WNBA Preview
Western Conference
Houston Comets
1999 record: 26-6
Coach: Van Chancellor
Best player: Cynthia Cooper
Chancellor, asked recently about chances his “Big Three”--Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson--could pull off a four-peat, corrected his questioner. “It’s the ‘Big Four,’ ” he said, “you left out Janeth Arcain.” The 31-year-old Houston sub, a superstar in her native Brazil, is an underappreciated Comet asset, Chancellor says. Arcain reports this week to find herself in a battle for the point-guard spot with former Connecticut star Jennifer Rizzotti. Consensus is that some teams have closed the talent gap with Houston, but, as Minnesota’s Brian Agler said this week: “Closing the talent gap and actually beating Houston in the regular season and preventing them from having home-court advantage in the playoffs are two different things.”
*
Los Angeles Sparks
1999 record: 20-12
Coach: Michael Cooper
Best player: Lisa Leslie
Leslie, who turns 28 on July 7, is at her physical peak as a pro. Second-year Spark DeLisha Milton, 25, has looked like an all-star in training camp. Both reported in superb shape after eight months of touring with the U.S. national team. Michael Cooper, who took over as coach after the firing of Orlando Woolridge, has reversed the Sparks’ focal point. “Last year in a two-hour practice we’d spend 25 minutes on defense,” he said. “This year, it’s just the opposite.” Mwadi Mabika, only 23 after three years in the league, could have a breakout year. The Sparks have lost two veteran guards from last year--Gordana Grubin to the expansion draft, and Penny Toler to the general manager’s position. The Sparks open at the Forum Wednesday against Utah.
*
Sacramento Monarchs
1999 record: 19-13
Coach: Sonny Allen
Best player: Yolanda Griffith
Confidence grows in Sacramento, where the Monarchs were hurt very little in the expansion draft, giving up only little-used Kate Starbird and Molly Goodenbour. All the main assets return, including Griffith, last year’s league MVP. The 6-4 ex-ABL star (Long Beach StingRays) averaged nearly 34 minutes per game and 18.8 points and 11.3 rebounds year ago. One of the women’s game’s premier point guards, Ticha Penicheiro brings Jason Williams-like passing wizardry but not much of a shot (32%). Ruthie Bolton-Holifield and Kedra Holland-Corn return in the backcourt. Griffith’s supporting players inside are Latasha Byears and Tangela Smith. Says Coach Sonny Allen: “Houston is the champ, but we’re one of two or three teams capable of beating them.”
*
Phoenix Mercury
1999 record: 15-17
Coach: Cheryl Miller
Best player: Jennifer Gillom
Cheryl Miller surprised many in 1999 when she exposed multitalented Brandy Reed in the expansion draft. Minnesota happily selected her, and the 6-1, high-leaping Reed was sensational at times, finishing seventh in league scoring. She also proved to be troublesome on occasion, once storming out of a practice and being suspended by Lynx coach Brian Agler. In February, he sent her back to Phoenix for the fifth pick in the draft. That followed an even bigger move by Miller. In October, she acquired an all-star guard, Tonya Edwards, in a multiplayer trade with Minnesota. Center Jennifer Gillom (15.2 points per game last summer) remains the centerpiece inside at 36. Aussie forward Michelle Griffiths returns after missing 1999 to have a baby.
*
Minnesota Lynx
1999 record: 15-17
Coach: Brian Agler
Best player: Katie Smith
With three first-round draft picks in April, Agler picked two swift guards, Grace Daley of Tulane (fifth) and Betty Lennox of Louisiana Tech (sixth), then tapped UCLA’s 6-3 Maylana Martin (10th). The draft pick he used to pick Martin was acquired when he sent Marlies Askamp to Miami for three draft choices. Agler has moved Kristin Folkl from power forward to center and says she’s far ahead of her rookie 1999 season. Folkl will line up next to Martin, of whom much is expected. “Maylana played a lot of minutes in our preseason games and I don’t expect that to change in the regular season,” Agler said. The 5-10 Smith, who seemed to have regained her exceptional shooting touch during the U.S. national team’s tour, is also a defensive force.
