Browsing articles tagged with " LA Sparks"

Fire and Ice

Oct 1, 2013   //   by admin   //   Basketball  //  Comments Off on Fire and Ice

Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike Are on Their Way to WNBA Stardom

Screen Shot 2013-11-20 at 12.04.32 AMIt’s easy to get overlooked when playing alongside 2013 WNBA MVP Candace Parker, who has been the face of the league since she was drafted first overall in 2008 out of powerhouse Tennessee. While Nneka Ogwumike may not garner the name recognition of, say, Candace Parker, Brittney Griner or Elena Delle Donne—few do—since entering the league two seasons ago, she has undoubtedly morphed into one of its top interior players. The scary part? She may not even be the best player in her family when all is said and done.

Nneka and her younger sister, Chiney, started out as gymnasts. When they grew too tall for the sport—Nneka, 11 years old, and Chiney, 9—their mom’s coworker recommended they try basketball.

Having never played basketball before, both girls were extremely raw. Nneka persevered through the awkwardness and continued practicing with the other players. Her younger sister, however, felt too embarrassed to continue. “I ran away,” Chiney recalled. “I hid in the bathroom for the rest of that practice.” Read more >>

2013 LA Sparks Season Preview

May 26, 2013   //   by admin   //   Basketball  //  Comments Off on 2013 LA Sparks Season Preview

The Sparks Hope to Fight for a WNBA Championship This Year

Screen Shot 2013-11-21 at 8.53.04 PMThe Los Angeles Sparks open their 2013 season Sunday evening with lofty expectations, one year removed from a tremendously successful season that was halted by the Minnesota Lynx in the Western Conference finals.

In 2012, Carol Ross’ first year at the helm, the squad improved by nine wins, a considerable jump in winning percentage from .441 to .706. Surprisingly, for a franchise that has experienced so much success throughout the WNBA’s history, it was its first 20-win season since 2008, Candace Parker’s rookie year. In fact, ’08 and ’12 are the only seasons Parker has played at least 30 games.

Last year, the Sparks cleaned up, winning most of the league’s biggest awards. Ross earned Coach of the Year honors, first-overall pick Nneka Ogwumike won WNBA Rookie of the Year and guard Kristi Toliver was recognized as the league’s Most Improved Player after increasing her scoring average from 11.2 to 17.5 points per game. Meanwhile, she managed to raise her field-goal percentage to 49.1, including 42.4 percent from three-point range. In the most important individual category, Parker finished second in MVP-voting, earning 253 points, just behind Connecticut’s Tina Charles, who got 345.

Parker put the team on her back last postseason, averaging 28.8 points per game on 57.3 percent shooting. In Game 2 of the Western Conference finals, the MVP runner-up played all 40 minutes and scored 33 points to go along with 15 rebounds, five assists and four blocks. Even so, the Lynx won by a single point, effectively eliminating the Sparks from title contention. Parker didn’t touch the ball once on her team’s final possession. Read more >>

Milton-Jones and Ross Reunited by Basketball

Aug 15, 2012   //   by admin   //   Basketball  //  Comments Off on Milton-Jones and Ross Reunited by Basketball

On a hot Sunday afternoon in July, Los Angeles Sparks forward DeLisha Milton-Jones relished in shooting around with her teammates. The one they call “Sunshine” was about to make her 400th career WNBA start, but it was business as usual for the 37-year-old forward, who smiled before every one of her previous 399 starts.

Since Milton-Jones played her first professional game more than 15 years ago, she’s built an impressive resume: Two WNBA championships, two Olympic gold medals, three WNBA All-Star selections, two FIBA gold medals and the list goes on.

But long before any of these accolades, current Sparks head coach Carol Ross recognized something special in young Delisha Milton (before she got married and added “Jones” to her name) more than 20 years ago.

Ross, who was then the head women’s coach at the University of Florida, had already developed a relationship with the lanky 17-year-old over the phone, but the two had never met.
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BIO

Aaron Fischman is a sports writer, editor and multimedia journalist, who currently hosts the On the NBA Beat podcast, a weekly interview show he co-founded with fellow USC alums Loren Lee Chen and brother Joshua Fischman in advance of the 2015-16 NBA season. On the podcast, he and the crew interview some of the league’s best reporters on their particular beat. Fischman is also currently hard at work on his first book, a nonfiction baseball story. Read more.