2008 Los Angeles Sparks season

2008 Los Angeles Sparks season
CoachMichael Cooper
ArenaStaples Center
Attendance9,508 per game
Results
Record20–14 (.588)
Place3rd (Western)
Playoff finishLost Western Conference Finals

The 2008 Los Angeles Sparks season was the franchise's 12th season in the Women's National Basketball Association, and the second season under head coach Michael Cooper. The Sparks returned to the postseason for the first time since 2006.

Offseason

The following player was selected in the Expansion Draft:

  • LaToya Thomas Los Angeles Sparks

[1]

WNBA draft

  • On October 23, 2007. The WNBA draft lottery was held. The Los Angeles Sparks received the first pick for the upcoming 2008 WNBA Draft.
Pick Player Nationality School
1 Candace Parker  United States Tennessee
15 Shannon Bobbitt  United States Tennessee
29 Sharnee Zoll  United States Virginia

[2]

Transactions

  • April 24, The Sparks waived DeTrina White.
  • April 23 The Sparks waived Layla Schwarz due to injury.
  • April 22, The Sparks traded Taj McWilliams-Franklin and a first-round pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft to the Washington Mystics for DeLisha Milton-Jones.
  • April 21 The Sparks signed Tiina Sten to a training camp contract.
  • April 17 The Sparks signed Vaida Sipaviciute to a training camp contract.
  • April 15 The Sparks signed Lady Comfort to a training camp contract.
  • April 2 The Sparks signed Olympia Scott to a training camp contract.
  • March 6, The Sparks signed Layla Schwarz, Liron Cohen and Brisa Silva to training camp contracts.
  • February 22 The Sparks signed free agent Marie Ferdinand-Harris.
  • February 21 The Sparks signed Jessica Moore and Raffaella Masciadri to training camp contracts.

[3]

Preseason

Date Opponent Score Result Record
May 3 @ Atlanta 86-80 Win 1-0
May 8 @ Chicago 84-68 Win 2-0
May 11 @ Minnesota 106-105 (2OT) Win 3-0

[4]

Regular season

Candace Parker

  • Candace Parker scored 34 points, and set a league record for the most points in a WNBA debut. Parker added 12 rebounds to help the Los Angeles Sparks beat the defending champion Phoenix Mercury 99–94 on Saturday 17. Parker, narrowly missed a triple-double with 12 rebounds and eight assists. The previous high in a WNBA debut was 25 points by Cynthia Cooper in 1997.[5]
  • On May 29 against the Indiana Fever, Parker tallied the first-ever "5x5" performance in WNBA history, posting 16 points, 16 rebounds, six blocked shots, five assists and five steals.[6] Parker had a career-best 40-point performance on July 9 against the Houston Comets.
  • On June 22, Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks finished a breakaway late in a game against the Indiana Fever with a one handed slam. This marked just the second time that a player in the history of the WNBA had a slam dunk.

Malice at the Palace

Main article: Sparks–Shock brawl

Season standings

Western Conference W L PCT GB Home Road Conf.
San Antonio Silver Stars x 24 10 .706 – 15–2 9–8 10–10
Seattle Storm x 22 12 .647 2.0 16–1 6–11 13–7
Los Angeles Sparks x 20 14 .588 4.0 12–5 8–9 12–8
Sacramento Monarchs x 18 16 .529 6.0 5–12 13–4 9–11
Houston Comets o 17 17 .500 7.0 13–4 4–13 10–10
Minnesota Lynx o 16 18 .471 8.0 10–7 6–11 8–12
Phoenix Mercury o 16 18 .471 8.0 9–8 7–10 8–12

Season schedule

Date Opponent Score Result Record
May 17 @ Phoenix 99-94 Win 1-0
May 25 @ Atlanta 74-56 Win 2-0
May 29 @ Indiana 78-82 (2OT) Loss 2-1
May 31 @ Washington 70-59 Win 3-1
June 3 @ Chicago 81-77 (OT) Win 4-1
June 6 vs. Phoenix 79-85 Loss 4-2
June 11 vs. Detroit 80-73 Win 5-2
June 13 vs. Connecticut 98-93 (OT) Win 6-2
June 14 @ Sacramento 74-66 Win 7-2
June 18 vs. Chicago 80-67 Win 8-2
June 20 @ San Antonio 75-77 Loss 8-3
June 22 vs. Indiana 77-63 Win 9-3
June 24 vs. Seattle 76-62 Win 10-3
June 26 vs. Washington 74-77 (OT) Loss 10-4
July 1 vs. New York 78-89 Loss 10-5
July 3 vs. Minnesota 70-88 Loss 10-6
July 6 vs. Phoenix 91-80 Win 11-6
July 9 vs. Houston 82-74(OT) Win 12-6
July 10 @ Sacramento 69-87 Loss 12-7
July 12 @ Seattle 52-70 Loss 12-8
July 14 vs. San Antonio 75-62 Win 13-8
July 17 @ Phoenix 92-99 Loss 13-9
July 19 @ Houston 72-75(OT) Loss 13-10
July 22 @ Detroit 84-81 Win 14-10
July 24 @ Connecticut 61-87 Loss 14-11
July 25 @ New York 68-69 Loss 14-12
July 27 @ Minnesota 92-84(OT) Win 15-12
August 28 vs. Sacramento 78-63 Win 16-12
August 30 vs. San Antonio 58-53 Win 17-12
September 1 vs. Minnesota 82-58 Win 18-12
September 5 @ San Antonio 58-76 Loss 18-13
September 6 @ Houston 84-66 Win 19-13
September 11 vs. Atlanta 72-83 Loss 19-14
September 14 vs. Seattle 65-48 Win 20-14

