WNBA 1998
|
Women's National Basketball Association | ||
| ◄ previous | 1998 season | next ► | |
| Duration | June 11th - September 1st | ||
| Season games per team | 30th | ||
| Number of teams | 10 | ||
| Spectators (total) | 1,630,315 (∅: 10,869 per game) | ||
| Regular season | |||
| Best record |
 Houston Comets
|
||
| Season MVP |
 Cynthia Cooper
|
||
| Top scorer |
Cynthia Cooper
|
||
| Finals | |||
| WNBA champion |
Houston Comets
|
||
| Runner-up |  Phoenix Mercury
|
||
| Finals MVP |
Cynthia Cooper
|
||
The 1998 season of the Women's National Basketball Association was the second played season of the North American professional women's basketball league . The regular season began on June 11, 1998 with four opening games. After the end of the regular season, which was played until August 19, 1998, the playoffs began, which ended on September 1, 1998 with the second championship win of the Houston Comets .
Special occurrences
New game mode
The second WNBA season brought the following two changes to the game mode:
- The number of games in the regular season increased from 28 to 30 as 2 new teams joined the league.
- While in the 1997 season a single game decided in the playoffs about elimination and advancement, this season was played in the playoffs for the first time according to the best-of-three system.
League expansion
On October 1, 1997, the WNBA decided to expand the league from eight to ten teams. With this expansion, the cities of Detroit and Washington, DC were guaranteed a WNBA franchise, which should start operating this season. The two new teams were placed in the Eastern Conference . So that both conferences consist of the same number of teams, the Houston Comets were incorporated into the Western Conference .
Draft
The second WNBA Draft took place on April 28, 1998 at NBA Entertainment Studios in Secaucus , New Jersey . The Utah Starzz received the first draft pick , as they finished last season as the worst team. The two expansion franchises were awarded third ( Washington Mystics ) and fourth ( Detroit Shock ) draft picks.
In first place, the Utah Starzz selected Małgorzata Dydek from Poland . A Portuguese woman ( Ticha Penicheiro ) and four US women followed in second to fifth place . In total, the ten franchises secured the rights to 40 players. The United States made up the majority with 29 players .
Before the first WNBA draft, an initial player allocation was made for the two expansion teams , where the two teams were randomly assigned two professional players, as well as an expansion draft , in which the two franchises the rights to players from the remaining players in two rounds WNBA franchises were able to secure two more drafts in place.
Top 5 picks
Abbreviations: Pos = Position, G = Guard, F = Forward, C = Center
| # | Player | nationality | Item | WNBA team | College / professional team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Małgorzata Dydek |
 Poland
|
C. |
 Utah Starzz
|
Lotos Gdynia |
| 2. | Ticha Penicheiro |
 Portugal
|
G | Sacramento Monarchs | Old Dominion University |
| 3. | Murriel Page |
United States
|
F / C |
 Washington Mystics
|
University of Florida |
| 4th | Korie Hlede |
United States
|
G |
 Detroit Shock
|
Duquesne University |
| 5. | Allison Feaster |
United States
|
G |
 Los Angeles Sparks
|
Harvard University |
Regular season
WNBA All-Star Game
The WNBA's traditional all-star game wasn't introduced until 1999 .
