2008 Seattle Storm season

The 2008 WNBA season was the ninth season for the Seattle Storm. The Storm qualified for the postseason for the fifth consecutive season. Sue Bird was a key contributor to the club, averaging 14.1 points per game, and 5.1 assists per game.[1] With the departure of the Seattle SuperSonics NBA franchise to Oklahoma City, the Storm were forced to look for 30 people in positions in marketing, public relations and corporate and ticket sales. The Storm had a shared services agreement with the Sonics, and the departure left the Storm with many positions vacant.[2] By season's end, the Storm were in negotiations with the city of Seattle in hopes of a long-term lease at KeyArena.

2008 Seattle Storm season
Coach	Brian Agler
Arena	KeyArena
Attendance	8,265 per game
Results
Record	22–12 (.647)
Place	2nd (Western)
Playoff finish	Lost Western Conference Semifinals (2-1) to Los Angeles Sparks
Team Leaders
Points	Lauren Jackson 20.2 ppg
Rebounds	Lauren Jackson 7.0 rpg
Assists	Sue Bird 6.1 apg
← 2007 season 2009 season →

Offseason

On November 30, 2007, the Storm announced the resignation of head coach, Anne Donovan. Her replacement, Brian Agler, was named on January 9, 2008

The following player was selected in the Expansion Draft:

• Betty Lennox was selected in the 2008 Expansion Draft for the Atlanta Dream.[3]
• Also acquired the fourth pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft and Roneeka Hodges from the Atlanta Dream for Iziane Castro Marques and the eighth pick in the draft.

WNBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School
2	22	Allie Quigley	United States	DePaul
3	36	Kimberly Beck	United States	George Washington

Transactions

Trades

February 6, 2008[4]	To Seattle Storm Roneeka Hodges and the 4th pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft	To Atlanta Dream Iziane Castro Marques and the 8th pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft (Tamera Young)
February 19, 2008[5]	To Seattle Storm Swin Cash	To Detroit Shock No. 4 pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft (Alexis Hornbuckle)
June 22, 2008[6]	To Seattle Storm Camille Little	To Atlanta Dream Second-round pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft

Free agents

Player Signed Former team Sheryl Swoopes March 3, 2008 Houston Comets Yolanda Griffith April 8, 2008 Sacramento Monarchs

Player Left New team Roneeka Hodges May 14, 2008 Houston Comets (July 5, 2008)

Player Re-signed Shyra Ely March 6, 2008 Sue Bird March 14, 2008 Janell Burse April 14, 2008 Ashley Robinson April 18, 2008

Regular season

Season standings

Western Conference	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
San Antonio Silver Stars ^x	24	10	.706	–	15–2	9–8	10–10
Seattle Storm ^x	22	12	.647	2.0	16–1	6–11	13–7
Los Angeles Sparks ^x	20	14	.588	4.0	12–5	8–9	12–8
Sacramento Monarchs ^x	18	16	.529	13–4	5–12	6.0	9–11
Houston Comets ^o	17	17	.500	7.0	13–4	4–13	10–10
Minnesota Lynx ^o	16	18	.471	8.0	10–7	6–11	8–12
Phoenix Mercury ^o	16	18	.471	8.0	9–8	7–10	8–12

