Three of Utah's Starzz will be just a little bit more hyped than their teammates Saturday as the team opens the 2000 exhibition season in the Tacoma Dome at 7 p.m. MDT against the expansion Seattle Storm.
For Kate Starbird and Naomi Mulitauaopele, the Seattle area is home. They played high-school ball nearby, and both were members of the old American Basketball League team Seattle Reign.And for Natalie Williams, it's a reunion with her former ABL coach, Lin Dunn, who was a big influence on Williams' career.
"I'm nervous only because I miss Lin," says Williams, who admires how Dunn prepares her team for games and the way she keeps things fun. "She'll have tricks up her sleeve. She knows not to let me get the high-low pass," said Williams, last year's No. 4 WNBA scorer (18 a game) and No. 2 rebounder (9.2).
Williams gets more nostalgia Sunday at 8 p.m. MDT when Utah meets the other Western expansion team, Portland's Fire. Williams never played in the Rose Garden but spent two-plus seasons with the Dunn-coached Portland Power.
Despite the Jazz-Trail Blazers NBA playoff, Williams knows Portland fans will cheer her. "No, they won't hate me. They'll remember," she says.
Mulitauaopele and Starbird will have lots of support Saturday in the Tacoma Dome.
"I am very, very excited to come home and play in front of my family," said Mulitauaopele, who just left there two weeks ago, "because I miss them so much." Maybe 20 family members will be there, she says.
Starbird has never played in the Tacoma Dome. Mulitauaopele played most of her prep tournament games there and remembers that the floor is very hard.
Starbird will likely start this weekend at shooting guard since Korie Hlede, who made such a difference for Utah when she was obtained in a late-July trade with the now-retired Cindy Brown, arrived in Utah Wednesday. Thursday was Hlede's only real practice with the team after playing the winter in Turkey. She arrived late because of visa problems.
Hlede, a Croatian who came to America to go to college at Duquesne, was glad to be in Utah. She didn't especially enjoy seven months playing professionally in Turkey. With usually just one game a week, there was too much time between playing, and TV there is all in Turkish.
"I really didn't like the culture," Hlede said. "I'm European. I've been all over the world. What I learned about myself is basketball is not everything." And money can be overrated, she added.
In Utah, Hlede is reunited with her former Detroit teammate Jennifer Azzi. Point guard Azzi was obtained in an April 24 trade for draft choices after rethinking a decision to retire. "I wasn't as surprised as other people," says Hlede of Azzi's change of heart. "She has so much more game in her."
Utah's other starters are likely to be 7-foot-2 Margo Dydek and small forward Adrienne Goodson, but coach Fred Williams will play everybody and trim the roster early next week. Amy Herrig (ankle sprain) and Stacy Frese (sacroilliac joint injury) did not make the trip.
E-mail: lham@desnews.com