The spotlight is, somewhat, off Brittney Griner in this, her second season in the WNBA—or maybe just shifted a bit.
When you stand 6-foot-8, were the No. 1 draft pick in the league, and dunked twice in a game last season, well, the glare of the lights is never too far away.
Griner, 23, who starred at Baylor University before turning pro, is the standout center for the Phoenix Mercury, a team that advanced to the conference finals in 2013. She is coming off an All-Star season in which she averaged 12.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
"From the first year I learned to just bring it every game," Griner said at the team's media day, held May 13. "Honestly, that's basically it—just play every game like it's your last one. You know it is high intensity games that we play. Doing the work beforehand, [such as] scouting reports, really knowing the player. Honestly that was kind of one of the biggest things that I kind of struggled with a little bit. Just knowing my player, knowing their tendencies; because they know you, they know you inside out. They know what your favorite move is, they know how to counter any move that you do. So really just taking that and staying focused."
Griner ranked third in the league last season in blocks per game.
"The first half [of the 2013 season], we didn't really see it coming, honestly," Griner said. "We didn't start off too strong. We know what we did wrong last year. We definitely need to play as a unit and it starts on the defensive end—stopping the ball. You can score, but if the other team is scoring too, then it just comes to who outscores the other person. Just being that unit on defense and everybody getting down and guarding and helping, I think that's how we're going to avoid those losses that we had earlier in the season.
"We have everybody here [now] so we're working on getting that chemistry together, and like I said, getting that unit on defense. Just working together, learning each other's tendencies, weaknesses, how to help. Just basically learning everybody, that's the key thing. And just playing hard, honestly, we can't wait until we get down to play hard—and just keeping that intensity the whole way."
The Mercury ( 19-15 last season ) are now coached by Sandy Brondello, who replaced Corey Gaines.
Brondello is a WNBA veteran coach and she also played five seasons with the Seattle Storm ( 2003 ), Miami Sol ( 2001-02 ) and the Detroit Shock ( 1998-99 ), averaging 11.4 points and 2.3 assists in 155 career games. Brondello played in the inaugural WNBA All-Star Game in 1999, and ranks fourth in league history with her 41 percent career three-point percentage.
Brondello played for the Australia National Team for 18 years and is a four-time Olympian.
"She brought a lot of energy the first day," Griner said of Brondello. "She told us just come, effort is key; [be] ready to learn, retain and just get better every day. Everything has been great. I love working with her."
Griner said the 2014 Mercury approach "is kind of like going back to college a little bit. Just being that anchor and pressuring the whole game. Just getting back into that mindset of playing defense, you're going to play D. You know, I love that. I love defense, honestly, better than offense. My biggest thing is blocking shots, [and] that's on the defensive end. So getting my mind and body down and hands up. That's one of the biggest things because when I'm a big presence down there in the paint it changes everything. Guards don't want to drive in there, because I'm going to send it."
Griner said the beginning of training camp this year was "easy sailing" compared to 2013. "Last year it was run here, go there, we need you here after the game, we need you here before the game. It was a lot, getting pulled in every direction. This year it is a little more settled. I'm able to lock in and focus mainly on basketball and I think that's really going to help me out a lot this year."
Griner, shortly before the 2013 season, came out as a lesbian and also revealed that she was bullied as a child. This spring, Griner revealed a lot more personally with her coming-of-age autobiography, titled, In My Skin: My Life On And Off The Basketball Court. She co-wrote the book with Sue Hovey.
"I'm definitely more comfortable this year. So my confidence is up, I'm not walking on egg shells. You know, not knowing what's going to happen and what to expect," Griner said. "I know [now] what's going to happen, I know what to expect, I know what playoffs are like. So just me being comfortable, I think is going to help me out, because when you have confidence on the court that means everything. You don't want to be nervous and worrying about the next thing when you're on the court — you just want to be free and just play."
Griner and the Mercury open their season May 17 against Seattle. Phoenix plays in Chicago against the Sky on Wednesday, July 2, while the Sky travel to Arizona on July 11.
"I expect [a] championship," this season, Griner said. "We went to the Western Conference Finals last year and that was good, but that was not what we set out for. We set out to get to the Championship and win it, and that's my goal again this year. For us to do that … I normally don't have personal goals, honestly, normally my goal is to win a championship, but, I'm trying to average a double-double. Coach kind of challenged me to that, so if I set that as one of my goals that will definitely help out my team. If it's a double-double with points and boards or with boards and blocks, whatever it is that will definitely help my team so that's kind of one of my personal goals this year.
"We're going to be exciting this season."
