Sparks’ Rookie May Be a Feaster for Eyes

The Los Angeles Sparks’ jet-lagged twin towers, Lisa Leslie and Haixia Zheng, figure to be a bit droopy tonight in the team’s WNBA opener, but another player figures to be the center of attention anyway.

No, not the hard-to-miss Utah Starzz rookie, 7-foot-2 Malgorzata “Margo” Dydek.

Instead, Coach Julie Rousseau, General Manager Rhonda Windham and club President Johnny Buss will be intently focused on a 22-year-old rookie from Harvard they think can quickly become a marquee player in the women’s pro game.

That would be Allison Feaster, the team’s first draft pick (fifth overall) and a sensation throughout training camp.

Any question whether she could supply this team with the kind of explosive, game-changing plays it lacked a year ago was answered in the team’s first exhibition game two weekends ago, against Sacramento.

In the first half of a close game, the Sparks’ Pam McGee missed a jump shot.

The 5-11 Feaster--the nation’s leading scorer at Harvard--leaped over taller players for the rebound, sent them up with a head fake, then went up alone for an easy putback.

Then, she sprinted downcourt, correctly anticipating a length-of-the-court pass. Turning around in midair at the other end, she made the interception. After one dribble, she snapped off a hard pass to Katrina Colleton, who scored a three-point basket.

Elapsed time: About eight seconds.

The play brought her teammates off the bench, cheering, and triggered a Sacramento timeout.

It wasn’t a close game any more.

The next night, she scored 28 points in 27 minutes against Sacramento.

And now, Feaster might be asked to play a leading role tonight against Utah in the Delta Center. Leslie and Zheng arrived home Monday from the world championships in Germany and have had only one full practice with the team.

Rousseau has referred to Feaster’s “court sense” more than once during training camp.

Feaster, who received a degree in economics June 4, is so smart, she gets teased for her questions in team skull sessions.

McGee said in one team meeting, Rousseau referred to cuts she wanted off a pass to set up a play.

Feaster raised her hand.

“When you say cut,” she asked the coach, “are you talking 45 or 90 degrees?”

Interjected McGee: “Oh, come on, ‘Miss Harvard,’ just do it!”

The additions of Feaster and McGee, who was acquired April 6 in a trade with Sacramento for Linda Burgess--figure to make the Sparks a significantly improved team this year, but so is everyone else in the Western Conference:

* Utah has Dydek, said to be a world-class shot-blocker.

* The WNBA champion Houston Comets have moved into the Western Conference.

* The Phoenix Mercury has added 6-8 Russian Maria Stepanova to the team that won the Western Conference title a year ago.

Nevertheless, Rousseau doesn’t concede a thing.

“All I’ll say about that is that for the time being, Houston is the WNBA champion,” she said.

The Sparks are as strong as any in the WNBA in several areas:

* Inside. Leslie, who is 6-5 and added muscle in the off-season, was the league’s leading rebounder by a wide margin and the No. 3 scorer last season.

McGee, 35, is 6-3 and had an excellent camp.

Zheng, who is 6-8, will be slow to contribute--everything has to be translated for her. But she showed last summer that when officials’ calls are going her way, she can dominate.

Second-round draft pick Octavia Blue (6-1) shot 46% from three-point range last season for the University of Miami, though she needs some seasoning.

* Wings. At times in camp, Feaster played all five positions. She rebounds, passes, shoots three-pointers, can drive and is an excellent defender.

Colleton is a sprinter with three-point range. In a running game, she can carry this team.

* Backcourt. Second-year guard Tamecka Dixon will make the Sparks’ most spectacular plays, drives in the lane, culminated by soaring layups.

Penny Toler will run the point. She was the league’s No. 2 assist-maker (behind New York’s Teresa Weatherspoon) and its No. 10 scorer. Rousseau would like her to reduce her turnovers.

There is some bad news for the Sparks. Guard Jamila Wideman will miss at least part of the season because of a back injury, though it’s not clear how long she’ll be out. She hasn’t worked at all in training camp.

Mwadi Mabika, second-year pro from Congo, also missed all of training camp, because of a knee sprain. She’s day to day.

Wideman and backup center Eugenia Rycraw were put on the injured list Wednesday, meaning they’ll miss at least three games.

Surviving the final Wednesday cut were former UC Santa Barbara guard Erin Alexander and former UCLA center Sandra VanEmbricqs. The final cut was onetime UC Santa Barbara forward Erika Kienast.