Tamika Catchings believes she is 75 percent recovered from an Achilles' tendon injury and improving every day.
The Indiana Fever star - perennially the team's leader in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals - tore her right Achilles in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals. She had surgery last September and the lengthy recovery process forced her to miss the first eight games this season.
``Every practice and every game I'm getting better and better,'' Catchings said.
Her playing time has been limited in her return, increasing steadily from 12 minutes in her season debut against San Antonio on June 15 to about 23 against Sacramento in her fifth game back on Tuesday night. Two nights later, however, Catchings ended up playing 35 minutes in the Fever's triple-overtime loss at New York.
``I'm sure I'm going to get in trouble for that,'' she said with a laugh.
The seventh-year veteran acknowledged that with newcomer Katie Douglas and the improvement of forward Ebony Hoffman, she doesn't feel pressure to overextend herself.
``That definitely does help,'' Catchings said. ``It's a good thing other people had to step up. Hopefully they can continue to step up. Even though I'm back we still need them to continue to do the things they've been doing.''
Starting 5-3 without Catchings has allowed the Fever to gradually integrate her into the offense without disrupting the team's early season chemistry.
``It's still right now kind of that getting-used-to period,'' Catchings said. ``They're not truly used to me and I'm not truly used to being out there. It seems every game we get better and better, more and more comfortable. So we have to keep building off that.''
Catchings is also aware her progress is being monitored by USA Basketball for one of the three remaining spots on the Olympic team.
``While it's something that I want and I'm hoping I get named to the team,'' Catchings said, ``I want to be 100 percent (healthy) here, too. I want to be able to do my thing here and then be able go over there as well.''
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SCORING 30-30: When Diana Taurasi scored 33 points and Cappie Pondexter had 31 in Phoenix's 112-105 victory over Chicago on June 20, they became the first teammates to each score 30 points in a game on two occasions.
``That's cool, but if we would have lost this game it wouldn't have mattered,'' Taurasi said. ``We really needed every basket that somebody scored, so it means a little bit more when it happens like that.''
Taurasi and Pondexter previously had 30 points each in a victory against Sacramento on June 6, 2006. The only other teammates to accomplish the feat in a game are Houston's Tina Thompson (37 points) and Sheryl Swoopes (30) in a triple-overtime loss to Phoenix on Aug. 10, 2006.
Taurasi and Pondexter entered the weekend as the top scorers in the league at 24.7 and 24.2 points per game, respectively.
``People laugh when I say this, but when I'm on the floor I have to remind myself not to just watch them,'' said veteran forward Barbara Farris, who is in her first year in Phoenix. ``That is how good they are. They are just amazing players and I've never played with teammates as talented as they are.''
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PRAISING CANDACE: First, Michael Cooper compared Candace Parker to Magic Johnson for her versatility. Now, the Sparks' coach has likened his rookie sensation's dunks to Julius Erving.
The former University of Tennessee star became the second WNBA player to dunk in a game - joining teammate Lisa Leslie - when she accomplished the feat against Indiana on June 22. Two nights later, Parker did it again against Seattle to become the first to dunk in consecutive games.
``What's impressive about her dunk is the ease of it, and the way she does it with just one hand,'' Cooper said. ``Most women have to grab it (with two hands), but she just takes it off the dribble. She has those Dr. J hands where she can hold it in one hand and dunk it.''
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PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Detroit's Deanna Nolan and Phoenix's Diana Taurasi were selected as the league's players of the week for the Eastern and Western conferences, respectively, for the fifth week of the season.
Taurasi earned the honor for the seventh time - second this season - after averaging 28.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists while helping the Mercury win two of three. She also shot 57 percent (27-for-47) from the field.
The 2004 rookie of the year scored 32 and 33 points, respectively in victories against Connecticut and Chicago, giving her 14 career 30-point games - tying her with Detroit guard and Olympic teammate Katie Smith for second place on the career list. Seattle's Lauren Jackson is tops with 18.
Nolan was selected for the award for the first time in her career after averaging 26.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in the Shock's victories against Minnesota and Atlanta. The 2006 WNBA finals MVP set a career high and franchise record with 44 points in a 98-93 win over the Lynx on July 20.
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SCOREBOARD WATCH: Phoenix at Connecticut, Sunday, 1 p.m. EDT. Former UConn star Diana Taurasi leads the defending champion Mercury against a Sun team that will be playing for the third time in four days. Phoenix has won four of its last five - including two of the first three on a five-game road trip. ... New York at Los Angeles, Tuesday, 3:30 p.m. EDT. The Liberty make the second stop of a five-game road trip and get their first look at the Sparks' rookie sensation Candace Parker, who became the first WNBA player to dunk in consecutive games.
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STATS: Los Angeles' Lisa Leslie entered the weekend leading the league in rebounding at 9.8, followed by rookie teammate Candace Parker (9.4). Indiana's Ebony Hoffman and Detroit's Cheryl Ford were next at 9.1. ... Seattle's Sue Bird was tops in assists (5.9 per game). Detroit's Deanna Nolan and Connecticut's Lindsay Whalen were next at 5.4. ... San Antonio's Becky Hammon led the league in free-throw shooting at 95 percent 59-for-62. ... Phoenix was the league's highest-scoring team, averaging 88.3 points per game, and last in scoring defense, allowing 89.6. ... Los Angeles was tops in rebounding (40.2 per game), assists (18.6) and blocks (7.3). ... The expansion Atlanta Dream, the last remaining winless team, have lost by an average of 13.6 points.
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK: ``The entire game, our defense was great. In that 5 minutes of overtime, we didn't allow them to score. That was just beautiful basketball.'' - Washington's Alana Beard, after the Mystics outscored the Sparks 3-0 in overtime of a 77-74 victory at Los Angeles on Thursday night.
