Houston Comets
 | For current information on this topic, see 2008 Houston Comets season. |
| Houston Comets | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Conference | Western Conference |
| Founded | 1997 |
| Arena | Reliant Arena |
| Location | Houston, Texas |
| Team colors | Red, Blue |
| Head coach | Karleen Thompson |
| Ownership | WNBA |
| Championships | 4 (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000) |
| Conference titles | 4 (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000) |
The Houston Comets are a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Houston, Texas. Formed in 1997, the team is one of the original WNBA teams and after winning four championships in the first four years of the league's existence, the Comets are also the first dynasty of the WNBA. They have also won more championships than any other team in the WNBA. They are the sister team of the Houston Rockets.
The Comets are also known for their roster of women's basketball stars. The team had the WNBA's first WNBA MVP in Cynthia Cooper, college and national team standout Sheryl Swoopes and college star Tina Thompson.
The Comets are owned by WNBA.
Radio broadcasts are on KNTH, 1070 AM. Some games have also been seen locally on FSN Houston.
Uniforms:
- Red, white and blue home with a C simulating a comet, name comets in white and a WNBA basketball. Red and blue on the road
Franchise history
The Comets were one of the original teams in the WNBA. They capped off a good inaugural season in 1997 with a win over the New York Liberty in the WNBA championship game to win the WNBA's first championship. When the league expanded the next season, the Comets were moved from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference. In 1998, they repeated the championship, although by then the championship game had been extended into a three game championship series. They beat the Phoenix Mercury in the Finals that year.
In 1999, led by what was already known as the Big Three, (Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper and Tina Thompson), the Comets survived a highlight film last second, court to court game winning shot by the Liberty's Teresa Weatherspoon in Game 2 of the finals to beat the Liberty in three games and win their third straight title, this one after the death of teammate Kim Perrot, who died of cancer.
In 2000, the Comets went all the way to the Finals again, and beat the Liberty in two games to win their fourth title in a row, becoming known as a sports dynasty. But after losing Cooper to retirement in 2001, they were able to reach only the quarterfinals, and in 2002, when Swoopes was injured most of the year with a torn ACL, they lost at the Quarterfinals again. They missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history in 2004, but earned a playoff berth in 2005.
After being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs to the Sacramento Monarchs in 2006, the Comets underwent major front-office changes during the off-season. In October 2006, team owner Leslie Alexander (who also owns the NBA's Houston Rockets team) announced he was selling the Comets, and longtime Head Coach Van Chancellor resigned in January 2007. On January 31, 2007, the WNBA Board of Governors approved the sale of the team to Hilton Koch, a Houston-based mattress and furniture businessman. Two weeks later, Comets assistant coach Karleen Thompson was named to become the team's new Head Coach and General Manager for the 2007 season.
On December 12, 2007 team owner Hilton Koch announced that the Comets would be moving from the Toyota Center to Reliant Arena for the 2008 WNBA season.[1]
On August 9, 2008, an article released in The Houston Chronicle stated that Koch has decided to sell the team.
There is now a possibility that the team will either fold or move elsewhere.
Season-by-season records
Note: W = wins, L = losses, % = win–loss %
| Season | W | L | % | Playoffs | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston Comets | |||||
| 1997 | 18 | 10 | .643 | Won WNBA Semifinals Won WNBA Finals |
Houston 70, Charlotte 54 Houston 65, New York 51 |
| 1998 | 27 | 3 | .900 | Won WNBA Semifinals Won WNBA Finals |
Houston 2, Charlotte 0 Houston 2, Phoenix 1 |
| 1999 | 26 | 6 | .813 | Won Conference Finals Won WNBA Finals |
Houston 2, Los Angeles 1 Houston 2, New York 1 |
| 2000 | 27 | 5 | .844 | Won First Round Won Conference Finals Won WNBA Finals |
Houston 2, Sacramento 0 Houston 2, Los Angeles 0 Houston 2, New York 0 |
| 2001 | 19 | 13 | .594 | Lost First Round | Los Angeles 2, Houston 0 |
| 2002 | 24 | 8 | .750 | Lost First Round | Utah 2, Houston 1 |
| 2003 | 20 | 14 | .588 | Lost First Round | Sacramento 2, Houston 1 |
| 2004 | 13 | 21 | .382 | ||
| 2005 | 19 | 15 | .559 | Won First Round Lost Conference Finals |
Houston 2, Seattle 1 Sacramento 2, Houston 0 |
| 2006 | 18 | 16 | .529 | Lost First Round | Sacramento 2, Houston 0 |
| 2007 | 13 | 21 | .382 | ||
| 2008 | 14 | 12 | .538 | ||
| Totals | 238 | 144 | .623 | ||
| Playoffs | 20 | 14 | .588 | 4 WNBA Championships | |
Team owners
- 1997 - 2007 Leslie Alexander (current owner of Houston Rockets)
- 2007 - 2008 Hilton Koch
- 2008 WNBA
Players of note
Retired numbers
- 10. Kim Perrot
- 14. Cynthia Cooper
Former players
- Janeth Arcain
- Octavia Blue
- Dominique Canty
- Cynthia Cooper, now the Head Coach at Prairie View A&M University
- Ukari Figgs
- Kelley Gibson, now an assistant coach at University of Maryland, Baltimore County
- Wanda Guyton
- Fran Harris (in 2006, appeared as a contestant on the Comedy Central game show "Distraction")
- Sonja Henning
- Tammy Jackson
- Tiffani Johnson
- Monica Lamb
- Amanda Lassiter
- Edwige Lawson
- Tynesha Lewis
- Yolanda Moore
- Kim Perrot
- Jennifer Rizzotti, now the head coach at Hartford University
- Elena Shakirova
- Trisha Stafford-Odom
- Dawn Staley, now the head coach at the University of South Carolina
- Sheryl Swoopes
- Lindsay Taylor
- Polina Tzekova
- Amaya Valdemoro
- Coquese Washington, now the head coach at Penn State University
- Kara Wolters
- Tiffany Woosley
Current Roster
Coaches and others
Head Coaches:
- Van Chancellor (1997-2006)
- Karleen Thompson (2007-)