WNBA’s New Building Block Is Rookie Taurasi

When Phoenix won the first pick in this year’s WNBA draft, the Mercury had a good idea the team’s first or second game would be on national TV.

That’s because Phoenix was going to select Diana Taurasi, who’d helped the University of Connecticut win three consecutive national championships and was considered among the best players in women’s college basketball.

Taurasi pretty much has it all -- a flashy yet strong fundamental style of play, a telegenic smile, the aura of a winner.

Perfect for television.

So the WNBA’s first televised game Saturday will feature Phoenix against the Connecticut Sun at 1 p.m. PDT on ABC.

Normally, these teams would not be in the spotlight. The Mercury is coming off the league’s worst record last year and is a longshot to make the playoffs. The Sun made the 2003 playoffs but has revamped the team with rookies and free agents. But add the Taurasi factor. Not only is she returning to an area where she is held in high regard -- the Sun plays home games in the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Conn. -- this is the league’s first chance to showcase the player it believes will take the WNBA to greater popularity.

“I think [Taurasi] has the capability to bring us a more serious sports fan, what one would call a crossover or casual fan,” WNBA President Val Ackerman said. “There’s just no question that she comes in as the most visible college senior we’ve ever had, I think even more than Sue Bird or Chamique [Holdsclaw] when Chamique came in in 1999.

“She has a style of play that kind of exudes a bit of an arrogance that we really haven’t seen in women’s basketball, and that I think a guy could relate to.”

If Taurasi, who hails from Chino, is feeling the weight of expectations on her 5 foot 11, 172-pound frame, she’s doing her best not to show it.

“I’m excited,” she said when asked about the game. “I’ve been talking to people back there and trying to figure out how many tickets I’m going to need. I’m just going to be excited to be back in Connecticut for a little bit.

“Not having that time to spend there with the tight schedule between our championship and rookie camp, it will give me a chance to see some friends and of course see Coach [Geno Auriemma]. The excitement of the crowd should be great.”

Phoenix Coach Carrie Graf, in her first season as well, has a different pressure. “The responsibility is on our team to maximize Diana’s talents to become a better team,” Graf said. “She can shoot the ball and pass to involve her teammates. I think it’s up to us, the coaching staff and players, to maximize those talents. This franchise should not be on her shoulders; it is up to us as a team to help out this young star.”

At least Taurasi will already have played one game. The Mercury opened the season Thursday against Sacramento. Taurasi scored 22 points as the Mercury lost, 72-66.

This will be the first regular-season game for the Sun. And General Manager Christopher Sienko, although happy with the national attention, wasn’t all that enchanted about Taurasi’s homecoming this early.

“We felt we would have sold out the opening game anyway,” Sienko said. “It would have been nice to have her coming back a little later in the season because we would sell that one out too. It was like when [former Connecticut star] Sue Bird came back the first time.

“All [former] UConn players resonate with the people here. But this is the way the schedule worked. And Diana has become an icon already, the most talked-about player in some time. It’s going to be that way until the next great young star comes into the league.”

Sun Coach Mike Thibault has his own high-profile draft pick to nurture, former Minnesota standout Lindsay Whalen.

“Luckily for her, we can take some of the pressure off of her,” Thibault said of Whalen. “She doesn’t have to be the star of this team and we have another point guard in Debbie Black, who can share the load. We have some accomplished scorers, so she doesn’t have to shoulder the same load that she did in college.”

No matter Thibault knows that Saturday’s game is as much Taurasi’s show as it is Connecticut’s opener.