WNBA Playoffs: Bird, Jackson steering Storm

Rain crashed against the industrial-style architecture of the Storm's training facility. Inside on the wet Sunday, in a preseason practice, perimeter players griped at coaches on one end of the court while post players gave a half-hearted effort during drills on the other.

Standing with a disgusted look in the middle, Storm coach Anne Donovan blew her whistle and drew the players in. With a stern voice she said: "This is not how we won a championship last season." Then she looked for her point guard, standing toward the back of the huddle. "Sue [Bird], pull your team together."

Donovan was asking Bird and Lauren Jackson to provide leadership, a role neither was comfortable with. And for the first half of the season, the Storm lost more than it won, as its stars struggled with their new task. At the All-Star break, though, Bird and Jackson accepted the challenge.

Now, as the Storm opens the WNBA playoffs tonight at Houston, it looks like a team with a chance of repeating last year's championship run.

At that preseason practice, Bird, in her airy voice, reminded the team that the season was starting later that week and it was time to focus. But it was an awkward first step to what proved to be a trying start to the Storm's summer.

Days earlier, Bird had spoken of the perks of winning, like the sponsorship deal that had her tooling around in a Hummer. Or the free dinners co-captain Lauren Jackson enjoyed before returning home to Australia last fall.

And it was a different Storm team than the one that had won the title.

Gone were starters Sheri Sam and Kamila Vodichkova, strong voices of calm in a locker room of new faces. With five new players, four of whom were new to the WNBA, it was up to Bird and Jackson to head the ship, with background help from veterans Betty Lennox, Alicia Thompson and Simone Edwards.

"Anne sat us both down at the beginning of the year and said she would need more leadership from us," Jackson said. "With the ups and the downs of the season, we've both tried to keep our composure and tried to lead the best way that we can. We didn't have any other choice if we wanted to be successful."

But that didn't come naturally for either Bird or Jackson, both 24. Bird prefers to lead by example, and Jackson likes to play in a traditional team concept. But after dipping below .500 for the first time since 2003 with an 81-69 loss in San Antonio, the last in a four-game road losing streak, the two All-Stars changed their styles while remaining true to their characters.

"We were all ticked," said Bird. "[Lauren and I] balance each other well because she's way more vocal and does a great job of holding our teammates accountable, because she does it herself. As the season went on, we learned when we needed to pull the team in and say some things and when we could play through it."

Bird also had to adjust to wearing a facemask until season's end after breaking her nose and right orbital cheekbone against Connecticut on June 7. After a rash of turnovers that coincided with the Storm's four-game road losing streak, she helped lead the Storm to six consecutive wins to end July.

Jackson, the league's second-leading scorer (17.6), started the season with more of a defensive mindset because she was still rehabilitating her reconstructed right ankle. After the All-Star break, when the Storm was 8-9, she felt her offensive game emerging, which allowed her to ease into more of a leadership role on the court.

"We were at a point where we knew something had to be done. We had to change things," Thompson said. "We were losing games that we knew we should have been winning and I think the All-Star break was a great opportunity for everybody to sit back, re-evaluate themselves and what they needed to do to contribute to the team. Everybody did that, because we knew we needed a change. We knew that we needed to start winning games. It was a matter of everybody's focus changing."

The Storm was 12-5 after the All-Star break, ending the season on an impressive three-game winning streak and a franchise-record nine-game winning streak at KeyArena. The Storm has the same 20-14 record as last season and is the No. 2 seed again in the Western Conference.

Seattle's first-round matchup with Houston (19-15) is interesting because the teams are practically young and old versions of each other. The Comets are a veteran team with two set All-Star leaders in forwards Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson. They won the first four WNBA championships. The Storm is defending its first title. It's fitting that if young stars Jackson and Bird are going to build a similar dynasty in Seattle, they would have to first defeat the old one in Houston.

"When we lost Sue for a couple of games, Lauren had to step it up," Donovan said. "Then when we lost Betty, both Lauren and Sue had to step it up. It's been gradual all year long. They had to really demand and set the tone for the team. Both have grown into being more verbal leaders. You watch them and Sue is definitely more animated and verbal in huddles, and Lauren is more aware of what she's saying and how she's saying it."

The Storm has had to battle injuries all season. Jackson suffered a strained back Saturday but said she'll play tonight.

"This season has been strange," said Lennox, whose team was 3-3 during her injury absence. "At one point we were below .500, and look at us now."

Jayda Evans: 206-464-2067 or jevans@seattletimes.com