1997 Cleveland Rockers season

Last updated

1997 Cleveland Rockers season
Coach Linda Hill-MacDonald
Arena Gund Arena
Attendance7,971 per game
Results
Record1513 (.536)
Place4th (Eastern)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Team Leaders
Points Eva Nemcova (13.7)
Rebounds Janice Braxton (7.6)
Assists Michelle Edwards (4.5)

The 1997 WNBA season was the inaugural season for the Cleveland Rockers.

Contents

Transactions

WNBA allocation draft

PlayerNationalitySchool/Team/Country
Janice Braxton Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States NC State
Michelle Edwards Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Maryland

WNBA elite draft

RoundPickPlayerNationalitySchool/Team/Country
12 Isabelle Fijalkowski Flag of France.svg  France Colorado
210 Lynette Woodard Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Kansas

WNBA draft

RoundPickPlayerNationalitySchool/Team/Country
14 Eva Němcová Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czechoslovakia Bourges (France)
213 Merlakia Jones Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Florida
320 Tina Nicholson Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Penn State
429Anita MaxwellFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States New Mexico State

Transactions

DateTransaction
January 22, 1997Drafted Janice Braxton and Michelle Edwards in the 1997 WNBA Allocation Draft [1]
February 27, 1997Drafted Isabelle Fijalkowski and Lynette Woodard in the 1997 WNBA Elite Draft [1]
April 28, 1997Drafted Eva Němcová, Merlakia Jones, Tina Nicholson and Anita Maxwell in the 1997 WNBA Draft [1]
May 6, 1997Hired Linda Hill-MacDonald as Head Coach [1]

Roster

1997 Cleveland Rockers roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHeightWeightDOBFromYrs
G 20 Flag of the United States.svg Alberts, Marcie 5' 4" (1.63m)1975-04-12 Ohio State R
G 14 Flag of the United States.svg Boucek, Jenny 5' 8" (1.73m)130 lb (59kg)1973-12-20 Virginia R
F 8 Flag of the United States.svg Braxton, Janice 6' 3" (1.91m)178 lb (81kg)1962-06-07 Louisiana Tech R
F 34 Flag of the United States.svg Brown, Rushia 6' 2" (1.88m)175 lb (79kg)1972-05-05 Furman R
G 44 Flag of the United States.svg Edwards, Michelle 5' 9" (1.75m)150 lb (68kg)1966-03-06 Iowa R
F/C 13 Flag of France.svg Fijalkowski, Isabelle 6' 5" (1.96m)200 lb (91kg)1972-05-23 Colorado R
G 31 Flag of the United States.svg Johnson, Adrienne 5' 10" (1.78m)154 lb (70kg)1974-02-05 Ohio State R
G 25 Flag of the United States.svg Jones, Merlakia 5' 10" (1.78m)147 lb (67kg)1973-06-21 Florida R
F 40 Flag of the United States.svg Maxwell, Anita1974-04-07 New Mexico State R
F 6 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Němcová, Eva 6' 3" (1.91m)178 lb (81kg)1972-12-03R
G 11 Flag of the United States.svg Nicholson, Tina 5' 2" (1.57m)146 lb (66kg)1973-09-27 Penn State R
G 4 Flag of the United States.svg Woodard, Lynette 6' 0" (1.83m)160 lb (73kg)1959-08-12 Kansas R
Head coach
Flag of the United States.svg Linda Hill-MacDonald (West Chester)
Assistant coaches
Flag of the United States.svg Mike Wilhelm

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injured

Schedule

Regular season

1997 game log
Total: 15–13 (Home: 10–5; Road: 7–9)
June: 1–3 (Home: 1–2; Road: 0–1)
July : 9–5 (Home: 4–2; Road: 5–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance
Record
5July 3 Los Angeles L 62–74 Janice Braxton (15) Janice Braxton (10) Boucek
Němcová (3)
Gund Arena 1–4
6July 6@ Sacramento L 67–70 Merlakia Jones (15) Isabelle Fijalkowski (9) Tina Nicholson (5) ARCO Arena 1–5
7July 7@ Los Angeles W 81–70 Braxton
Woodard (20)
Lynette Woodard (11) Lynette Woodard (6) Great Western Forum 2–5
8July 10 Sacramento W 77–61 Janice Braxton (19) Janice Braxton (11) Isabelle Fijalkowski (4) Gund Arena 3–5
9July 12@ Charlotte L 43–72 Eva Němcová (11) Braxton
Brown (8)
Němcová
Woodard (3)
Charlotte Coliseum 3–6
10July 14 New York L 57–68 Janice Braxton (18) Isabelle Fijalkowski (5) Tina Nicholson (9) Gund Arena 3–7
11July 15@ New York L 59–76 Lynette Woodard (12) Eva Němcová (7) Fijalkowski
Woodard (3)
Madison Square Garden 3–8
12July 17 Charlotte W 65–47 Němcová
Woodard (14)
Isabelle Fijalkowski (11) Isabelle Fijalkowski (6) Gund Arena 4–8
13July 19 Utah W 95–68 Janice Braxton (19) Lynette Woodard (11) Nicholson
Woodard (6)
Gund Arena 5–8
14July 23@ Los Angeles W 89–85 Isabelle Fijalkowski (24) Janice Braxton (6) Michelle Edwards (6) Great Western Forum 6–8
15July 26@ Utah W 77–66 Rushia Brown (17) Isabelle Fijalkowski (10) Eva Němcová (4) Delta Center 7–8
16July 28@ Phoenix W 76–64 Eva Němcová (22) Janice Braxton (10) Edwards
Fijalkowski (5)
America West Arena 8–8
17July 29@ Houston W 73–64 Eva Němcová (18) Janice Braxton (7) Edwards
Fijalkowski (5)
The Summit 9–8
18July 31 Phoenix W 79–67 Eva Němcová (17) Edwards
Woodard (5)
Michelle Edwards (6) Gund Arena 10–8
August : 7–6 (Home: 5–1; Road: 2–5)
1997 season schedule

Season standings

Eastern Conference WLPCTConf.GB
Houston Comets x1810.6436–6
New York Liberty x1711.6078–41.0
Charlotte Sting x1513.5365–73.0
Cleveland Rockers o1513.5365–73.0

Statistics

Legend
  GPGames 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 gameTeam leaderLeague leader

Regular Season

PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
Eva Němcová 282833.7.473.435.8553.92.41.40.313.7
Janice Braxton 252432.9.417.500.7687.62.01.41.111.5
Michelle Edwards 201431.1.447.240.5233.54.51.80.210.2
Isabelle Fijalkowski 282828.7.508.250.7865.62.40.60.611.9
Lynette Woodard 282725.4.401.000.6724.12.41.60.47.8
Merlakia Jones 28121.0.402.417.7142.90.90.80.18.2
Rushia Brown 28318.3.520N/A.7344.00.71.20.56.3
Tina Nicholson 241411.4.409.375.6000.41.80.50.02.0
Jenny Boucek 10111.2.467.000.5711.00.90.60.01.8
Adrienne Johnson 2527.8.379.500.7780.90.40.20.02.1
Anita Maxwell907.0.320N/A.3751.30.90.40.02.1
Marcie Alberts 506.0.000.000N/A0.20.60.40.00.0


Waived/Released during the season
Traded during the season
Acquired during the season

Awards and honors

[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "1997 Cleveland Rockers Transactions". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  2. "1997 WNBA Season Summary".