In a different time, the Eastern Conference of the WNBA was as lightly regarded as the East of the NBA, mainly a speed bump for the West on the way to the league title.But that was your mother's East. Today, the rugged portion of the WNBA is all east of the Mississippi. To wit, while Seattle finished the season with the league's best record at 28-6, the next five best records all belonged to Eastern teams, and Chicago's 14-20 mark would have placed them a game out of second in the West.
Just ask Indiana Fever coach Lin Dunn. At 21-13, Dunn's team lost just one more game this season than last, when they went to the WNBA Finals. That loss was enough to bounce the Fever down to third in the conference, behind Washington and New York, which both finished at 22-12.
"It wasn't so much being defending champions as it is being in the Eastern Conference and the Eastern Conference being so much better and so much more competitive top to bottom," said Dunn. "I think knowing that everybody in the East got better, that was the biggest challenge."
No team represents the East's resurgence more than the Washington Mystics, who won a franchise record 22 games and captured the top seed in the conference, despite playing the full year without their best player, guard Alana Beard, who missed the season with an ankle injury.
Western Conference Preview: Seattle Taking Nothing for Granted
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Full story at http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/08/24/wnba-eastern-conference-semifinals-beasts-back-in-the-east/
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