Off to sputtering start, Sparks are in search of offense

The Los Angeles Sparks bench was depressingly impressive on Sunday at the Staples Center. Alana Beard sat in street clothes, next to Nneka Ogwumike, who sat next to Erin Phillips. Three players, mind you, who should be the core of a Los Angeles team that's already playing without Candace Parker and Kristi Toliver.

Making due is making for a very tough start for the Sparks, who are now 0-4 to open their season after Sunday's loss to the Connecticut Sun. They are one loss away from the worst start in franchise history.

It does not get easier. Los Angeles now hits the road for a three-game trip that begins with Tuesday night's nationally televised game against the 4-2 Washington Mystics (espn2, 8 p.m. ET). Following the matchup in D.C., the Sparks will play in Connecticut and New York. All three Eastern Conference teams have winning records.

In an early stretch of the season that's already seen its share of surprises -- because, really, who predicted Connecticut and Tulsa as the conference leaders? -- the Sparks' sputtering start has to rank as well.

"We just need to do better," said Sparks point guard Temeka Johnson.

Connecticut ended a six-game losing streak against the Sparks, taking advantage of a short-handed team (the Sparks played Sunday with eight active players) that hasn't yet found itself under new head coach Brian Agler.

Agler, however, is resisting the urge to fret about who he doesn't have on the floor.

"My belief, and I don't know what anyone else's is, is if we talk about the people who aren't here, then it's really disrespecting the people who are here," Agler said after Sunday's loss, a game in which the Sparks led 40-30 at the half. "I'm just going to focus on our people who worked and put our team in position to win and try to make plays down the stretch."

Johnson said she will offer no excuses about fatigue, or playing short-handed.

"You don't have any other option. You don't have any other choice. The best players are the players that can play," Johnson said. "That's how you have to look at it, when everybody else comes back, great. Until then, we can't make any excuses. You have to look at the people who have jerseys on."

Los Angeles is having trouble finding offense, however, among this group.

The Sparks are averaging a league-worst 58.8 points per game. On Sunday, four starters -- Johnson, Jantel Lavender, Marianna Tolo and Farhiya Abdi -- each scored in double figures and accounted for 56 of the Sparks' 68 points. There aren't many bench points to be found.

Lavender, however, said she is seeing improvement despite the winless start, and a better grasp of Agler's system.

"From game to game I've seen tremendous improvement," Lavender said. "I think everybody is starting to understand the system. I think in the first halves of games we're doing that and in the second half, we start doing whatever we want to do. We just have to fix that and tweak those areas where we know we have to execute and get a score.''

The Sparks knew they would start the season without Parker, who has chosen to sit out at least the first part of the WNBA season to rest and recover from another long season in Russia, and Toliver, who will be back when her commitment to the Slovakian national team ends in early July. Los Angeles did not count on the injuries that are further thinning its ranks and making it tough to be competitive in the Western Conference. Beard injured her foot last week against Minnesota.

Strong starts by both Minnesota (not a surprise) and Tulsa (surprised duly noted) are already putting Los Angeles in a position to scramble to make up ground.

Not that Agler and company can worry too much about that now. Getting their first win is the first priority. Phillips and Beard will not be making the trip to D.C. Ogwumike, whose injured ankle is improving, is considered day-to-day and could play on this swing.

And it would be just in time for a franchise that, once having high hopes, now has to hope that it can pick up a road win over the next week or so to begin to turn the tide.