Celebration greets returning champs

PHOENIX -- The newly minted WNBA champions came home to a rousing welcome in the desert Monday.

Several hundred fans greeted the Phoenix Mercury's commercial flight at Sky Harbor International Airport. And when the team bus pulled into the bowels of U.S. Airways Center, managing partner Robert Sarver, general manager Ann Meyers Drysdale and several Phoenix Suns staff were there to greet it, along with a four-piece mariachi band.

The receptions at the airport and the arena brought smiles to the weary players, who clutched balloons and roses as they gathered their luggage.

"I don't think it's hit any of us what we've done," said forward Penny Taylor, who led the Mercury with 30 points in the clincher. "I think at that moment you really realize how much people are counting on you and how much they really appreciated what we've been doing all year, and their expectations and that we'd actually fulfilled those."

The team will host a public celebration today in the Casino Arizona Pavilion on the arena's street level. Players will speak and the championship trophy and banner will be unveiled.

After that, the Mercury will scatter for the off-season -- and coach Paul Westhead may be gone for good.

Westhead, who has coached the Mercury for two years, is entertaining an offer to join friend P.J. Carlesimo's staff with the Seattle SuperSonics.

"I'm just going to see what's going on," Westhead said when asked if he had a timetable for his decision. "It'll probably be a few days."

This is the second title for the 68-year-old Westhead, who also won the NBA championship as a rookie coach with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1980.

Westhead, nicknamed the "Guru of Go," shrugged when asked if he had convinced doubters that women could succeed in his fast-paced style, which emphasizes 3-point shooting.

"We've been doing it for close to two years now," Westhead said. "The criticism's always (been) you can't win big games, you can't win championships. So we'll just have to go faster."

Taylor said she and her teammates hope Westhead will return.

"Obviously, it would be sad if he didn't," Taylor said. "He's brought so much. I mean, he's the reason we've won this championship. He's the reason we were such a good team all year and why I had a good year.

"It would be terribly sad if he decided to move on, but if it's the best thing for him, then good luck to him and we'll be happy for him," Taylor said.