2004 Connecticut Sun season

Last updated

2004 Connecticut Sun season
Coach Mike Thibault
Arena Mohegan Sun Arena
Attendance6,707 per game
Results
Record18–16 (.529)
Place1st (Eastern)
Playoff finishLost in WNBA Finals
Team Leaders
Points Nykesha Sales (15.2)
Rebounds Taj McW.-Franklin (7.2)
Assists Lindsay Whalen (4.8)

The 2004 WNBA season was their sixth season and their second in Connecticut. The Sun attempted to return to the postseason for the second consecutive season and were successful.

Contents

Offseason

Dispersal Draft

Based on the Sun's 2003 record, they would pick 8th in the Cleveland Rockers dispersal draft. However, the Sun traded the pick to the Houston Comets.

WNBA draft

RoundPickPlayerNationalitySchool/Team/Country
14 Lindsay Whalen Flag of the United States.svg  United States Minnesota
216 Jessica Brungo Flag of the United States.svg  United States Penn State
224 Ugo Oha Flag of the United States.svg  United States George Washington University
329 Candace Futrell Flag of the United States.svg  United States Duquesne

[1]

Transactions

[2]

Roster

Connecticut Sun roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#Nat.NameHeightWeightDOBFromYrs
G 24 Flag of the United States.svg Black, Debbie 5' 3" (1.6m)124 lb (56kg) Saint Joseph's
F 22 Flag of the United States.svg Brungo, Jessica 6' 1" (1.85m)165 lb (75kg) Penn State
G 34 Flag of the United States.svg Derevjanik, Jennifer 5' 10" (1.78m)140 lb (64kg) George Mason
G/F 32 Flag of the United States.svg Douglas, Katie 6' 0" (1.83m)165 lb (75kg) Purdue
G 12 Flag of the United States.svg Futrell, Candace 5' 10" (1.78m)154 lb (70kg) Duquesne
F 15 Flag of the United States.svg Jones, Asjha 6' 2" (1.88m)196 lb (89kg) Connecticut
F/C 11 Flag of the United States.svg McWilliams-Franklin, Taj  (C)6' 2" (1.88m)184 lb (83kg) St. Edward's College
F 3 Flag of the United States.svg Palmer-Daniel, Wendy 6' 2" (1.88m)165 lb (75kg) Virginia
G/F 42 Flag of the United States.svg Sales, Nykesha  (C)6' 0" (1.83m)175 lb (79kg) Connecticut
G 13 Flag of the United States.svg Whalen, Lindsay 5' 8" (1.73m)150 lb (68kg) Minnesota
F 43 Flag of the United States.svg Willingham, Le'Coe 6' 0" (1.83m)200 lb (91kg) Auburn
F 21 Flag of the United States.svg Wyckoff, Brooke   Cruz Roja.svg 6' 1" (1.85m)183 lb (83kg) Florida State
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Athletic trainer
  • Flag of the United States.svg Jen Brodeur
Strength and conditioning coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (IN) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injured

Season standings

Eastern Conference W L PCT GB Home Road Conf.
Connecticut Sun x1816.529–10–78–914–6
New York Liberty x1816.529–11–67–1010–10
Detroit Shock x1717.5001.08–99–811–9
Washington Mystics x1717.5001.011–66–119–11
Charlotte Sting o1618.4712.010–76–118–12
Indiana Fever o1519.4413.010–75–128–12

Schedule

Preseason

2004 Game Log: Preseason
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocationRecord
1May 8Chinese National TeamL 85-87 Derevjanik (13) Coleman (9)() Mohegan Sun Arena 0-1
2May 11@ Houston L 71-84 Douglas, Sales (13) Coleman (6)() Toyota Center 0-2
3May 13 Los Angeles L 51-77 Sales (12) McWilliams-Franklin (7)() Mohegan Sun Arena 0-3

