Storm guard frustrated in injury limbo

All Tanisha Wright could do was pedal faster on her stationary bike when the Storm ran through its offense.

For a week, guard Tanisha Wright has played vicariously through her teammates as she nursed a pulled left groin suffered Saturday. Not the way she wanted to head into the second week of training camp, especially after garnering praise from coach Anne Donovan the opening week and knowing her spot on the roster dangles by a thread.

"It's frustrating, it really is," Wright said. "You want to come back as soon as possible and be able to solidify that [roster spot] ... But right now I'm not in that position to be able to do that, so I can only wait and see what happens. It's a frustrating situation."

Wright, a third-year veteran, will travel with the team for its two-game exhibition trip against Indiana on Saturday and Connecticut on Tuesday. Donovan does not expect Wright to play against the Fever, but is hopeful she'll be able to start against the Sun.

In Wright's place, rookie Katie Gearlds will run the offense. While Gearlds' spot on the roster was guaranteed by Donovan last week, her play at the point and Donovan's history with the lone free agent at camp, Italian guard Francesca Zara, makes Wright's predicament tougher.

Gearlds has bridged the absence of All-Star Sue Bird with her ability to pick up the offense quickly and run the team. Zara has an edge of currently playing with Bird and forward Lauren Jackson in Russia, plus leading the Storm to a 2-2 record in four starts for Bird during the 2005 season.

Wright has one impressive week of camp and a miserable sophomore season in the league. In 2006, she lost confidence the second week of training camp and finished the summer averaging 3.8 points and 1.8 rebounds, and ranked fourth among Storm players with 52 turnovers in 33 games.

"I'm not one of those players that has the luxury of sitting out the whole preseason and trying to come in and build from there," Wright said. "I'm definitely not going to do anything to hinder my situation here, but as a competitor you want to get out there on the floor. You want to play and you want to help."

The change in Wright's game was noticeable last week. She pinpointed a bounce pass to a racing Iziane Castro Marques for a layin and on the next possession sank a midrange jumper. Wright directed teammates around the court and continued her strong defense.

That confidence was absent last summer, when Wright was hesitant and allowed a mistake to consume her.

The first step past that tendency took place overseas.

After Wright's rookie season, she opted to complete her degree at Penn State and teach elementary kids while working out with her former college team. Last fall she played for Hapoel Tel Aviv, averaging 19.2 points as a point forward. Yet her turnovers remained high, at 5.4 per game.

"The fact that I was able to play point helped a lot because I had to make smart decisions, and it's showing a bit," said Wright, who also lost weight. "Overseas was great for my confidence as well, I'm not going to lie. People take it serious, but I'd be completely lying if I said I took it as serious as I do here. It was a lot easier to let it go."

Wright is about a year removed from the death of her cousin, Donnie "DC" Douthett, who was her biggest supporter. She missed one game in July to attend his funeral. She tried to not let her loss affect her season, but said it was difficult.

Rejuvenated, she's ready to have a better season.

But she'll have to wait until the groin heals, saying it no longer causes "excruciating pain" when she moves.

Donovan preaches patience.

"T is not going to play unless she's really ready, and she knows that," the coach said. "In the past, she's been impatient, but I think it speaks to where she is with her game. She's shown us everything. She's got confidence in her game. She knows we're going to need her and rely on her."

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