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Anne Donovan joined Chief Operating Officer Karen Bryant to address the state of the Storm for storm.wnba.com's Kevin Pelton. In a candid Q&A, the two women responsible for guiding the team's business and basketball operations reflect upon a 2007 season that failed to live up to expectations and look forward to an important off-season and the promise of 2008.
"I think there is an excitement about what's to come and the next Storm team and who's going to represent the push for a ring," said Donovan, "living to the potential and working hard every day toward that goal and not settling for less. I get excited about that and what's coming next."
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Lauren Jackson's season and the work she has put in to become the best player in the world?Bryant: It's just testimony that although she's often recognized as the best even prior this year that she still has new heights to her game and being healthy. She's talked a lot about, in the off-season, having fun with the game again - her experience in Korea and Russia. Clearly she came into camp with that kind of mentality. She's just such a source of pride for our organization and our town. It's really nice that, in a season that had its share of ups and downs, there's no question that's a bright spot - her performance on the floor and just utter domination this year.
Now that we're a little bit removed from the end of the season, is disappointment still the prevailing emotion?
Donovan: There is great disappointment for, I think, me individually and us as a team. To watch Phoenix in the Finals and know that's a team that we played well against in the regular season - but certainly not in the postseason, except for about 15 minutes in the second half of Game 2 - that's tough. I think there's frustration because we all know that, when we played well this season, we played with the best of them. We were as talented, as good as any team in the league. But the other times when we didn't live up to our potential is very dissatisfying. I think that's the pervasive feeling right now, just feeling disappointed that we didn't live up to our potential.
As time goes on does that feeling turn into a desire to get back on the court for 2008?
Donovan: It doesn't immediately turn into that, because I think there's still such a letdown that we're not playing right now. That's the desire of all of us, staff and players alike, to still be playing in the postseason, fighting for that next ring. But a week and a half later, to your question, I think there is an excitement about what's to come and the next Storm team and who's going to represent the push for a ring - living to the potential and working hard every day toward that goal and not settling for less. I get excited about that and what's coming next.
Do you have a vision in mind for what the next Storm team is going to look like, or is that something that will emerge over the course of the off-season?
Donovan: I don't know exactly the pieces that go into that next championship team in terms of names, but I certainly know qualities of individuals that we're looking for to help complement players we already have. Through working with Lauren these last five years, we know the kind of player she is and the kind of personalities and players that fit with her to continue to enable her to shine but to also make us better as a team.
Specifically, there is no question the team must improve on defense. How do you do that?
Donovan: You know, we've always talked about defense so much. It's something that I take great pride. Every team I've ever coached, it's something we do. So part of the disappointment now is looking at this season and we had the Defensive Player of the Year, which is a new achievement for her, that we didn't perform as a team to at least get in the top three or four of the league defensively. That is a catalyst; we're a team that likes to run. The more stops we get, the more steals we get, the more solid defensive possessions we have, the more we're able to run and get out and be the exciting team we can be offensively. It is a commitment to make sure we're getting better at that end of the floor. Just as Lauren made that commitment to be a solid defensive player, we need other players to make that same commitment.
How important is it to enter the off-season with salary cap space and the ability to make some moves?
Donovan: We get very excited, Karen and I, in talking about the future and having some flexibility with our cap space to look at free agents and really look at the personnel that will help Lauren continue to be the great player that she is and fill in the pieces around Lauren.
Bryant: I think, knowing that we have a player the caliber of Lauren coming back is obviously a huge building block for us. I think it's really just evaluating the players that were on our roster in 2007 and up to Anne to make some decisions about who fits into our team. There might be some that don't. We know that we're going to take the floor in 2008 with the team that we think has got the best chance of getting us back to being a championship-caliber franchise. That's our commitment.
I think the good news about ending a season is it also marks the beginning of another. I'm really excited about re-energizing our organization and our basketball team and putting us in position to be as successful as we can. It starts with Anne's leadership and her ability to sort of step away from what happened this year and learn from that and really put us in position to get the people that are going to get it done.
There seems to be a contrast from 2004, where other teams forced you to make difficult decisions because of the salary cap, and now when there is that kind of flexibility. Is that fair?
Donovan: It is fair. Other teams were coming after us in 2004 and now we're the ones that can go after some of those players on other teams. It's a much more attractive position to be in.
