By John Altavilla, The Hartford Courant, Conn.
July 1--UNCASVILLE -- Renee Montgomery calls Geno Auriemma a "purposeful" texter, which means when she gets a message from her former UConn coach there's usually a good reason.
Such as earlier this season, when Auriemma reached out to his former All-American guard, one his USA Basketball team players cut before the 2010 World Championship in the Czech Republic.
"He hit me up after a game, told me he'd been watching me play and wanted to reassure me that there was no set team yet [for the 2012 Olympics]," Montgomery said Thursday. "He asked me to keep playing like I was playing, to focus on the things I know I can do well, and keep on doing them."
If there has been a truly pleasant surprise in the first eight games of the Connecticut Sun season, it's been the offensive renaissance Montgomery is experiencing in her third WNBA season. She comes into the game Friday against the Seattle Storm at Mohegan Sun Arena fourth in the league in scoring (18.9), second only to Diana Taurasi (19.6) among guards.
The Storm (4-2) are without center Lauren Jackson, out indefinitely with a hip injury. Still, Sue Bird (15.3 points, 5.7 rebounds), Swin Cash (13.3 points, 6.8 rebounds) and the league's top defense (68.7 against) is compensation.
"Sue Bird is playing great," said Sun coach Mike Thibault, an assistant on the 2008 Olympic team that won gold in China.
Montgomery is having her first Bird-like year offensively, averaging 4.9 assists and is sixth in the league in three-point percentage (19-for-39, .487). She has reached double figures in six games, highlighted by her 33 points at Chicago in a double-overtime loss June 23 in which she was 6-for-8 on three-pointers.
Montgomery averaged 13.3 points last season and her shooting percentages are up four percent from the field and 14 percent from three.
"I never felt like I was overlooked [by USA Basketball], but I did feel like I wasn't the guard I should have been," Montgomery said. "I never felt like I was cheated out of a spot. I didn't play well enough to make the team and that forces you to reassess things, do them differently."
Part of that included signing with an Israeli team this winter that promised she would be an offensive focal point.
"I went there with the mind-set that I couldn't continue doing what I was doing," Montgomery said. "It may have seemed like it was good enough. But getting cut helps you go back to the basics."
During his exit interview with Montgomery last season, Thibault offered the guard advice.
"Offensively, it's pretty close to what I had in mind for her," Thibault said. "Her assist-to-turnover ratio (39 assists, 23 turnovers) is good. She's been more efficient as a shooter, as has been our team.
"But there are two ends to the floor and she is a work-in-progress defensively. She's way better now than she was even a few weeks ago."
Montgomery's quest for an Olympic spot is likely blocked by Lindsay Whalen and Kara Lawson, her Sun teammate. Both may be playing as well as Montgomery.
"It's going to be a very interesting decision for the Olympic committee," Thibault said. "Sue [Bird] is pretty much locked in. Geno and I have both told Renee similar things, if you want to play in the Olympics, if you want to win a championship in the WNBA, you have to be a great defensive player."
The Sun will be without DeMya Walker, who is attending her grandmother's funeral, and Allison Hightower [illness] on Friday, which means they will have just nine players. ... Thibault excused the team from doing anything more physical than shooting at practice on Wednesday after Tina Charles made a half-court shot.
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