Don't you hate the guy who always has to spoil the end of the movie?
Week 1
True, the Detroit Shock and Washington Mystics are 'expansion' teams. But, come on, do either the Shock or Mystics really start the second Women's National Basketball Association season in any deeper hole than do either the Sacramento Monarchs or Utah Starzz?
No, Week 1 emphatically proves. The Mystics earn their franchise-first win in Salt Lake on June 13, and the unbeaten-after-a-week Shock are the talk of the league. The class of the league, meanwhile, appears to be the New York Liberty, opening as hot as they did in '97. Out West, the Phoenix Mercury and Los Angeles Sparks renew their duel at the top of the conference -- with the homestanding Mercury taking the first head-to-head clash.
Standings through June 17 -- East: New York 3-0, Detroit 2-0, Charlotte 2-1, Washington 1-2, Cleveland 0-2; West: Phoenix 2-1, Los Angeles 2-1, Sacramento 1-1, Houston 0-2, Utah 0-3. Player of the week: Tamecka Dixon, Los Angeles guard.
Week 2
The Houston Comets are much the same team that won the first WNBA championship, and here lies the problem. The rest of the West improved greatly. The Mercury and Sparks each added new dimensions to their offenses with key additions at small forward (slinky Brandy Reed in Phoenix and versatile Allison Feaster in Los Angeles). Sacramento's new point guard, Ticha Penicheiro, is not only flashy but also highly skilled at getting different kinds of players their shots. And while Coach Denise Taylor has a problem in that two of her three best players play the same position (Elena Baranova and Margo Dydek at center), Utah is undeniably a more troublesome foe than a year ago.
Among the three returning East teams, Charlotte is the most improved. Part of the impact of rookies Christy Smith and Tracy Reid assuming starting jobs at point guard and small forward, respectively, is that would be-starters Tora Suber and Andrea Congreaves help give the Sting the WNBA's deepest bench. Too bad for Charlotte the league doesn't play the American Basketball League's longer season.
Standings through June 24 -- East: New York 5-2, Detroit 4-2, Washington 3-2, Charlotte 3-3, Cleveland 1-5; West: Phoenix 4-1, Los Angeles 4-2, Sacramento 3-2, Houston 1-4, Utah 1-5. Player of the week: Jennifer Gillom, Phoenix center.
Week 3
Swoopes in Houston, Rushia Brown in Cleveland and Latasha Byears in Sacramento are all having much bigger seasons in the second go-'round, but the WNBA's most-improved player is the Shock's power forward, Tajama Abraham. Detroit, willing to play at a less-frenetic pace than most teams in the WNBA, is a good fit for the good-passing, good-rebounding, good-shooting former George Washington University star.
Standings through July 1 -- East: Charlotte 6-3, New York 6-4, Detroit 5-5, Washington 4-5, Cleveland 2-5; West: Phoenix 7-1, Los Angeles 5-3, Sacramento 4-4, Utah 2-7, Houston 2-7. Player of the week: Michelle Timms, Phoenix guard.
Week 4
No player in the WNBA more dominates her position than does the Sparks' center, Lisa Leslie. Dydek, in Utah, is a new challenge, but the league's lone great post resides in Los Angeles. In fact, in her first full season at the helm, Coach Julie Rousseau works with the league's most complete skill set in inside powers Leslie and Haixia Zheng, loosey-goosey guards Dixon and Penny Toler and deep-threat Feaster.
Standings through July 8 -- East: Charlotte 7-5, Detroit 7-5, New York 7-7, Washington 6-6, Cleveland 4-7; West: Los Angeles 8-3, Phoenix 7-4, Sacramento 6-6, Utah 4-9, Houston 3-9. Player of the week: Lynette Woodard, Detroit guard.
Week 5
Matchups are where it's at in hoops, and a look at the boxscores shows the WNBA has some vexing tangles.
At power forward, for example, Los Angeles's Zheng trumps New York's Rebecca "Sheriff" Lobo, who trumps Utah's Wendy Palmer, who trumps Houston's Tina Thompson, who trumps Zheng.
The off-guard pecking order is as confused. Sacramento's Ruthie Bolton-Holifield beats Detroit's Woodard; Woodard beats Phoenix's Bridget Pettis; Pettis beats Bolton-Holifield.