*
Utah Starzz
1999 record: 15-17
Coach: Fred Williams
Best player: Natalie Williams
For a month, Starzz hopes were nearly as high as 7-foot-2 Margo Dydek. Fred Williams’ team had signed a premier point guard, Jennifer Azzi and, added another ex-Stanford standout, Naomi Mulitauaopele in the draft. Natalie Williams, the WNBA’s No. 4 scorer (18 points per game) and No. 2 rebounder (9.2), was back. Then, in a May 13 exhibition game against Portland, it all broke down. Azzi, driving the lane, was knocked down and stayed down. She broke the third metacarpal on her right hand and had surgery Thursday. She’s out four to six weeks. In addition to her leadership and on-court smarts, Azzi was to be the three-point threat Utah lacked. If Korie Hlede (acquired last year from Detroit) doesn’t fill the long shot need, it may be up to Iowa State rookie Stacy Frese.
*
Portland Fire
1999 record: None, 2000 is inaugural season
Coach: Linda Hargrove
Best player: Lynn Pride
This club could produce the first dunk in the WNBA, but not much else. Both 6-5 Sylvia Crawley and 6-6 Michele VanGorp have thrown them down in the warmups; Crawley is celebrated for making a blindfolded dunk before the ABL All-Star game. Van Gorp won’t be the only Portland player familiar to New York Liberty fans. Portland selected veteran guard Sophia Witherspoon in the expansion draft and on Sunday traded for Carolyn Young, a former ABL scoring leader who missed all of New York’s 1999 season because of a knee injury. Young won’t be available until July. Much reliance, at least in the early going, will be placed on 6-2 rookie Lynn Pride of Kansas, who can play the three and four spots. Former Stanford forward Vanessa Nygaard brings muscle and a three-point threat.
*
Seattle Storm
1999 record: None, 2000 is inaugural season
Coach: Lin Dunn
Best player: Edna Campbell
Like Azzi’s injury for Utah, Nina Bjedov’s absence for Seattle will take a major toll. The 6-6 former Spark reserve center has been bothered by back trouble and decided to take the summer off. She was placed on the suspended list by the league, but Seattle will retain rights to her. The Storm has a solid backcourt with Edna Campbell and Sonja Henning, both selected in the expasion draft. Campbell is a strong defender who will be counted on heavily to provide scoring on a team that has limited offensive options. Henning brings generalship and court smarts but hardly any offense. Kamila Vodichkova. a 6-4 Czech forward, is also expected to start. A rookie from Washington, guard Jamie Redd, has excelled in training camp, Dunn said.
Eastern Conference
New York Liberty
Coach: Richie Adubato
1999 record: 18-14
Best player: Teresa Weatherspoon
Major troubles may loom early for the Liberty. For starters, center Kim Hampton’s right knee, which has bothered her for years, swelled up early in training camp and prompted her retirement (again) last week. Second problem: Last year’s rookie surprise at power forward, Tamika Whitmore, reported to camp grossly overweight, infuriating Adubato. “She’s down 18 pounds, but that’s not enough,” he said. Forward Rebecca Lobo is coming back from back-to-back knee ACL repairs but won’t play until mid-July. Desperately needing to shore up their front line, the Liberty traded Carolyn Young to Portland for 6-1 forward Tari Philips on Sunday. Weatherspoon, at 34, remains the heart and soul of the franchise, but Crystal Robinson and Vickie Johnson will continue to play key roles.
*
Charlotte Sting
Coach: T.R. Dunn
1999 record: 15-17
Best player: Andrea Stinson
Here’s another injury-ridden Eastern team. Point Dawn Staley is troubled by tender knees. Only this week was she cleared to practice in five-on-five drills. Reid, second-year forward out of North Carolina, has ankle and knee problems and isn’t close to being in top form, prompting Dunn to say last week: “Even at 75%, she can be a factor in games.” Top draft pick Summer Erb, a 6-6 center out of North Carolina State, just got out of a boot protecting a foot injury from her college season. Stinson led in scoring last season at 13.6. Vicky Bullett was the No. 2 scorer, but she was traded to Washington for Shalonda Enis, who is also out with an injury. Two former Long Beach StingRays, Niesa Johnson and Cass Bauer, were contributors in the Sting’s second-place finish last year.
*
Detroit Shock
1999 record: 15-17
Coach: Nancy Lieberman-Cline
Best player: Edwina Brown
Lieberman-Cline, in gearing up her expansion team 1998, tried to quicken the pace by bringing in veteran foreign players and rely less on U.S. rookies, but failed to consider one key element: The 2000 Australian Olympics. Three Australians last summer were key players on her roster and the Shock has lost all three. The best was guard Sandy Brondello, second-best three-point shooter (48.7%) in the league last summer, but she and teammates Carla Porter and Rachel Sporn told Lieberman-Cline they’d been ordered home for all of 2000 to train for the Olympics. Lieberman-Cline placed Brondello in the expansion draft and she was taken sixth by Miami, although she won’t show up there until 2001. Porter and Sporn return to Detroit next summer.
