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Lauren Jackson

"She looked great when she was out there," said Coach Anne Donovan. "She looked fantastic."

Jackson worked for about an hour, and her day was finished by the time the media was allowed in to watch the end of practice.

"She looked great when she was out there. She looked fantastic." Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty

"I feel really good," said Jackson. "I think this program's going to be great for me."

As the Storm eases Jackson into the WNBA season, she will continue to ramp up the amount she is on the floor. Jackson was not scheduled to participate in the team's evening session on Tuesday, focusing instead on cardio work that is less stressful on her feet and shins.

"I'm really pleased overall," Donovan said after the first two practices. "We've got good competition. I think we've got some tough competitions ahead of us, that's already clear."

Donovan has had around 10 players available for both practices. Center Janell Burse remains sidelined by a slight labrum tear in her left arm and participated only in non-contact walkthroughs of the Storm's offense. Invitee Shaunzinski Gortman has been bothered by a stomach ailment and has yet to practice, while center Lindsay Taylor participated in the final hour of Tuesday's practice after arriving in Seattle Monday night.

Having a limited group does have a benefit for the Storm, in that the players who are healthy and in camp have been able to get a lot of work in.

"They get higher reps at it, so they're getting an opportunity to go through it more than once, whereas if you have 15 people they're standing in a line," said Donovan. "There's no standing around in this game."

Donovan's focus thus far has been on the defensive end of the court.

"We're trying to institute different defensive concepts, so it's slower than most training camps from that end," said Donovan. "It's going to be slow going, but they're picking it up as well as I'm expecting them to. I'm pleased."

Donovan provided a little more detail about what specifically she wants her team to do differently on defense.

"We're trying to really stop dribble penetration better than we've done in the past," she said. "Defensively, we were not in the league leaders last year or even close to it, so this year we know we've got to get better.

"(We're) helping more, trying to contain and protect the paint more than we have in the past - and still be aggressive. That's the trick. You can play sagging man-to-man no problem, contain penetration, but we're trying to incorporate an aggressive style of that."

From what she's seen of it thus far, Jackson is very excited about the new defensive system.

"Today when we were doing shell drill, we had the guys playing from half court," she said. "They could not get into an offense. It was really good for us. I think after a month of working on it, that's going to be really positive for us."

The two units for the transition drill featured Erin Grant, Betty Lennox, Barbara Turner, Dalila Eshe and Wendy Palmer on the Black squad and Leah Metcalf, Tanisha Wright, Lindsey Yamasaki, Jordan Adams and Taylor on the White unit.

Turner and Taylor were amongst the standouts during the drill.

Asked who the frontrunner was at point guard, Donovan joking answered, " Sue (Bird)." The battle between Metcalf and Grant, the only two point guards in camp, remains wide open. Donovan reiterated that players who are cut elsewhere in the WNBA during training camp could factor into the decision on Bird's backup.

"I think we will see other free agents at the point guard position come through camp," she said. "Leah and/or Erin could develop into what we need, but at this point we'd be foolish to think that two inexperienced players are the way to go."