By Clay Kallam
Publisher
After San Jose lost to Columbus in overtime, and dropped to 1-5 overall, Coach Angela Beck said `I don't want to be one of the best six in the league right now -- I want to be one of the best six in February.'
And that's certainly a point. The surprisingly quick starts of Long Beach and Portland are impressive, and the pratfalls by Colorado, Seattle and San Jose are embarrassing, but remember the Xplosion was 4-9 last year and wound up winning the West with ease.
Nonetheless, the two teams picked by one on-line women's basketball rag to finish out of the running are comfortably atop the standings -- and will enjoy that lofty perch while they can. And `while they can' could turn out to be all year long if the injury bug doesn't hit.
COLORADO (1-3 as of 10/27): Crystal Robinson averaged 17 points and six rebounds a game last year. This year she's averaging 9.8 points and three rebounds. The difference, and Colorado's struggles, can be traced to a nasty little virus that causes plantar warts. Robinson missed all but seven minutes of preseason play with warts on her left foot, and then came back too soon, injuring her right hamstring in the process.
Without Robinson's offense, it was that much harder for Edna Campbell and Debbie Black to get their shots -- and Tari Phillips and Vicki Hall are still trying to adjust to the uptempo style Coach Sheryl Estes favors.
But that 82-80 win at Long Beach was good news, and not just because Robinson went for 24. It also showed that the Xplosion could adjust and bounce back, as the StingRays thumped Colorado 76-64 in the season opener. Robinson, however, was then stopped cold by Columbus, scoring just two points in 32 minutes in a 73-62 loss to Columbus, so there are obviously still some problems to work out.
The first is shooting. Campbell is hitting just 32.1% of her shots, and the team is making just 54.2% of its free throws. Even worse, the Xplosion is getting pounded on the boards, despite Phillips' 11.5 a game. And finally, Colorado had 20 more turnovers than assists, with Hall and Phillips combining for 28 of the former and just seven of the latter.
And finally, Estes has got to do something about the first quarter. Colorado has been outscored by 24 points in the initial eight minutes, which puts even more pressure on the shooters and on a team still trying to find itself. A week off should help, but then the Xplosion will play five games in eight days, including three on an East Coast swing. If Robinson gets back on track, Colorado should be OK -- but a collapse would dig a very deep hole for last year's conference champions.
LONG BEACH (3-1 as of Oct. 27): How do your knees feel? Do they creak a little after a workout? Or even when you get off the couch to go get another bag of chips?
Well, imagine how they'd feel after a couple of operations, thousands of games played at 100% intensity and three-quarters of the way through a long, long season. And there you have the crux of the problem facing Coach Maura McHugh. Yes, the StingRays look great right now, and their inside game is as potent as any in the league. But how long will Clarissa Davis-Wrightsil's knees hold up? Last year, she could barely practice in New England, and her effectiveness dimmed as the season went along. And how about Venus Lacy? Sure, she's lost a ton of weight, but she's not sitting on the bench for 23 minutes a game because McHugh likes to have big cheerleaders.
Luckily, Yolanda Griffith doesn't have knee problems. (She does have a hands problem, with 26 turnovers and zero (as in not any) assists, but when you score 23.8 points a game and get 14.8 rebounds, such deficiencies are not all that vital.) Griffith is the real deal -- a great leaper, fast, long arms, quick hands and a nice touch around the basket. She's not superstrong, but she's strong enough after four years in Germany battling the Marlies Askamps of Europe.
Cass Bauer is stronger as well, after a serious offseason of workouts, and Trisha Stafford is fine up front, so Long Beach doesn't have a problem inside. And so far, the backcourt has held up quite well too. Andrea Nagy looks to be the most improved player in the game, and has added a 25-foot set shot that isn't the prettiest thing in the world, but goes in with surprising regularity.
Beverly Williams may be the key, though. She needs to shoot a little better than 40% and hit more than 28.6% of her threes, but if she does, the StingRays have all the pieces.
What they don't have is a bench. Nicky McCrimmon is adequate at best at guard and after that there's nobody home. And since you have to assume Lacy and Davis-Wrightsil will miss significant stretches over the course of the season, Bauer will have to play starter's minutes and there's not much behind her either.
But if those knees hold up, Long Beach has the best post game in the West -- and may set a new standard for how quickly expansion teams get to the championship.
PORTLAND POWER (5-0 as of Oct. 27): We'll find out real soon.
Seven of Portland's next nine games are on the road, including five against the best teams in the league, and if the Power finishes that stretch with a 10-4 overall mark, I'll start to believe. Right now, I'm still not convinced that a backcourt of Falisha Wright and Elaine Powell can make it happen in the ABL.
