Lynx: Quinn upbeat about upcoming season

Second-year Lynx point guard Noelle Quinn has been sending text messages and e-mails recently to other players who were on the team last season.¶ "I'm telling them to hurry and come back," Quinn said. "I'm very excited just because I think this is going to be a great year for us."

The season warms up at 11 a.m. today with Minnesota's first exhibition game, against Connecticut. It will be mostly a starless affair. Both teams are missing their key veterans. They still are playing overseas or have just returned, so their internal clocks are multiple time zones off.

Lindsey Harding and Candice Wiggins should be on the Lynx's bench, back from China where they played for the U.S. team in an international tournament. Former Gopher and present Sun star Lindsay Whalen might rejoin Connecticut, too, if travel arrangements permit. Her Czech Republic team recently was eliminated in postseason play.

The only genuine WNBA starter on the floor today for the Lynx might be Quinn, and even she is questionable. Quinn missed several days of practice this week because of a sore left quad.

"She got off to a good start in training camp," Lynx coach Don Zierden said, "and then the injury has set her back. Hopefully, not too much."

The Lynx picked Quinn No. 4 pick overall in last year's draft. Despite being drafted so high, the 6-foot guard from UCLA, known for her passing, struggled during the first half of the season.

Her statistical highs were modest; eight points in one game, six rebounds in another, four assists there. Her playing time varied from 27 minutes to five.

Then an injury to a teammate gave her a chance to play regularly.

Lindsey Harding, another Lynx rookie who was the draft's No. 1 pick, suffered a knee injury on July 10 and needed season-ending surgery. At the time, Harding had started 20 games in a row and was averaging 11.7 points. She was probably the leading candidate for Rookie of the Year.

Asked to replace Harding at point guard, Quinn was unsure how well she could. "But the last part of the season I got the experience and I got to play," Quinn said. "Now I know I can do it."

Quinn started the final 14 games. She averaged only 4.4 points but an impressive 7.7 assists per game. "That's a pretty good stat," she said.

Her last Lynx game was her best. Quinn had 14 assists to set a Lynx single-game record and tied the team single-season record of 148.

"I like the passes that make the crowd go ooh and aah," Quinn said. "It's the no-look, or thread-the-needle passes. Mostly the no-look.

"You can try to be a little too flashy. You have to be cautious. You always have to make sure it works if you are going to do it. Otherwise, you will be right back on the bench with the coach."

The overseas teammate Quinn has communicated with the most is Seimone Augustus, a two-time WNBA all-star still playing with Moscow Dynamo in Russia. Quinn was with another Moscow team, called Spartak, for several months but never played because of paperwork problems.

Among the teammates she regularly practiced with were Lauren Jackson, Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird and Tina Thompson, all among the WNBA's best players. "Just working out with those players and watching them play," Quinn said, "I learned a lot."

Quinn returned to the U.S. in March, eager for training camp .

"There's been a lot of new faces," Quinn said. "But at the same time everybody's energy is high. Everybody is working hard. Everybody wants to make the team."

And everybody, at least many of the 10 rookies, are asking Quinn questions.

One important lesson Quinn has learned, is being always ready: "In life in general, you don't know what is going to happen. You can't take anything for granted."