Analyst Ann Meyers will be a part of the ABC and ESPN2 broadcast teams for WNBA games this season. Here, she breaks down the Eastern Conference, analyzes each team's offseason moves and chances for the summer ahead and predicts their order of finish. Meyers This is going to be a hard year to predict, especially doing so while still in the preseason. I have waivered on these predictions, going back and forth, so don't hold me to them... Because we play a smaller number of games in a shorter period of time in the WNBA, every season is a logjam. Unfortunately, a lot of good players are not going to be playing this year because of the salary cap situation and the league being down to 13 teams. In the first two or three weeks of the season, we will see coaches trying to find combinations of players that will work well together. A lot of the playoff teams and matchups will not be decided until the last week, or maybe even the last game, of the season (as it has every season). The big question this season will be the Olympic break. That month will be the great equalizer. If a team is hot when everything stops and shuts down, who knows how they will return a month later? On the flip side, if you are on a losing streak or you have injured players, it gives many of the teams an opportunity to get healthy and rest when out of commission for that month. Also, some players will be playing straight through and get no break at all. The Athens Olympics will either make or break some teams this season. Ruth Riley, Swin Cash and Cheryl Ford look to repeat in 2004. Allen Einstein WNBAE/Getty Images 1. Detroit Shock (2003 – 24-10, first place in East) How can you pick against the defending champions that have their five starters back? Center Ruth Riley, who was the MVP from the 2003 Finals, and Olympian Swin Cash are the big names. Guard Deanna Nolan gets better and better every year. A lot of players and coaches know just how good she is, but some of the fans outside of Detroit and around the country still may not know. Nolan kind of got lost in the publicity mix, which I’m sure was fine for her, but the improvement in her game is tremendous and I think she is one of the top players in the League. Elaine Powell is a great complement player and makes everyone better. The team is young but has experience now, and the addition of Merlakia Jones in the offseason gives the Shock a deeper bench. Ayana Walker played well for them last season and rookies Chandi Jones and Iciss Tillis will be important. They may have a target on their backs this season, but the young team will be excited about it and will embrace the challenge, and I know that coach Bill Laimbeer will certainly know how to motivate them. They are a top team, maybe the top team, with all of the pieces to repeat. 2. Charlotte Sting (2003 – 18-16, tied for second place in East) I picked the Sting to finish sixth last year and got ripped for it, so I won't make that mistake again. They surprised a lot of people going 18-16 last year. Charlotte was the only team to beat Detroit consistently, going 4-0 against them because they stick to their strategy. Their game plan is to slow the game down. They shoot the three and live on the perimeter, but make you play defense. They have one of the top players in the WNBA in Dawn Staley. People have questioned her durability and her knees, but she has been phenomenal and her mind sets her apart. She not only out-thinks you, but she also out-toughs you and will not be beat. In addition to Staley, they have a good mix of veteran players and some younger players. Andrea Stinson is an original member of the Sting and a former All-Star as well. Rven though they brought in Olympia Scott-Richardson and have Tammy Sutton-Brown, the question mark is the frontcourt depth. The addition of Nicole Powell is huge. She has the ability to play a lot of positions for them, she is a three-point shooter when she needs to be and she can handle the ball. I think there may be some question on the part of the coaching staff over just what to do with her, but I don't see that as a problem. If they prep Powell to be the heir apparent, I think that will be a plus as well. She is like a Magic Johnson out there, and the biggest thing for her will be learning and understanding the system and how to play with the team and what her role is going to be. This is a team with a lot of the same faces, but they picked up Mery Andrade in the Dispersal Draft who has been in the league. Kelly Mazzante, a serious three-point shooter, is a good player for their system like Allison Feaster, Powell and Stinson. New York's Shameka Christon will make an immediate impact. Nathaniel S. Butler WNBAE/Getty Images 3. New York Liberty (2003 – 16-18, tied for fifth place in East) This is a brand-new Liberty team. Yes, they have some of the same faces in Tari Phillips, Crystal Robinson, Vickie Johnson, Becky Hammon and Elena Baranova, but Los Angeles now has Teresa Weatherspoon and Tamika Whitmore. Watherspoon was a main-stay, the face of the Liberty since the beginning and the fans loved her. But it is time for this team to move on. Coach Richie Adubato will have to do some tinkering with his lineup in the early going to see what works best. What will that rotation be? Do they keep Hammon at the point or as a shooting guard? Does she come off the bench? How about K.B. Sharp at the point? Will Baranova start? Rookie Shameka Christon won’t start right away, but she is dynamite and is going to be a very good player in this league. She will play the small forward, and it will help the rotation in giving Robinson and Johnson, who are always matched up against the opposition’s best player, a break on offense and defense. Ann Wauters was also a helpful pick-up for them. New York had an injury here, an injury there last season, so the Olympic break could have helped this team down the stretch. Tari Phillips, who has been hurt in the preseason, has to be in shape and stay healthy. I am also curious to see how Baranova plays. She will be playing in the Olympics this summer and that could have a huge effect, not just on the Liberty, but on many of the teams. The things I have seen Baranova do on her national team are incredible, but when she comes to the United States, she is not as Lisa Leslie-like. But I still like this team to finish in the playoffs. 