Yes, Natalie Williams is god-like in the paint, but we knew that. What we didn't know that three months off would rejuvenate Katy Steding, who is now playing like the Olympian and Stanford All-American she once was. Steding struggled all last season, but her 16 points (on five-of-nine shooting) and eight rebounds against Philadelphia was just the latest in a series of solid outings.
DeLisha Milton is starting at the four, but Stacey Ford is actually contributing more from the bench -- but Milton has shown flashes that bode well for the future. It's the backcourt depth that's a problem, as Molly Goodenbour and Laticia Morris are not going to turn games around when they come in.
Lin Dunn can coach, though, and as long as Williams and Steding play at an all-ABL level, Portland will be tough to beat. But the long-term success of the team depends on the rookie Powell, the untested Wright and reserves who have yet to show they can excel in the league.
But we should find out a lot more real soon.
SAN JOSE (1-5 as of Oct. 27): Neither fish nor fowl.
Clarisse Machanguana isn't quite strong enough. Anita Kaplan is way too slow. Katryna Gaither isn't ready. Charlotte Smith isn't getting it done.
So much for the post game.
Jennifer Azzi is doing all she can do, but she's really miscast as the Lasers' go-to guard. She's much more a complementary player, who makes the great pass here, the big steal there and sets up the three-point shooter next time down.
But, just like last year, San Jose has no three-point shooters. Or any shooters. In fact, all of the perimeter players, including Azzi, would rather penetrate -- except maybe for Shelley Sandie, who's just a bit too slow to get her shot off with any consistency.
So much for the outside game.
The Lasers, though, can fly up and down the court, as long as Azzi has the ball. Sonja Henning prefers to play at a slower tempo, and she's the point guard. In her last 34 minutes, Kedra Holland-Corn is zero-for-eight from the field with five turnovers.
And even worse, San Jose can't rebound -- and it's awfully hard to run without the ball. The Lasers are giving up an incredible 19.2 offensive rebounds a game, which means everybody has to hang around the basket and screen off.
So much for the running game.
That would explain San Jose's 1-5 start, as would the desultory performances by Charlotte Smith, who is too small for a four and a hair too slow for a three. And Sheri Sam's the three anyway, so Smith doesn't really fit on this team. If the Lasers could trade her for a shooter, many of their problems would be solved, but unfortunately there just aren't enough shooters to go around.
It is early, though, and there's reason to believe that Beck can get San Jose back on track. Two games against Seattle loom, and there's no better way than playing the Reign to restore some confidence. By the same token, though, there'd be no better way to send morale plummeting through the basement than to let Seattle sweep the pair.
Then, sadly, it might be so much for the season.
SEATTLE REIGN (1-5 as of Oct. 27): I know I've said this before, and I really don't mean to pick on Jacque Hullah, who's treated me just fine, but sometimes the truth must be told: Seattle needs a new coach.
The Reign underachieved last year, and Hullah convinced General Manager Jim Weyermann to clean house -- and draft and pay Kate Starbird. He did that, and added Val Whiting and Shalonda Enis for good measure.
Seattle is still terrible.
One big reason is ballhandling. Kate Paye already has 25 turnovers in six games (and she only played 11 minutes in one of the games), which would be 183 for the season. She's a veteran, and never had these kinds of problems at Stanford, so either she's gotten worse -- which points to the coaching -- or the system is flawed -- which points to the coaching.
Starbird has 26 turnovers, which is somewhat understandable since she's a rookie, and backcourt backup Kira Orr has missed all 10 of her ABL shots, so no matter how smooth she is with the ball, Hullah can't really play her. Which means the turnover plague will continue unless Christy Hedgpeth's knee improves dramatically.
Shalonda Enis, though, has played well for Hullah, and Val Whiting has been her solid self. Angela Aycock has replaced Joy Holmes as the starting forward, though she's averaging less than six points a game. Holmes is averaging 9.8 (and 7.6 rebounds) to go along with a team-high eight blocked shots, all numbers that are considerably better than Aycock's. Holmes didn't seem that horrible on defense the night I saw her, but Hullah must have her reasons.
Hullah also has a four-games-in-five-days stretch to look forward to, and that might well tell the story of her continued employment. The Reign has nearly a week off after the Nov. 2 game in San Jose, and if Weyermann's going to make a change, that's the time to do it.
Seattle does have some talent gaps in the backcourt, but the Reign was better than a 17-23 team last year and is better than 1-5 this year. It's a cruel fact of professional sports that when teams consistently underachieve, it's the coach, not the players, who take the fall.
Jacque Hullah might want to go shopping for parachutes.
10/27/97
