Upside-Down East

Don’t rub your eyes too hard when you look at the Eastern Conference standings -- yes, the defending champion Detroit Shock are in the cellar and Indiana -- the No. 4 seed last year -- is the runaway leader. That's not all -- 2008 doormats Washington (10-24) and Chicago (12-22) are battling for the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds and even the Atlanta Dream, who went 4-30 in their inaugural season, is in contention.

Detroit's fall from grace has been the most shocking development -- their trademark defense has been ordinary while the Shock's offensive production is in the bottom half of the league. Indiana, meanwhile, stumbled out to a 0-2 start before reeling off eight straight wins behind veterans Katie Douglas, Tamika Catchings, Ebony Hoffman and Tammy Sutton-Brown, who are all scoring in double figures.

5 Questions With Washington's Alana Beard

Q: The Mystics have become the Duke Hall of Fame (Beard, Currie, Harding). What is it like playing with a couple of college teammates?
A: It's fun anytime it's familiar. I've said it before, most teams coming into training camp -- and one week after training camp -- they are still trying to work on their chemistry and getting together. It's cool playing with a point guard (Harding) who already knows me and the chemistry becomes natural.

Q: Have you come up with any nicknames for the trio yet?
A: No, we are not corny. If you ask the Maryland girls (Marissa Coleman and Crystal Langhorne), they probably have nicknames for themselves, but we keep it simple and classy -- us Dukies (laughs).

Q: You came back last year from a torn labrum and really couldn't do any weight lifting after the surgery. How much better do you feel this year?
A: (I feel) great. My body feels amazing. I worked really hard all off-season getting my weight back up, getting my legs strong and my shoulder strong -- keeping everything maintained. We have Lisa Ciaravella, who is our strength and conditioning coach. (She) keeps things maintained throughout the season and keeps my body feeling really well.

Q: Last year you guys did not have a great year, finishing 10-24, you are off to a pretty good start this year. What's been the difference so far?
A: Coaches, the organization -- I think they took huge steps making it really solid. You have (Chief Operating Officer) Greg Bibb who came in and brought in (General Manager) Angela Taylor. Angela Taylor really knows her stuff, she brought in a great coach in Julie Plank and Julie completed her coaching staff with great coaches. It's stability, holding people accountable and coming and being demanding being right from the get go.

Q: What do you need to do to keep this going and make the playoffs?
A: We have to be consistent. Some games we come in and we are a great team -- at times we are good, but we want to be great consistently. When we start to get our focus and keep our focus and become consistent we are going to be a pretty good team.

Sparks Not Firing

No team received more preseason hype than the Los Angeles Sparks. With the league's "it-girl," Candace Parker, retiring legend Lisa Leslie and newly acquired Tina Thompson, many had L.A. pegged for greatness. Even after a win in New York on July 9 however, the Sparks record stands at a lackluster 4-6.

Parker, of course, missed the team's first eight games recovering from her pregnancy while Leslie has been sidelined since June 19 with a knee injury. Thompson has been healthy, but is scoring below her career average. Don't sleep on the Sparks though, with Parker regaining her form and Leslie slated to come back on July 22, L.A. could still make a second half run.

Lying Low In The Big Apple

It's seldom anyone playing in New York is underrated or underexposed, but the Liberty's Shameka Christon is the exception. The sixth-year forward has shown steady improvement each year and is currently foruth in the league in scoring among big names like Diana Taurasi, Lauren Jackson and Cappie Pondexter. Christon should play in her first All-Star game later this month.

And Finally…

Sparks coach Michael Cooper on the return of Candace Parker (courtesy of the LA Times): "I wish Michael Jordan could give birth and come out and play. The only thing he had to do was fight a cold and then throw up against Utah (in the 1998 NBA Finals). He's not half the woman that Candace is."