Western Conference

SPARKS

2000 Record: 28-4

Coach: Michael Cooper

Best player: Lisa Leslie

Outlook: Lisa Leslie registered her best season in 2000, finishing in the top five in points, rebounds and blocks. Those numbers should come down this summer. And for Spark partisans, that’s good news, not bad. The off-season moves that brought 6-foot-3 Rhonda Mapp and 5-11 Latasha Byears to Los Angeles--combined with good luck on the injury front--will change the way the Sparks set up in their half-court offense. For four years Leslie has had to be the low post but with her two new, strong inside teammates she can become a slasher/driver, even lining up as a two-guard. DeLisha Milton, 6-1, returns with her special team chemistry. The new point is 5-9 Tamecka Dixon, while last year’s starter, 5-9 Ukari Figgs, sits while waiting for a possible trade.

HOUSTON COMETS

2000 Record: 27-5

Coach: Van Chancellor

Best player: Tina Thompson

Outlook: The implosion of Houston’s starting lineup means the 6-2 Thompson must carry this team on her broad shoulders and many think that won’t be very far. The Comets may be playing for third place, even if Thompson sets league scoring records. A year ago the former Trojan was 10th in the league in scoring (16.9), fifth in rebounding (7.7) and second in three-point shooting (41.7%). The Comets also will rely on 5-11 Brazilian guard Janeth Arcain, who might be the league’s most underrated player. The injury to Swoopes opens the door for Amanda Lassiter, a 6-1 rookie.

SACRAMENTO MONARCHS

2000 Record: 21-11

Coach: Sonny Allen

Best player: Yolanda Griffith

Outlook: The 6-4 Griffith has become an established all-star since the Monarchs tabbed her in the 1999 draft. Her high-energy, dynamic game down low energizes her teammates, who have two important additions. Seattle Coach Lin Dunn so badly needed a three-point shooter she gave Sacramento Edna Campbell for Sacramento’s little-used Katy Steding. The Monarchs also acquired 6-7 Kara Wolters from Indiana. Here’s the bad news: Griffith’s European season won’t end until late this week, Ruthie Bolton-Holifield still hasn’t recovered from knee surgery and Ticha Penicheiro has an ankle sprain. All are all-stars.

PHOENIX MERCURY

2000 Record: 20-12

Coach: Cynthia Cooper

Best player: Brandy Reed

Outlook: This team could make Cooper rue last year’s decision to retire as a player, a move many still can’t figure out. The Mercury made the playoffs last summer and was promptly swept by the Sparks. Cooper has indicated 5-9 Bridget Pettis, 30, will start at shooting guard. Under departed coach Cheryl Miller, Pettis started only six games last season. Reed (6-1), after first missing a deadline to sign, returned unhappily, as the league’s lowest-paid star. This summer may be 6-8 Maria Stepanova’s sink-or-swim season. She has shown bursts of ability but no consistency. The 6-3 Jennifer Gillom, 37, shows some signs of slowing down. Newcomer Kristen Veal, a 5-11 Aussie, has at times been sensational at the point. Adrain Williams, a 6-4 forward from USC, has developed into a first-rate pro.

UTAH STARZZ

2000 Record: 18-14

Coach: Fred Williams

Best player: Natalie Williams

Outlook: The Starzz missed the playoffs again last summer and the coach was given a contract covering only this season. As always, the Starzz have two issues: Can 5-8 Jennifer Azzi manage a whole season unhurt? And will 7-2 Margo Dydek shift out of cruise control? A jammed toe could keep Azzi out the first week. The highly gifted Dydek blocked a league-leading 96 shots last season, but her teammates feel the number should be twice that. The top draft pick, 5-9 Marie Ferdinand of Louisiana State, has played well in training camp. The Starzz again will go as far as 6-1 Williams, who led the league in rebounding in 2000, can carry them.

