Swoopes Shows Rust, Promise

Sheryl Swoopes’ return to the WNBA on Monday in Houston was just about everything she and the Comets could hope for.

Yes, there was some evidence of rust after sitting out a season to recover from a torn ligament in her left knee. Swoopes missed nine of 15 shots, looked a bit tired in the second half, and could not prevent Houston from falling to the league-champion Sparks in its season opener.

But Swoopes did show quickness in her lateral movement, and she drove repeatedly and fearlessly to the basket. And her knee was bumped a couple of times, but she showed no ill effects.

Swoopes, who had a scare two weeks ago when she hyperextended the surgically repaired knee while stepping off the team bus, said that while she is confident in her recovery, she will probably need to go through the entire season before she stops worrying about whether she is back all the way.

“In coming back from an injury like this, you know there are going to be times of doubt and wondering if you’re ready,” Swoopes said.

“But right now I feel really good and confident. I know the knee is good physically and ready to go. It’s all a mental game with me right now. But I feel confident in what the doctors have done, and I feel really confident in what I have been able to do as far as rehab and be able to come back.”

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Swoopes’ play got high praise from the Sparks.

“We had our hands full guarding her,” Lisa Leslie said. “Sheryl looked really good. Not too many players can have that type of injury and come back. She looks 100%; she’s strong, she finishes strong, she’s also playing good defense. She’s a player. And you can’t come here thinking you can take her lightly.”

Added Coach Michael Cooper: “I thought she looked very good. She has to go a lot of minutes, and I know she’s been working out. But there’s nothing like game conditions. You can tell she got a little winded. But she is still a hell of a player. She’s gonna get that team going after a while.”

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The opening-day rosters had a couple of surprises.

Jackie Moore of Long Beach State and Kayte Christensen of UC Santa Barbara weren’t expected to stick with Indiana and Phoenix, respectively. But they did.

Moore, drafted and cut last year by Sacramento, was assigned to Indiana by the league following the April tryout camps.

Christensen was the Mercury’s third-round pick in this year’s draft--one of only three third-round picks to make it out of training camp--and the 40th player taken overall.

There’s no guarantee Christensen or Moore will see much playing time early in the season.

And both roster spots could be tenuous, because Indiana and Phoenix have some injured players who will soon be available.

Nonetheless, Moore and Christensen have already beaten long odds getting this far.

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If WNBA players think there is not much security these days, they should look at the coaches.

With the league’s sixth season underway, there have been 37 coaches heading the 16 teams, with two new coaches--Orlando’s Dee Brown and Washington’s Marianne Stanley--this season.

Houston’s Van Chancellor is the only founding coach left from the league’s inaugural 1997 season.

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Portland Coach Linda Hargrove has heard the criticism for her team’s draft-day trade with the Sparks, sending first-round pick Nikki Teasley and veteran Sophia Witherspoon to Los Angeles in exchange for guard Ukari Figgs and second-round draft Gergana Slavtcheva, who was later cut from the Fire.

But Hargrove has no complaints.

“I think it definitely could be a good trade for both of us,” Hargrove said. “I think what we got was somebody with a little bit more experience than Nikki could have given us, and somebody just a lot more on an even keel. I don’t think we’re going to have the ups and downs that you would have if you were starting a rookie point guard. So I think that that’s an advantage for us.

“Nikki Teasley is a tremendously talented athlete, and in that system, where they already have a tremendous number of great players and leaders, she doesn’t have to do that, and I think that’s a good fit for Nikki, as well.”

The Sparks and Fire meet for the first time Monday. Figgs will probably receive her 2001 championship ring before the game.