*
Orlando Miracle
1999 record: 15-17
Coach: Carolyn Peck
Best player: Nykesha Sales
Peck seems to think if she can get a regular season out of Cintia Dos Santos the way the 6-4 Brazilian has played in the preseason, her club can challenge for leadership in the East. “She had six blocks in our first exhibition game,” Peck said. Peck returns the top four offensive producers from last year, guards Shannon Johnson (14 points per game) and Sales (13.7); center Taj McWilliams (13.1), and guard Sheri Sam (11.4). The 6-2 McWilliams was an all-star last summer and the league’s fifth-ranked rebounder. She joined the Miracle camp only last Thursday after her European season. The top draft pick (fourth) was Dos Santos. Peck believes Dos Santos can make up for the departure of Andrea Congreaves.
*
Washington Mystics
1999 record: 12-20
Coach: Nancy Darsch
Best player: Chamique Holdsclaw
Darsch, believing her team could break out of the doldrums with one more big, strong, inside player, pulled the trigger on a deal that sent Shalonda Enis to Charlotte for 6-3, 33-year-old Vicky Bullett. “In addition to being go-to post player who ranked in every stat category, she’s very vocal, a great competitor--she’s a great addition for us,” Darsch said. The Mystic coach also said this week she thinks second-year pro Holdsclaw could have a “breakout” season.” With the league’s second pick, Darsch selected 6-3, 230-pound Tausha Mills, 1998 Alabama product. She has been dubbed “Baby Shaq.” Guard Nikki McCray and Holdsclaw ranked fifth and sixth in scoring last season, but those two also took 52% of Washington’s shots.
*
Cleveland Rockers
1999 record: 7-25
Coach: Dan Hughes
Best player: Eva Nemcova
With the WNBA’s first draft pick, Hughes picked a 6-5, 19-year-old Belgian player, Ann Wauters. Last week, he sounded happy with the pick. “She’s exactly what I thought she’d be,” he said, “very bright and talented and she picks up everything very quickly. She’s slender, but she doesn’t back away from anything inside. She’s every bit of 6-5 and she’s quickly adjusted to the more physical style of the WNBA.” The 6-3 Nemcova, in addition to being the WNBA’s best free-throw shooter (she made 62 of 63 last year: 98.4%), is a gifted mid-range shotmaker. Hughes’ second draft pick was Penn State point Helen Darling who will back up 33-year-old Suzie McConnell Serio, also a Penn State alum. Hughes last week praised a free agent, 6-1 Vickie Hall.
*
Indiana Fever
1999 record: None, 2000 is inaugural season
Coach: Anne Donovan
Best player: Gordana Grubin
Stephanie McCarty was an Indiana high school legend before she enrolled at Purdue and, with Spark point Ukari Figgs, led the Boilermakers to an NCAA championship. The 5-9 guard subbed at Charlotte last year but the Fever brought her home. Donovan, who at 6-8 is taller than her center, 6-7 Kara Wolters, is an interim coach, turning it over next season to Nell Fortner, currently coaching the Olympic team. Donovan says Wolters, who languished on the bench in Houston after the ABL folded, will be a go-to post player for the first time since leaving UConn in 1996. At guard is Grubin, the Serbian who was a big fan favorite at the Forum last summer but who the Sparks surprisingly exposed in the expansion draft last spring.
*
Miami Sol
1999 record: None, 2000 is inaugural season
Coach: Ron Rothstein
Best player: Marlies Askamp
With this roster, Rothstein was backed against the wall to begin with--then things turned worse. First, Miami acquired Aussie guard Sandy Brondello from Detroit, knowing she’d skip this season, staying in Australia to prepare for the Sydney Olympics. Then Elena Baranova, acquired from Utah for Starbird and a draft pick in an expansion draft day deal, tore up her right knee shortly afterward and is lost for the season. Miami’s No. 1 draft pick, guard Jameka Jones of UNC Charlotte led the team in scoring in its first two exhibition games. Debbie Black at 5-2 may be the shortest player in the WNBA, but she brings a huge package of leadership and savvy to the point guard position. A force inside is Askamp, who recently reported from her German season.