The 2008 Los Angeles Sparks season was the 12th season for the Los Angeles Sparks . The Sparks returned to the postseason for the first time since 2006.
Offseason edit
The following player was selected in the Expansion Draft:
LaToya Thomas Los Angeles Sparks [1]
WNBA draft edit On October 23, 2007. The WNBA draft lottery was held. The Los Angeles Sparks received the first pick for the upcoming 2008 WNBA Draft. [2]
Transactions edit 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 edit
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 edit
Candace Parker edit 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] 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 edit Season standings edit Season schedule edit 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 edit 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]
Los Angeles Sparks roster Players Coaches Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs PG 6 Bobbitt, Shannon 5' 2" (1.57m)130 lb (59kg) Tennessee PG 4 Brown, Kiesha 5' 10" (1.78m)134 lb (61kg) Georgia C 12 Dydek, Margo 7' 2" (2.18m)223 lb (101kg) Poland SG 24 Ferdinand-Harris, Marie 5' 9" (1.75m)153 lb (69kg) LSU PG 2 Johnson, Temeka 5' 3" (1.6m)132 lb (60kg) LSU C 9 Leslie, Lisa (C) 6' 5" (1.96m)170 lb (77kg) USC G/F 33 Masciadri, Raffaella 6' 0" (1.83m)169 lb (77kg) Italy SF 8 Milton-Jones, DeLisha 6' 1" (1.85m)185 lb (84kg) Florida PF 31 Moore, Jessica 6' 3" (1.91m)175 lb (79kg) Connecticut PF 00 Page, Murriel 6' 2" (1.88m)160 lb (73kg) Florida F/C 3 Parker, Candace 6' 4" (1.93m)175 lb (79kg) Tennessee G/F 1 Spencer, Sidney 6' 3" (1.91m)183 lb (83kg) Tennessee C 32 Thomas, Christi 6' 3" (1.91m)185 lb (84kg) Georgia
Head coach Assistant coaches Athletic trainer Strength and conditioning coach Legend (C) Team captain(FA) Free agent(IN) Inactive(S) Suspended
Playoffs edit 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 edit Lisa Leslie , All WNBA First TeamLisa 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 edit ^ "WNBA.com: Atlanta Dream" . Archived from the original on August 20, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2008 .^ "2008 WNBA Draft Board" . WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA . Archived from the original on October 4, 2013.^ "WNBA.com: 2008 WNBA Transactions" . www.wnba.com .^ "Wnba.Com: Schedules" . Archived from the original on May 14, 2008.^ "Sparks vs. Mercury - WNBA Game Recap - May 17, 2008" . ESPN .^ 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 .^ "Schedule" . Los Angeles Sparks .^ "WNBA.com: Lisa Leslie Playerfile" . Archived from the original on October 2, 2009. Retrieved October 12, 2008 .^ "WNBA.com: Marie Ferdinand-Harris Playerfile" . Archived from the original on December 20, 2008. Retrieved October 12, 2008 .^ "Candace Parker" . Archived from the original on August 1, 2010. Retrieved October 12, 2008 .^ "Sidney Spencer | Connecticut Sun | Women's National Basketball Association | Yahoo! Sports" . Yahoo Sports .^ "Stats" . Los Angeles Sparks .^ "Parker to be WNBA MVP" . Los Angeles Times ^ a b c d Sports Illustrated, October 6, 2008, p.80)
