Mystic Rookie Has Been Small Wonder

WNBA scouts and general managers were careful not to project the same kind of expectations for the 2005 draft as they did for the 2004 draft.

The class of 2004 came loaded with ready-made pros. Nineteen of the 26 players taken in the first two rounds are playing and thriving. Two of them, Alana Beard and Diana Taurasi, will play in Saturday’s All-Star game.

The class of 2005 is more typical of previous WNBA drafts. Most of the draftees are breaking in slowly, getting minimum minutes and having minimal impact.

Four players, though, have separated themselves.

Detroit forward Kara Braxton, although foul prone, is shaking off a year of inactivity because of pregnancy and is giving the Shock 8.2 points and 3.4 rebounds a game off the bench.

San Antonio center Katie Feenstra has been a bright spot on a struggling team, averaging 8.3 points and five rebounds.

Guard Tan White has given Indiana a needed offensive boost from the backcourt, averaging 11.1 points. Her questionable shot selection helps explain her .393 shooting average. She is tough at the free-throw line, though, having converted 32 of 37 attempts.

The biggest surprise, however, has come in the smallest package.

Temeka Johnson is listed at 5 feet 3 and that’s probably after a lot of stretching. But the Washington guard, who was the sixth overall pick, is the leading candidate for rookie of the year.

Johnson is averaging 10.4 points a game. But she has scored the most points by a rookie -- 166 in 16 games, to White’s 155 in 14 games. Johnson is also shooting 50%, which stands out, considering everyone else is tall enough to block her shots.

Most impressive: Johnson is tied with veterans Sue Bird and Dawn Staley as the game’s leading playmakers. Each is averaging 5.7 assists a game. And Johnson has more assists, 91, than anyone else.

“All my life I’ve heard I’m too small for basketball,” Johnson said. “That doesn’t do anything but motivate me. I won’t let any person tell me I can’t do anything. If the Lord doesn’t want me to play, he’ll let me know.”

Mystic Coach Richie Adubato acknowledges he didn’t know what he had at first.

Adubato wasn’t hired by Washington until April 21, so he wasn’t part of the decision to draft Johnson. And as he looked at the roster, he envisioned a “big backcourt” of the 5-11 Beard and 5-9 Coco Miller.

“I wanted to be able to do a lot of switching defensively with the guards,” Adubato said. “Beard and Miller were going to be doing a lot of playing. I penciled in Temeka for 15-18 minutes.”

But Beard injured a hamstring and an ankle during training camp. There was no way she would be able to start the regular season May 21.

So Adubato turned to Johnson, who made five of eight shots for 10 points and added three assists and three steals, negating six turnovers, in her debut.

Now Adubato can’t get his little general out of the starting lineup, not that he’d want to.

“She’s a terrific leader,” he said. “But I had no idea she could shoot the ball as well, and defend as well as she does. She’s as intelligent as any point guard I’ve had. A computer on the court.

“It’s incredible how quickly she picked up our offense. She can correct me when I’m wrong. And Temeka’s ability to shoot floaters over bigger people on the run, that’s hard to find even in the NBA. She has the knack and a feathery touch.”

There were indicators during Johnson’s college career that she could make the jump to the WNBA.

In four seasons at Louisiana State, she started 127 of the 129 games she played. She finished her career as the all-time assist leader for LSU and the Southeastern Conference with 945. She helped the Lady Tigers reach the Final Four in her junior and senior years.

But when scouts watched her, they often saw nothing more than a 5-3 basketball player.

All Johnson wanted was a chance. “Once I got through training camp and the first two games, I was comfortable,” Johnson said. “I am still learning as I go on. But basketball is basketball. I’ve been doing it all my life. I let things come to me, not overdo things.”

On offense, she can dazzle with speed and surprise with her shooting range.

“She can jump-shoot threes, and that takes strength,” Adubato said.

And, so far, Johnson has not been the defensive liability her size would seem to indicate.

“Temeka doesn’t let players get her in too deep in the post,” Adubato said. “She can front them, get on their legs, and make it hard to get the ball inside. Other guards have tried to post her and no one has been successful.”

If she plays the second half as well as she did the first, Johnson should be the easy choice for rookie of the year.

And she’ll be living testimony on how small people can succeed in a game dominated by big people.

“You just have to play the way you’re capable of playing,” she said.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

WNBA All-Star game

Facts and figures on today’s WNBA All-Star game:

* Where: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Conn.

* When: 1 p.m., Channel 7 (pregame coverage at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN2)

* Series: West leads, 5-0 (game wasn’t played in 2004 because of the Olympics)

* Coaches: Anne Donovan, Seattle (West); Mike Thibault, Connecticut (East)