Storm Not Satisfied with 3-0 Start
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Kevin Pelton, stormbasketball.com | May 24, 2010
After the Seattle Storm finished its practiced Monday at Royal Brougham Pavilion, Head Coach
Brian Agler informed All-Star center 
Lauren Jackson that she'd been chosen as the WNBA's Western Conference Player of the Week for averaging 22.0 points and 8.3 rebounds in the Storm's first three games of the season. Jackson accepted Agler's congratulations, then quickly moved on to working on her shot after practice.
That about sums up the Storm's response to starting the season as one of the league's last two unbeaten teams at 3-0.
"It feels good," downplayed Agler. "I'm glad we've had success, but we've just got to focus on getting better."
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The way Agler describes his philosophy, a win can be savored for the rest of the evening - "about six hours." Then it's a matter of moving on to the next game and focusing on improving.
Even if the coach wanted to enjoy the team's start, the Storm's schedule wouldn't afford much opportunity for reflection early in the campaign. After taking a day off, the Storm spent Monday working on improving at both ends of the floor as well as preparing for the 3-1 Washington Mystics, who visit KeyArena Tuesday night (7:00 p.m., 1150 AM KKNW, LiveAccess, 
).
Following that, the Storm heads out on the road to take on the Chicago Sky and the San Antonio Silver Stars, who are currently second in the Western Conference. Next Tuesday, the Storm will return home to take on the undefeated Dream.
Jackson draws on past experience when it comes to maintaining perspective about a strong start to the season.
"I was talking to my parents last night," she said, "and it was funny because we were having a conversation and it was like, 'I think we've been here so many times before and then we lose the next three.' You can't relax for one minute in this league, because the day that you do relax you're going to get (destroyed) on the court. We don't want that, so it's time to not get complacent and keep working on what we need to get better and get more wins."
That's why Jackson, despite being honored by the league, was still out working on her game after practice. There are many areas she feels she can improve from how she has played through the Storm's first three games.
"Defensively, stopping more people in the post," she said. "Less fouls. Offensively, scoring, getting inside a little bit more. Being more consistent with my shots. I'm putting up a lot of shots per game; I just want to make sure they go in."
In terms of having been here before, Jackson's memory is exaggerating a little. The Storm has started 3-0 only one other time in franchise history, in 2008. However, the team did experience a similar situation last season. A win at Phoenix three weeks into the season moved the Storm to 5-2 and earned Jackson Player of the Week honors. The Storm defeated the Sparks at home in the next game, but then suffered consecutive lopsided losses at Los Angeles and Phoenix. That's life in the WNBA.
"You don't have time to feel sorry for yourself or get too up about yourself," said Agler.
While she was singled out to win Player of the Week, Jackson noted that the honor was odd because of the fact that the Storm has relied on balanced performances to win its first three games.
"Our wins have been very team-y wins; it's not like I've been outstanding or anything," she said. "I think all of my teammates have stepped up. I think that if they could have given a couple of Player of the Week awards, a couple of my teammates would have got it."
In particular, 
Swin Cash would have been a strong contender after averaging 19.7 points and 5.0 rebounds in the Storm's three wins. Cash made big scores down the stretch in the Storm's win over Minnesota and came up with seven points in overtime against the Mercury. She also leads the WNBA with an average of 7.3 free throws per game.
All five Storm starters are averaging double-figures scoring, and all of them are averaging at least 5.0 rebounds per game. In addition, point guard 
Sue Bird's average of 7.3 assists per game is tops in the league.
The Player of the Week award was the 15th of Jackson's career. That ties her with former Los Angeles Sparks center Lisa Leslie for the most in WNBA history. Jackson has won at least one Player of the Week award in each of the last eight seasons, including a league-record five during her 2007 MVP campaign.
STORM DEBUTS
Two Storm rookies, forwards 
Abby Bishop and 
Jana Veselá, saw the first action of their WNBA careers during Saturday's win at Phoenix. While Veselá was expected to play and figures to be part of the Storm's rotation going forward, Bishop got a surprising chance to see playing time when Jackson and 
Le'coe Willingham got in foul trouble late in the third quarter.
"It was good. It was exciting," said Bishop. "I guess I didn't really expect it, but when Brian came down to the end of the bench and said 'Abby,' I was ready and I came on for a few minutes and I think I did everything fine. I didn't do anything special, but I was obviously nervous and excited, so I just did what I needed to do."
During her three minutes on the floor, Bishop grabbed an offensive rebound. The Storm outscored the Mercury by two points in that span.
"I think those first nerves are out of the system," she said, "so when I come out next time I'll be ready to just do my thing and step in there to give Lauren a rest or 
Camille (Little) a rest."
