Women's Hoops Guru

By Mel Greenberg

With the WNBA regular season 99.9 percent completed, thanks to a slight delay of one game caused by Hurricane Ike, the finish at the top and bottom is a little less than dramatic than a year ago.

The playoff teams were determined before the final games of the weekend, although look for activity to become much more exciting when the postseason gets under way later this week.

The bottom, however, which has a bearing on the offseason conversation concerning the draft, does not lend to much anticipation as it did 12 months ago.

There was as much at stake finishing with the worst record as there was at the top because of the likely availability of former Tennessee star Candace Parker, who became the No. 1 pick of the Los Angeles Sparks.

Coming down the stretch in 2007, the Minnesota Lynx had a slight cushion in terms of being in the best position to cash in on the lottery until the Sparks continued to lose and Minnesota suddenly brain-locked its way into a few closing victories.

Not that the Lynx did that terrible, considering the No. 3 pick of former Stanford star Candice Wiggins in what was a draft of premium talent deep into the first round.

Right now, there is clarity surrounded by fog.

The clarity is that the expansion Atlanta Dream had the absolute worst record at 4-30, and the Washington Mystics were absolutely the next worst at 10-24. Chicago slots next at 12-22, with the Western crowd of the defending and soon-to-be former champion Phoenix Mercury, Houston Comets, and the Lynx all bunched together.

In terms of the prize, itself, there is no name right now dominating the discussion as Parker did a year ago.

Much will be said about Oklahoma senior Courtney Paris, but the talk will also note until the collegiate season proves otherwise, how the Sooners have yet to go a long way in the NCAA tournament despite her presence on the roster.

Indeed, the collegiate player of the year competition might be found more among the juniors than the seniors, based on a quick glance at the one of the early watch lists involved in such pursuits.

True Parker was a junior winning awards last season, but in reality a de-facto senior because of her true freshman non-season caused by an injury.

Whoever held the No. 1 pick a year ago, absolutely had to take Parker no matter how loaded that team was.

This time, the person picked could come more because of a specific roster need than consensus concerning the best availability.

A lot of dealing might occur this time akin to two seasons ago when the Phoenix Mercurry traded its top choice for a veteran player who helped bring last season's title.

Paris could certainly help one of the lotto six, but so might Maryland senior guard Kristi Toliver.

Washington could be in an interesting spot when the Mystics, whose future coach is yet to be determined, is on the clock.

A year ago, Washington only had to look right in the neighborhood to pick Crystal Langhorne, the Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year from Willingboro High.

The temptation could exist to stay near the nation's capital in taking Toliver.

In terms of seniors, Rutgers center Kia Vaughn, off another challenging Big East and nonconference schedule, could play her way into being a top three pick.

Louisville's Angel McCoughtry, Connecticut's Renee Montgomery, and Maryland's Marissa Coleman are a few other names of seniors to come to mind right now. But a month from the annual start of collegiate practice, Connecticut's choice as the team-to-beat is the only area that is not wide open.

Delle Donne in Volleyball Land

Continuing the Guru's ongoing update for those of you who arrive here by googling the name of Wilmington's Elena Delle Donne, the former national high school player of the year out of Ursuline Academy who nixted a collegiate career with UConn to play volleyball at nearby Delaware, here is the latest since the Guru's visit to the Newark campus last week for the match against Temple.

In a tournament at Wake Forest on Saturday injuires continued to plague the Blue Hens (2-8) overall with Michelle LaLonde sidelined in Winston-Salem, N.C. after Delaware had previously lost Kelly Gibson for the season in the opener in California.

Delaware fell to Western Michigan, 3-2, with match results of 18-25, 25-19, 17-25, 25-23. and 6-15) before getting swept by Wake Forest, 3-0, with scores of 25-16, 25-22, and 25-17).

In the Western Michigan match, ther 6-foot-5 Delle Donne had six kills, two errors, and a block. In the Wake Forest contest, she had four kills, three errors, and a block.

On a side note to the Guru's friends at D.C. Basketcases who emailed during the week in the middle of some blackberry issues here since resolved, the Guru has not become a volleyball convert yet but continues to offer public service to those who seek knowledge past and present of the women's basketball universe.

Pull That Lever

Who has time to pay attention to the Democrats or Republicans on the presidential campaign trail with others busy stuffing ballots in the Guru's direction concerning other issues.

Thanks to those who automatically solicit the Guru, in the next 24 hours votes must deterrmine WNBA postseason awards, preseason picks in the Colonial Athletic Association, along with acceptance to be part of a new "Blue Ribbon" ACC awards panel, although Maryland is the nearest conference school some 120 miles south of Guru headquarters.

Our friend Doug Feinberg added to the mix Sunday night by doing an early roll call to see who all will be returning to cast ballots in the weekly Associated Press poll so he can determine vacancies to fill.

The Guru will jump into the WNBA preseason at New York on Thursday.

More to come.

-- Mel