2009 Los Angeles Sparks season

2009 Los Angeles Sparks season

Head Coach

Arena

Attendance

10,387 per game

Results
Record	18–16 (.529)
Place	3rd (Western)
Playoff Finish	Lost Conference Finals
Team Leaders
Points	Leslie (15.4)
Rebounds	Parker (9.8)
Assists	Quinn (3.5)
Media
Television	Fox Sports West
Los Angeles Sparks seasons
< 2008	2010 >

The 2009 Los Angeles Sparks season is the 13th season for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association. Lisa Leslie announced that the 2009 season would be her last.^[1] On June 5, the Sparks and Farmers Insurance Group of Companies announced a multi-year marketing partnership that includes a branded jersey sponsorship. The Farmers Insurance branded jersey will be worn by the players for the first time on June 6. As part of this alliance, the Farmers Insurance name and logo will appear on the front of the Sparks jerseys and will have considerable visibility in the Staples Center during home games. Los Angeles became only the second WNBA team to finalize such an agreement.^[2] The Sparks attempted to reach the playoffs and were successful.

Offseason

On May 13, Sparks star Candace Parker gave birth to a baby girl. It is the first child for the WNBA’s reigning MVP and rookie of the year and husband Shelden Williams of the Boston Celtics. Goodwin Sports Management announced the baby girl was born in Los Angeles. She weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces and was 20 inches long.^[3]

Dispersal Draft

Based on the Sparks' 2008 record, they would pick 9th in the Houston Comets dispersal draft. The Sparks waived their pick. ^[4]

WNBA Draft

The following are the Sparks' selections in the 2009 WNBA Draft.

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	13	Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton	United States	Purdue
2	22	Ashley Paris	United States	Oklahoma
3	35	Britney Jordan	United States	Texas A&M-Commerce

^[5]

Transactions

June 5: The Sparks waived Jessica Moore.
June 4: The Sparks waived Ashley Paris and Marta Fernandez.
May 18: The Sparks waived Britney Jordan.
May 7: The Sparks signed Kristi Harrower to a training camp contract.
May 5: The Sparks then traded the pick from the Liberty and Rafaella Masciadri to the Minnesota Lynx in exchange for Noelle Quinn.
May 5: The Sparks traded Sidney Spencer to the New York Liberty in exchange for a first round 2010 WNBA Draft pick.
April 14: The Sparks signed Betty Lennox.
April 14: The Sparks waived Murriel Page.
March 26: The Sparks traded Temeka Johnson to the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for a first-round 2010 WNBA Draft pick.
March 25: The Sparks signed Marta Fernandez.
March 12: The Sparks signed Tina Thompson.
January 30: The Sparks traded Christi Thomas to the Minnesota Lynx in exchange for Vanessa Hayden-Johnson.
December 17, 2008: The Sparks traded the rights to Chamique Holdsclaw to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for the 13th pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft.
April 21, 2008: The Sparks traded their first-round draft pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft to the Washington Mystics as part of the Taj McWilliams-Franklin/Delisha Milton-Jones transaction.

^[6]

Date	Trade
December 17, 2008	To Los Angeles Sparks	To Atlanta Dream
December 17, 2008	13th pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft	rights to Chamique Holdsclaw
January 30, 2009	To Los Angeles Sparks	To Minnesota Lynx
January 30, 2009	Vanessa Hayden-Johnson	Christi Thomas
March 26, 2009	To Los Angeles Sparks	To Phoenix Mercury
March 26, 2009	first-round 2010 WNBA Draft pick	Temeka Johnson
May 5, 2009	To Los Angeles Sparks	To New York Liberty
May 5, 2009	first-round 2010 WNBA Draft pick	Sidney Spencer
May 5, 2009	To Los Angeles Sparks	To Minnesota Lynx
May 5, 2009	Noelle Quinn	Rafaella Masciadri and a first-round 2010 WNBA Draft pick

