2009 Los Angeles Sparks season

2009 Los Angeles Sparks season
2009 Los Angeles Sparks season
Coach	Michael Cooper
Arena	STAPLES Center
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
	← 2008 season 2010 season →

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.	#	Name	Height	Weight	From
PG	6	Bobbitt, Shannon	5' 2" (1.57m)	130 lb (59kg)	Tennessee
SG	24	Ferdinand-Harris, Marie	5' 9" (1.75m)	153 lb (69kg)	LSU
PG	10	Harrower, Kristi	5' 4" (1.63m)	139 lb (63kg)	Australia
C	55	Hayden, Vanessa	6' 4" (1.93m)	240 lb (109kg)	Florida
SG	22	Lennox, Betty	5' 8" (1.73m)	143 lb (65kg)	Louisiana Tech
C	9	Leslie, Lisa	6' 5" (1.96m)	170 lb (77kg)	USC
SF	8	Milton-Jones, DeLisha	6' 1" (1.85m)	185 lb (84kg)	Florida
F	3	Parker, Candace	6' 4" (1.93m)	175 lb (79kg)	Tennessee
F	15	Pringle, LaToya	6' 3" (1.91m)	162 lb (73kg)	North Carolina
PG	45	Quinn, Noelle	6' 0" (1.83m)	175 lb (79kg)	UCLA
F	32	Thompson, Tina	6' 2" (1.88m)	178 lb (81kg)	USC
F	14	Wisdom-Hylton, Lindsay	6' 2" (1.88m)	186 lb (84kg)	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

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

All games are viewable on WNBA LiveAccess

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
Shannon Bobbitt	33	3	10.7	1.0	1.4	0.45	0.03	2.2
Marie Ferdinand-Harris	28	6	12.1	1.5	0.9	0.54	0.07	5.4
Kristi Harrower	31	26	16.8	1.8	2.2	0.52	0.00	3.1
Vanessa Hayden	25	1	10.8	2.7	0.2	0.16	0.88	3.8
Betty Lennox	30	13	21.3	4.5	1.8	0.87	0.13	10.2
Lisa Leslie	23	21	27.7	6.6	2.1	0.70	1.43	15.4
Delisha Milton-Jones	33	33	31.6	4.8	2.2	1.24	0.24	10.2
Candace Parker	25	24	32.6	9.8	2.6	0.60	2.12	13.1
Noelle Quinn	34	9	27.3	3.6	3.5	1.18	0.32	8.4
Tina Thompson	34	34	34.8	5.9	2.3	0.76	0.71	13.0
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 a Western Conference starter.
Tina Thompson was named to the 2009 WNBA All-Star Team as a 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. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
^ http://www.spmsportspage.com/published/pr/los-angeles-sparks-and-fa.shtml^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ https://sports.yahoo.com/wnba/news;_ylt=AlGyq05IMxe9AD_a3129nNRbvrYF?slug=ap-parker-baby&prov=ap&type=lgns ^{[dead link‍]}
^ WNBA.com: Houston Comets dispersal draft
^ "WNBA.com: 2009 WNBA Draft Board". Archived from the original on July 25, 2009. Retrieved July 23, 2009.
^ 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

[1] "Biggest Retirements of 2009". CNN. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved April 23, 2010.

[2] ttp://www.spmsportspage.com/published/pr/los-angeles-sparks-and-fa.shtml^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[3] ttps://sports.yahoo.com/wnba/news;_ylt=AlGyq05IMxe9AD_a3129nNRbvrYF?slug=ap-parker-baby&prov=ap&type=lgns ^{[dead link‍]}

[4] WNBA.com: Houston Comets dispersal draft

[5] "WNBA.com: 2009 WNBA Draft Board". Archived from the original on July 25, 2009. Retrieved July 23, 2009.

[6] WNBA.com: 2009 WNBA Transactions

[7] 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.

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