WNBA notes

Published on July 7, 2004 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) News Release

CLOSENESS OF COMPETITION
The WNBA is enjoying the closest competition in its seven-plus year history as a smaller percentage of games are being decided by ten points or more (35.6%), and the league is on pace for a record percentage of overtime games (9.6%). By way of contrast, the NBA this past season had 45.6 percent of its games decided by ten or more points and only 6.0 percent of its games went into overtime.

Decided By
10Pts or More Overtime
Gms Gms Pct Gms Pct
1997 112 70 0.625 9 0.080
1998 150 83 0.553 6 0.040
1999 192 94 0.490 10 0.052
2000 256 137 0.535 14 0.055
2001 256 110 0.430 23 0.090
2002 256 112 0.438 17 0.066
2003 238 98 0.412 14 0.059
2004 104 37 0.356 10 0.096

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR . . . . in the NBA?
Diana Taurasi is living up to expectations during her rookie campaign, but her numbers look equally as impressive when compared to the three major contenders for the NBA's Rookie of the Year Award – Cleveland's LeBron James, Denver's Carmelo Anthony and Miami's Dwyane Wade.

Player Mpg FG% 3G% FT% PPG RPG APG SPG BPG
Diana Taurasi 36.1 .431 .375 .794 18.3 3.9 3.9 1.06 0.88
LeBron James 39.5 .417 .290 .754 20.9 5.5 5.9 1.65 0.73
Dwyane Wade 34.9 .465 .302 .747 16.2 4.0 4.5 1.41 0.56
Carmelo Anthony 36.5 .426 .322 .777 21.0 6.1 2.8 1.18 0.50

Among the four, Taurasi ranks third in scoring, second in field goal percentage, first in three-point field goal percentage, free throw percentage and blocked shots and third in assists.

Taurasi also ranks in the top-20 in five of the nine major WNBA individual statistical categories – scoring (3rd), assists (10th), three-point field goal percentage (17th), blocked shots (14th) and minutes played (3rd).

By contrast, James ranked in the top-20 in four of the NBA's primary statistical categories – scoring (13th), assists (13th), steals (13th), and minutes played (10th) – Anthony ranked in the top-20 in one category – scoring (12th) – and Wade didn't crack the top-20 in any category.








(continued)
NO LEAD IS SAFE
Double-digit leads in the WNBA aren't safe this season. Already this year, teams have come back to win games on 12 occasions when they were trailing by at least 10 points.

Date Lost Lead Came Back Location Lead
May 20 Houston San Antonio at Hou 13
May 29 Detroit Los Angeles at Det 13
June 2 Detroit Washington at Det 10
June 4 Washington Connecticut at Was 13
June 5 Phoenix Minnesota at Min 14
June 5 Los Angeles Houston at Hou 13
June 6 Connecticut Detroit at Ct 15
June 9 Indiana Detroit at Ind 23
June 11 New York Indiana at NY 14
June 27 Detroit Connecticut at Det 14
July 3 Detroit Minnesota at Min 10
July 6 Indiana Connecticut at Ct 11

MIDSEASON COACHING CHANGES
Pat Coyle became the 16th coach in WNBA history to take over a team's head coaching position in the middle of the season. The average midseason coaching change produces an increase in winning percentage of .111 over the team's mark prior to the change.

Detroit Shock Head Coach Bill Laimbeer oversaw the best turnaround in league history when he took over the 0-10 Shock in 2002 and went 9-13 over the last 22 games of the season – an improvement in winning percentage of .409.

