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2008 Los Angeles Sparks season

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

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.
PickPlayerNationalitySchool
1Candace ParkerTennessee
15Shannon BobbittTennessee
29Sharnee ZollVirginia

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.

Preseason

Los Angeles Sparksyear=2008border=2}}DateLos Angeles Sparksyear=2008border=2}}OpponentLos Angeles Sparksyear=2008border=2}}ScoreLos Angeles Sparksyear=2008border=2}}ResultLos Angeles Sparksyear=2008border=2}}Record
May 3@ Atlanta86-80Win1-0
May 8@ Chicago84-68Win2-0
May 11@ Minnesota106-105 (2OT)Win3-0

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.
  • 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. 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

  • The Sparks–Shock brawl (also known as The Malice at the Palace II) was an altercation that occurred in a game between the Detroit Shock and Los Angeles Sparks on July 22, 2008, at The Palace of Auburn Hills. With 4.2 seconds before the game was officially over, the fighting began on the court after Plenette Pierson made a hard block out after a free throw on Candace Parker. This was the second brawl to occur at the Palace, the other being the Pacers–Pistons brawl.

Season standings

Season schedule

DateOpponentScoreResultRecord
May 17@ Phoenix99-94Win1-0
May 25@ Atlanta74-56Win2-0
May 29@ Indiana78-82 (2OT)Loss2-1
May 31@ Washington70-59Win3-1
June 3@ Chicago81-77 (OT)Win4-1
June 6vs. Phoenix79-85Loss4-2
June 11vs. Detroit80-73Win5-2
June 13vs. Connecticut98-93 (OT)Win6-2
June 14@ Sacramento74-66Win7-2
June 18vs. Chicago80-67Win8-2
June 20@ San Antonio75-77Loss8-3
June 22vs. Indiana77-63Win9-3
June 24vs. Seattle76-62Win10-3
June 26vs. Washington74-77 (OT)Loss10-4
July 1vs. New York78-89Loss10-5
July 3vs. Minnesota70-88Loss10-6
July 6vs. Phoenix91-80Win11-6
July 9vs. Houston82-74(OT)Win12-6
July 10@ Sacramento69-87Loss12-7
July 12@ Seattle52-70Loss12-8
July 14vs. San Antonio75-62Win13-8
July 17@ Phoenix92-99Loss13-9
July 19@ Houston72-75(OT)Loss13-10
July 22@ Detroit84-81Win14-10
July 24@ Connecticut61-87Loss14-11
July 25@ New York68-69Loss14-12
July 27@ Minnesota92-84(OT)Win15-12
August 28vs. Sacramento78-63Win16-12
August 30vs. San Antonio58-53Win17-12
September 1vs. Minnesota82-58Win18-12
September 5@ San Antonio58-76Loss18-13
September 6@ Houston84-66Win19-13
September 11vs. Atlanta72-83Loss19-14
September 14vs. Seattle65-48Win20-14

Player stats

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

PlayerGPMPGRPGAPGSPGBPGAPG
Shannon Bobbitt
Lisa Leslie3332.18.92.41.52.915.1
Marie Ferdinand-Harris3320.62.61.30.80.18.4
DeLisha Milton-Jones7230501575
Raffaella Masciardi510211610
Muriel Page
Candace Parker3333.69.53.41.32.318.5
Sidney Spencer3313.71.90.60.40.15.3

Roster

Playoffs

RoundDateOpponentScoreResultRecord
Western Conference SemiSeptember 19vs. Seattle77-69Win1-0
September 21@ Seattle50-64Loss1-1
September 23@ Seattle71-64Win2-1
Western Conference FinalSeptember 25vs. San Antonio85-70Win1-0 (3-1)
September 27@ San Antonio66-67Loss1-1 (3-2)
September 28@ San Antonio72-76Loss1-2 (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
  • Candace Parker, WNBA MVP
  • 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)
  • Candace Parker, Led WNBA in double-doubles (17)
  • Candace Parker, Led WNBA Rookies, Points per game (18.5)
  • Candace Parker, Led WNBA Rookies, Blocks per game (2.3)
  • Candace Parker, Led WNBA Rookies, Minutes per game (33.6)
  • Candace Parker, Led WNBA, Rebounds per game (9.5)

References

References

  1. "WNBA.com: Atlanta Dream".
  2. "2008 WNBA Draft Board".
  3. "WNBA.com: 2008 WNBA Transactions".
  4. "Wnba.Com: Schedules".
  5. "Sparks vs. Mercury - WNBA Game Recap - May 17, 2008".
  6. (2008-10-03). "Los Angeles Sparks' Candace Parker Named Hanns-G Go Beyond Rookie of the Year". WNBA.com.
  7. "Schedule".
  8. "WNBA.com: Lisa Leslie Playerfile".
  9. "WNBA.com: Marie Ferdinand-Harris Playerfile".
  10. "Candace Parker".
  11. "Sidney Spencer | Connecticut Sun | Women's National Basketball Association | Yahoo! Sports".
  12. "Stats".
  13. (3 October 2008). "Parker to be WNBA MVP".
  14. Sports Illustrated, October 6, 2008, p.80)
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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