Though some believe the Mystics' success hinges on Chamique Holdsclaw, Tamicha Jackson's ability to run this team is the bigger X-factor. Every team needs a good point guard running the show to be successful, and that player must make the players around her better. Jackson, however, has not yet demonstrated that ability, whether it was in college at Louisiana Tech or over the past four seasons in the WNBA.

ROOKIE IMPACT?
with Mechelle Voepel   Alana Beard won't be "carefree,'' but she might be able to relax just a little in the pros. She'll be at pro-level defense quicker than any other rookie. Offensively, she'll need some more time to keep expanding her game, but she'll be fine. Beard and Chamique Holdsclaw should really be able to help each other.

Jackson, who played for Phoenix last season before a three-team trade sent her to Washington, is a very talented player, with lightning-quick speed and flashy ball-handling skills, and first-year Mystics coach Michael Adams is happy with what he has seen so far. But Jackson's career numbers raise some questions -- she averages 2.8 assists as well as 1.8 turnovers -- and she seems to have suspect shot selection, shooting 36.9 percent from the field and just 29.7 percent from 3-point range.

Washington's backcourt is loaded with talent and players who can alternate between the 1, 2 and 3 positions, which adds a lot of versatility. Both Coco Miller and Stacey Dales-Schuman are back after combining for 89 3-pointers last season. And then there's Alana Beard, the No. 2 overall pick in the draft after earning nearly every national player of the year award at Duke as a senior.

Beard will make an immediate impact as a pro, and backed it up Tuesday with 17 points and five rebounds in 28 minutes in an exhibition loss. Adams already is impressed with her on-ball defense, and indicated Beard might be a starter once the season tips off. That could mean that Dales-Schuman, who has started 65 of 69 games in her two seasons at Washington, might end up coming off the bench. But Adams could just as easily use Dales-Schuman -- an excellent passer and tremendous shooter who has a great mind for the game -- at the point at times to spell Jackson, with Miller at the 2 and Beard at the 3.

Beard wasn't Washington's only great addition. The Mystics struggled to establish their inside game at times last season, but they added talent and depth in drafting 6-foot-3 Kaayla Chones from NC State (15th pick in the April 17 draft) and 6-3 Chasity Melvin (dispersal draft).

Melvin's presence is especially important because it allows Holdsclaw to return to playing the 3 and 4, which is where she's at her best and can create huge mismatch problems. On one hand, Holdsclaw is quick enough to beat opposing power forwards, yet strong enough to overpower a small forward who tries to guard her. And nobody works the baseline like Holdsclaw. Adams, who I suspect will be as smart and savvy of a coach as he was a player, expects to move Holdsclaw around quite a bit, depending on where she creates the biggest advantage with matchup problems.