Columnist Dean Juipe: Less is best as women consolidate

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at [email protected] or 259-4084.

Three years ago, two new women's professional basketball leagues all but simultaneously debuted in this country. Fans of the sport went from no teams to support to a glut of teams to support.

It was too much, too soon.

The leagues didn't go head-to-head per se, as the Women's National Basketball Association adopted a summer schedule and the American Basketball League opted for the winter. Yet something had to give, if for no other reason than the fact the talent pool -- let alone the fan base -- was insufficient to accommodate so many new teams.

Each of the rival leagues had its assets, but the WNBA had the greater clout due to its financial ties with the men's National Basketball Association. That relationship brought a stability the ABL couldn't match or obtain, and near Christmas last year the lesser of the leagues capitulated.

Now its best players -- 35 of them to be precise -- have been interspersed among the 12 WNBA teams and the result is one very solid women's professional league.

This is clearly a case where fewer is better.

"It is ideal now," agreed Sonny Allen, who has taken over as head coach of the WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs. "From the fans' standpoint, this puts all the best players in one place. The best players in the world are now all in one league."

Allen, speaking by phone from Sacramento where his team has practiced five days in preparation for its June 10 season opener, is delighted with the players he acquired from the ABL. "We were weak on offense, so we needed some scoring help," he said. "I think we got it because we drafted three of the top 13 scorers in the ABL last season."

Two weeks ago in the dispersal/amateur draft, WNBA teams were allowed a maximum of three ex-ABL players among their four picks. The ABL alums were a hot commodity, especially in the first round when 10 of the 12 teams selected a player whose most recent check came from her state's unemployment fund.

"It's having an immediate impact," said Allen, an offensive specialist who has also coached at Nevada-Reno and professionally with the Las Vegas Silver Streaks of the now-defunct World Basketball League. "Every team in our league picked up at least two very good players from the ABL."

Quality of play should improve noticeably, and that's important for a league that has just added two expansion teams and will add four more next year. The WNBA is here to stay.

"What happened with the two women's leagues is indicative of the way things are in the business world," Allen said. "Only the best survive."

He said his ABL alums, particularly top pick Yolanda Griffith, are meshing well with the returning members of the team, and that he believes a feeling of hospitality has spread throughout the league.

"I don't see any animosity at all," he said. "These gals have all pretty much played with or against each other in the past in either college or on national teams, so there's no lingering rivalry that I can tell."

True to form, Allen says he has his team operating on all cylinders even in these early days of training camp.

"We'll run -- just like the Silver Streaks used to," he said, a contented chuckle accentuating his satisfaction.

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