JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- The East is out to shed its reputation as the weaker of the WNBA's two conferences.

	Nancy Darsch and the Mystics are looking to improve on their 12-20 record.

Just one team finished with a winning record last season while three clubs in the West were above .500. But the East has had its share of success and hopes things will improve in the league's fourth season.

Last season, no one from the East was named to the All-WNBA first team. However, three East players made the second team, including Rookie of the Year forward Chamique Holdsclaw of the Washington Mystics and point guards Teresa Weatherspoon of the New York Liberty and Shannon Johnson of the Orlando Miracle.

Leading the charge in 2000 are the Liberty, who went 18-14 last season and captured their first conference title. A bunch of scrappy players with a mix of old and young, the Liberty clawed their way into the WNBA Finals for the second time in three seasons before falling to the Houston Comets.

The league's ultimate highlight was provided by Weatherspoon, who banked in a 50-foot shot to win Game 2 of the Finals. Weatherspoon is one of the most energetic players the league has known with great court awareness, but is not getting younger at age 34.

Crystal Robinson drilled 76 3-pointers last season to take control at shooting guard and Vickie Johnson can rotate between the two-guard and small forward. Becky Hammon was solid as Weatherspoon's backup although she is more than capable of being a factor at shooting guard.

The main question for New York is the status of forward Rebecca Lobo, who suffered two torn ACL injuries last season and will not be back until July. Her loss allowed Tamika Whitmore to develop into a first-string center and the improvement was evident with each game.

Whitmore will be joined up front by 37-year old Kym Hampton, who is back after announcing her retirement last season, and first-round pick Olga Firsova, a defensive presence who needs to work on her offensive game.

Charlotte is the only squad other than Houston to make the playoffs all three seasons, but has fallen in the semifinals each time. Guard Andrea Stinson has been the team's go-to player each year and averaged 13.6 points per game a season ago. She is not afraid to challenge frontcourt players and at times has carried the entire squad on her back.

But things do not look bright at the outset as Charlotte resembles a M*A*S*H unit to start the season. Guard Dawn Staley is recovering from knee surgery, forward Shalonda Enis suffered an Achilles' sprain and first-round pick Summer Erb is undergoing rehabilitation from a broken left foot.

Of those who are healthy, center Rhonda Mapp must have more of an impact in late-game situations and forward Charlotte Smith must be more than just a role player.

Orlando will challenge for a playoff spot after missing the postseason in its maiden campaign on a tiebreaker.

Adrienne Johnson (14.0 ppg season) and Nykesha Sales (13.7) form one of the league's top backcourts. Both players cause matchup problems and will be joined by Shawnetta Stewart, whose helped carry Rutgers to its first Final Four last season.

Taj McWilliams was solid at center last season, averaging 13.1 points and 7.5 rebounds, but Andrea Congreaves left the league and that has raised many questions for the Miracle. Orlando selected 6-4 center Cintia Dos Santos with the fourth overall pick, but she averaged just 2.3 points in Brazil in limited action and her productivity to the team is a mystery.

One of the teams to beat out Orlando in the tiebreaker was Detroit, which has taken shape under coach Nancy Lieberman-Cline and could be a team to watch if it matures quickly.

That is a big question if standout rookie guards Edwina Brown and Tamicha Jackson develop quicker than expected. Brown was dominant for Texas last season with 21.2 points per game and can take over a game by herself. Jackson averaged 15.6 points with her explosive play and helped Louisiana Tech advance to the "Elite Eight."

Wendy Palmer was acquired from Utah last season and provided help at forward with 9.9 points per game and Dominique Canty has the potential to be a regular in Detroit's lineup if she can be more aggressive.

Lieberman-Cline took the chance of developing young players on a budding team, letting go of Jennifer Azzi and Sandy Brondello, the Shock's leading scorers last season. That will put pressure on a young team that made the postseason for the first time last year.

The Mystics are a disappointing 15-47 in their two-year history, but answered their need for a center by selecting Tausha Mills with the second overall pick. Mills is a physical player, something Washington has never had, and at 6-3 and more than 200 pounds, will provide an immediate impact.

	WNBA DATES TO REMEMBER
	May 29: Regular season opens
	July 17: All-Star Game (Phoenix)
	Aug. 9: Regular-season finales
	Aug. 11: Playoffs begin

But the Mystics still revolve around a pair of Tennessee Lady Vols in Holdsclaw and guard Nikki McCray. A formidable one-two punch, the duo have great chemistry and carried Washington just three wins shy of postseason last year.

Vicky Bullett, acquired from Charlotte for Enis, gives Holdsclaw another option up front and Andrea Nagy needs to pick up her game if she wants to be one of the top point guards. If the Mystics want to turn things around, they must end their futility on the road, where they have lost 25 of 31 games.

The Cleveland Rockers have many questions after going from East champions in 1998 to a league-worst 7-25 last year. New coach Dan Hughes turned Charlotte's season around last year and hopes he can re-energize a Cleveland team that seemingly forgot to play as a unit.

The Rockers were dealt a major blow before last season when star-center Isabelle Fijalkowski stayed in Europe and was never replaced. They did something about it this year by selecting 6-4 Belgium native Ann Wauters with the top pick. Wauters was a standout in France last season with 13.8 points and 6.8 rebounds and turned many heads at the league's pre-draft camp.

Eva Nemcova made either first or second team All-WNBA the first two seasons, but saw her scoring average dip to 11.1 last year and was not the same player as the only option in the paint. Chasity Melvin gives Cleveland another solid presence in the paint.

Suzie McConell-Serio is a quality point guard, but missed 14 games to injury last season and Cleveland selected fellow Penn State standout Helen Darling as her backup. Merlakia Johns and Michelle Edwards are each solid options in a backcourt that does not have many weaknesses.

One of two expansion teams in the East, the Indiana Fever look to 5-9 Stephanie McCarty to bring excitement into the Hoosier State. McCarty, who helped lead Purdue to the 1999 national title, rode the bench with the Sting last year and hopes to make an impact at either shooting guard or small forward.

McCarty is not the only quality shooter as Indiana selected guard Gordana Grubin with the top pick in the expansion draft. Grubin averaged 8.9 points for the Los Angeles Sparks last season and shot 43 percent from 3-point range. Usha Gilmore, a teammate of Stewart's at Rutgers last year, can also provide help in the backcourt.

But the Fever have little to work with up front. Centers Kara Wolters and Nyree Roberts have seen mostly bench time in their WNBA careers and Monica Maxwell and Alicia Thompson are not go-to players.

Assistant coach Anne Donovan, who led the Philadelphia Rage in the defunct ABL, is the interim coach with Nell Fortner leading the United States Olympic squad.

The expansion Miami Sol dealt three of their picks for center Marlies Askamp, who averaged 9.4 points last season for the Phoenix Mercury and might not be worth the heavy price. Miami is in even deeper trouble up front with Elena Baranova -- one of the league's original 16 players -- out for the season with a knee injury suffered last month.

Milena Flores and Jamecka Jones are each coming off solid collegiate careers and will be asked to carry the backcourt as rookies. Flores guided Stanford to a 19-8 mark at point guard last season and Jones averaged 15.5 points for NC-Charlotte.