Jenny Boucek

For Sacramento Monarchs Head Coach Jenny Boucek, the WNBA off-season has been a study of her own team.

"Number one thing that I�m doing right now is studying us -- the Sacramento Monarchs," Boucek said seated in her office. "Going back and watching all our games, studying us intently, making teaching tapes, making mental notes, physical notes of how we need to evolve. What we need to do better, what we need to do differently and just studying who we are because I don�t want to change that. I want to enhance and get the most out of who we are."

Her studies also give her material to discuss with Monarchs players to help them make the most of their off-season.

"I'm also planning things for what players need to be focused on overseas," Boucek said. "Trying to keep in contact with them and make sure they do all they can to prepare while they�re overseas, while not compromising what they�re doing over there and keeping them encouraged and excited about what we have going on here."

When the team gathered for the final time before venturing in different directions for the winter months, Boucek left the team with a message of confidence.

"What I left them with is -- they did everything they could do, day in and day out, and have built a great foundation for who we are, how we can be successful and the way that we need to do that," Boucek said leaning forward in her chair. "I think they tasted it. They felt it. They enjoyed it and laid a great foundation of the hardest part, which is recreating an identity. Many teams don�t have it at any period."

When the team signed familiar free agent Hamch�tou Ma�ga-Ba and resigned Chelsea Newton, Ticha Penicheiro and DeMya Walker, General Manager John Whisenant assured Boucek and Monarchs fans alike that he sees potential with the current roster -- nearly the identical roster that led the franchise to its sixth consecutive Playoff berth and debunked all the pundit doubts.

"This team improved as much as I�ve ever seen a team improve in a short amount of time," Boucek said proudly.

The team made the postseason despite extended absences of two of the players that define Monarchs basketball.

"Even with Rebekkah (Brunson) going down, Chelsea going down," Boucek said. "They�re about as important as anybody is in terms of our identity. They represent it. They�re our little warriors. We have a lot of warriors on this team, but there are no two greater warriors than those two. So even with (their absences), this team continued to progress at a very steep pace throughout the season."

With Ma�ga-Ba's return, Boucek is confident the team now has a defensive stopper who can contain some of the best small and power forwards in the world -- something the Monarchs have struggled with since their back-to-back Finals appearances.

"She will do nothing but enhance our intangibles in terms of competitiveness, unselfishness and sacrifice -- the things that are very important to our identity," Boucek said confidently. "She also gives us, with Nicole (Powell), a tag-team at the three -- a big, long defensive stopper who can also score and knows how to play the game in an unselfish way. She can also slide over to the four and guard the athletic fours of the League."

While Ma�ga-Ba will enhance the Monarchs trademark defense, the team's mantra is belief in its systems -- relying on commitment and cohesion.

"Without doing anything major, which we feel is the right thing for us because we are so dependent on chemistry and our systems," Boucek said, "We�ve really laid a good foundation. We don�t want to mess that up. We feel like if we can get healthy and add Ma�ga-Ba to the mix and continue with what we�ve been doing, we�re on a good path here."

In seasons past, the incubation period necessary for the team to grasp the defensive principles led to slow starts. With the WNBA season starting in June and rosters now limited to 11 players, there's little room for nurturing the well-established white line defense. But Boucek believes the team is more prepared than ever to start strong.

"I think it could be a blessing in disguise that we had a lot of players get injured last year and have been rehabbing and resting," Boucek said smiling. "We have a lot more players not playing overseas this year than normal because of injuries they had last year. We�re also hoping that because our team is so dependent on our interdependence and our systems and our chemistry that the later start will be more of an advantage for us because we�ll have time to get our rhythm back, which is extremely important for our team -- more than for any other team in the League."

Also more than any other team, the Monarchs sisterhood, led by Boucek, is as strong as ever. The 2009 season is a matter of fine-tuning.

The first test is still months away, but optimism shines brightly from the team's leader.