bird) and Lauren (Jackson) and a lot of the players that play in our league."

After Burse opted not to join the Storm, the team had to place her on the long-term suspended list to maintain her rights and not have her salary count against the cap. That meant that though her name was brought up by fans in the wake of Jackson's injury as a possible replacement, Burse could not play in the WNBA this season.

Instead, Burse spent the summer rehabbing and working out with former long-time NBA coach John Lucas in Houston. Now she's headed back overseas and will face high-level competition in the Russian Superleague as well as in the EuroCup. Before joining Russian rival Spartak, Bird spent two seasons playing for Dynamo.

Burse's Status 'Up in the Air'

What figured to be a fairly uneventful media session with Storm Head Coach Brian Agler after today's open practice took a turn when Agler was asked about Janell Burse's timetable to return to training camp.

"Still up in the air on that," said Agler. "I think we're going to probably make an announcement coming up about her situation this season. We're still in dialogue with her and her agent. That's really all I can say right now."

Later, Agler was asked if injuries could be a factor in Burse's situation.

"Possibly," he said. "I think her health is a question right now, is probably the best way to put it. I know she's been out the last few games over there, hasn't played. We're just going through some dialogue with her and her agent and we'll probably come to some conclusion in the next couple of days."

Burse has dealt with multiple injuries in recent years, including a partially torn left shoulder labrum and torn ligaments in her left wrist that required surgery last August. But, according to Agler, the biggest issue might be an injury that I'd almost forgotten. In the winter of 2006, Burse sat out a couple of months with a stress fracture in her foot. (Burse blogged about it here.) Agler indicated that injury was a Jones fracture and that it remained problematic.

"I don't know if that's totally healed yet," he said. "I think that's been the issue here of late."

- The Storm got good news Saturday on veteran Sheryl Swoopes, who went down early in Friday's game at Sacramento with what doctor's initially feared was a dislocated shoulder. Further examination revealed no damage to her shoulder and Swoopes was diagnosed with a less-serious strained neck. Swoopes did conditioning work on the sidelines Sunday, but did not actively practice.

"She still has quite a bit of pain in her neck," said Agler. "She strained some nerves there, so she's day-to-day right now. She might be back more active tomorrow, but it might be again until Tuesday. But she'll be in there this week sometime, so that's the good news."

- Sunday was the first time Agler met the media following the Storm's first two preseason games. The early exhibitions helped give the coaching staff an idea of where the team is two weeks away from starting the season.

"We're probably like a lot of people in this league - we've got a ways to go offensively and defensively," Agler said. "Part of that ways to go is evaluation of individuals. In about two weeks, we've got to get down to our number, which will be 11 - probably. I thought after the first night that our defense was farther ahead than our offense. I thought we got much better offensively the second game, but then I saw that we needed to improve our defense. I think a lot of it has to do with our conditioning, both physically and mentally - being able to sustain possessions."

The Storm will have six days to practice before closing out the preseason Saturday against Indiana. It's an important stretch, Agler noted, because it's the last week the Storm will have without having to prepare for a specific team.

- Two Storm players, Roneeka Hodges and Kelly Santos, got in their first practice since joining the team in Sacramento. Agler was encouraged by what he saw from Santos, who last played in the WNBA with Detroit in 2002. Santos had little time to pick up the system before being thrown into practice, but showed good touch in the paint.

"I thought Kelly gave us some good things out there," said Agler. "I was sort of impressed. (Assistant Coach) Nancy (Darsch) worked with her a little in pre-practice today and gave me the thumbs up. First impressions have been real positive.

"Roneeka, she's right there with a number of people that are fighting for those last couple of shots, so we'll see."

- The next Storm player in camp will be guard Tanisha Wright, but her status remains up in the air even after her season concluded in Israel last Thursday.

"We're expecting her tomorrow, Tuesday, Wednesday, sometime," Agler said. "It's sort of been a struggle, honestly.

"We've talked quite a bit with her agent - he's had a hard time talking with her. They've delayed her payment. It's a number of issues that have come up here of late that have delayed her arrival in Seattle, which has been frustrating. But we'll just keep moving forward."