2004 Connecticut Sun season

The 2004 WNBA season was their sixth season and their second in Connecticut. The Sun attempted to return to the postseason for the second consecutive season and were successful.

2004 Connecticut Sun season
CoachMike Thibault
ArenaMohegan Sun Arena
Attendance6,707 per game
Results
Record18–16 (.529)
Place1st (Eastern)
Playoff finishLost in WNBA Finals
Team Leaders
PointsNykesha Sales (15.2)
ReboundsTaj McW.-Franklin (7.2)
AssistsLindsay Whalen (4.8)

Offseason

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Dispersal Draft

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Based on the Sun's 2003 record, they would pick 8th in the Cleveland Rockers dispersal draft. However, the Sun traded the pick to the Houston Comets.

WNBA draft

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RoundPickPlayerNationalitySchool/Team/Country
14Lindsay Whalen  United StatesMinnesota
216Jessica Brungo  United StatesPenn State
224Ugo Oha  United StatesGeorge Washington University
329Candace Futrell  United StatesDuquesne

[1]

Transactions

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  • May 19: The Sun waived Courtney Colman.
  • May 18: The Sun waived Anna Zimerle, Ugo Oha, and Anastasia Kostaki.
  • May 12: The Sun waived Courtney Mix and Katie MacFarlane.
  • May 10: The Sun waived Brina Chaney and Brianne Stepherson.
  • May 4: The Sun waived Texlin Quinney, Jamila Wideman, and Isabel Stubbs.
  • April 26: The Sun signed Brina Chaney, Katie MacFarlane, Le'Coe Willingham, Jennifer Derevjanik, Courtney Mix, and Texlin Quinney.
  • April 20: The Sun waived Adrienne Johnson.
  • April 19: The Sun waived Jamila Wideman.
  • April 16: The Sun signed Isabel Stubbs.
  • April 9: The Sun signed Wendy Palmer-Daniel, Brianne Stepherson, Anna Zimerle, and Anastasia Kostaki.
  • March 25: The Sun acquired Asjha Jones from the Washington Mystics. The Washington Mystics acquired Tamicha Jackson from the Phoenix Mercury. The Phoenix Mercury acquired the 8th pick in the 2004 WNBA Draft from the Sun.
  • January 28: The Sun traded Shannon Johnson and their 21st and 34th picks in the 2004 WNBA Draft to the Silver Stars in exchange for San Antonio's 4th, 16th, 29th picks in the 2004 WNBA Draft.
  • January 5: The Sun traded the eighth pick in the 2004 WNBA Dispersal Draft to the Houston Comets in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2004 collegiate draft.

[2]

Roster

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Connecticut Sun roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#Nat.NameHeightWeightDOBFromYrs
G24 Black, Debbie5' 3" (1.6m)124 lb (56kg)Saint Joseph's
F22 Brungo, Jessica6' 1" (1.85m)165 lb (75kg)Penn State
G34 Derevjanik, Jennifer5' 10" (1.78m)140 lb (64kg)George Mason
G/F32 Douglas, Katie6' 0" (1.83m)165 lb (75kg)Purdue
G12 Futrell, Candace5' 10" (1.78m)154 lb (70kg)Duquesne
F15 Jones, Asjha6' 2" (1.88m)196 lb (89kg)Connecticut
F/C11 McWilliams-Franklin, Taj (C)6' 2" (1.88m)184 lb (83kg)St. Edward's College
F3 Palmer-Daniel, Wendy6' 2" (1.88m)165 lb (75kg)Virginia
G/F42 Sales, Nykesha (C)6' 0" (1.83m)175 lb (79kg)Connecticut
G13 Whalen, Lindsay5' 8" (1.73m)150 lb (68kg)Minnesota
F43 Willingham, Le'Coe6' 0" (1.83m)200 lb (91kg)Auburn
F21 Wyckoff, Brooke  6' 1" (1.85m)183 lb (83kg)Florida State
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Athletic trainer
  • Jen Brodeur
Strength and conditioning coach

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (IN) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Season standings

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Eastern Conference W L PCT GB Home Road Conf.
Connecticut Sun x1816.52910–78–914–6
New York Liberty x1816.52911–67–1010–10
Detroit Shock x1717.5001.08–99–811–9
Washington Mystics x1717.5001.011–66–119–11
Charlotte Sting o1618.4712.010–76–118–12
Indiana Fever o1519.4413.010–75–128–12

Schedule

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Preseason

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2004 Game Log: Preseason
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocationRecord
1May 8Chinese National TeamL 85-87Derevjanik (13)Coleman (9)()Mohegan Sun Arena0-1
2May 11@ HoustonL 71-84Douglas, Sales (13)Coleman (6)()Toyota Center0-2
3May 13Los AngelesL 51-77Sales (12)McWilliams-Franklin (7)()Mohegan Sun Arena0-3

