Storm starting sore

By Janie McCauley

Associated Press

SEATTLE – Lauren Jackson may start this season right where she ended last summer – on the Seattle Storm bench.

The WNBA’s top draft pick in 2001 is doubtful for Seattle’s opener Thursday against the New York Liberty because of a sprained right ankle. She missed the final two games of last season with a shoulder injury.

And Sue Bird, this year’s No. 1 pick, is sore, too. She has a bruised left thigh, but will play.

“It’s definitely frustrating,” said Jackson, the Storm’s returning leading scorer. “But these things can’t be helped. I’m looking at the positive side of it.”

The 6-foot-5 Jackson, who arrived late to training camp after playing with her Australian national team, had an X-ray on her ankle Tuesday morning. It showed she had no broken bones, but the ankle was still very swollen, two days after she hurt it in practice.

“We’ll know a lot more tomorrow,” coach Lin Dunn said. “The good news is we don’t play tomorrow, we play Thursday. We won’t rule that out until Thursday.”

The Storm activated center Kamila Vodichkova on Tuesday from the suspended list. Vodichkova, who’s 6-4, might be the one to replace Jackson in the starting lineup Thursday, though she too was a late arrival to training camp because of overseas commitments. Vodichkova has sore Achilles’ tendons.

She appeared in 29 games last season, with four starts, and averaged 5.2 points and 2.4 rebounds.

Danielle McCulley also is a possibility to replace Jackson in the starting lineup. She signed with the Storm as a free agent.

The Storm expect a physical game with the Liberty.

“The difference in playing New York with or without Lauren Jackson is huge,” Dunn said. “As a franchise and team, we have to focus on what we do have, not on what we don’t have. We’re preparing with or without Lauren Jackson.”

Jackson, an All-Star as a rookie, led the Storm in scoring with 15.2 points per game last year and pulled down 6.7 rebounds. No other Storm player averaged double figures in scoring. She underwent offseason surgery on her shoulder.

Guard Michelle Marciniak joined Jamie Redd on the injured list Tuesday. Marciniak stepped on her own foot Sunday while landing after taking a shot, hurting her right ankle. Redd has a strained left knee.

Bird is eager for the opener. In three preseason games, she averaged 10.3 points, 3.3 assists and 2.0 steals. She has been practicing with a protective pad around her upper left leg.

“I think we’ve been beating up on each other enough,” she said. “It’s time we beat up on somebody else.”

Despite a depleted roster, Dunn is still talking big. The Storm went 2-2 in exhibition games. Seattle finished last in its first WNBA season in 2000 at 6-26 and tied for the league’s worst record last season at 10-22.

“I think it is reasonable for us to say we want to get in the playoffs,” she said. “I think we can win 15 games and get in the playoffs.”