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Caune posted this great interview of Seth on the ESPN board. It was done by Mychele Dee of Echo magazine.

Oops! Editted to correct link...thanks Skew!

http://www.echomag.com/news/sports.html

mb · Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2003 1:22 pm Post subject:

Mychele Dee's interview of Seth Sulka, part two:

http://www.echomag.com/news/sports.html

Good stuff!

MycheleDee · Joined: 06 Feb 2003 Posts: 3

Here is the article as printed by Echo Magazine.

The Mercury’s New Mission - 100% Commitment
The WNBA off-season is turning out to be a nail-bitter. In October, the league changed its business model, cutting ties that bound teams to NBA franchises. At press time, it appears that both the Miami Sol and the Portland Fire will fold as their NBA counterparts have decided not to purchase the teams. The Utah Starzz will relocate to San Antonio. The Orlando Miracle may move to another city or it may fold as well.
In search of where the Phoenix Mercury stands in all this chaos, Seth Sulka, Vice-President and General Manager, opened his door to Echo Magazine to help clarify the situation.

Echo: How did the restructuring come to pass? Was it expected or a surprise?

Seth: I think early on when the league drew up all the plans, they knew at some point they were going to go to a more NBA-like situation where the teams actually owned franchises as opposed to operating them on behalf of the league. The league’s thought process early on, in what is a very unstable time in start-up leagues, was you really are only as good as your ownership. Let’s keep the ownership centralized, support the branches and try to get through the difficult early years. Not to say we are out of the woods, but for the first five or six years, I think it served its purpose. Now I think there’s been enough time to prove there is value and equity in our teams, so let’s go ahead and turn those over to the individual operators. Teams that were operating them could convert that operating agreement into an ownership agreement. Anyone that hasn’t left has done that.

Echo: Is that true for the Mercury?

Seth: Yes, we’ve committed. Rick Welts, our president, and Jerry Colangelo, our CEO, have been meeting and are very committed. There is commitment from the top on down in Phoenix right now. 100% commitment. Now, at some point you need to make the business work. Last year, we lost 1.5 million dollars. In three years, if that happens, there may be a little change in the commitment. It’s important that we continue to improve and have a product people want. At the end of the day, you do this for people to come and enjoy. If they’re not, then maybe there isn’t a market for it, but I don’t think that’s the case here…Rick Welts came in last summer as president of the Suns and the Mercury. He didn’t replace anyone; Bryan Colangelo is still the president of the Mercury as well. Bryan focuses on basketball and Rick focuses on the business. This is the same model they took for the Suns. They are both presidents of the Suns as well.

Echo: If teams end up folding, what will happen to those players?

Seth: The league is still examining all potential opportunities to relocate the teams or find different ownership. Pretty soon here they will have to decide to maybe eliminate those teams and then there would be some sort of dispersal draft.

Echo: Will remaining teams be able to expand their rosters to accommodate those players?

Seth: I’m sure they would like to, but that’s a huge cost issue. Even if you reduce it to 14 teams, it’s well over half a million to three quarters of a million dollars for one [extra] spot. I don’t know if I see that down the road, but you never know. The players right now are in a collective bargaining negotiation with the league so that potentially could be something that is talked about.

Echo: If some of these great players become available, who would you be looking at?

Seth: All of a sudden, you’re looking at - with a high draft pick and maybe one or two players via a dispersal draft - you are looking at two or three spots on a team that was pretty loaded. If we had a need, we’d definitely look at the perimeter before we look inside. We’ve got Maria, Kayte, Adrian and Tuvic, and also Jenn inside and outside because she likes to shoot that three.

Echo: Have you committed to any players at this point?

Seth: Everyone that was on our roster on the final day of last season is our property until further notice. Even players that didn’t return last year – Fallon, Brogan, and Korstine.

Echo: Brandy Reed?

Seth: She is officially our property but I would not project her being involved with the Mercury.

Echo: Do you project her being involved in the WNBA?

Seth: No.

Echo: Has Coach John Shumate made any decisions yet about his staff?

We were waiting to see what some of the teams did before we made decisions. But with Seattle picking their head coach [Anne Donovan], I think we are about due to pursue people. Certainly Carrie Graf, who has been here four other seasons, and Gary Kloppenburg, who has been with the Storm for three seasons, are high on our list. Gary’s father, Bob Kloppenburg, is a long time NBA coach. When Coach Shumate coached the Toronto Raptors, Gary was an assistant. A lot of John’s basketball’s philosophies come from Bob and certainly the son as adopted them as well.

Echo: What about Linda Sharp, Michele Timms?

Seth: You know, I haven’t spoken to Linda since she left. She kind of just left town and didn’t really leave a number. I think Michele Timms would just prefer to go back to broadcasting right now. Having just finished as a player, she felt too close to the game to get back in there and coach. I think she’s definitely coaching material down the road, but I think right now she’s going to be comfortable in a broadcasting role. She will still do Mercury community events as well.

Next issue: Part two of the Seth Sulka interview including his thoughts on foreign players in the WNBA, who he’d love to see in a Mercury uniform, and pushing the “pride buttons.” Season tickets for the Phoenix Mercury are available by calling (602) 252-WNBA.