Among the centers, Cleveland's Isabelle Fijalkowski is a link in multiple food chains. She normally outplays Charlotte's Rhonda Mapp, who normally outplays New York's Kym Hampton, who normally outplays Fijalkowski. Another: Fijalkowski beats Phoenix's Gillom, who beats Houston's Guyton, who beats Fijalkowski.
No wonder coaches are usually gray, bald or getting there.
Standings through July 15 -- East: Detroit 10-6, New York 9-7, Cleveland 7-7, Charlotte 7-8, Washington 6-8; West: Los Angeles 9-5, Phoenix 8-6, Sacramento 7-8, Utah 5-10, Houston 5-10. Player of the week: Leslie.
Week 6
Nikki McCray is on the scene in D.C. Bolton-Holifield and Cleveland's Michelle Edwards are healthier. Dixon is more seasoned. Those are some pretty good reasons why Houston's pretty good off guard, Cooper, will not repeat as MVP.
Standings through July 22 -- East: Detroit 13-6, New York 12-7, Washington 9-9, Cleveland 8-9, Charlotte 7-12; West: Phoenix 10-7, Los Angeles 9-7, Sacramento 7-10, Houston 7-11, Utah 6-12. Player of the week: Cooper.
Week 7
And now the races begin.
Mercury falling: Phoenix -- about half as likely to win on the road as at home in 1997 -- plays at Los Angeles on July 23, Utah on July 27, Houston on July 28 and again at Los Angeles on July 31.
Charlotte's web: The Sting -- 65 percent more likely to win at home than on the road in 1997 -- entertains Utah on July 22, Houston on July 25, Sacramento on July 27 and Cleveland on July 30.
Standings through July 29 -- East: Detroit 14-7, New York 13-8, Cleveland 10-10, Washington 10-10, Charlotte 9-12; West: Los Angeles 11-9, Phoenix 11-9, Sacramento 9-12, Houston 7-13, Utah 7-13. Player of the week: Cindy Brown, Detroit forward.
Week 8
The all-rookie team is shaping up. Four of the 10 starting point guards (Rita Williams in Washington, Penicheiro in Sacramento, Smith in Charlotte and Korie Hlede in Detroit) are fresh from the collegiate ranks, and three of them (Penicheiro, Smith and Hlede) might be headed for the playoffs. The most valuable to her team has been Hlede. McCray is the best of the first-year off guards, but, among the true rooks at the position, Cleveland's Cindy Blodgett gets the most work. The small forward is Feaster, whose outside shooting is part of the reason defenses cannot collapse on Leslie in Los Angeles. Murriel Page is a consistent performer at the four for the Mystics. The center? Yes, Utah could have finished last without her -- and did in '97 -- but it's still Dydek.
Standings through Aug. 5 -- East: Detroit 15-9, New York 14-10, Charlotte 13-12, Cleveland 11-12, Washington 11-12; West: Los Angeles 13-11, Phoenix 12-10, Sacramento 11-13, Houston 10-14, Utah 7-16. Player of the week: Lobo.
Week 9
The all-stars: Leslie, Lobo and Cleveland's Eva Nemcova at the forwards, Timms and Cooper in the backcourt. But just off the pace is Detroit's Woodard, an offensive wonder-turned-defensive stopper and -- along with her coach, Nancy Lieberman-Cline -- the best story of the league's second season.
Standings through Aug. 12 -- East: Detroit 17-10, Cleveland 15-12, New York 14-12, Charlotte 15-13, Washington 12-14; West: Phoenix 14-12, Los Angeles 14-13, Sacramento 14-13, Houston 11-16, Utah 8-19. Player of the week: Bolton-Holifield.
Week 10
On the regular season's final night, Aug. 19, the Sting, Liberty and Sparks can all clinch berths with road victories. All do, leaving the Rockers on the doorstep for the second straight year.
Final standings -- East: Detroit 18-12, New York 17-13, Charlotte 17-13, Cleveland 16-14, Washington 13-17; West: Los Angeles 16-14, Phoenix 16-14, Sacramento 15-15, Houston 12-18, Utah 10-20. Player of the week: Andrea Stinson, Charlotte guard.
Playoffs
The league gets the New York-Los Angeles series it wants, though a round early. It's over in two; too big, too strong, too fast, too versatile, the Sparks roll. Meanwhile, everybody's Croatian All-American, Hlede, leads Detroit past the Sting, 2-1.
So the expansionists advance, but their shocking success is over. Leslie, L.A.'s WNBA MVP, is A-OK in the finals, and that spells doom for Detroit: Sparks in three.
6/9/98
