Storm reloads for a 2009 season they hope will have a happier ending

Too bad you can't press pause on a season.

Looking back, the Storm would grab the remote and hit the button on July 12, 2008.

Instead, it opens its 10th season Saturday at Sacramento hoping to rewind and remember the positives of a franchise-best regular-season finish (22-12). And while most teams talk WNBA Finals and championship dreams, the Storm is a little more reserved, wanting to at least advance past the opening round for the first time since winning the title in 2004.

"We had great success," Storm forward Swin Cash said of 2008. "The sad part about it is the reality about sports. It doesn't matter what happens during the regular season, it really comes down to playoffs and that's what you're going to be remembered for."

True. But on July 12, it appeared all the criticism and cracks about the Storm having a geriatric roster were comical, that this was a team preparing for a long playoff run.

Seattle hosted rival Los Angeles before a rowdy 10,883 at KeyArena and literally batted the Sparks around. Lauren Jackson blocked five shots, veteran center Yolanda Griffith made four steals. Candace Parker, the Sparks' prized rookie, was tossed to the court. Legendary Sparks center Lisa Leslie got into early foul trouble.

With Sue Bird, Sheryl Swoopes and Cash adding offense, the star-studded lineup coach Brian Agler had put together defeated the Sparks, 70-52. No matter that Swoopes and Griffith were then 37 and 38 years old. The victory the Storm collected was in the midst of a seven-game win streak to claim first place in the Western Conference before the All-Star break.

Pause.

If only Seattle could have enjoyed it a little longer.

In two months the constellation would dissipate.

Jackson's bone chip

The first knock was Jackson. She had already been cleared to compete with her Australian national team in the Beijing Olympic Games. Then X-rays showed the two-time MVP chipped a bone in her right ankle at a practice and would require season-ending surgery in August.

Then the nagging injuries hit the three veterans who had been brought to Seattle before the season. Swoopes (head, leg) and Cash (lower back) were hurting. And Griffith continued to battle knee problems and suddenly the early criticism was unleashed.

"I think you have a bunch of old players," Detroit Shock coach Bill Laimbeer scoffed at Agler before a September matchup.

It showed during the playoffs when the Storm faced the Sparks again. This time Jackson was in street clothes and it was L.A. batting Seattle out of the postseason for the third time in franchise history.

It's game footage Agler still hasn't reviewed.

"I just didn't have the desire to watch it again," he said, noting he'll probably do so before his team plays LA. "We were right there. Even in Game 3, we gave ourselves an opportunity.

"I've thought about [what if we had Lauren] in the offseason, but you didn't have time to think about that during that situation. That was our approach. From the day she went back to train with the national team, it would have been useless to wonder 'if we had Lauren.' We had to focus on who we were at that point."

A changing roster

Agler only doubted once, in January, that he would get Jackson back.

Jackson, an unrestricted free agent, entertained offers from other teams and said her decision would be between Seattle and Phoenix. Agler was in the midst of changing his roster regardless.

This season, in a cost-cutting move, the WNBA shrunk rosters to 11 players and folded the Houston Comets.

To clear space under the $803,000 salary cap, Agler waived Swoopes the night before her veteran pay would become guaranteed (Feb. 1) and signed free-agent guard Shannon Johnson, 34. Johnson has experience playing for Agler in the defunct ABL and for San Antonio in the WNBA, and was on the U.S. Olympic team in Athens with Bird.

Griffith left, signing with Indiana. In January, Agler quickly re-signed Tanisha Wright, who replaced Swoopes in the starting lineup toward the end of the 2008 season. Although Wright will return to her natural shooting-guard position, she can still handle the offense if needed.

"When you have three of us on the court at the same time, that's a huge value," Bird said of a three-guard lineup. "I don't even know who the actual point guard is, to be honest. It doesn't even matter."

Agler's final touches were coaxing centers Janell Burse, Suzy Batkovic-Brown and Ashley Robinson to return while drafting a versatile post player in Ashley Walker, who starred at California.

Would Jackson return?

The organization and city simply had to wait until Jackson made her decision.

"The minute I got home, I called Brian and told him," said Jackson, who signed on May 4 after completing her Russian season with Bird. "I had sort of made the decision, but had to for my [Russian] club's sake wait, because they are paying me a lot of money and I needed to stay focused. I know a lot of people didn't like that, so I hear, but unfortunately that's life."

Jackson arrived two weeks into the three-week training camp, wiping sleep from her eyes as she prepared for another photo shoot with Bird. The two were both named part of the WNBA's All-Decade team, and Agler's latest roster could be the most talented they've been surrounded by.

In the photo shoot, Jackson leaned her head on Bird's shoulder and pretended to sleep.

Bird averaged 17.5 points in the Aussie's 13-game absence last season, but her plan is to send the offense back through the 6-foot-5 forward and be another secondary option.

"Any season that we haven't won has been a lost season," said Jackson, whose team was 8-5 in her absence. "It's deflating. But last year, the girls really proved that they could do it. I'm just glad to be a part of it again."

What to expect in '09

Another revamped lineup with more Olympians in Johnson and Batkovic-Brown, who played with Jackson in Beijing, provides no assurance. Especially when injuries are still a factor.

Cash had outpatient back surgery in March, rejoining practice this week. Burse missed the 2008 season due to foot and shoulder injuries, refusing surgery, and suffered a minor setback in the same left shoulder on Tuesday. She's fine to play Saturday.

"It had to stop, I didn't want to go through another season of feeling like that," said Cash of her surgery. She has battled injuries since 2005. "It was a mental challenge. When you're on the plane and have to keep walking around and can't sit. And not picking my niece up because I had to save my body for the next day. It was tough.

"I have a lot to prove to myself [this season]. I want to go out on my own terms."

That would be with a championship. Yet, no one in the Storm camp is uttering the words.

"It was hard because I felt we could go all the way," said Storm co-owner Dawn Trudeau of the injury-plagued finish last year. "The people that stepped in did a great job, but you can't replace Lauren and the culmination of three of our starting lineup.

"We'll be disappointed if we don't get out of first round, but it depends on the circumstances. One of the risks to the 11-player roster is you have less depth. Injury management is going to be critical for all the teams this year."

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