MycheleDee · Joined: 06 Feb 2003 Posts: 3

Here is part two of my interview as printed in Echo Magazine

Right Where He Wants to Be

In the last issue, Phoenix Mercury V.P./G.M Seth Sulka gave his insights on the WNBA's restructuring, the Mercury’s perimeter, and his organization's 100% commitment to the Mercury staying in Phoenix. Since then, Maria Stepanova gave birth to a five pound, six ounce baby boy named Nikolai on January 4. Sulka teased fans at a Mercury “Meet the Coach” event January 10th that he was in the final negotiating stages with two assistant coaches - “their names rhyme” - but there was no announcement as of press time. Here is the conclusion of our interview.

Echo: Who would you like to see in a Mercury uniform?

Seth: Sheryl Swoopes.

Echo: Even after the less than warm reception to Cynthia Cooper?

Seth: I think that if the team and had won games, that would have changed everything. If Sheryl was out there scoring 25 points per game, they'd love her in a minute. Certainly if things continue with Miami and Portland not returning, these teams all have handfuls of great players. Shannon Johnson, Katie Douglas, Nykesha Sales, Wendy Palmer, Jackie Stiles, DeMaya Walker, Debbie Black, Sandy Brondello, Betty Lennox, Sheri Sam, Ruth Riley... All I would say is we don't really spend a lot of time thinking about it until we know what we have to work with.

Echo: How to you think the use of foreign players will continue to effect the Mercury and the league?

Seth: It certainly is an ongoing issue. The Mercury from year one has been very involved internationally. We had Michele Timms and Marlies Askamp our first year. I think you've seen in the NBA a lot more emphasis placed on European players. It's something you have to monitor. You certainly don't want to go too much one way or the other. You want to be careful about having too high of an impact player as a foreign player. Like a Trish Fallon last year not returning, she would have helped us, but it didn't devastate us. Now Stepanova not coming back, that's a core piece of the team and that hurts. But if you are Seattle and the top pick is Lauren Jackson, do you pass?

Echo: What is the timeline for the league leading up to the 2003 season?

Seth: We are still waiting for the draft lottery for the REGULAR draft to find out where we pick. There is a lot of uncertainty right now with schedules and drafts and the players, the collective bargaining... That could go down until the last minute, until May 1! Training camp is scheduled for the first week in May. The first games will be May 24 or 25. We play a 34 game schedule in 2003, one extra home and road game this season for each team.

Echo: How to you plan to bring out more fans in 2003?

That is something we are working on right now, a communications strategy, a marketing strategy. We've gone back and forth. Do we focus on adult women? Do we go and push that pride button? “You have an obligation to support women's sports. You have to support this league or it’s going to go away - so do it!”

Early last year we tried to go to the woman card with Cynthia and [our slogan] “Join Our Mission.” We had the image of Cynthia in an Amelia Earhart-type old Barnstormer uniform. Our mission is women, to continue to grow our place in society. Come be a fan and help support us. We didn't have a lot of success with it.

Do you go after the families with daughters who play at the Y, Girls Clubs, Junior Mercury, high schools? We've got 212 high schools in the Valley. With 13 players per team, varsity and J.V, you've got 40-50 girls times 200 - now you're at a pretty good number. Do you go to families who are busy in the summer with a lot of options? I don't know if we know right now. Some combination of all of that, but where to put the emphasis, its tough. I'm a father with a wife who loves it, with four kids who love the games. To me, that's the market. A father taking his daughters to something where he can point out and say "Hey, there's Jennifer Gillom" who they can related to, instead of an Amare Stoudemire.

Echo: Now, the all important question: will there be bobbleheads?

Seth: Oh, the bobblehead debacle that was Cynthia Cooper last year...We had them scheduled, but the Coach kind of left... We should have given them out at the first game if we had a lesson to learn.

Echo: How do you feel about the league's future?

Seth: I'm actually pretty optimistic right now. I know on the surface it appears losing teams is a sign of "Oh no, an inch away from the casket." But I think it's a sign of strength that the league is saying ‘If you aren't going to put in the time and commitment to really develop your team, you know what? Go! We'd rather give it to someone who does show enthusiasm.’ Or ‘We would rather not have your 3000 a game pull down our attendance.’ Now, if there were eight teams that left, I'd be a little concerned.

Echo: Where to you see yourself in five years?

Seth: After being with the Mercury and women's basketball since 1997, I love it. I can't think of a better way to ensure I'm doing something for [my daughters’] future than to ensure that the WNBA is secure for them. My commitment is to get this team to work and to get women's basketball to flourish in this town again. I don't view my position as "in five years, I hope to be doing what I'm doing here but with the Suns." Maybe in five years if I become wealthy, maybe I'll own the Mercury instead of just run them. I don't view this as a short time thing. Jerry and the Suns have been around for 35 years. In five years, I'll love to be on top of the Mercury. I'll be as happy as I can be.

Echo: You just have to win the lottery.

Seth: Yes, exactly.

Reserve your Phoenix Mercury 2003 season package by calling (602) 252-WNBA.