Back home Lauren Jackson has cut short her WNBA season in the US to take part in a two-month training camp in preparation for the Games. Photo: Steve Christo <\/p>\n
LAUREN JACKSON has enough Olympic silver medals to sink a ship. If the Opals want gold, something has to change. <\/p>\n
So Jackson, who has won silver at the past three Olympics, has cut short her WNBA season to help rebuild Australia's ''chemistry'' at a two-month training camp in Canberra. The Seattle Storm star arrived in Australia late on Wednesday night to take part in a lengthy schedule aimed at forging a strong bond among players for the London Games. <\/p>\n
The lack of understanding within the squad caused the Opals' poor showing at the 2010 world championships - where they were the defending titleholders. An abrupt quarter-final loss to hosts Czech Republic, then ranked three places below Australia, highlighted the lack of team unity and poor preparation for the championships, Jackson said. <\/p>\n
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Dashing ... Olympians at the launch of the back to the future uniforms. Photo: Steve Christo <\/p>\n
''Chemistry is the biggest part, from the world championships two years ago we didn't know each other, we went in blind to the world championships with all this talent but we never played together and that was evident,'' Jackson, 30 said. ''I think the government and Basketball Australia have done a great job at getting all the players back to Australia to prepare for the Olympics.'' <\/p>\n
Australian coach Carrie Graf has lobbied to stage the camp three months before the Games, including several warm-up games to prevent a similar outcome. ''We didn't have much preparation time as a team, we had basically that world championship team come together only two days before the world championship our preparation as a group was extremely limited,'' Graf said. <\/p>\n
Jackson has spent the two years after the championships playing in the US and with club Ros Casares Valencia in Spain. While her overseas club career has limited her opportunities to gel with the Opals, she believes her absence will not be an issue because of the time the team will spend together in the build-up for London. <\/p>\n
''Obviously I played with the girls in the world championships but we've got the next two months together, we really don't break from each other from now, and I think chemistry will be good come the Olympics.'' Jackson said. ''I feel confident with the team and talent. I'm hoping that we get the chemistry right and hoping that we have no more injuries and we go into the Olympics feeling good.'' <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
See more here: Back home Lauren Jackson has cut short her WNBA season in the US to take part in a two-month training camp in preparation for the Games. Continue reading
\nOpals seek right chemistry to turn silver into gold<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"