Cleveland Rockers
Cleveland Rockers | ||
---|---|---|
founding | 1997 | |
resolution | 2003 | |
history |
Rockers Cleveland 1997 - 2003 |
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Stadion | Gund arena | |
Location | Cleveland , Ohio | |
Club colors | white, blue, black | |
league | WNBA | |
Conference | Eastern Conference | |
Championships | 0 | |
Conference title | 0 | |
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The Cleveland Rockers were a team in the North American women's basketball professional league WNBA . The team played its home games at Gund Arena in Cleveland , Ohio .
The Rockers, which were founded in 1997, were the sister team of the NBA club Cleveland Cavaliers . The team owner was Gordon Gund, who also owned the Cavaliers. In September 2003, Gund announced that his company wanted to withdraw from the WNBA business. Since no new owner could be found for the team, the Cleveland Rockers had to stop their game operations.
The Rockers received their team name in honor of Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame .
Achievements and honors
Sporting successes
The franchise was able to reach the playoffs four times in the 7 seasons of existence. In 1997 and 2001 the Rockers were even able to achieve the best record in the Eastern Conference, but failed each in the first playoff round. Otherwise, the playoff record was not good, the team never reached the WNBA finals and could only win one playoff series.
Individual awards
The association was significantly more successful in the individual awards and received five awards. In addition to three players who received four awards, the Coach of the Year award also went to Cleveland once.
season | category | Player |
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1998 | Sportsmanship Award | Suzie McConnell-Serio |
1998 | Peak Performer: Throwing rate from the field | Isabelle Fijalkowski |
1999 | Peak Performer: Free Throw Rate | Eva Němcová |
2000 | Sportsmanship Award | Suzie McConnell-Serio |
2001 | Coach of the Year Award | Dan Hughes |
Season after season
Abbreviations: Sp. = Games, S = victories, N = defeats
season | Sp. | S. | N | Wins in% | space | Playoffs |
1997 | 28 | 15th | 13 | 53.6 | 4th, Eastern Conference | not qualified |
1998 | 30th | 20th | 10 | 66.7 | 1st, Eastern Conference | WNBA semi-final defeat, 2-1 ( Phoenix Mercury ) |
1999 | 32 | 7th | 25th | 21.9 | 7th, Eastern Conference | not qualified |
2000 | 32 | 17th | 15th | 53.1 | 2nd, Eastern Conference | Victory in the Conference Semifinal, 2: 1 ( Orlando Miracle ), Loss in the Conference Final, 1: 2 ( New York Liberty ) |
2001 | 32 | 22nd | 10 | 68.8 | 1st, Eastern Conference | Conference semifinal defeat, 1: 2 ( Charlotte Sting ) |
2002 | 32 | 10 | 22nd | 31.3 | 7th, Eastern Conference | not qualified |
2003 | 34 | 17th | 17th | 50.0 | 4th, Eastern Conference | Conference semifinal defeat, 2-1 ( Detroit Shock ) |
total | 220 | 108 | 112 | 49.1 | 4 playoff appearances in 7 seasons 5 series: 1 win, 4 losses 16 games: 6 wins, 9 losses (37.5%) |
Head coach
From 1997 to 1999 the Rockers were trained by Linda Hill-McDonald . Then (until the team dissolution in 2003) Dan Hughes took over this position.
Players
- Cindy Blodgett (Guard, United States )
- Jenny Boucek ( United States )
- Helen Darling (Guard, United States )
- Isabelle Fijalkowski ( France )
- Eva Němcová ( Czech Republic )
- Penny Taylor (Forward, Australia )
- LaToya Thomas (Forward, United States )
- Ann Wauters (Center, Belgium )
- Lynette Woodard ( United States , inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame )
First-round voting rights in the WNBA Draft
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In the seven years of existence, the club had seven draft rights in the first round of the WNBA draft . The franchise always had a first-round draft pick before each season.
With Ann Wauters and LaToya Thomas , the franchise was able to select a player in the first position twice. Thomas failed to live up to expectations and only had a short WNBA career. Ann Wauters was an important part of the team until the breakup of the Rockers and was later able to win a WNBA championship with the Los Angeles Sparks team. Despite the two number 1 picks, none of the Rockers' players received the award for best newcomer of the year .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ All-Time WNBA Draft Picks. WNBA, accessed November 30, 2016 .