Australian WNBA star Lauren Jackson sets sights on London Olympics

THE world's best female basketballer, Lauren Jackson, says pausing her WNBA career to try to win an Olympic gold medal feels more like a compulsion than a sacrifice.

Jackson will skip the first half of next year's US season to spend three months preparing with the Opals for the July-August London Games.

Basketball Australia (BA) hope the entire Australian team will follow their captain's lead, as the Opals try to add a first Olympic gold medal to three consecutive silvers.

It is no small move for Jackson.

She was the WNBA's most valuable player for the third time last year.

She then capped a stunning team and individual season by also becoming the finals MVP as she helped Seattle to a championship for the second time.

But Jackson said while that experience was extremely special, Olympic gold would top it.

"The one thing I really haven't done in my career is get a gold medal at the Olympic Games. It may be my last opportunity,'' the 29-year-old Jackson said.

"Seattle Storm have been my priority for the past 11 years, they'll be my priority straight after the Olympics for probably the rest of my career.

"But this is something that I had to do.''

While the Storm support her, Jackson said she would not have let the club stand in her way.

"Even if they said to me tomorrow 'we don't want you back,' it would be like, 'well, that's too bad, I'll go somewhere else'," she said.

While Jackson is the first to commit to BA's preparation plan, she expects her fellow Opals stars to follow.

However, the superstar admitted younger players still establishing themselves overseas would find it tougher.

Fellow Opal Penny Taylor of the Phoenix Mercury is a WNBA star, but youngsters Liz Cambage and Jenna O'Hea will be in the early stages of their American careers in 2012.

The likes of Belinda Snell, Erin Phillips and Tully Bevilaqua could also jeopardise their contracts if they tried to force a similar situation to Jackson.

But Jackson said it would pay off in improvements in the Opals' team chemistry, physical preparation and freshness.

And while the USA, who have downed Australia in the past three Olympic finals, will again be favourites, she believes the Opals are talented enough to upstage them.

"They're the best, everybody knows that, we're the underdogs,'' she said.

"But I think that we have a very, very special group of kids coming through and a very special group of older veterans who have been around and that's quite a scary mix.''

Source: 

http://www.perthnow.com.au

Lauren Jackson : The Making of the Greatest Female Basketball Player

Lauren Jackson was born to Maree and Gary Jackson on May 11, 1981, in Albury, New South Wales, Australia. Her brother, Ross, came along a year later. Lauren’s mother, who stands 6-2, played basketball for the Opals, Australia’s national women’s team, beginning in 1974. She starred for Louisiana State University from 1976 to 1978, returning Down Under each year to join the Opals. Maree was so dominant a center during the late 1970s and early 80s that she was called the female Wilt Chamberlain.

Lauren’s father, three inches taller than his wife, owned a laser-like jumper and also played for Australia’s national team (the men go by the nickname “Boomers”), though he was never a big star. His favorite player was Chamberlain, too. Both parents coached youth teams in New South Wales province during Lauren’s childhood.

She went on her first hoops road trip at two weeks and was holding a tiny basketball at four weeks. At two years, she was guaranteeing Australia would win Olympic gold with her help. At four years, she already looked comfortable on the court—and under the bleachers, where she spent countless hours exploring (and napping) while her parents practiced for, played in, and later coached in national tournaments. 

By age nine, Lauren had prodigy written all over her; at 13 she made the national junior squad; at 14 she stood six feet tall and was invited to attend the Australian Institute of Sport; at 15, she accepted.

By her 16th birthday, Lauren stood 6-3 and weighed a gangly 150 pounds. She had always been a streaky player who could pour in points in bunches, but now the rest of her game was coming around. She saw the entire court, and could dribble and pass well enough to move from the pivot and become a playmaker. She was easily the best player on her AIS team.

Lauren was invited to join the Opals for the 1998 World Championships in Germany, and at 17 became the youngest player ever on the national squad. What a thrill it was to hob nob with the country’s top player, Michele Timms, and team captain Robyn Maher, who had actually been a teammate of her mother’s years earlier.

Since the age of 19, Lauren Jackson has been touted as the next great WNBA star. In the 2000 Olympics, played in Sydney, Jackson starred for the Australian National Team, averaging 15.9 points and 8.4 rebounds as Australia earned silver. The following year, the Storm made Jackson the top pick of the WNBA Draft. After two seasons where she made the All-Star team but struggled at times with consistency, Jackson reached her potential in 2003, winning MVP and leading the WNBA in scoring at 21.2 points per game. Jackson has followed it up with two more All-WNBA First Team honors and back-to-back runner-up finishes in MVP voting before winning MVP again in 2007. Another outstanding Olympics performance in 2004 saw Australia win silver. 


Jackson is the youngest and fastest player in WNBA history to score 3,000 and 4,000 career points and was voted to the WNBA's All-Decade Team. Lauren began her professional career at the Australian Institute of Sports in the WNBL before moving on to the Canberra Capitals. She is currently a forward/centre with the Seattle Storm of the WNBA and the Australian national team The Opals. She has won national championships in the U.S., Australia, and Russia, as well as a World Championship. 

In 2003, although the Seattle Storm did not make the playoffs, she was voted the WNBA's Most Valuable Player. In 2004, the Seattle Storm team won the WNBA Championship by defeating the Connecticut Sun, two games to one. She was runner-up for the MVP award in that year and again in 2005. In April 2006, she signed a three-year contract to stay with the Storm.

On 24 July 2007, Jackson scored a WNBA record 47 points in a 97-96 overtime loss to the Washington Mystics at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. She also set the record for the most field goals in a game, with 18 made.

On 6 September 2007, Jackson won her second MVP award. She led the league in both scoring (23.8 points per game) and rebounding (9.7) and was second in the league in blocked shots (2.0) as well as leading the WNBA in double-doubles with 17. She was also named Player of the Week five times. In the offseason leading up to the 2009 season, Jackson signed a free-agent deal to return to the Storm. Jackson also received the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2007.

On 2 September 2010, Jackson was presented her third MVP Award at the Seattle Storm's Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the Phoenix Mercury. On 17 September 2010, the Storm beat the Atlanta Dream to win the WNBA championship for the second time. Jackson was named the finals MVP.

En route to her third MVP award, Jackson helped propel the Storm to the best record in the WNBA at 28-6, which equaled the most wins in league history (by the 28-4 Los Angeles Sparks in both 2000 and 2001). Seattle also posted the first 17-0 home record in WNBA history. 

The Australian native captured the WNBA Western Conference Player of the Month presented by Kia Motors honors in May, June and July of this year. In the process, Jackson increased her total haul of weekly honors to 19, the most in WNBA history.

The 10-year pro started all 32 games in which she played and ranked among the WNBA’s top 10 in numerous categories, including finishing fourth in points (20.5 ppg) and seventh in rebounds (8.3 rpg). She also ranked fourth in free-throw percentage (.910), fifth in blocks (1.19 bpg) and seventh in double-doubles (nine). 

Jackson finished the season with 656 total points (tallying double figures in all but one game), 264 rebounds (including 175 defensive boards), 38 assists, 38 blocks, and 30 steals. She made 220 of her 476 shots from the field, including 54 of 156 from three-point range. 

Sources:

Wikipedia

Jockbio.com
WNBA