It's playful around the Storm camp. Well, when the team isn't practicing.

Otherwise, after games players like Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Camille Little and Tanisha Wright are boasting with each other about their stat lines. And Svetlana Abrosimova is pushing Ashley Robinson around at practice.

"It's my first time ever in Seattle and you're messing it up," joked Abrosimova to Robinson, who was working with Jenny Boucek on drills but in the way of Abrosimova's television interview with KONG-TV.

The jovial mood is result of a solid 3-0 start, first since 2008 for Seattle. Although the Storm still has plenty to improve -- like further getting the bench acclimated and hitting three-point shots.

"When you get a win, you enjoy it for about six hours and then you have to move on to the next one," Storm coach Brian Agler said. "That's sort of the routine."

We're going to extend that to a week, putting Seattle atop this edition of our WNBA power rankings. Here's the complete list:

Team (Record/Last week's ranking) Comment
1. Seattle (3-0/3): Team is displaying its resiliency to open the season with three scrappy wins. True, leads WNBA in offense (85 points), but wait until the three-pointers fall -- scary.
2. Atlanta (4-0/6): Expect second-year F Angel McCoughtry to win more Player of the Week honors as long as the team continues to gel.
3. Washington (3-1/4): As expected, opening season with five of six games on the road is really testing Mystics. True personality should show against Seattle on Tuesday.
4. San Antonio (2-1/10): All-Star addition of F Chamique Holdsclaw has everyone doing the Texas two-step, but for how long?
5. Phoenix (1-1/1): Coach Corey Gaines put himself on the hot seat for team amassing 46 turnovers and reigning MVP Diana Taurasi shooting 6 of 27 from field to start season.
6. Connecticut (2-1/6): Impressive win against Washington, especially nullifying G Monique Currie. Still not convinced the Sun is worthy of the hype.
7. New York (2-1/2): Stock market drop isn't alarming. Liberty just needs another look at their investments and how to make them work as a whole.
8. Indiana (2-2/9): Odd, back-to-back weekend sweep of Chicago got Indiana some wins, but it was Chicago. Fever rookie Jene Morris is fun to watch.
9. Los Angeles (0-3/5): Uh, Lisa Leslie was supposed to retire, not the entire Sparks organization. Could LA please pick up the emergency phone -- you have a message.
10. Minnesota (1-3/8): Good news, F Rebekkah Brunson finally reported to Minnesota after winning Italian league championship.
11. Tulsa (1-2/11): The Shock got revenge against Minnesota, defeating them on the road 94-82. Maybe there will be a fight for the fourth playoff berth?
12. Chicago (0-4/12): Excuse me. I thought it was customary for the countdown for the Maya Moore, err, No. 1 draft pick to start after the All-Star break.

JAMAICAN HURRICANE: Former Storm C Simone Edwards is still campaigning for the WNBA among her native Jamaicans. She began her career in netball and was in New York to help launch a new sponsor for that sport.

But after flashing her 2004 championship ring, won with Seattle, she spoke about how more should play basketball for its benefits in snagging a scholarship to get an education. Edwards, who's an assistant coach at George Mason University, also speaks of needing funding for her national team to play internationally.

Check out the two-part interview:

POW:McCoughtry (Atlanta) and Storm F Lauren Jackson were named Player of the Week for their respective conferences. Both helped their squads become the only undefeated teams left in the WNBA. Seattle is 3-0 while Atlanta is 4-0.

MID-SUMMER SHOWCASE: The World Championship in Czech Republic didn't only fiddle with the WNBA's start-date, moving it up to May 15 instead of June. It also means there won't be a traditional All-Star game this season.

The WNBA and Team USA are actually working together to form a game of potential national team members against WNBA stars. You get to pick the WNBA reps -- no matter the conference or position. The fun (or debate) started Sunday when balloting opened.

The showcase is July 10 in Connecticut, airing at 12:30 PST on ESPN.

TV ALERT: Phoenix plays at Tulsa on ESPN2 on Tuesday at 4 p.m. PST.

View Original Post at seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/womenshoopsblog/index.html

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