An eager Montgomery seeks evolution

The Lynx's top rookie removed some sting from Seimone Augustus' ACL injury early this season. Next year, she hopes to sting back with a roster at full strength.

BY MIKE PEDEN

Lynx rookie guard Renee Montgomery is the shortest player on the Lynx roster at 5-foot-7, but her impact on the team would run a tape ruler empty.

Coming off Wednesday night's victory against the Detroit Shock, Montgomery is 5th among rookies in scoring with 9.1 points per game and 3rd in free throw shooting, banking 83% of her foul shots.

Montgomery began the season as a bench player, then started nine games in place of Kelly Miller at the season's midpoint before returning to the bench. Averaging 22 minutes per game, Montgomery has no issue with how she contributes to the Lynx.

"It's not hard transitioning because I seem to play a certain amount of minutes," she said. "Coming off the bench, you do have an advantage because you get to see how the game's going, how the refs are calling the game. When you come in, you're prepared for what you see."

When Montgomery saw the Lynx in a see-saw fight with the Washington Mystics in July this season, she came off the bench in the fourth quarter and executed a play conceived by head coach Jennifer Gillom the day before. The result was Montgomery scoring 18 of her 21 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to carry the team to a 96-94 win.

Montgomery later scored a career high 24 points starting against the Connecticut Sun in August.

Connecticut was Montgomery's former home, but not with the Sun. Montgomery was drafted the day after she scored 18 points en route to the University of Connecticut's first NCAA women's basketball national championship since 2004. Montgomery also won the Nancy Lieberman award this year, given to the top college point guard.

Montgomery paid homage to her college fans as she reflected on her first season away from Connecticut.

"I don't think anything can compare to the Connecticut fan base because they eat, sleep and breathe basketball," she said.

Montgomery also noted the loyalty of the Minnesota fan base despite the growing pains of the 2009 campaign.

"We were on a nine game losing streak at one point and they were still screaming as loud as they could," she said. "They really believe in us and support us."

Her stat sheet may shout pro material, but Montgomery was not ready to say if she has proven capable of competing in the WNBA. Time may answer that question, but in her short tenure with the league, Montgomery zeroed in on her biggest learning experience.

"At UConn, even if we're up 15 points, we'd want to push the ball," she said. "It's more tactical at this level. You got to find mismatches at all times. You have to know the score and clock at all times."

Casual fans would likely not guess the outcome of any game based on Montgomery's body language. She jokingly told reporters to do their homework when Lynx personnel were the first to note Nicky Anosike breaking the franchise record for most rebounds in a game in a loss to the Indiana Fever in August. In Wednesday's win over Detroit, she greeted another Lynx employee standing near the locker room in a comical manner.

"Hey over there!" she yelled from her locker several yards away, before she remembered that she was being interviewed.

Even at her perkiest, Montgomery says her skills will have to grow in order to adapt to the return of Seimone Augustus in 2010, not accounting for other potential roster changes.

"You can't come back next season as the same player and expect to be successful," she said.

Which is why Montgomery and fellow rookie Quanitra Hollingsworth will spend the off-season playing overseas together in Lithuania. Joining international leagues are common for WNBA players, but Montgomery said her and Hollingsworth are ecstatic about playing on the same team across the Atlantic.

"I'm way more relieved going over there now. We can both be lost and confused together," she said.