By Wendy Carpenter
The News Tribune
SEATTLE – Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird would never be mistaken for sisters.
They look nothing alike – Jackson is 6-foot-5, Bird 5-9 – and grew up on opposite sides of the globe, Jackson in Albury, Australia, Bird in Syosset, N.Y.
But the two 21-year-olds have found similar success on the basketball court.
Jackson, a power forward, became the youngest player to be selected to the Australia national team at age 16. She led the team to the silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, and has won three consecutive Australian Women’s National Basketball League titles.
Bird, a point guard, was putting together an impressive career at Christ the King High in New York, and at the University of Connecticut, where she won NCAA titles in 2000, and again in 2002 when the Huskies went 39-0. Among the many awards she received this spring, Bird was named The Associated Press and Naismith player of the year.
And as the two most recent top picks in the WNBA draft – Jackson in 2001 and Bird this year – the two will be inseparable this summer as the franchise players for the Seattle Storm, which begins its third season tonight at KeyArena against the New York Liberty.
“Lauren is one of the best players in the world,” Seattle guard Michelle Marciniak said. “And the fact that she’s not a rookie anymore is going to help us. It’s huge – the transition from being a rookie to your second year. She is what we build our team around.
“And I’ve been very impressed with (Bird). It’s her ability to make the bounce pass and get it right on the money. It’s like she has eyes on the side of her head. She’s smart and she knows what she’s doing – she knows where her players are on the court. If she’s open she’ll shoot; if she’s not, she’ll make a great pass.”
Scoring is something the Storm lacked last season, when it finished last in the league, averaging 60.1 points – two less than the next team.
“I’m really excited to see (Jackson) and Sue Bird connect,” said Seattle assistant coach Carrie Graf, who coached Jackson for the past two seasons for the WNBL’s Canberra Capitals and worked with her on the Australian national team. “The rest of the players are really going to revel in playing with those two.”
The only thing holding back Jackson and Bird are injuries. Jackson is questionable for tonight’s game with a sprained right ankle and a groin pull, and Bird bruised her left thigh in Seattle’s final preseason game last week.
Jackson, Seattle’s lone All-Star last summer, was already nursing a groin pull sustained in workouts Saturday when she sprained her right ankle at the end of practice Sunday. She says it is the worst ankle sprain she has suffered, and there is some ligament damage.
“I’m taking it day-by-day,” Jackson said. “I’m sort of half and half (with the groin pull and the sprained ankle). Hopefully tomorrow it will be a little less sore and it will enable me to get out there.”
Bird wears a sleeve and tape over her thigh.
“It’s fine,” Bird said. “I’ll have it taped (for tonight’s game) but that’s just so it won’t happen again.”
Marciniak, in her second season with the Storm, is also recovering from a sprained ankle. She stepped on her foot during Saturday’s practice, twisting her right ankle when she landed after taking a shot. She has been placed on the injured list – along with guard Jamie Redd, who has a sprained right knee – and will miss three games.
Regardless, Bird is looking forward to playing in her first WNBA contest, and is excited that the game will be televised on cable station MSG in her native New York.
“I definitely expect the emotions to be high,” Bird said. “It will probably take a few minutes to settle in. After that, we’ll see what happens. We have a lot of people hurt, but we have to concentrate on the people that are playing.
“If we continue to improve, I don’t see why making the playoffs is that ridiculous. And that’s our goal. If we can make the playoffs, in my eyes, that will be a successful season.”
That would be a huge difference for the Storm, which finished 10-22 in 2001, tied for worst in the WNBA.
But the Storm has had much turnover since then, cutting four veterans. Among the new faces, forward Adia Barnes is slated to start tonight, and third-round draft pick Felicia Ragland likely will be one of the first off the bench.
Before Jackson got hurt, Dunn planned on starting Bird and Semeka Randall at guard, Barnes and Jackson at forward, and Simone Edwards at center. Danielle McCulley may get the nod if Jackson can’t play.
But Jackson and Bird are the players Dunn is counting on.
“She’s bloody good,” Jackson said of Bird. “She’s awesome; she’s definitely a great player. She’s got everything that the best points guards in the world have.”
Bird is equally complimentary.
“Obviously she’s a great player. So far, we’ve done a pretty good job together,” Bird said. “As a point guard, I’m still trying to figure out where she wants the ball. I always compare it to Connecticut – my freshman year it’s not like how we were during my senior year. The more I see what she likes, the better it is. I look forward to playing with her.”
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