Closing tables
Abbreviations: Pl. = Place, Sp. = Games, S = wins, N = defeats, GB = games behind the leader of the conference
| Pl. | Eastern Conference | Sp. | S. | N | Wins in% | GB | home | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |
 Cleveland Rockers
|
30th | 20th | 10 | 66.7 | - | 11: 4 | 9: 6 |
| 2. | Charlotte Sting | 30th | 18th | 12 | 60.0 | 2 | 9: 6 | 9: 6 |
| 3. | New York Liberty | 30th | 18th | 12 | 60.0 | 2 | 12: 3 | 6: 9 |
| 4th |
Detroit Shock
|
30th | 17th | 13 | 56.7 | 3 | 11: 4 | 6: 9 |
| 5. |
Washington Mystics
|
30th | 3 | 27 | 17.6 | 17th | 3:12 | 0:15 |
| Pl. | Western Conference | Sp. | S. | N | Wins in% | GB | home | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |
Houston Comets
|
30th | 27 | 3 | 90.0 | - | 14: 1 | 13: 2 |
| 2. |
 Phoenix Mercury
|
30th | 19th | 11 | 63.3 | 8th | 12: 3 | 7: 8 |
| 3. |
Los Angeles Sparks
|
30th | 12 | 18th | 40.0 | 15th | 8: 7 | 4:11 |
| 4th | Sacramento Monarchs | 30th | 8th | 22nd | 26.7 | 19th | 5:10 | 3:12 |
| 5. |
Utah Starzz
|
30th | 8th | 22nd | 26.7 | 19th | 5:10 | 5:12 |
| Legend |
Playoffs
mode
After the two Conference winner, and the other two teams have qualified with the best record in the league, start the knock-out system discharged playoffs . The conference winners are placed in positions 1 to 2 in descending order according to their victories from the regular season. The other teams follow in positions 3 and 4, although it is quite possible that one or more teams have won more games than one of the conference winners.
All series of each round are played in best-of-three mode, which means that a team needs two wins to reach the next round. The lower ranked team has home rights in the first game, the next two the opposing team. For games that are tied after the regular playing time of 40 minutes, overtime follows.
Playoff tree
| Semifinals | Finals | |||||||
| W1 |
Houston Comets
|
2 | ||||||
| E2 | Charlotte Sting | 0 | ||||||
| W1 |
Houston Comets
|
2 | ||||||
| W2 |
Phoenix Mercury
|
1 | ||||||
| E1 |
Cleveland Rockers
|
1 | ||||||
| W2 |
Phoenix Mercury
|
2 | ||||||
Semi-finals (round 1)
(W1) Houston Comets - (E2) Charlotte Sting
| 22 Aug 1998 | Match report ( Memento from January 28, 1999 in the Internet Archive ) | Charlotte Sting | 71-85 |
Houston Comets
|
Charlotte Coliseum , Charlotte, North Carolina Visitors: 6,087 |
| Points per half: 37:39, 34:46. | |||||
|
Points: Mapp , Stinson (16) Rebounds: Stinson (7) Assists: Stinson (7) |
Points: Cooper (27) Rebounds: Thompson (10) Assists: Perrot (6) |
||||
| Stand: 1: 0 | |||||
| Aug 24, 1998 | Match report ( Memento from January 29, 1999 in the Internet Archive ) |
Houston Comets
|
77-61 | Charlotte Sting |
Compaq Center , Houston, Texas Visitors: 11,901 |
| Points per half: 45:34, 32:27. | |||||
|
Points: Cooper (23) Rebounds: Thompson (14) Assists: Cooper, Perrot (5) |
Points: Reid (18) Rebounds: Bullet (11) Assists: Stinson (6) |
||||
| Final score: 0: 2 | |||||
(E1) Cleveland Rockers - (W2) Phoenix Mercury
| 22 Aug 1998 | Match report ( Memento from January 28, 1999 in the Internet Archive ) |
Phoenix Mercury
|
78-68 |
Cleveland Rockers
|
America West Arena , Phoenix, Arizona Visitors: 11,631 |
| Points per half: 37:31, 41:37. | |||||
|
