Women's Hoops Blog

Jayda Evans covers college and pro women's basketball. While its her first year on the Washington beat, she has covered the Storm since its inception. She'll offer observations, critiques, occasional off-beat tales and answers to select e-mail inquires. Evans also has written a book on the Storm and women's hoops, called "Game On!"

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July 13, 2008 10:51 AM

Off day

Posted by Jayda Evans

Had a tight deadline so I couldn't rework my story to write how delusional Lisa Leslie is these days. She calls it "mommy brain," but I think parents are smarter than that.

My co-workers were in the Los Angeles locker room after the game and when asked about Storm C Yolanda Griffith's defense -- you know, the one that helped prevent Leslie from making nine of her 11 attempts -- Leslie said it had nothing to do with defense. "But you write what you need for your story," she responded.

"We just finished playing Sacramento and that's pressure defense," Leslie said, forgetting that Griffith was the matriarch of that team the past nine seasons. "The difference was they wanted it more than we did and their rebounding was the difference.

"I missed some shots that I normally make. I don't know that it was Yolanda, but whatever you need to write."

Ah, Leslie, Griffith had 12 boards -- five on the offensive end.

Leslie did give props to the KeyArena crowd for their "cheering," which was really booing when directed at her. But she didn't admit too much else.

"Honestly, I could care less about the Storm," she said. "I don't have anything to feed you for the Storm. I'm only worried about the Sparks and we've just got to do a better job the next time we see them. It's not over. It's not over."

Well, Leslie got that right; it's not over. It never is with these two teams.

The finale in the three-game regular season series is after the Olympic break on Sept. 14 in LA.

Anyway, the Storm is off today then it will begin to prepare for life without Lauren Jackson, who's vacationing before joining her Australian national team for the Beijing Games. Storm coach Brian Agler said after the win that he'd probably rotate players in the starting lineup based on matchups. Players he's considering are Camille Little, Tanisha Wright, and Katie Gearlds.

One thing is certain, "In the back of my mind, this is not a day I was looking forward to," he said of Jackson leaving.

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