Storm Has Been Successful Without Jackson
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Kevin Pelton, StormBasketball.com | April 27, 2011
With Wednesday's announcement that three-time MVP
Lauren Jackson will sit out the first half of the 2012 season to train for the London Olympics with the Australian National Team, the Seattle Storm has more than a year to prepare to play without Jackson. That won't necessarily make things any easier, but the Storm's experience in 2008 and 2009 has shown that the team can be competitive without its star player.
In 2008, Jackson's commitment to the Opals forced her to miss the last six games prior to the Olympic break. Coming back from the Olympics, the Storm also had to play without Jackson due to surgery on her right ankle. The Storm went 8-5 in that span to secure the second seed in the Western Conference. A year later, multiple stress fractures in her lower back forced Jackson to the sidelines for the last six games of the regular season. In total, Jackson missed eight games in 2009, during which the Storm went 5-3.
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Remarkably, the Storm's record without Jackson in 2008 and 2009 combined (13-8, .619) was actually slightly better than with the MVP on the court (29-18, .617).
That's not to say the Storm didn't miss Jackson, of course. Many of the team's wins without her tended to be close games where the Storm relied on 
Sue Bird's heroics down the stretch, and Jackson's absence was felt during postseason series losses to the Los Angeles Sparks. With a healthy Jackson leading the way, the Storm swept Los Angeles in last year's playoffs en route to a WNBA championship.
What that history does suggest is the Storm can survive without Jackson - especially knowing that she will be back in the lineup after the break.
"It's like if we were missing Sue or 
Swin (Cash) or 
Camille (Little) or 
Tanisha (Wright), it would be the same thing," said Storm Head Coach 
Brian Agler. "I think everybody understands that over a long period of time, we probably aren't quite as competitive, but if you take it one day at a time, if we can get a good gauge on our team and how we have to compete against each specific team, we have our opportunities to have success. That's what our focus will be when that time comes."
Despite the fact that Jackson excels individually as a defender, the Storm has been able to ratchet up its intensity at the defensive end of the floor and rely on Agler's system to stifle opposing offenses in Jackson's absence. During 2009, teams scored just 91.6 points per 100 possessions in the eight games Jackson missed. By comparison, no WNBA team allowed fewer than 95 points per 100 possessions over the course of the season.
"I always feel like we're going to be extremely competitive defensively," explained Agler. "Obviously Lauren could be the best defender, the most impactful player at the defensive end in the league, but that doesn't mean we can't on our own make adjustments - and we always wish and hope they're short-term adjustments - to compensate for her absence."
The mindset of the remaining Storm players is key. Rather than allowing the team to dwell on Jackson's absence, Agler has focused on all the talent the Storm still has on the roster. That approach helped the Storm reverse what once was a near total inability to win without Jackson. From 2003 through 2007, the Storm won just once in the 11 games Jackson missed. Now, notes Agler, "We have a core group that's been through it for two years and one occasion last year."
For the Storm organization, Jackson's decision came as no surprise. Discussions about Jackson's future leading up to the 2012 Olympics have been ongoing since the team re-signed Jackson to a multi-year contract more than a year ago. For the most part, the Storm was waiting to see the result of discussions between Jackson and Basketball Australia about 2012 training.
Throughout that process, Agler made it clear the Storm would respect Jackson's decision, knowing how important the opportunity to chase an elusive gold medal in the Olympics is to her.
"Lauren and I have talked about it," said Agler, "and our stance is we're going to support Lauren - just we'd like support Sue and Swin and any of our players that are on a national team in preparation for the Olympics. Now that being said, that doesn't mean that we feel like we take a backseat to that. Our focus is to be as competitive as possible, but our stance is we want to support our players, we want to support their careers.
"We know that the elite players in our league have multiple alliances throughout their career and the season and it's our job to negotiate the best we can for the Seattle Storm. We've put that in play in recent months."
Making an announcement now gives the Storm some clarity in terms of what lies ahead. With training camp less than three weeks away, however, Agler isn't overly concerned with 2012.
"We do make plans that far in advance in some ways, but our focus right now is just on 2011," he said. "2012, with this looming now, we may make some adjustments. We definitely will make some adjustments during the offseason after the 2011 season. Will that impact what we do right now? I guess possibly, but our main focus will be the 2011 season."
Fortunately for the Storm, that 2011 season will include a healthy Jackson, who is traveling to Seattle this week to get settled before the start of camp.
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