MINNESOTA LYNX

2000 Record: 15-17

Coach: Brian Agler

Best player: Katie Smith

Outlook: Owing to an eight-game losing streak in midseason, the Lynx played themselves out of the playoffs early. In the off-season, Agler made a major personnel move, sending 6-2 rebounding specialist Kristin Folkl to Portland for 6-6 Michelle VanGorp and 6-2 Lynn Pride. Katie Smith, a 5-10 wing, scored 20.2 points per game, second in the league last year. Also back is the WNBA’s rookie of the year, 5-8 Betty Lennox, and 6-2 Maylana Martin, who made significant improvement late last season in her first year out of UCLA. The Lynx’s top pick, Svetlana Abrosimova, will be ready to play in July, when she recovers from the foot surgery. Erin Buescher, standout at UC Santa Barbara and The Master’s, has been impressive in training camp.

PORTLAND FIRE

2000 Record: 10-22

Coach: Linda Hargrove

Best player: Sophia Witherspoon

Outlook: Can 5-8 Jackie Stiles get open at the pro level the way she did at Southwest Missouri State, when it seemed as if she was wide open on every play? That’s what everyone else in the league is waiting to learn. The Fire didn’t scare anyone last season, but no one blamed the 5-10 Witherspoon, who averaged 16.8 per game. Hargrove strengthened the team inside by acquiring 6-2 Folkl from Minnesota and drafting of 6-5 Jenny Mowe of Oregon. Schedule tip: Stiles comes to Staples Center June 17.

SEATTLE STORM

2000 Record: 6-26

Coach: Lin Dunn

Best player: Lauren Jackson

Outlook: Along with Stiles, the 6-5 Jackson has attracted great anticipation among WNBA followers. Called the world’s best player not yet in the WNBA a year ago, she was Dunn’s first choice for a team that richly deserved the first draft pick. The 6-5 Jackson, only 19, will make a difference, although she can’t do it alone. Her game has range--she shoots well from beyond the three-point line--and speed. She’s strong enough to be a top-five rebounder. “I didn’t really understand how much speed and quickness she has with the basketball until we actually saw her in training camp,” Dunn said. Dunn’s second pick was Tennessee’s 5-8 Semeka Randall, once considered the outstanding defensive player in college basketball.

Eastern Conference

NEW YORK LIBERTY

2000 Record: 20-12

Coach: Richie Adubato

Best player: Tari Phillips

Outlook: New York stumbled at the gate a year ago, was 5-7 at one point and 5-5 down the stretch. But still the Liberty won the East by three games. This year Rebecca Lobo returns after sitting out the last two seasons with back-to-back knee blowouts. Adubato also got help for his 35-year-old point guard, Teresa Weatherspoon, by trading for 5-7 Andrea Nagy. He also acquired shooting guard Grace Daley, but she’ll have difficulty getting time behind players such as Crystal Robinson. The rugged 6-1 Phillips was the WNBA’s fourth-leading rebounder last season, and she’ll be helped by Tamika Whitmore, who is in better shape.

CLEVELAND ROCKERS

2000 record: 17-15

Coach: Dan Hughes

Best player: Eva Nemcova

Outlook: The overlap of the WNBA and European seasons hurt the Rockers more than any other WNBA team. Still, expectations soar. Eva Nemcova, the 6-3 Czech who has arguably the best shooting touch in the league, is back with a sound knee. She went down last July with a knee injury and the Rockers were an 8-10 team without her. The heir apparent to point Suzie McConnell Serio is 5-6 Helen Darling. Both she and 6-3 Chasity Melvin shed considerable weight in off-season training programs. The No. 1 pick from the 2000 draft, 6-4 Belgian Ann Wauters, won’t report until the first week of June because her French team is in the playoffs. Hughes’ first draft pick and the 11th overall, 6-1 Aussie Penny Taylor, was the MVP in the Australian league.

ORLANDO MIRACLE

2000 record: 16-16

Coach: Carolyn Peck

Best player: Shannon Johnson

Outlook: Is anyone out there available who can average 12 points and five rebounds? Orlando needs someone to fill those numbers registered by Adrienne Johnson last season. The 5-10 Johnson tore her Achilles’ tendon May 7 and is out for the season. Guard Shannon Johnson (5-7) was injured late in her European season and had her knee scoped Wednesday morning. She’s out at least two weeks. So the Miracle’s Big Four becomes the Big Two--6-2 Taj McWilliams-Franklin and 6-0 Nykesha Sales.

