Lynx opener: Augustus has her sights on winning

Seimone Augustus is leaner and quicker. And Augustus' basketball instincts tell her the Lynx will be different, too.

"Hopefully, this year we will do more winning than losing," the sixth-year Lynx veteran said.

That would be a change.

The Lynx, who open their season on the road Friday against Los Angeles, have had one winning season in their 12-year history and have missed the WNBA playoffs the past six years.

The Lynx took Augustus with the No. 1 pick in the 2006 draft after she led Louisiana State to three Final Fours. But she has not been able to duplicate her college success.

Two surgeries made her past two seasons especially difficult. Augustus had season-ending surgery on her left knee in 2009 after six games. Last year she had abdominal surgery the day before training camp began, forcing her to miss the first nine games.

"The knee is feeling great," Augustus said. "And the other situation with the fibroids [noncancerous tumors] is over. I am feeling 100 percent."

Her motivation to lose weight came in Turkey last winter when she saw herself on a WNBA commercial while playing overseas.

"I looked so chunky," Augustus said. "From that day forward, I started eating better, getting into the gym early, getting some cardio."

Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve is impressed. "Seimone looks just night and day [from] where she was last year," Reeve said. "She physically wasn't feeling that great. Even with all that she was still the eighth-leading scorer in the WNBA."

Reeve has moved Augustus from small forward to shooting guard, creating a starting spot for rookie Maya Moore.

"Maya is a lot bigger than me, so she can get in there and bang," Augustus said. "And she is younger, so I will let her get in there and do the dirty work."

"She is definitely going to be a little bit more of a scoring option," Augustus said. "I am not the only go-to player out there, so that will cause some havoc for the defenses."

That's the plan, at least: Augustus hitting from the outside, Moore from anywhere. Augustus averaged 16.9 points and shot 42.9 percent from the field last season, both career lows. She particularly struggled in the Lynx's 2-4 finish, scoring either eight or six points in those four losses.

"That is just the comeback process," Augustus said. "You have to get in shape. I probably did hit a wall later in the season."

In 2009, she was averaging 21 points per game until she suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

The Lynx have been tabbed as the WNBA's most improved team in a preseason survey of general managers.

"For the last few years we have been talking about, 'Oh, we need some more pieces,' " Augustus said. "I feel like all the pieces are here. You have talented post players, you have a great guard corps. You've got a great point guard in Lindsay Whalen. I mean everything is there and it is in place."

Including a tall, slender guard with dreadlocks.

2:30 p.m. Sunday