The WNBA’s 12th season gets underway next weekend, and the league is eager to attract new fans and change perceptions of women's hoops. A new marketing campaign, “Expect Great,” launches during tonight's Celtics/Cavaliers NBA playoff game (7 pm/ET, ESPN). In a series of ads that are clearly aimed at men, three top players — the Detroit Shock’s Cheryl Ford, the Indiana Fever’s Tamika Catchings and celebrated rookie Candace Parker of the L.A. Sparks — repeat the criticisms they’ve heard. The complaints are clearly contradicted by simultaneous game clips. In Ford’s spot, the four-time WNBA All-Star says: "Let's be honest, your rec league team would smoke us chicks without working up a sweat. I'm afraid of contact, so you can post me up all day long. Plus, the lane will be open, because no girl is gonna take a charge. We want no part of your rec league team. Believe that." Then the screen goes dark and the words "She wouldn't say that. Would ...
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