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Saturday, August 15, 1998
Dominant Houston Comets scoff at dynasty talk
By MARK BABINECK
Associated Press
HOUSTON -- Call them talented, call them gritty, but Houston
Comets coach Van Chancellor is cautions against calling them the
WNBA's first dynasty.
Not yet, anyway.
"Forget about that. We're just trying to win our next
basketball game," Chancellor said as Houston prepared to
visit defending Eastern Conference champion New York (17-10) on
Saturday.
"Look me up in about three years. If we've done something,
I'd say yes."
Houston, the only champ the 2-year-old league has known, has
picked up where it left off last year. At 25-2, the Comets are
far and away better than their closest competitors with just three
regular-season games left.
The Comets lead the WNBA in offense (75.6 points per game),
3-point baskets (159), points against (66 points) and steals (294).
They're not great rebounders, ranking dead last on the offensive
boards, but it's obviously not slowing them down.
Chancellor ran his troops ragged this week practicing their
rebounding, especially in light of a car wreck that has left reserve
center Yolanda Moore day-to-day with cuts to her arms. A bad back
has cost starting center Wanda Guyton her season and forced her
to have surgery.
"(The Comets) have the most competitive spirit I've ever
seen," Chancellor said. "They've got the will to win
every night, they practice hard every day. We've got players here
in Houston. The coach is just riding the bus along with them and
enjoying it."
While they've already clinched home-court advantage throughout
the playoffs, the Comets say they're determined not to let the
irrelevancy of their final three games affect their momentum.
"If we were to go out and lose, it wouldn't hurt us as
far as the standings, but it would in terms of our mental outlook
and how we approach each individual game," said former Texas
Tech superstar Sheryl Swoopes, averaging 15.8 points and 2.5 steals
in her first full season.
As it got off the ground, the league penciled in Swoopes as
the Comets' franchise player. But knowing Swoopes would miss most
of last season after giving birth to her son Jordan, a former
Southern Cal guard starring in Europe was signed to replace her.
That player was Cynthia Cooper, the league's most valuable
player in 1997 who again leads the league at 23 points per game.
Like her coach, she's not taking anything for granted yet.
"You don't say you're a dynasty until you're like the
Bulls and have six or seven championships," Cooper said.
"We're just in our second year. We're not worried about dynasties
or back-to-back, or being the Bulls or trying to match the Rockets."
The team even managed to survive its first dose of big-league
controversy recently when Cooper erupted to reporters two weeks
ago about what she perceived to be a lack of team play.
It's no secret that Cooper and Swoopes have little or no relationship
off the court. Cooper didn't mention any players by name in her
rant, though, and the Comets have continued to roll despite the
problems.
Just as importantly, Cooper appears to be happy again after
Chancellor sat down with her and other key players.
"We've shown nationally we can play under any circumstances,"
point guard Kim Perrot said. "We have a long way to go as
far as winning it all, but I think if we can stay focused and
keep our chemistry together and have that will to win, the only
ones who can stop us are ourselves."
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