Regular season

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2004 Game Log: Regular Season
May
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocationRecord
1May 22PhoenixL 58-65()()()Mohegan Sun Arena0-1
2May 25HoustonL 57-68()()()Mohegan Sun Arena0-2
3May 27Los AngelesW 82-73()()()Mohegan Sun Arena1-2
June
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocationRecord
4June 3CharlotteW 71-62()()()Mohegan Sun Arena2-2
5June 4@ WashingtonW 72-63()()()MCI Center3-2
6June 6DetroitL 73-74()()()Mohegan Sun Arena3-3
7June 9@ PhoenixL 59-75()()()America West Arena3-4
8June 11@ SeattleL 63-68()()()KeyArena3-5
9June 12@ SacramentoW 83-76()()()ARCO Arena4-5
10June 14@ Los AngelesL 74-76 (OT)()()()Staples Center4-6
11June 18CharlotteL 58-63 (OT)()()()Mohegan Sun Arena4-7
12June 20WashingtonW 75-65()()()Mohegan Sun Arena5-7
13June 22@ IndianaW 63-58()()()Conseco Fieldhouse6-7
14June 25DetroitW 71-67 (OT)()()()Mohegan Sun Arena7-7
15June 27@ DetroitW 74-72()()()Palace of Auburn Hills8-7
16June 30WashingtonW 78-69()()()Mohegan Sun Arena9-7
July
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocationRecord
17July 6IndianaW 79-67()()()Mohegan Sun Arena10-7
18July 9SacramentoL 70-85()()()Mohegan Sun Arena10-8
19July 11@ IndianaW 65-61()()()Conseco Fieldhouse11-8
20July 14@ MinnesotaL 63-66()()()Target Center11-9
21July 15@ San AntonioL 67-78()()()SBC Center11-10
22July 17@ HoustonL 56-72()()()Toyota Center11-11
23July 21@ DetroitW 78-68()()()Palace of Auburn Hills12-11
24July 22MinnesotaL 52-68()()()Mohegan Sun Arena12-12
25July 24San AntonioW 69-55()()()Mohegan Sun Arena13-12
26July 30@ WashingtonL 68-69()()()MCI Center13-13
27July 31@ New YorkL 66-80()()()Madison Square Garden13-14
September
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocationRecord
Summer Olympic break
28September 1@ CharlotteL 55-62()()()Charlotte Coliseum13-15
29September 3New YorkW 61-43()()()Mohegan Sun Arena14-15
30September 10@ New YorkW 77-66()()()Madison Square Garden15-15
31September 12SeattleW 71-64()()()Mohegan Sun Arena16-15
32September 15@ CharlotteW 81-67()()()Charlotte Coliseum17-15
33September 17New YorkL 66-69()()()Mohegan Sun Arena17-16
34September 19IndianaW 80-60()()()Mohegan Sun Arena18-16

Playoffs

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In the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, the Sun had to face the Washington Mystics. Since the Sun had the better record, the series would be played with game 1 at Washington, game 2 at Connecticut, and game 3 (if needed) at Connecticut. The Sun lost the first game, but won the next two to advance to the next round.In the second round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, the Sun had to face the New York Liberty. The Sun and the Liberty had identical records and each team had won two of the four meetings against each other in the regular season. The Sun attained home-court advantage however, because they beat the Liberty by more than the Liberty beat them. The series would be played with game 1 at New York and games 2 and 3 (if needed) at Connecticut. The Sun swept the Liberty and game 3 was not needed.The Sun advanced to the WNBA Finals. The team would be facing off against the Seattle Storm. The Storm had the better record so the series would be played with game 1 at Connecticut, and games 2 and 3 (if needed) at Seattle. This was the last year the league played the finals in a best-of-three setup. The Storm beat the Sun 2 games to 1 to win the WNBA Finals.

2004 Game Log: Postseason
Eastern Conference Semifinals
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceSeries
1September 25@ WashingtonL 59-67Whalen (16)McWilliams-Franklin (9)Douglas (4)MCI Center
13,263
0-1
2September 27WashingtonW 80-70Whalen (21)Sales (7)Whalen (6)Mohegan Sun Arena
5,760
1-1
3September 29WashingtonW 76-56Sales (18)McWilliams-Franklin (11)Douglas, Whalen (6)Mohegan Sun Arena
5,514
2-1
Eastern Conference Finals
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceSeries
1October 1@ New YorkW 61-51Sales (15)McWilliams-Franklin, Palmer-Daniel (10)Whalen (5)Madison Square Garden
12,146
1-0
2October 3New YorkW 60-57McWilliams-Franklin (18)McWilliams-Franklin (9)Douglas (4)Mohegan Sun Arena
6,734
2-0
WNBA Finals
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceSeries
1October 8SeattleW 68-64Douglas (18)Sales (9)Whalen (9)Mohegan Sun Arena
9,518 (sellout)
1-0
2October 10@ SeattleL 65-67Sales (32)McWilliams-Franklin (7)Whalen (7)KeyArena
17,072 (sellout)
1-1
3October 12@ SeattleL 60-74Sales (18)Douglas (6)Douglas, Whalen, McWilliams-Franklin (2)KeyArena
17,072 (sellout)
1-2

Depth

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Pos.Starting 5Bench 1Bench 2Inactive
CTaj McWilliams-FranklinLe'Coe WillinghamBrooke Wyckoff
PFWendy Palmer-DanielAsjha JonesLe'Coe Willingham
SFNykesha SalesJessica BrungoCandace Futrell
SGKatie DouglasJennifer Derevjanik
PGLindsay WhalenDebbie Black

Player stats

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Awards and honors

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  • Taj McWilliams-Franklin, Nykesha Sales, and Lindsay Whalen were named to the WNBA All-Star team.
  • Nykesha Sales was named to the All-WNBA Second Team.
  • Wendy Palmer-Daniel was named the Most Improved Player.
  • Nykesha Sales was given the Off Season Community Assist Award.
  • Nykesha Sales was named the WNBA Player of the Week for the week of June 27, 2004.

References

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