The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 33

THE PALM BEACH POST THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2002 3C mm For Sol, a strange season, tough ending 'No one really understands how traumatic that Incident was, how scary that COACH RON ROTHSTEIN On an incident in Los Angeles in which the team bus nearly was hijacked. By JAMEY EISENBERG Palm Beach Post Staff Writer MIAMI Sol coach Ron Roth-stein never imagined he would be wrapping up the season Wednesday with a team meeting. He thought he would be preparing for the playoffs. 1 Coming off last year's surprise trip to the playoffs in the Miami Sol's second season, Rothstein added talent and expected to contend for a WNBA title. But it seemed everything went against the Sol from the beginning of the season until their 15-17 finish that left them one game out of the playoffs.

I "What happened, happened, and you can't change it," Rothstein said. "The bottom line is we didn't get there. And if you didn't get there, you didn't deserve to be there." Rothstein is not one to make ex season of volleyball. Like his players, Rothstein is preparing for next season. The Sol will have three first-round draft picks two in the top eight selections and expect Baranova to return.

Adding Baranova and three first-round picks to the core of Sam, Debbie Black, Riley, Kimbrough, Lennox, Marques, Brondello and Kristen Rasmussen has Rothstein excited for next season. But it will be hard for the Sol to forget this year. As Black said, "We underachieved. "We deserve better than where we're at. We came through a lot of adversity, but we didn't do it We didn't get that one more win." jameyeisenbergpbpost.com Rothstein pointed to close losses to Minnesota, Los Angeles and Washington during the 0-5 start and late-season defeats to Detroit, Sacramento and Utah.

Still, had the Sol defeated Indiana on Sunday, they would have been the fourth and final seed in the Eastern Conference and not the Fever. "We had so many opportunities," All-Star forward Sheri Sam said. "In this league, you can't get slow starts and not win games that you should. It's just a learning point" Sam is one of several players who will spend their off-season overseas playing in foreign leagues. Brondello is playing for Australia in the World Championships and Marques and Claudia Neves will play for Brazil.

Rookie forward Lindsey Yamasaki is returning to Stanford to play one cuses. But he had plenty at his disposal. All-Star forward Elena Baranova decided to remain in Russia to train with the Russian National Team. Center Ruth Riley broke the little finger on her shooting hand, and even though she missed seven games, Rothstein said she never regained her form from a strong offseason. There also were injuries to Sandy Brondello, Iziane Castro Marques, Betty Lennox and Pollyanna Johns Kimbrough throughout the season, and a car accident that caused minor injuries to three players.

Then came the nearly hijacked bus incident in Los Angeles, which Rothstein said didn't help the Sol during a 1-4 road trip. "No one really understands how traumatic that incident was, how scary that was," Rothstein said. "If that was an NBA team, it would have been in every paper, on every TV station, on every radio station in this country. And IH bet you if it was a few other WNBA teams, everybody would have known about it. "There were a lot of unusual things that happened." The Sol didn't help matters by losing games they should have won.

Playoff schedule Sparks say they're not vulnerable Sports Watch Pre-Season Games subject to availability. All neguiar season Games available. EK CRE Thu, Aua 15 Yi Screen in CtheBar sq.ftN Projector ET ET ET ET ET ET 11 ET ET ET ET ET ET ET ET New Orleans vs Miami NY Jets vs Baltimore Oakland vs Tennessee Fri, Aug 16 Tampa Bay vs Jacksonville Minnesota vs Buffalo Chicago vs St Louis Seattle vs San Diego Sat, Aug 17 NY Giants vs Atlanta Detroit vs Cleveland Cincinnati vs Indianapolis Philadelphia vs New England Dallas vs Carolina Houston vs Kansas City Green Bay vs Arizona Sun, Aug 18 Pittsburgh vs Washington Mon. Aua 19 I Larae Parties and HI Fan Clubs Welcome Come Early For Best Seats First round Eastern Conference New York vs. Indiana: Friday at Indiana, 7 p.m.