[7]

Player stats

Note: GP= Games played; MIN= Minutes; REB= Rebounds; AST= Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; AVG = Average

Player GP MPG RPG APG SPG BPG APG
Shannon Bobbitt
Lisa Leslie[8] 33 32.1 8.9 2.4 1.5 2.9 15.1
Marie Ferdinand-Harris[9] 33 20.6 2.6 1.3 0.8 0.1 8.4
DeLisha Milton-Jones 7 230 50 15 7 5
Raffaella Masciardi 5 102 11 6 1 0
Muriel Page
Candace Parker[10] 33 33.6 9.5 3.4 1.3 2.3 18.5
Sidney Spencer[11] 33 13.7 1.9 0.6 0.4 0.1 5.3

[12]

Roster

2008 Los Angeles Sparks roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHeightWeightFrom
PG6Bobbitt, Shannon5' 2" (1.57m)130 lb (59kg)Tennessee
PG4Brown, Kiesha5' 10" (1.78m)134 lb (61kg)Georgia
C12Dydek, Margo7' 2" (2.18m)223 lb (101kg)Poland
SG24Ferdinand-Harris, Marie5' 9" (1.75m)153 lb (69kg)LSU
PG2Johnson, Temeka5' 3" (1.6m)132 lb (60kg)LSU
C9Leslie, Lisa (C)6' 5" (1.96m)170 lb (77kg)USC
G/F33Masciadri, Raffaella6' 0" (1.83m)169 lb (77kg)Italy
SF8Milton-Jones, DeLisha6' 1" (1.85m)185 lb (84kg)Florida
PF31Moore, Jessica6' 3" (1.91m)175 lb (79kg)Connecticut
PF00Page, Murriel6' 2" (1.88m)160 lb (73kg)Florida
F/C3Parker, Candace6' 4" (1.93m)175 lb (79kg)Tennessee
G/F1Spencer, Sidney6' 3" (1.91m)183 lb (83kg)Tennessee
C32Thomas, Christi6' 3" (1.91m)185 lb (84kg)Georgia
Head coach
Michael Cooper (New Mexico)
Assistant coaches
Laura Beeman (California State University)
Marianne Stanley (Immaculata)
Athletic trainer
Rachel Schlachet (Arizona State)
Strength and conditioning coach
Bruce Deziel
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured
  WNBA roster page

Playoffs

Round Date Opponent Score Result Record
Western Conference Semi September 19 vs. Seattle 77-69 Win 1-0
September 21 @ Seattle 50-64 Loss 1-1
September 23 @ Seattle 71-64 Win 2-1
Western Conference Final September 25 vs. San Antonio 85-70 Win 1-0 (3-1)
September 27 @ San Antonio 66-67 Loss 1-1 (3-2)
September 28 @ San Antonio 72-76 Loss 1-2 (3-3)

Awards and honors

  • Lisa Leslie, All WNBA First Team
  • Lisa Leslie, Led WNBA, Blocks (2.9 per game)
  • Lisa Leslie, All-WNBA Defensive First Team
  • Candace Parker, WNBA Rookie of the Year[6]
  • Candace Parker, WNBA MVP[13]
  • Candace Parker, Forward, All-WNBA Rookie Team
  • Candace Parker, Hanns-G 'Go Beyond' Rookie of the Month award in May (For the month of May, she averaged 19.2 points, 11.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists in four games)
  • Candace Parker, Hanns-G 'Go Beyond' Rookie of the Month award in July (In the 12 games played in July she averaged 20.8 points, 9.5 rebounds per game and collected eight double-doubles)[6]
  • Candace Parker, Led WNBA in double-doubles (17)
  • Candace Parker, Led WNBA Rookies, Points per game (18.5) [14]
  • Candace Parker, Led WNBA Rookies, Blocks per game (2.3) [14]
  • Candace Parker, Led WNBA Rookies, Minutes per game (33.6) [14]
  • Candace Parker, Led WNBA, Rebounds per game (9.5) [14]

References

  1. ^ "WNBA.com: Atlanta Dream". Archived from the original on August 20, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2008.
  2. ^ "2008 WNBA Draft Board". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013.
  3. ^ "WNBA.com: 2008 WNBA Transactions". www.wnba.com.
  4. ^ "Wnba.Com: Schedules". Archived from the original on May 14, 2008.
  5. ^ "Sparks vs. Mercury - WNBA Game Recap - May 17, 2008". ESPN. Archived from the original on December 20, 2022.
  6. ^ a b c "Los Angeles Sparks' Candace Parker Named Hanns-G Go Beyond Rookie of the Year". WNBA.com. October 3, 2008. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  7. ^ "Schedule". Los Angeles Sparks.
  8. ^ "WNBA.com: Lisa Leslie Playerfile". Archived from the original on October 2, 2009. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  9. ^ "WNBA.com: Marie Ferdinand-Harris Playerfile". Archived from the original on December 20, 2008. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  10. ^ "Candace Parker". Archived from the original on August 1, 2010. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  11. ^ "Sidney Spencer | Connecticut Sun | Women's National Basketball Association | Yahoo! Sports". Yahoo Sports.
  12. ^ "Stats". Los Angeles Sparks.
  13. ^ "Parker to be WNBA MVP". Los Angeles Times. October 3, 2008.
  14. ^ a b c d Sports Illustrated, October 6, 2008, p.80)
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