Will Phoenix come up a Penny short?

Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown -- especially this year.

Though the Phoenix Mercury capped a wonderful run with the 2007 WNBA championship, they enter 2008 with more questions that are usual for the titleholders. First, coach Paul Westhead departed for the greener pastures of the NBA, accepting a higher-paying assistant‘s job with the Seattle Sonics. Then, World Championship MVP Penny Taylor decided to stay home in Australia and prepare for the Olympics rather than come back to the WNBA, leaving two big holes.

The first will be filled by Corey Gaines, who played for Westhead at Loyola Marymount and has coached with him on and off since then. Gaines was also a head coach in the minor-league ABA, where he had Dennis Rodman on the roster -- which should make even the relatively flamboyant Diana Taurasi look pale in comparison. Gaines will keep the same style, and do the same things, that worked so well for the Mercury last summer, and the transition should be relatively seamless. Still, however, there will be adjustments that have to be made with Westhead out of the picture.

Replacing Taylor, though, is a much more difficult task, and at the moment, the Mercury are relying on a trio of WNBA journeymen and a rookie coming off knee surgery. The best hope is that Taylor will return after the Olympics and set Phoenix up for a late-season run at a repeat.

Point guard: Kelly Miller will once again push the tempo for Phoenix, which is an integral part of their offense. ‘She’s our lead dog,’ says Gaines, ‘and you go as fast as your lead dog.’ Miller’s speed isn’t all she brings to the table -- she shot 47.9% from the field last season and 38.6% from beyond the arc, as well as contributing 4.9 rpg and a 1.8 assist/turnover ratio. Oh, and there were the 1.2 spg on top of that, which has led many to wonder why Miller was invited to try out for the Russian Olympic team but not the American one. She may, in fact, wind up at the Olympics for Russia, but Gaines anticipates she’ll be full time with Phoenix regardless. Backing her up is the experienced Jen Derevjanik, who can give Miller a breather night in and night out, and even start a few games without the Mercury losing too much. One other wrinkle: ‘In the last three minutes, we give Cappie (Pondexter) the ball,’ says Gaines, ‘and you have to change your defense. Now you have a scorer at the point.’

Shooting guard: Cappie Pondexter is the nominal starter at the two, but as mentioned, she can also play the one. Pondexter is an elite scorer, even though her shooting percentage was just 43.1%, and she’s not afraid to take big shots. She also handles the ball extremely well, and is a very tough matchup no matter what position she plays. After the Olympics, Gaines expects Belinda Snell to re-join Phoenix as the backup shooting guard, but in the meantime, the Mercury may look to pick up another wing, even though Diana Taurasi and Kelly Mazzante can play the two as well.

Small forward: ‘We have a three-guard rotation at these two spots,’ explains Gaines, so Taurasi will spend a lot of time at the two, and Mazzante, who has settled in as a WNBA player, will get her minutes at the three. Taurasi averaged 19.2 ppg on 44.0% shooting to go along with 1.4 spg, 4.3 apg, 4.2 rpg and 1.1 bpg. In short, Taurasi has lived up to her college hype and is simply one of the best players in the WNBA. Mazzante is a 6-0 three-point shooter, and also has a 1.8 assist/turnover ratio. In addition, she hit some big shots in the playoffs, and has become an integral part of the Phoenix rotation.

Power forward: Here’s where the championship formula breaks down. Penny Taylor (17.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 49.9% shooting, 37.8% from three, 88.4% at the line, 1.5 spg, 2.9 apg) will definitely stay in Australia until the Olympics, and may or may not return to the WNBA when they are over. If she does, she will put the Mercury in position to repeat, as all they will need to do in the first half of the season is stay in the playoff hunt; and given the league’s playoff format (the lower seed gets the first home game), Gaines says ‘There’s no advantage in having a higher seed.’ But Taylor may opt to skip the WNBA entirely. ‘It looks good,’ says Gaines, ‘but she’s tired. She didn’t even get to go on a honeymoon’ because she was so busy. And the Olympic schedule is grueling, and the Australians are expected to playing for a medal, which means they would play nine games in 19 days. In her absence, Gaines will ask veterans Barbara Farris, Le’ Coe Willingham and Teana Miller (nee McKiver) to pick up the slack. ‘We’ll do it by committee,’ he says, but the committee last year combined for 4.0 ppg and 4.8 rpg -- though Farris’ best seaosnal numbers, 7.7 ppg and 5.2 rpg, are probably closer to what her production will actually be in 2008. Nonetheless, replacing Taylor for part or all of the season will be Gaines’ primary job this summer.

Center: Tangela Smith came through last season with her best rebounding ever (6.5 rpg), even though she was playing out of position at center. She will have to do the same this year, without Taylor to take the pressure off, as well as maintain her career 11.9 ppg scoring average. Smith, though, is 31, and like most WNBA players, has played year-round for much of her career, and her slender frame may start to wear down if Farris, Willingham and Miller don’t deliver. There is one additional hope, though -- first-round draft pick LaToya Pringle, who has missed all of preseason with minor knee surgery. The 6-3 Pringle might well turn out to be Smith’s primary backup, or even a starter, if she can recover quickly and adjust to the WNBA. ‘She will be the X factor,’ says Gaines.