Free agents

Additions

Player	Signed	Former team
Tina Thompson	March 12, 2009	Houston Comets
Betty Lennox	April 14, 2009	Atlanta Dream
Noelle Quinn	May 5, 2009	Minnesota Lynx
Kristi Harrower	May 7, 2009	Minnesota Lynx

Subtractions

Player	Left	New team
Temeka Johnson	March 26, 2009	Phoenix Mercury
Murriel Page	April 14, 2009	free agent
Kiesha Brown	May 1, 2009	Washington Mystics
Sidney Spencer	May 5, 2009	New York Liberty
Rafaella Masciadri	May 5, 2009	Minnesota Lynx
Britney Jordan	May 18, 2009	free agent
Ashley Paris	June 4, 2009	free agent
Jessica Moore	June 5, 2009	free agent
Margo Dydek	2009	free agent

Roster

Los Angeles Sparks roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Nat.	Name	Height	Weight	From
1.0 !PG	6	USA !	Bobbitt, Shannon	7000157480000000000♠5 ft 2 in (1.57 m)	130 lb (59 kg)	Tennessee
2.0 !SG	24	USA !	Ferdinand-Harris, Marie	7000175260000000000♠5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	153 lb (69 kg)	LSU
1.0 !PG	10	AUS !	Harrower, Kristi	7000162560000000000♠5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)	139 lb (63 kg)	Australia
6.0 !C	55	USA !	Hayden, Vanessa	7000193040000000000♠6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Florida
2.0 !SG	22	USA !	Lennox, Betty	7000172720000000000♠5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	143 lb (65 kg)	Louisiana Tech
6.0 !C	9	USA !	Leslie, Lisa	7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Southern California
3.0 !SF	8	USA !	Milton-Jones, DeLisha	7000185420000000000♠6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Florida
4.0 !F	3	USA !	Parker, Candace	7000193040000000000♠6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Tennessee
4.0 !F	15	USA !	Pringle, LaToya	7000190500000000000♠6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	162 lb (73 kg)	North Carolina
1.0 !PG	45	USA !	Quinn, Noelle	7000182880000000000♠6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	UCLA
4.0 !F	32	USA !	Thompson, Tina	7000187960000000000♠6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	178 lb (81 kg)	Southern California
4.0 !F	14	USA !	Wisdom-Hylton, Lindsay	7000187960000000000♠6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	186 lb (84 kg)	Purdue

Head coach

Michael Cooper (New Mexico)

Assistant coaches

Laura Beeman (Cal State San Bernardino)
Marianne Stanley (Immaculata University)

Athletic trainer

Rachel Schlachet (Arizona State)

Strength and conditioning coach

Bruce Deziel

Legend

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

Season standings

Western Conference	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
Phoenix Mercury ^x	23	11	.676	–	12–5	11–6	13–7
Seattle Storm ^x	20	14	.588	3.0	13–4	7–10	13–7
Los Angeles Sparks ^x	18	16	.529	5.0	11–6	7–10	11–9
San Antonio Silver Stars ^x	15	19	.441	8.0	10–7	5–12	10–10
Minnesota Lynx ^o	14	20	.412	9.0	9–8	5–12	7–13
Sacramento Monarchs ^o	12	22	.353	11.0	7–10	5–12	6–14

Schedule

Preseason

2009 Game Log: Preseason

Game	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location/Attendance	Record
1	May 31	3:00pm	@ Connecticut	80-77	Thompson (14)	Leslie, Wisdom-Hylton (6)	Lennox (4)	Mohegan Sun Arena 6,630	1-0