Original Coach Year Team W L Pct New Coach W L Pct Diff.
Adubato, Richie 2004 New York 7 9 .438 Coyle, Pat 1 0 1.000 +.563
Williams, Greg 2002 Detroit 0 10 .000 Laimbeer, Bill 9 13 .409 +.409
McHugh, Maura 2003 Sacramento 7 11 .389 Whisenant, John 12 4 .750 +.361
Harvey, Candi 2003 San Antonio 6 16 .273 Dailey, Shell 6 6 .500 +.227
Sharp, Linda 1997 Los Angeles 4 7 .364 Rousseau, Julie 10 7 .588 +.225
Allen, Sonny 2001 Sacramento 6 6 .500 McHugh, Maura 14 6 .700 +.200
Rousseau, Julie 1998 Los Angeles 7 13 .350 Woolridge, Orlando 5 5 .500 +.150
Meadors, Marynell 1999 Charlotte 5 7 .417 Hughes, Dan 10 10 .500 +.083
Murphy, Mary 1997 Sacramento 5 10 .333 VanDerveer Heidi 5 8 .385 +.051
Agler, Brian 2002 Minnesota 6 13 .316 VanDerveer Heidi 4 9 .308 -.008
Lewis, Jim 1998 Washington 2 16 .111 Parson, Cathy 1 11 .083 -.028
Darsch, Nancy 2000 Washington 9 11 .450 Walker, Darrell 5 7 .417 -.033
Layden, Frank 1999 Utah 2 2 .500 Williams, Fred 13 15 .464 -.036
Taylor, Denise 1998 Utah 6 13 .316 Layden, Frank 2 9 .182 -.134
Cooper, Cynthia 2002 Phoenix 6 4 .600 Sharp, Linda 5 17 .227 -.373
Totals 78 148 .345 99 123 .446
Averages .357 .468 +.111





(continued)

WINNING DEBUT
In winning her coaching debut, Coyle became the ninth of the 16 coaches to begin their new jobs with a win. Only three of the coaches that took over midseason had their first game on the road. Coyle's opponent on Tuesday evening, the Sacramento Monarchs, have been the first opponent for a midseason coaching change on three occasions, tied for the most with the Cleveland Rockers.

Head Coach Team Year Result
Pat Coyle New York Liberty 2004 W vs. Sac
Shell Dailey San Antonio Silver Stars 2003 W vs. Cle
John Whisenant Sacramento Monarchs 2003 W vs. SA
Bill Laimbeer Detroit Shock 2002 L vs. Orl
Heidi VanDerveer Minnesota Lynx 2002 L vs. Cle
Linda Sharp Phoenix Mercury 2002 W vs. Sea
Candi Harvey Utah Starzz 2001 W vs. Cle
Maura McHugh Sacramento Monarchs 2001 W vs. Hou
Darrell Walker Washington Mystics 2000 L vs. Cha
Dan Hughes Charlotte Sting 1999 L at Was
Fred Williams Utah Starzz 1999 L at Sac
Orlando Woolridge Los Angeles Sparks 1998 W vs. Pho
Frank Layden Utah Starzz 1998 W vs. Pho
Cathy Parson Washington Mystics 1998 L vs. Sac
Julie Rousseau Los Angeles Sparks 1997 W vs. Hou
Heidi VanDerveer Sacramento Monarchs 1997 L at NY

NEW WINNING STREAKS
Maura McHugh took over the helm of the Sacramento Monarchs in 2001 and won four games in a row – the longest winning streak to begin a midseason coaching career.

Head Coach Team Year Ws
Maura McHugh Sacramento Monarchs 2001 4
Shell Dailey San Antonio Silver Stars 2003 3
John Whisenant Sacramento Monarchs 2003 3
Orlando Woolridge Los Angeles Sparks 1998 3
Candi Harvey Utah Starzz 2001 2

Women's National Basketball Association Stories from July 7, 2004

• Marie Ferdinand Placed on Injured List - San Antonio Stars
• Lynx Rookie Nicole Ohlde Named Big 12 Female Athlete of the Year - Minnesota Lynx
• WNBA notes - WNBA
• Charlotte Sting Sign 6'4 Center Tera Bjorklund - Charlotte Sting
• Silver Stars Weekly Update - San Antonio Stars

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