Points: Gillom (21) Rebounds: Gillom, Reed (5) Assists: Webb (6) |
Points: Fijalkowski (20) Rebounds: Fijalkowski (9) Assists: Edwards , Nemcova (4) |
||||
| Stand: 1: 0 | |||||
| Aug 24, 1998 | Match report ( Memento from January 29, 1999 in the Internet Archive ) |
Cleveland Rockers
|
67-66 |
Phoenix Mercury
|
Gund Arena , Cleveland, Ohio Visitors: 10,456 |
| Points per half: 32:24, 35:42. | |||||
|
Points: Edwards (18) Rebounds: Braxton (10) Assists: McConnell-Serio (9) |
Points: Gillom (27) Rebounds: Gillom (10) Assists: Timms (6) |
||||
| Stand: 1: 1 | |||||
| Aug 25, 1998 | Match report ( Memento from February 2, 1999 in the Internet Archive ) |
Cleveland Rockers |
60-71 |
Phoenix Mercury
|
Gund Arena , Cleveland, Ohio Visitors: 8,420 |
| Points per half: 35:32, 25:39. | |||||
|
Points: Fijalkowski (17) Rebounds: Fijalkowski (11) Assists: Nemcova (5) |
Points: Pettis (27) Rebounds: Pettis (11) Assists: Timms (8) |
||||
| Final score: 1: 2 | |||||
Finals (round 2)
(W1) Houston Comets - (W2) Phoenix Mercury
| Aug 27, 1998 | Match report ( Memento from February 2, 1999 in the Internet Archive ) |
Phoenix Mercury
|
54 - 51 |
Houston Comets
|
America West Arena , Phoenix, Arizona Visitors: 13,634 |
| Points per half: 33:29, 22:21. | |||||
|
Points: Gillom (15) Rebounds: Griffiths (12) Assists: Timms (5) |
Points: Cooper (29) Rebounds: Swoopes (11) Assists: Perrot , Swoopes (6) |
||||
| Stand: 1: 0 | |||||
| 29 Aug 1998 | Match report ( Memento from February 2, 1999 in the Internet Archive ) |
Houston Comets
|
74-69 |
Phoenix Mercury
|
Compaq Center , Houston, Texas Visitors: 16,285 |
| Points per half: 32:37, 34:29 .. Overtime / s: 8: 3 | |||||
|
Points: Cooper (27) Rebounds: Swoopes (13) Assists: Cooper (6) |
Points: Timms (21) Rebounds: Gillom (9) Assists: Griffiths (3) |
||||
| Stand: 1: 1 | |||||
| Sep 1 1998 | Match report ( Memento from February 2, 1999 in the Internet Archive ) |
Houston Comets
|
80-71 |
Phoenix Mercury
|
Compaq Center , Houston, Texas Visitors: 16,285 |
| Points per half: 32:26, 48:45. | |||||
|
Points: Cooper (23) Rebounds: Thompson (6) Assists: Cooper, Swoopes (6) |
Points: Griffiths (24) Rebounds: Gillom (6) Assists: Timms (7) |
||||
|
Final score: 2: 1. Finals MVP: Cynthia Cooper |
|||||
WNBA championship team
(Participation in at least one playoff game)
WNBA Masters Houston Comets |
Guards: Cynthia Cooper (Finals MVP) , Kim Perrot Forwards: Janeth Arcain , Tammy Jackson , Yolanda Moore , Sheryl Swoopes , Tina Thompson Center: Monica Lamb Head coach: Van Chancellor |
WNBA awards and trophies awarded
All-WNBA teams
| All-WNBA First Team | |
| Guards: |
Suzie McConnell-Serio - Cynthia Cooper
|
| Forwards: |
Tina Thompson - Sheryl Swoopes
|
| Center: |
Jennifer Gillom
|
| All-WNBA Second Team | |
| Guards: | (NYL) Teresa Weatherspoon - (CHA) Andrea Stinson |
| Forwards: |
Eva Nemcova - Cindy Brown
|
| Center: |
Lisa Leslie
|
Web links
- WNBA Award Winners 1998 WNBA.com (Engl.)
- WNBA Playoffs 1998 WNBA.com (Engl.)
- Statistics for the WNBA 1998 season on basketball-reference.com (Engl.)
- Key dates in the WNBA history (Engl.)
Individual evidence
- ↑ WNBA expands schedule, playoffs in 1998. The Augusta Chronicle, October 8, 1997, accessed July 1, 2012 .
- ↑ WNBA Timeline - By Date. WNBA, accessed July 1, 2012 .