WASHINGTON MYSTICS

2000 Record: 14-18

Coach: Tom Maher

Best player: Chamique Holdsclaw

Outlook: Holdsclaw (6-2) averaged 35.3 minutes a game last summer--and some wondered if she averaged 35.3 cheeseburgers too. She finally got a tongue-lashing from her Tennessee coach, Pat Summitt, then a scolding from her grandmother. She reported to training camp this time nearly 20 pounds under her 2000 weight. Running the show now is Australian Tom Maher, who urges patience. “You have to keep in mind she’s 23--and she is going to be a better player,” he says. Maher retains Washington’s Big Four from a year ago: Holdsclaw, 5-11 Nikki McCray (15.5 points), 6-3 Vicky Bullett (10.7) and 6-2 Muriel Page (9.8). Into this mix Maher adds his first draft pick, 5-10 Coco Miller, who, Maher says, “is already in our rotation.”

DETROIT SHOCK

2000 Record: 14-18

Coach: Greg Williams

Best player: Wendy Palmer

Outlook: The key figure here is 5-9 Edwina Brown of Texas. Under last year’s coach, Nancy Lieberman-Cline, Brown got just 19.3 minutes per game but new coach Williams sounds as if that number will now rise. “Edwina has been the surprise of our camp,” he says. Veteran 6-2 forward Palmer was the top producer in 2000 with nearly 14 points per game and seven rebounds.

MIAMI SOL

2000 Record: 13-19

Coach: Ron Rothstein

Best player: Sandy Brondello

Outlook: Here’s your dark-horse challenger, one that had a solid first season as an expansion club and one that has added three major players. First, the Sol drafted Notre Dame’s 6-5 Ruth Riley, who can look two teammates right in the eye: Marlies Askamp and Elena Baranova, both 6-5. Baranova missed last season with a knee injury, and the 5-7 Brondello took the summer off to train with the Australian Olympic team. Sheri Sam, 6-1 veteran from the ABL and Vanderbilt, led Miami with 12.8 points last year. The point is 34-year-old, 5-2 Debbie Black, recovered from back woes, who will be pushed by second-year pro Milena Flores.

INDIANA FEVER

2000 Record: 9-23

Coach: Nell Fortner

Best player: Monica Maxwell

Outlook: The first thing you wonder about this bunch is why they didn’t take Riley, with that third pick in the draft? Fortner tabbed Tennessee’s 6-0 Tamika Catchings instead. “It really wasn’t a hard [decision], not when you see a player like Catchings play the last four years in college,” Fortner said. The returns won’t be in on this one until mid- to late June, when Catchings is expected to be cleared after knee surgery. The Fever sent 6-7 Kara Wolters to Sacramento in the draft for the 14th pick in the draft and used it to take 6-5 Kelly Schumacher of Connecticut. Next Fortner took the Notre Dame point, 5-7 Niele Ivey. The returning starters are 5-6 Rita Williams, 5-9 Monica Maxwell, 6-1 Alicia Thompson and 5-11 ex-Spark Gordana Grubin.

CHARLOTTE STING

2000 Record: 8-24

Coach: Anne Donovan

Best player: Andrea Stinson

Outlook: Size, speed and depth. That’s the new-look Sting, which on paper seems to have improved significantly. In 6-5 Clarisse Machanguana, obtained with 5-11 Allison Feaster from the Sparks (for Rhonda Mapp), Donovan has the WNBA’s best center who didn’t start last season. Machanguana, a star in the ABL, was looking at sitting for her entire career playing behind Lisa Leslie until she caught this break. In the 5-10 Miller, Charlotte now has an heir apparent to 5-6 point Dawn Staley, whose knees don’t have too many seasons left. Shalonda Enis (6-1) is also a double-digit scorer and formidable rebounder.