4. Indiana Fever (2003 – 16-18, tied for fifth place in East) In Tamika Catchings, Indiana has a legitimate MVP candidate and one of the best and most exciting players in the entire league and the world. This team looks pretty impressive, at least on paper. Kelly Miller was a great acquisition for them and will start at point guard. Now that she has the opportunity to play the point, she could totally surprise people. Niele Ivey and Coretta Brown are solid off the bench and both should be 100% this year and in shape. But there are some overall questions about the frontcourt. Deanna Jackson comes from Cleveland and Dispersal Draft, but will she come off the bench? She could start at power forward and move Catchings to the small forward. Natalie Williams, Astou Ndiaye-Diatta, Kristen Rasmussen, Kelly Schumacher and rookie Ebony Hoffman round out the frontcourt, but I do not think they are as deep as they look in the post. Hoffman has abilities like Tina Thompson, but she really needs to prove herself worthy of that ninth overall selection. Her U.S.C. team never went to the NCAA Tournament when she was there, but maybe her personality will make a big difference on that team, and the fact that Tamika Catchings has taken her under her wing already is huge. New coach Brian Winters is really excited about coming in, but he is an unknown variable in the WNBA. Despite losing Nikki McCray, Coquese Washington and Olympia Scott-Richardson, there are lot of familiar faces, but what they have added with Hoffman, Jackson and Miller could make the difference. They were a middle-of-the-pack team in 2003 and I expect them to finish there again, but they have a solid group and Tamika Catchings. It is an exciting time for Indiana. Michael Adams and Alana Beard are new to the Mystics. Mitchell LAyton WNBAE/Getty Images 5. Washington Mystics (2003 – 9-25, seventh place in East) Washington is a big question for me. I am picking them to finish above Connecticut, but only because of Chamique Holdsclaw, a very talented player. She is one of a select group of players who has averaged a double-double in points and rebounds. Hopefully she can be 100% healthy this year. She had great numbers last year, but the team struggled to find itself and I am not sure that the team had great chemistry. They have been entirely inconsistent from year to year, going from struggling to making the playoffs to struggling again. In terms of personnel, I wonder if rookie Alana Beard, Dispersal Draft acquisition Chasity Melvin and Tamicha Jackson are enough to turn the franchise around. Beard can make the biggest difference on this team because she is a scorer and a great defender. Melvin’s presence is going to be huge in the middle for them as well. I think she was among the best, if not the best, center in the Eastern Conference last year. She and Beard will bring new leadership to the Mystics. I am not sure where Stacey Dales-Schuman should play. She could fit as a point guard in addition to Jackson, acquired from a trade with Phoenix. That is the position she played for Oklahoma and the Canadian National Team for years. Murriel Page is an original Mystic, but they still do not have a great deal of depth in the post and are led by a new coach, ex-NBA baller Michael Adams, who is another unknown as he has no coaching experience at any level. 6. Connecticut Sun (2003 – 18-16, tied for second place in East) I picked the Sun to finish in last place last season and they went to the Conference finals. So I am only picking Connecticut last again to motivate them. I think Connecticut’s playoff run was a pleasant surprise last year, but they will struggle as a result of some limeup changes. They will miss Shannon "Pee Wee" Johnson the most. They will fill that void with rookie Lindsay Whalen and veteran Debbie Black, but Black is out with an injury and will not be back until the season has begun. She must then get back into shape. So how quickly will Whalen come to understand the system and learn the league? A lot rests on her shoulders. It is a huge change when you have a new point guard so the real question will be the team chemistry. Another injury that will weigh on the Sun was the loss of Brooke Wyckoff for the season. She was huge for them last season off the bench. Many of the other names are back, though, including three returning starters. Nykesha Sales is an All-Star, Katie Douglass is a shooter, and Taj McWilliams-Franklin is the key in the post. I like Asjha Jones a lot and think she will really complement their team well. She will start at the power forward position. So Whalen, Douglass, Sales, Jones, Franklin are your starters, but what about the bench? Has Courtney Coleman improved? She has great footwork and really improved her shot. I hear Wendy Palmer came back in great shape. Also, this year will be an opportunity for Mike Thibault to just be a coach. Last year, he was video coordinator, ticket salesman, a PR guy.