Forced to choose which expansion team would finish the year with the best record, we probably wouldn't have guessed the Miami Sol, a team missing its two best players and a coach who (we thought) knew nothing at all about the women's game.

	Miami's Sheri Sam is averaging 15.8 points a game.

But with two weeks left in the season, the 9-16 Miami Sol have more wins than any other expansion team and a good chance to be a playoff team in the Eastern Conference next season.

When Ron Rothstein was hired and stood next to his buddy Pat Riley at the podium, eyes rolled all over the league. What could this guy possibly know about women's basketball?

But Rothstein has done very well for himself, and more importantly, his team.

He got lucky immediately, taking the opportunity to pick up veteran Debbie Black in the expansion draft. He got shrewd immediately when he made the deals to get Sandy Brondello from Detroit (for draft picks), traded Kate Starbird (who is sitting for the Starzz) for Elena Baranova from Utah and got Marlies Askamp in a trade with Phoenix.

Then he picked up Sheri Sam when she was waived by Orlando and began stressing defense. Sam has turned out to be the team's leading scorer with an 11.8 scoring average. That tells you a lot right there.

Make no mistake, Miami doesn't play pretty basketball. The Sol are second-to-last in the league in scoring behind only Seattle at 57.3 points per game, but are the No. 1 team in points allowed at 64.0.

The Sol has lost four of its last six games, but are still somehow just two games out of a playoff spot in the East behind Detroit and Washington.

Black has been a steadying force, even if she's not the player she was a couple years ago, while young players such as backup guard Milena Flores are getting valuable game-time experience.

With Brondello missing the season to prepare for the Olympics and Baranova sitting out the season with an injury, Miami can only get better next year. Meanwhile, a by-product of having an expansion-like record also guarantees the Sol a high draft pick in next year's talent-rich draft. It's conceivable that with a draft position somewhere in the six to eight range, Miami could end up with another starter.

The playoff picture
Sacramento is 6½ games behind first-place Los Angeles in the West, and it isn't likely they are going to be able to make up the ground before season's end with seven games to go. But the Monarchs could go a long way toward securing their playoff spot.

	Yolanda Griffith and Sacramento entered the season with high expectations, but are 6½ games back in the West.

Either way it's not going to be a picnic. If the season ended right now, the Monarchs would finish in third place and would face Houston in the playoffs. A fourth-place finish would guarantee a date with the hot Sparks, winners of seven straight and 19 of their past 20 games.

Those are Comet-like numbers for the Sparks, who played their last regular-season home game on Thursday, defeating Seattle 76-63. ...

It's going to be difficult for Phoenix -- especially now that it has lost another point guard in Michele Cleary -- to hang on to its third-place spot. The Mercury's playoff magic number is five, a combination of Phoenix wins and Utah losses. ...

In the Eastern Conference, Orlando has lost its hold on first place in the conference with three straight losses and five losses in six games. ...

Washington, meanwhile, must make a run if the Mystics are going to clinch their first-ever playoff appearance without starting point guard Andrea Nagy, who was put on injured reserved Thursday with a groin strain. She might miss the rest of the season.

The Mystics are a half-game out of the last playoff spot with seven games remaining. ...

Detroit is doing its best to hang on to the fourth and final spot in the East. In Wednesday night's game against Miami, Shock coach Nancy Lieberman-Cline took All-Star Wendy Palmer out of the starting lineup along with Claudia Maria das Neves, inserting rookies Barbara Farris and Edwina Brown. The result was a 78-62 win.

Michelle Smith of the San Francisco Examiner is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.