2008 Washington Mystics season
Encyclopedia
The 2008 WNBA season
was the 11th season for the Washington Mystics. Despite a 10-16 record before the WNBA break for the Beijing Olympics, Mystics officials said that attendance at Verizon Center
had risen from nearly 1,200 fans a game over last season, with total ticket revenue up 17 percent and season-ticket sales for the '08 season were up 20 percent from last season, bringing the team's base to nearly 3,000.
would named the permanent head coach. Rollins was the interim head coach since the resignation of Richie Adubato
on June 1, 2007.
was selected in the 2008 Expansion Draft for the Atlanta Dream
.
Washington Mystics Regular Season Stats
2008 WNBA season
-Season Highlights:*Candace Parker becomes the second and third player in WNBA history to dunk in a regular season game.*A fight breaks out between the Los Angeles Sparks and the Detroit Shock resulting in four ejections and ten suspensions....
was the 11th season for the Washington Mystics. Despite a 10-16 record before the WNBA break for the Beijing Olympics, Mystics officials said that attendance at Verizon Center
Verizon Center
Verizon Center is a sports and entertainment arena in Washington, D.C., USA, named after telecommunications sponsor Verizon Communications, and has been nicknamed the "Phone Booth" because of its association with telecommunications companies...
had risen from nearly 1,200 fans a game over last season, with total ticket revenue up 17 percent and season-ticket sales for the '08 season were up 20 percent from last season, bringing the team's base to nearly 3,000.
Off Season
On October 2, 2007, the Mystics announced that Tree RollinsTree Rollins
Wayne Monte "Tree" Rollins is a retired American professional basketball player who played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association for the Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and Orlando Magic. He was primarily known under his playing name, Tree...
would named the permanent head coach. Rollins was the interim head coach since the resignation of Richie Adubato
Richie Adubato
Richard Adam "Richie" Adubato was a basketball coach in the National Basketball Association. He has served as head coach for three NBA teams: the Detroit Pistons, the Dallas Mavericks, and the Orlando Magic...
on June 1, 2007.
Expansion Draft
Yelena LeuchankaYelena Leuchanka
Yelena Leuchanka is a Belarusian professional women's basketball player with the Atlanta Dream of the WNBA in the United States. Prior to joining the Dream for their inaugural 2008 season, Leuchanka was a member of the Charlotte Sting in 2006 and Washington Mystics in 2007. She began her college...
was selected in the 2008 Expansion Draft for the Atlanta Dream
Atlanta Dream
The Atlanta Dream is a professional basketball team based in Atlanta, Georgia, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the 2008 WNBA season began. The team is owned by Dream Too LLC, which is composed of two Atlanta...
.
WNBA Draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Club Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Crystal Langhorne Crystal Langhorne - External links :* at University of Maryland website.* at... |
Maryland Maryland Terrapins women's basketball The University of Maryland women's basketball team has been a prominent program in the history of women's basketball. As a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Lady Terrapins have been regular season and tournament champions on numerous occasions. They were struggling with a losing record... |
|
| 2 | 20 | Lindsey Pluimer | UCLA UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the sports teams for University of California, Los Angeles . The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pacific-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation . For football, they are in the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I... |
|
| 3 | 34 | Krystal Vaughn | Virginia Commonwealth | |
Trades
| April 22, 2008 | To Washington Mystics Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics is a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded prior to the 1998 season. The team is owned by Monumental Sports & Entertainment , who also owns the Mystics'... Taj McWilliams-Franklin and a first-round pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft 2009 WNBA Draft The 2009 WNBA Draft is the league's annual process for determining which teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The draft was held on April 9, 2009. The first round was shown on ESPN2 at 3:00pm ET, while the second and third rounds were shown on ESPNU and NBA TV at... |
To Los Angeles Sparks Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks is a professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season began... DeLisha Milton-Jones DeLisha Milton-Jones DeLisha Milton-Jones is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association . Milton-Jones played college basketball for the University of Florida. In her twelve-season WNBA career, she has played for the Washington Mystics and Los... |
| August 12, 2008 | To Washington Mystics Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics is a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded prior to the 1998 season. The team is owned by Monumental Sports & Entertainment , who also owns the Mystics'... Tasha Humphrey Tasha Humphrey Tasha Humphrey is a professional basketball player. She played the center position for the Washington Mystics in the WNBA until being waived 6 July 2009. Her father is former Green Bay Packers player Donnie Humphrey.-College career:Completed her career as Georgia's second all-time scorer and... , Eshaya Murphy Eshaya Murphy Eshaya "Shay" Murphy is an American professional basketball player in the WNBA.Murphy attended college at USC and graduated in 2007. Following her collegiate career, she was selected 15th overall in the 2007 WNBA Draft by the Minnesota Lynx... , and a second-round pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft 2009 WNBA Draft The 2009 WNBA Draft is the league's annual process for determining which teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The draft was held on April 9, 2009. The first round was shown on ESPN2 at 3:00pm ET, while the second and third rounds were shown on ESPNU and NBA TV at... |
To Detroit Shock Detroit Shock The Detroit Shock was a Women's National Basketball Association team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were the 2003, 2006 and 2008 WNBA champion... Taj McWilliams-Franklin |
Free agents
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Regular season
- On July 19, 2008 Tree Rollins was fired by the team after an 8-14 start. Assistant coach, Jessie Kenlaw was named as interim head coach.
