The Phoenix Mercury and Seattle Storm want to get back to championship-winning
form this season.
It’s just that their players don’t want to talk too much about it.
“There was one year, I was not saying that word anymore,” Mercury guard Diana
Taurasi, the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer, told the Arizona Republic. “It’s
just easy to say we want to win a championship.
“Do we have the talent? Yes. Are we going to take that extra step of making sure
we put it together and we make it work to the point we’re playing at a level
together as a championship team? We’ll see. We have the talent, the experience
and the ability to do that. Now we’ve got to put it together.”
The Mercury did that Friday night in their season opener as Taurasi scored 26
points, including the 1,000th 3-pointer of her career, in an 86-78 victory
against the visiting Dallas Wings.
DeWanna Bonner, who returned after missing last season to give birth to twins,
added 17 points and 12 rebounds. Brittney Griner, battling foul trouble, scored
13 points and newcomer Briann January had 10.
The Storm opens their season Sunday night, hosting the Mercury at Seattle’s
KeyArena.
With veteran Sue Bird and emerging superstars Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loyd,
the Storm also have title aspirations.
“I’m not going to say anything. I don’t want to jinx it,” Loyd told The Seattle
Times. “That would be pretty dope, though.”
Of course, the Mercury and Storm have to contend with the Los Angeles Sparks and
Minnesota Lynx in the Western Conference.
The Storm selected UCLA point guard Jordin Canada with the No. 5 overall pick in
the WNBA draft and brought in veteran Courtney Paris to help shore up the
frontcourt.
“The first thing I want to be is a winning basketball team. We haven’t been a
winning basketball team since 2011,” said new Storm coach Dan Hughes, a 20-year
WNBA veteran. “We have to change the defensive direction where it’s been and
where we’d like to go. … To be elite, we’re going to have to shore up the
defensive side of the ball.”
Stewart, who is entering her third professional season, won four NCAA titles at
UConn, earning MVP honors of the Final Four each time.
“I’m here to win. That’s why I play basketball. I’m tired of being 15-19 or
whatever …” Stewart told The Times. “It’s about winning and bringing that
culture back to the Storm franchise.”