Regular season

2009 Game Log: Regular Season

Watch all games live on WNBA LiveAccess

June

Game	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	TV	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location/Attendance	Record
1	June 6	2:30pm	Detroit	ABC	78-58	Thompson (18)	Lennox (10)	Harrower (7)	STAPLES Center 13,154	1-0
2	June 8	7:30pm	@ Detroit		52-81	Thompson (14)	Thompson (11)	Milton-Jones, Quinn (3)	Palace of Auburn Hills 13,915	1-1
3	June 10	8:00pm	@ Minnesota		76-87	Lennox (25)	Lennox, Leslie (8)	Quinn (4)	Target Center 7,444	1-2
4	June 12	7:00pm	@ Indiana		61-73	Leslie (21)	Leslie (13)	Harrower (3)	Conseco Fieldhouse 9,320	1-3
5	June 19	10:00pm	@ Phoenix		80-89	Lennox (16)	Thompson (14)	Quinn (6)	US Airways Center 8,255	1-4
6	June 21	9:30pm	Sacramento	NBA TV FSNW	67-47	Hayden, Thompson (12)	Hayden, Lennox (8)	Bobbitt (5)	STAPLES Center 9,494	2-4
7	June 26	10:00pm	@ Seattle		67-69	Thompson (20)	Milton-Jones (7)	Lennox (5)	KeyArena 9,686	2-5
8	June 28	9:30pm	Seattle	NBA TV FSNW	82-55	Ferdinand-Harris (15)	Quinn (6)	Harrower (5)	STAPLES Center 10,797	3-5

July

Game	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	TV	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location/Attendance	Record
9	July 5	9:30pm	Phoenix	NBA TV FSNW	89-104	Lennox, Thompson (17)	Milton-Jones (7)	Bobbitt (6)	STAPLES Center 9,872	3-6
10	July 9	7:30pm	@ New York	MSG	69-60	Lennox (20)	Thompson (8)	Harrower, Ferdinand-Harris (3)	Madison Square Garden 12,247	4-6
11	July 11	7:00pm	@ Washington		63-75	Bobbitt, Lennox (10)	Milton-Jones, Thompson (7)	Harrower (3)	Verizon Center 12,217	4-7
12	July 14	7:00pm	@ Connecticut	ESPN2	71-82	Milton-Jones (19)	Lennox (11)	Lennox, Milton-Jones, Parker (2)	Mohegan Sun Arena 6,612	4-8
13	July 22	10:30pm	@ Seattle		87-98 (3OT)	Thompson (22)	Lennox (12)	Parker (5)	KeyArena 7,154	4-9
14	July 28	8:00pm	@ Minnesota		76-70	Thompson (30)	Parker (10)	Lennox, Thompson (4)	Target Center 7,216	5-9
15	July 29	8:00pm	@ Chicago		63-75	Milton-Jones (15)	Parker (10)	Thompson (4)	UIC Pavilion 5,633	5-10

August

Game	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	TV	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location/Attendance	Record
16	August 1	10:00pm	@ Sacramento		59-56	Parker, Milton-Jones (13)	Parker (12)	Harrower (6)	ARCO Arena 7,204	6-10
17	August 4	3:00pm	San Antonio		59-63	Leslie, Quinn (13)	Thompson (12)	Quinn (4)	STAPLES Center 13,865	6-11
18	August 6	10:30pm	Seattle		79-75 (OT)	Quinn (23)	Parker (13)	Leslie (4)	STAPLES Center 9,735	7-11
19	August 10	10:30pm	Indiana		75-63	Leslie (21)	Leslie (11)	Milton-Jones (4)	STAPLES Center 8,263	8-11
20	August 11	9:00pm	New York	ESPN2	61-65	Leslie (12)	Parker (11)	Bobbitt, Harrower, Quinn (2)	STAPLES Center 9,548	8-12
21	August 14	10:30pm	Sacramento		79-85	Leslie (25)	Parker (10)	Quinn (5)	STAPLES Center 10,122	8-13
22	August 15	10:00pm	@ Sacramento		78-61	Parker (18)	Leslie (9)	Milton-Jones, Quinn, Thompson (4)	ARCO Arena 7,646	9-13
23	August 18	10:30pm	Washington		72-69	Leslie (20)	Parker (12)	Parker, Quinn (5)	STAPLES Center 9,287	10-13
24	August 19	10:30pm	Minnesota		78-63	Leslie (28)	Parker (10)	Quinn (7)	STAPLES Center 9,181	11-13
25	August 21	8:00pm	@ San Antonio	NBA TV KMYS	67-66 (OT)	Parker (17)	Parker, Thompson (12)	Leslie (4)	AT&T Center 9,540	12-13
26	August 23	3:00pm	@ Atlanta		91-87	Parker (23)	Lennox, Parker (8)	Thompson (6)	Philips Arena 11,304	13-13
27	August 25	10:00pm	Chicago	ESPN2	75-63	Leslie, Parker (21)	Parker (12)	Bobbitt, Thompson (3)	STAPLES Center 9,615	14-13
28	August 27	10:30pm	Phoenix	NBA TV FSNW	90-98	Leslie (23)	Lennox (6)	Quinn (8)	STAPLES Center 9,586	14-14
29	August 30	9:30pm	Connecticut	NBA TV FSNW	91-81	Thompson (21)	Parker (13)	Milton-Jones, Quinn (5)	STAPLES Center 11,072	15-14