Sunday-at New York, noon Tuesday at New York, 8 p.m., if necessary Charlotte vs. Washington: Today at Washington, 8 p.m. Saturday at Charlotte, noon Monday at Charlotte, 7 p.m., if necessary Western Conference Los Angeles vs. Seattle: Today at Seattle, 10 p.m. Saturday at Los Angeles, 4 p.m.

Monday at Los Angeles, TBD, if necessary. Houston vs. Utah: Friday at Utah, 9 p.m. Sunday at Houston, 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Houston.TBD, if necessary.

Conference finals Aug.22,Aug.24,Aug.25 Finals Aug. 29, Aug. 31, Sept 1. the East's top seed, play fourth-seeded Indiana. No East team has won the league title.

Houston won the first four titles, and the Sparks won last year. Getting to the playoffs was a struggle for the Sparks. Their 28-game winning streak at Staples Center was snapped by Houston on June 30; recently the Sparks lost consecutive games for the first time this season; and Houston beat them again at Staples a week ago. While the rest of the league might see the Sparks as being vulnerable, the team doesn't "Did you sense any vulnerability in the Lakers? Sacramento took them to the end and they won it all," Dixon said of the three-time NBA champions. "When it comes down to it and the pressure's on, can you beat us?" Seattle did, twice in three games this season.

On July 11 in Seattle, the Storm won 79-60, handing the Sparks their worst defeat. The Storm are in the playoffs for the first time, behind the inside-outside combination of Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird. The Associated Press LOS ANGELES It's playoff time in the WNBA, and the Los Angeles Sparks say that's when they become a different team. Not the one that struggled down the stretch, but the defending league champions who expect to repeat The Sparks won their third consecutive Western Conference title, but it took all 32 regular-season games to do it. They didn't earn the West's No.

1 seed until beating Phoenix 63-56 Tuesday night. Los Angeles finished one game ahead of Houston in the standings and owns the league's best record of 25-7. "We were expected to win it outright without so many problems down the stretch," guard Tamecka Dixon said Wednesday. "Nevertheless, we got the job done and still ended up being first in the West." The Sparks open the playoffs tonight at No. 4 Seattle.

In the East, No. 2 Charlotte, which was swept by the Sparks in last year's title series, opens at third-seeded Washington. The best-of-three first-round continues Friday, when No. 2 Houston visits third-seeded Utah, and the New York Liberty, San Francisco vs Denver CAME DAY SPECIALS 25 Wings and Pitcher of Domestic Draft Pitchers Of Domestic Beer $499 Back Country Buraer and Pitchers of Bone-Aritas $12oo Bait Buckets Five Domestic Bottles On Ice 5 yeL Domestic Draft jy A a If it IninniiMHiftinrii wi -i ir urn in i nrw Tt rrl BA. fttmww iitliiiiirroilfiimitiffl rvrnirmtmnii I "At JFK Medical Center, EMERGENCY Service is a top priority' John RumbaU, M.D., Medical Director, Emergency Services, JFK Medical Center JFK Medical Center, emergency On behalf of the emergency physicians, nurses, and the dedicated staff of professionals who are here 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, we pledge to continue our commitment to providing the highest quality medical care to you and your family.

We thank you for your continued support and patience as we work to expand and improve our services. At JFK Medical Center, we're all about patient care. care. expansion that will include the construction of a new emergency department, scheduled to open in March, 2003. Patients will enjoy enhanced privacy as they are treated in a spacious, modern facility, triple the size of our current emergency department.

Throughout our expansion, our Emergency Department remains conveniently accessible with an ambulance entrance in front of the hospital and a patient walk-in emergency entrance next to the Rothman Center at the south end of the hospital. service is a top priority, and whether it is a minor injury or illness, or a life-threatening event, no one wants to wait. JFK has recently expanded our services to improve efficiency and reduce waiting by providing physicians in triage for peak periods, and utilizing Telemedicine and digital radiography to further streamline patient care. To better serve the healthcare needs of our growing community, JFK Medical Center is currently undergoing a $76 million dollar A total of 41 beds including 5 designated advanced cardiac trauma beds Expansion of chest pain emergency center Separate fast-track Urgent Care Center (for minor illness and injuries) 19 bed clinical decision unit for seasonal volume IP IV. I 5301 South Congress Avenue Atlanti FL 33462www.

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