Season schedule
| Date | Opponent | Score | Leading Scorer | Attendance | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 17 | @ Indiana | 53-64 | Nakia Sanford (14) | 10,533 | 0-1 |
| May 22 | @ New York | 60-79 | Taj McWilliams-Franklin (26) | 7,071 | 0-2 |
| May 25 | vs. Houston | 69-66 | Alana Beard (16) | 10,441 | 1-2 |
| May 27 | vs. Atlanta | 80-74 | Alana Beard (25) | 6,231 | 2-2 |
| May 31 | vs. Los Angeles | 59-70 | Monique Currie (15) | 11,517 | 2-3 |
| June 3 | @ Phoenix | 93-98 | Alana Beard (33) | 7,561 | 2-4 |
| June 6 | @ San Antonio | 52-63 | Alana Beard (13) | 5,800 | 2-5 |
| June 8 | @ Connecticut | 79-87 | Monique Currie (28) | 7,174 | 2-6 |
| June 11 | vs. Sacramento | 76-79 | Taj McWilliams-Franklin (23) | 6,146 | 2-7 |
| June 13 | @ Chicago | 64-57 | Alana Beard (22) | 2,600 | 3-7 |
| June 18 | @ Houston | 67-63 | Alana Beard (23) | 7,054 | 4-7 |
| June 20 | vs. Atlanta | 72-61 | Alana Beard (18) | 7,448 | 5-7 |
| June 24 | vs. Phoenix | 90-98 | Taj McWilliams-Franklin (31) | 6,662 | 5-8 |
| June 26 | @ Los Angeles | 77-74 (OT) | Monique Currie (24) | 8,144 | 6-8 |
| June 29 | @ Seattle | 49-64 | Alana Beard (16) | 7,965 | 6-9 |
| July 1 | @ Sacramento | 81-87 | Alana Beard (31) | 5,705 | 6-10 |
| July 6 | vs. San Antonio | 75-83 | Alana Beard (20) | 10,439 | 6-11 |
| July 8 | vs. Indiana | 50-48 | Taj McWilliams-Franklin (20) | 7,587 | 7-11 |
| July 11 | @ Detroit | 66-79 | Coco Miller (15) | 8,596 | 7-12 |
| July 13 | vs. Connecticut | 69-64 | Nikki Blue (13) | 9,610 | 8-12 |
| July 17 | @ New York | 56-77 | Alana Beard (15) | 8,344 | 8-13 |
| July 18 | vs. Detroit | 62-99 | Taj McWilliams-Franklin (13) | 6,834 | 8-14 |
| July 20 | vs. Seattle | 89-57 | Taj McWilliams-Franklin (22) | 8,543 | 9-14 |
| July 23 | vs. New York | 73-80 | Taj McWilliams-Franklin (19) | 16,121 | 9-15 |
| July 25 | @ Atlanta | 81-75 | Taj McWilliams-Franklin (13) | 8,279 | 10-15 |
| July 27 | vs. Connecticut | 60-82 | Taj McWilliams-Franklin (11) | 9,357 | 10-16 |
| August 29 | vs. Chicago | 75-79 | Alana Beard (18) | 10,043 | 10-17 |
| August 30 | @ Minnesota | 78-92 | Alana Beard (27) | 6,980 | 10-18 |
| September 2 | vs. Indiana | 68-79 | Alana Beard (17) | 7,244 | 10-19 |
| September 6 | vs. Detroit | 69-84 | Monique Currie (15) | 9,976 | 10-20 |
| September 9 | @ Chicago | 59-78 | Tasha Humphrey (15) | 3,087 | 10-21 |
| September 11 | @ Detroit | 66-78 | Alana Beard (16) Monique Currie (16) |
8,145 | 10-22 |
| September 13 | @ Connecticut | 81-87 | Monique Currie (23) | 8,652 | 10-23 |
| September 14 | vs. Minnesota | 70-96 | Alana Beard (17) | 10,438 | 10-24 |
Regular season
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33 | 33 | 33.1 | .395 | .354 | .733 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 16.1 | |
| 26 | 26 | 33.2 | .525 | .280 | .730 | 7.3 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 13.3 | |
| 34 | 34 | 28.6 | .401 | .375 | .826 | 4.1 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 11.9 | |
| 8 | 7 | 26.5 | .415 | .379 | .588 | 6.1 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 11.1 | |
| 34 | 28 | 23.4 | .452 | .000 | .398 | 5.7 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 6.7 | |
| 34 | 6 | 20.9 | .355 | .283 | .625 | 2.5 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 5.3 | |
| 34 | 6 | 15.6 | .624 | .000 | .549 | 4.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 4.8 | |
| 28 | 4 | 14.0 | .355 | .368 | .806 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 4.3 | |
| 26 | 22 | 20.7 | .324 | .438 | .760 | 1.6 | 2.8 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 3.8 | |
| 22 | 0 | 8.1 | .379 | .000 | .542 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 2.6 | |
| 30 | 0 | 4.8 | .393 | .418 | .000 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.4 | |
| 24 | 1 | 7.6 | .392 | .000 | .667 | 2.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 2.0 | |
| 6 | 3 | 13.7 | .250 | .300 | .500 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.7 | |
| 2 | 0 | 5.5 | .333 | .000 | .000 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | |
| 15 | 0 | 5.2 | .158 | .000 | .600 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.8 | |
| 9 | 0 | 5.3 | .118 | .143 | .000 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.6 |
Washington Mystics Regular Season Stats