MINNEAPOLIS -- The good news for the Minnesota Lynx as they prepare to open their second season is that the WNBA has expanded, so four teams are likely to finish lower in the standings while suffering growing pains.

	Katie Smith, right, leads the league in scoring with a 28.3 average.

The bad news: the Lynx, who open their season Wednesday at Target Center against the Cleveland Rockers, have so many new players that it's as if they are an expansion team too.

But Lynx players don't see all the new faces -- there are seven rookies on the roster -- as a negative.

"I feel like last year, there was a lot of pressure on us just because we were an expansion team," veteran guard Andrea Lloyd-Curry said. "This year, there aren't those same pressures, and I feel like maybe we'll be able to develop as a team in a more normal and healthy manner than we did last year."

Coach Brian Agler agreed that last season's disappointments -- losing 11 of the last 16 games after starting 10-6; finishing 11 games out of first place and four games behind Sacramento for the final playoff spot; ranking last in the WNBA in rebounds and shooting percentage and second-to-last in scoring; and the suspension of guard Brandy Reed -- are forgotten.

"I feel good this year," Agler said. "We've got an influx of some very exciting players."

Among their eight draft choices, the Lynx had three first-round draft picks this year. Agler chose guards Grace Daley of Tulane and Betty Lennox of Louisiana Tech with the fifth and sixth picks, respectively, then took UCLA forward Maylana Martin with the 10th overall selection.

Each should help the team's shooting and ball control, but for now, the rookies are content just being part of the revitalized Lynx, who return just five players from last year's team.

"I think for the younger players, (having so many new faces is) definitely a good thing. It's like a team starting out with a clean slate," Lennox said.

Katie Smith, perhaps the Lynx's best player, said she thinks the rookies will adjust easily to Agler's wide-open, ball-control offense.

And if the youngsters have any problems, they can turn to Lloyd-Curry, one of the league's oldest players at 34, or Smith, who will play for the U.S. on the Olympic team in September.

"I think we'll lead by example, but if they have questions, if they get frustrated, they can talk to us," Smith said.

The rookie enthusiasm and the presence of a few savvy veterans -- Kristin Folkl, Sonja Tate and Angie Potthoff (who will start the season on injured reserve) are the other three who return from last season -- should lead to a few wins, especially against the expansion teams and the other subpar teams.

That won't change the fact that the Lynx are one of the WNBA's smaller and most inexperienced teams, but that hasn't dampened any of the players' enthusiasm.

"It's fun to be out here with them because they're very excited," said Lloyd-Curry, who is in her 14th year of pro basketball. "I just think with everybody, the situation is going to be a lot better."