Women's Hoops Blog

Inane commentary on a game that deserves far better


Thursday, May 01, 2003

Some more preseason reporting today, on the Mystics here, on the Lynx here, on the Sparks here, on the Storm here, on the Silver Stars here, on the Sting here, and on the Mercury here.

There are a couple common threads that have run through the preseason reporting over the last few days. First, things are very hectic right now. The time between deal and opener is so short, and teams are having trouble signing everyone, negotiating the salary cap, getting physicals done, getting folks in town, and starting practice. Most teams will only have a handful of practices before the season. This might mean we can expect some sloppy play at the beginning.

Second, quite a few good veteran players are getting frozen out of the league. With contraction, there are fewer spots. Some players lost veteran status, and faced the choice of huge pay cuts or not playing. Plus, the influx of rookies from college and other countries always means new fights for roster spots. Kate Starbird says: "what you're going to find is that the league will be full of really young players and stars — that's it." That seems about right.

One of the young stars, Tamika Catchings, is glad she doesn't have to play overseas all year.