September

Game	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	TV	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location/Attendance	Record
30	September 1	10:30pm	Atlanta		79-84	Leslie (24)	Parker (14)	Lennox (5)	STAPLES Center 8,756	15-15
31	September 5	8:00pm	@ San Antonio		72-89	Leslie (21)	Parker (10)	Parker (8)	AT&T Center 8,631	15-16
32	September 8	10:30pm	San Antonio	NBA TV KMYS	76-68	Leslie (18)	Parker (13)	Quinn (6)	STAPLES Center 10,476	16-16
33	September 11	10:30pm	Minnesota	NBA TV FSNW	90-64	Leslie, Thompson (19)	Parker (14)	Quinn (9)	STAPLES Center 13,764	17-16
34	September 13	3:00pm	@ Phoenix	ESPN2	81–78	Parker (24)	Parker (14)	Lennox (6)	US Airways Center 12,968	18–16

Postseason

2009 Game Log: Postseason

Western Conference Semifinals

Game	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	TV	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location/Attendance	Series
1	September 16	10:00pm	Seattle	ESPN2	70-63	Thompson (16)	Leslie, Parker (10)	Harrower (5)	STAPLES Center 7,919	1-0
2	September 18	10:00pm	@ Seattle	NBA TV	74-75	Lennox (17)	Leslie (14)	Quinn (5)	KeyArena 8,854	1-1
3	September 20	5:00pm	@ Seattle	ESPN2	75-64	Parker (22)	Milton-Jones (9)	Quinn (7)	KeyArena 8,159	2-1

Western Conference Finals

Game	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	TV	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location/Attendance	Series
1	September 23	10:00pm	Phoenix	ESPN2	94-103	Parker (28)	Parker (10)	Thompson (5)	Pauley Pavilion ^[7] 6,389	0-1
2	September 25	10:00pm	@ Phoenix	NBA TV	87-76	Parker (24)	Parker (18)	Quinn (4)	US Airways Center 7,628	1-1
3	September 26	10:00pm	@ Phoenix	NBA TV	74-85	Leslie (22)	Thompson (11)	Lennox, Thompson (3)	US Airways Center 7,226	1-2

Regular Season Statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage	TO	Turnovers per game
PF	Fouls per game		Team leader		League leader