Regular season

2004 Game Log: Regular Season
May
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocationRecord
1May 22 Phoenix L 58-65()()() Mohegan Sun Arena 0-1
2May 25 Houston L 57-68()()() Mohegan Sun Arena 0-2
3May 27 Los Angeles W 82-73()()() Mohegan Sun Arena 1-2
June
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocationRecord
4June 3 Charlotte W 71-62()()() Mohegan Sun Arena 2-2
5June 4@ Washington W 72-63()()() MCI Center 3-2
6June 6 Detroit L 73-74()()() Mohegan Sun Arena 3-3
7June 9@ Phoenix L 59-75()()() America West Arena 3-4
8June 11@ Seattle L 63-68()()() KeyArena 3-5
9June 12@ Sacramento W 83-76()()() ARCO Arena 4-5
10June 14@ Los Angeles L 74-76 (OT)()()() Staples Center 4-6
11June 18 Charlotte L 58-63 (OT)()()() Mohegan Sun Arena 4-7
12June 20 Washington W 75-65()()() Mohegan Sun Arena 5-7
13June 22@ Indiana W 63-58()()() Conseco Fieldhouse 6-7
14June 25 Detroit W 71-67 (OT)()()() Mohegan Sun Arena 7-7
15June 27@ Detroit W 74-72()()() Palace of Auburn Hills 8-7
16June 30 Washington W 78-69()()() Mohegan Sun Arena 9-7
July
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocationRecord
17July 6 Indiana W 79-67()()() Mohegan Sun Arena 10-7
18July 9 Sacramento L 70-85()()() Mohegan Sun Arena 10-8
19July 11@ Indiana W 65-61()()() Conseco Fieldhouse 11-8
20July 14@ Minnesota L 63-66()()() Target Center 11-9
21July 15@ San Antonio L 67-78()()() SBC Center 11-10
22July 17@ Houston L 56-72()()() Toyota Center 11-11
23July 21@ Detroit W 78-68()()() Palace of Auburn Hills 12-11
24July 22 Minnesota L 52-68()()() Mohegan Sun Arena 12-12
25July 24 San Antonio W 69-55()()() Mohegan Sun Arena 13-12
26July 30@ Washington L 68-69()()() MCI Center 13-13
27July 31@ New York L 66-80()()() Madison Square Garden 13-14
September
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocationRecord
Summer Olympic break
28September 1@ Charlotte L 55-62()()() Charlotte Coliseum 13-15
29September 3 New York W 61-43()()() Mohegan Sun Arena 14-15
30September 10@ New York W 77-66()()() Madison Square Garden 15-15
31September 12 Seattle W 71-64()()() Mohegan Sun Arena 16-15
32September 15@ Charlotte W 81-67()()() Charlotte Coliseum 17-15
33September 17 New York L 66-69()()() Mohegan Sun Arena 17-16
34September 19 Indiana W 80-60()()() Mohegan Sun Arena 18-16

Playoffs

In the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, the Sun had to face the Washington Mystics. Since the Sun had the better record, the series would be played with game 1 at Washington, game 2 at Connecticut, and game 3 (if needed) at Connecticut. The Sun lost the first game, but won the next two to advance to the next round. In the second round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, the Sun had to face the New York Liberty. The Sun and the Liberty had identical records and each team had won two of the four meetings against each other in the regular season. The Sun attained home-court advantage however, because they beat the Liberty by more than the Liberty beat them. The series would be played with game 1 at New York and games 2 and 3 (if needed) at Connecticut. The Sun swept the Liberty and game 3 was not needed. The Sun advanced to the WNBA Finals. The team would be facing off against the Seattle Storm. The Storm had the better record so the series would be played with game 1 at Connecticut, and games 2 and 3 (if needed) at Seattle. This was the last year the league played the finals in a best-of-three setup. The Storm beat the Sun 2 games to 1 to win the WNBA Finals.

2004 Game Log: Postseason
Eastern Conference Semifinals
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceSeries
1September 25@ Washington L 59-67 Whalen (16) McWilliams-Franklin (9) Douglas (4) MCI Center
13,263		0-1
2September 27 Washington W 80-70 Whalen (21) Sales (7) Whalen (6) Mohegan Sun Arena
5,760		1-1
3September 29 Washington W 76-56 Sales (18) McWilliams-Franklin (11) Douglas, Whalen (6) Mohegan Sun Arena
5,514		2-1
Eastern Conference Finals
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceSeries
1October 1@ New York W 61-51 Sales (15) McWilliams-Franklin, Palmer-Daniel (10) Whalen (5) Madison Square Garden
12,146		1-0
2October 3 New York W 60-57 McWilliams-Franklin (18) McWilliams-Franklin (9) Douglas (4) Mohegan Sun Arena
6,734		2-0
WNBA Finals
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceSeries
1October 8 Seattle W 68-64 Douglas (18) Sales (9) Whalen (9) Mohegan Sun Arena
9,518 (sellout)		1-0
2October 10@ Seattle L 65-67 Sales (32) McWilliams-Franklin (7) Whalen (7) KeyArena
17,072 (sellout)		1-1
3October 12@ Seattle L 60-74 Sales (18) Douglas (6) Douglas, Whalen, McWilliams-Franklin (2) KeyArena
17,072 (sellout)		1-2

Depth

Pos.Starting 5Bench 1Bench 2Inactive
C Taj McWilliams-Franklin Le'Coe Willingham Brooke Wyckoff
PF Wendy Palmer-Daniel Asjha Jones Le'Coe Willingham
SF Nykesha Sales Jessica Brungo Candace Futrell
SG Katie Douglas Jennifer Derevjanik
PG Lindsay Whalen Debbie Black

Player stats

Awards and honors

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References

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