Bryant: It wasn't that long ago, coming off the championship season, that we were put in a position where every other team around the league was using their cap space to pull apart our roster. The offers that players like Kamila Vodichkova and Tully Bevilaqua and Sheri Sam received, now we're in the position of being able to aggressively pursue free agents. We know that with the flexibility that we have and the pieces that we're going to have in place that we're going to have the opportunity to bring in some talented and experienced players who are going to make a contribution right away.
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I was really tickled by Lauren's comments in the playoffs about how touched she was by our fans. I know Anne addressed it in the locker room and throughout the playoffs, that our mission was to get back to Seattle because we really felt like we owed our fans at least one more round of basketball, if not two. After that first playoff game, to leave that floor to a standing ovation, I don't think there was a person in our organization that wasn't touched by that.
Donovan: All those things KB just very well said about our fans, it extends also to free agency. There's not a player in the league that doesn't respect Seattle as a city that has tremendous fans that support the team in good times and in bad. This year, as much as we struggled up and down, to still see that standing ovation when we left for Game 2 in Phoenix, fans not knowing if we'd return, it was completely touching and speaks not just to numbers we have here and not just passion we have here, but how fans in this city have embraced us and made us their daughters and sisters and nieces and whatever. It goes beyond words to explain that kind of connection that we have with the fans here.
What kind of support do you see for the Storm and the city of Seattle around the league?
Bryant: Profound. I think to Anne's point, players, administrators, league officials, anybody close to this league understands what we have here in Seattle as an organization - commitment from ownership group, leadership, Anne as our head coach, the players we have wearing our uniforms each and every night and the fans - and what this team and this organization means to the league. At a time when the league is trying to solidify the second decade of the WNBA and really look at growth over the next few years, I know Seattle figures very prominently in what the league is trying to do in terms of long-term stability. People are well aware - I never cease to be amazed at how many people are following the storylines out here. I get asked all the time if there's anything new, what's happening. There are a lot of people around the country who are pulling for this thing to be resolved so that Seattle remains a market for women's pro basketball for a long time. Certainly I know it affects those of us here close to it more than anybody, but there are a lot of fans around the country who hope they watch a Seattle WNBA team for a long time to come.
We've talked a lot about the basketball side, but is the business side already looking forward to 2008?
Bryant: I took one day off and back at it. Like I said earlier, I think for me it's you wrap up the season, you reflect and you really figure out how to grow from where you came from and learn from what just happened and figure out how to move the business forward, because that's what it's all about. Our mission as a franchise is to win championships and sell tickets and to build an audience for our game. We're back at it already. Meetings are already underway. We're trying to get resources in place to position us to be successful. We have to make sure that every day between now and opening night, we make a difference and move forward and make it count. I'm excited about it. In spite of the ups and downs, there were also a lot of bright spots and a lot of things I think we can build on both on and off the court. My hope is that the arena relocation matter will get addressed not only for the short term but the long term so that can just be put to bed as a distracting issue and we can get back to building this franchise into the envy of the league that it once was and getting us back to the top of our game, which is where we want to be.
What can fans do over the course of the off-season to help the organization?
Bryant: I think just continue to communicate with us. We're going to do everything we can to stay visible and present during the off-season. There's always a challenge of that in terms of player availability and them heading overseas, but we think it's a really important time that we need to overcommunicate with our fans, particularly our season-ticket holders, and make sure they know that we're working hard every day, that they matter, that they're an important part of us having a successful season next summer. We hope to announce upcoming events and just hope to stay in touch and have dialogue and that as we get closer to some of our milestones like announcing a schedule and free agency beginning, that they just stay invested and never underestimate the impact that they have as ambassadors for our organization by continuing to show and demonstrate that passion everywhere they go. We know that once we are in a position to talk about our future and our long-term stability in Seattle that their passion and that foundation is something we know we can build on, but we've got to make sure that they feel the love and that we don't lose any of them, that they stay a part of our family.
Donovan: That's the hard part - the off-season, where we all go off and are somewhat disconnected. You hope that doesn't affect the fans, that they still stay upbeat and encouraged and passionate and don't lose anything in the off-season and know that every one of our players and staff look forward to getting back here and getting busy again and moving forward.
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