Player Statistics

Player	GP	GS	MPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Bobbitt, Shannon !Shannon Bobbitt	33	3	10.7	1.0	1.4	0.45	0.03	2.2
Ferdinand-Harris, Marie !Marie Ferdinand-Harris	28	6	12.1	1.5	0.9	0.54	0.07	5.4
Harrower, Kristi !Kristi Harrower	31	26	16.8	1.8	2.2	0.52	0.00	3.1
Hayden, Vanessa !Vanessa Hayden	25	1	10.8	2.7	0.2	0.16	0.88	3.8
Lennox, Betty !Betty Lennox	30	13	21.3	4.5	1.8	0.87	0.13	10.2
Leslie, Lisa !Lisa Leslie	23	21	27.7	6.6	2.1	0.70	1.43	15.4
Milton-Jones, Delisha !Delisha Milton-Jones	33	33	31.6	4.8	2.2	1.24	0.24	10.2
Parker, Candace !Candace Parker	25	24	32.6	9.8	2.6	0.60	2.12	13.1
Quinn, Noelle !Noelle Quinn	34	9	27.3	3.6	3.5	1.18	0.32	8.4
Thompson, Tina !Tina Thompson	34	34	34.8	5.9	2.3	0.76	0.71	13.0
Wisdom-Hylton, Lindsay !Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton	29	0	6.8	1.4	0.3	0.10	0.28	2.4

Team Statistics

Team	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PF	PPG
Los Angeles Sparks	.430	.297	.791	36.7	17.3	6.4	4.9	16.7	17.1	74.5
Opponents	.399	.335	.769	30.9	15.2	8.8	3.4	13.6	18.3	73.5

Awards and honors

Candace Parker was named WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week for the week of August 17, 2009.
Candace Parker was named WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week for the week of September 7, 2009.
Lisa Leslie was named to the 2009 WNBA All-Star Team as an Western Conference starter.
Tina Thompson was named to the 2009 WNBA All-Star Team as an Western Conference reserve.
Candace Parker was named to the All-WNBA Second Team.
Lisa Leslie was named to the All-WNBA Second Team.
Candace Parker was named to the All-Defensive Second Team.

References

↑ "Biggest Retirements of 2009". CNN. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
↑ http://www.spmsportspage.com/published/pr/los-angeles-sparks-and-fa.shtml
↑ http://sports.yahoo.com/wnba/news;_ylt=AlGyq05IMxe9AD_a3129nNRbvrYF?slug=ap-parker-baby&prov=ap&type=lgns
↑ WNBA.com: Houston Comets dispersal draft
↑ "WNBA.com: 2009 WNBA Draft Board". Archived from the original on 2009-07-27. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
↑ WNBA.com: 2009 WNBA Transactions
↑ Bruin Alumnae Return To Pauley Pavilion For LA Sparks Playoff Game Wednesday, UCLABruins.com, September 22, 2009. Accessed 2009-09-24. Archived 2009-09-26.

External links

Los Angeles Sparks

Founded in 1997 Based in Los Angeles, California

Franchise	Franchise Current season

Arenas	Great Western Forum Staples Center

Head coaches	Linda Sharp Julie Rousseau Orlando Woolridge Michael Cooper Karleen Thompson Ryan Weisenberg Henry Bibby Joe Bryant Michael Cooper Jennifer Gillom Joe Bryant Carol Ross Penny Toler Brian Agler

Administration	Owner: Guggenheim Partners General Manager: Rhonda Windham Penny Toler

All-Stars	Tamecka Dixon Chamique Holdsclaw Jantel Lavender Lisa Leslie Mwadi Mabika Taj McWilliams-Franklin DeLisha Milton-Jones Nneka Ogwumike Candace Parker Nikki Teasley Tina Thompson

Seasons	1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Playoff appearances	1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2008 2009 2010 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Conference Championships	2001 2002 2003 2016

WNBA Championships	2001 2002 2016

Rivals	Detroit Shock Houston Comets New York Liberty Phoenix Mercury Sacramento Monarchs San Antonio Stars Seattle Storm

Media	TV: Time Warner Cable SportsNet (Los Angeles) Announcers: Jim Watson, Mary Murphy

2009 WNBA season by team

Draft Transactions Schedule All-Star Game Playoffs Finals

Eastern	Atlanta Dream Chicago Sky Connecticut Sun Detroit Shock Indiana Fever New York Liberty Washington Mystics

Western	Los Angeles Sparks Minnesota Lynx Phoenix Mercury Sacramento Monarchs San Antonio Silver Stars Seattle Storm

← 2008 WNBA season 2010 →

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/31/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.