Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve joked that Lindsay Whalen just wanted to stay home and watch the Wild game. Janel McCarville suggested, smiling, that Whalen was so far ahead of everybody else that she wanted to give them all a day or so to catch up.

Seriously, though, Whalen, the team's starting point guard, missed the opening of training camp after waking up Sunday morning feeling sick.

She was not the only Lynx starter missing. Both Seimone Augustus and Rebekkah Brunson, with international commitments, were also gone.

The opening day of camp did not include an overly-harsh practice. More time was spent trying to install plays than to push the conditioning. There will be plenty of time for that in the coming days. The Lynx have a number of new faces, including draft picks Lindsey Moore, Ta'shauna Rodgers and Janeesa Jeffery, undrafted free agent Shawnice Wilson, recently-acquired Janel McCarville and signees Rachel Jarry and Jacki Gemelos, and Reeve wanted to get everybody on the same page.

"There was a lot of teaching, a lot of stopping," Reeve said. "It was a Day One. It's kind of a necessary evil. You have to get through it to get to Day Two.''

Some other notes:

--Maya Moore started the practice off by telling everyone – including the newcomers – how motivated the team had to be to get over the disappointment of last year's loss to Indiana in the WNBA finals.

--Lynx guard/forward Monica Wright already knows a lot about Jarry, an Australian player signed by the Lynx. Both of them played in Australia, both for teams located in suburban Melbourne. "We were kind of like rivals," Wright said. "Our teams really didn't like each other. … I know here well. I know her elbows really well. We got a little taste of each other."

And now they're teammates. "When I saw she signed I was like, 'OK, I'll be nice to her,' '' Wright said.

--McCarville, who has been working out with Whalen for a few weeks, was thrilled to be in a full team setting for the first time. "We have a great group of girls here," she said. "Definitively a lot of intensity. High intensity."

That's about it. I'll get back to you after Monday's practice.