Swoopes Interview

Check out SlamOnline.com's interview with Sheryl Swoopes, in which Swoopes touches on coming back from her back injury, her future and the fact that she's not ready yet to begin that post-playing future.

“Sitting here, talking to you today and being able to just move and do things and not hurt, oh my gosh, I feel so good. I can’t sit here and say, ‘Yeah, next year I see myself coaching or in a front office.’ I don’t know that because I feel really good right now and I just want to continue to work hard, get better and take it one day at a time. Just kind of wait and see what happens.

“Let me just say this. If everything goes well and, God willing, this is definitely where I want to come back and play next year.”

LJ Officially an Olympian

On Thursday, Basketball Australia announced the roster for the Opals for next month's Beijing Olympics. And, in news that comes as something less than a surprise, Lauren Jackson headlines that roster.

More noteworthy is that former Storm guard Tully Bevilaqua was chosen for the roster despite choosing to play with the Indiana Fever this season. In 2004, Bevilaqua's decision to play for the Storm instead of staying in Australia played a role in costing her an Olympic bid. This time around, a roster spot was likely but no sure thing.

"I'm just playing it as 50-50," Bevilaqua said last month. "I'm supposed to find out towards the end of this month whether I am included or not. I'm trying not to think about it because I don't want it to affect how I play here. I'm just trying to stay loose, not worry about things. That's how I'm playing at the moment. When the time comes to get the call, hopefully it will be good."

Former Storm center Suzy Batkovic is also on the roster after not taking part in the 2006 FIBA World Championships, won by Australia.

Locally, the bigger news has been Storm forward Swin Cash receiving word from USA Basketball that she will not fill one of the last thee spots on the U.S. roster for Beijing, which have yet to be announced.

When Storm rookie Kristen O'Neill made her WNBA debut on Thursday, her college coach June Daugherty was in the KeyArena crowd. Daugherty, now coaching Washington State University, chatted with Dick Fain and Adia Barnes on the 1150 AM KKNW broadcast on Thursday. If you were there yourself or just missed it, here's the audio from that interview.

Swoopes Day-to-Day

Good news from Storm practice today, as Sheryl Swoopes was able to shoot around after practice wearing a brace on her right knee. Yesterday's tests, including an X-Ray and an MRI, came out negative. Swoopes is dealing with some soreness in the knee and remains day-to-day, but hopes to play tomorrow when the Storm hosts New York (7:00 p.m., 1150 AM KKNW, TIX).

Look for more details later this afternoon in our full story.

Swoopes Leaves Practice Early

The Storm finished practice today without guard Sheryl Swoopes, who left early after suffering a knee injury.

"Don't know yet," said Brian Agler after practice, asked about Swoopes' status. "Tweaked her knee.

"I didn't really see what happened. It was away from the ball. I think she was planting and cutting. I asked (Athletic Trainer) Tom (Spencer) if it was a contact-type thing, and it wasn't a contact type of injury. She didn't run into anybody or hit anybody. So we're just sort of waiting to hear back."

O'Neill Makes It

Exciting day here at Storm HQ as we got the news moments ago that Kristen O'Neill has been signed to a seven-day contract, making the Storm after putting together a strong bid for a roster spot during training camp. Everybody was pulling for O'Neill because of her work ethic and terrific attitude. Her decision to continue to work with the Storm practice squad after being cut has now paid off in a chance to play in the WNBA. There are no guarantees for O'Neill past the next seven days, but she's got a shot.

Before Sunday's game, Storm Head Coach Brian Agler was in the mix as the Storm looked to sign a player to a seven-day contract. Here's what he had to say about O'Neill.

"She's been a practice player for us. She'll come in and play on the guys' team. If we, for whatever reason, need to rest people or have someone out, she sometimes can slide in there and get in a drill for us.

"The thing that we tell Kristen is just keep working. You're not hurting yourself. Stay right there. Something good could happen this year. It might not be this year; it might be down the road.

"She puts a lot of time into it. You guys see her. You come in late and you're hanging around there and you look down the floor and there's one person still shooting. You know what kind of commitment she has to the game and the love that she has for it. We all respect that out of her. There's no question."

Vote LJ

The Storm's Lauren Jackson has been nominated for a pair of ESPY Awards. Naturally, she's up for Best WNBA Player along with Seimone Augustus, Becky Hammon and Diana Taurasi. Jackson is also competing with tennis star Justine Henin, golfer Lorena Ochoa and soccer standout Marta to be named Best Female International Player. You can vote for LJ and in all the other categories at espys.tv.

Previously, Jackson won the Best WNBA Player ESPY in 2004.

The 2008 ESPYs, hosted by Justin Timberlake, will air Sunday, July 20 at 6 p.m. Pacific on ESPN.

Expect Great from LJ

The third and final installment of the WNBA's Expect Great campaign features Storm MVP Lauren Jackson and Cappie Pondexter of the Phoenix Mercury. Check out their ads, which will make their national debut tonight during ESPN2's broadcast of Atlanta and Phoenix (4:00 p.m. Pacific). Jackson talks about her desire to add another championship to the one the Storm won in 2004.




Also check out a behind-the-scenes photo gallery from the filming of the commercials. In case you've missed any of them, including the one starring Storm guard Sue Bird, check out WNBA.com's Expect Great homepage.