Season schedule

Date	Opponent	Score	Leading Scorer	Attendance	Record
May 17	vs. Chicago	67-61	Lauren Jackson (14)	12,079	1-0
May 20	vs. Sacramento	74-62	Lauren Jackson (17) Sue Bird (17) Swin Cash (17)	6,871	2-0
May 22	@ Phoenix	87-83	Lauren Jackson (30)	7,059	3-0
May 24	@ San Antonio	72-87	Swin Cash (15)	9,767	3-1
May 30	vs. San Antonio	78-57	Lauren Jackson (28)	6,810	4-1
June 1	vs. Houston	64-63	Swin Cash (19)	6,116	5-1
June 3	@ New York	63-77	Lauren Jackson (19)	6,928	5-2
June 4	@ Detroit	67-77	Lauren Jackson (27)	8,108	5-3
June 7	vs. Detroit	75-67	Lauren Jackson (24)	7,105	6-3
June 11	vs. Phoenix	83-77	Lauren Jackson (20)	7,483	7-3
June 13	@ San Antonio	69-74	Sue Bird (21)	6,478	7-4
June 13	@ Houston	60-68	Lauren Jackson (18)	7,023	7-5
June 16	vs. Connecticut	67-74	Lauren Jackson (26)	6,872	7-6
June 20	vs. Indiana	78-70	Lauren Jackson (18)	7,393	8-6
June 24	@ Los Angeles	62-76	Sue Bird (11)	8,032	8-7
June 29	vs. Washington	64-49	Sue Bird (14)	7,965	9-7
July 3	vs. New York	84-71	Lauren Jackson (33)	6,973	10-7
July 5	vs. Minnesota	96-71	Lauren Jackson (34)	7,553	11-7
July 8	@ Sacramento	79-64	Lauren Jackson (17)	5,727	12-7
July 10	vs. Phoenix	89-78	Lauren Jackson (25)	10,454	13-7
July 12	vs. Los Angeles	70-52	Sue Bird (18)	10,833	14-7
July 18	@ Indiana	65-59	Sheryl Swoopes (15)	7,450	15-7
July 20	@ Washington	57-89	Katie Gearlds (13)	8,543	15-8
July 22	@ Minnesota	76-73	Sue Bird (22)	12,276	16-8
July 25	@ Phoenix	80-94	Yolanda Griffith (17)	8,323	16-9
July 27	vs. Sacramento	77-71	Sue Bird (24)	8,651	17-9
August 28	vs. Houston	66-49	Sue Bird (22)	8,320	18-9
August 31	@ Connecticut	76-80	Sue Bird (24)	9,518	18-10
September 2	@ Atlanta	83-69	Sue Bird (21)	7,390	19-10
September 4	@ Chicago	70-62	Sue Bird (19)	3,829	20-10
September 6	vs. Minnesota	96-88	Sue Bird (23)	9,339	21-10
September 9	@ Sacramento	74-77	Tanisha Wright (17) Katie Gearlds (17)	11,644	21-11
September 12	vs. Atlanta	77-72	Camille Little (21)	9,686	22-11
September 14	@ Los Angeles	48-65	Shyra Ely (16)	13,142	22-12

WNBA Playoffs

Date	Opponent	Score	Leading Scorer	Attendance	Series
Western Conference Semifinals
September 19	@ Los Angeles	69-77	Sue Bird (23)	9,601	LA leads 1-0
September 21	vs. Los Angeles	64-50	Sue Bird (20)	8,230	Tied 1-1
September 23	vs. Los Angeles	64-71	Tanisha Wright (20)	7,805	LA wins 2-1

Player stats

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Lauren Jackson	21	21	33.0	.452	.295	.934	7.0	1.2	1.5	1.6	20.2
Sue Bird	33	33	33.7	.441	.343	.871	2.5	5.1	1.1	0.1	14.1
Swin Cash	31	28	29.9	.389	.125	.772	5.4	1.9	0.7	1.0	11.3
Camille Little	19	13	23.3	.532	.333	.667	4.4	1.4	1.0	0.3	9.7
Tanisha Wright	34	14	23.8	.432	.167	.787	3.4	2.5	0.9	0.2	7.9
Yolanda Griffith	30	30	21.9	.462	.000	.648	6.3	1.5	1.4	0.6	7.2
Sheryl Swoopes	29	25	24.3	.391	.222	.695	4.3	2.1	1.5	0.3	7.1
Katie Gearlds	34	3	13.8	.373	.391	.739	1.3	0.6	0.3	0.1	5.0
Shyra Ely	34	1	11.4	.409	.364	.625	2.6	0.5	0.4	0.2	3.3
Kelly Santos	22	1	6.1	.390	.000	.652	1.3	0.2	0.2	0.1	2.1
Kimberly Beck	17	0	5.5	.444	.667	.833	0.7	0.4	0.2	0.1	1.0
Ashley Robinson	33	1	10.0	.302	.000	.300	2.2	0.4	0.4	0.6	0.9
Kristen O'Neill	11	0	2.8	.000	.000	.000	0.3	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0
Florina Pascalau	3	0	3.0	.000	.000	.000	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Seattle Storm Regular Season Stats

Postseason

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Sue Bird	3	3	37.0	.460	.294	1.000	2.3	3.0	1.3	0.0	19.7
Tanisha Wright	3	3	34.3	.412	.500	.750	5.7	2.7	2.0	0.0	13.7
Camille Little	3	3	35.0	.333	.500	.833	3.3	0.3	1.0	0.0	11.7
Sheryl Swoopes	3	2	24.0	.320	.200	.889	3.3	1.0	2.0	0.0	8.7
Yolanda Griffith	3	3	29.0	.214	.000	.875	6.3	1.7	3.0	1.3	4.3
Swin Cash	3	0	14.7	.333	.000	.000	3.7	0.7	0.3	0.7	2.7
Ashley Robinson	3	1	15.3	.500	.000	.500	4.0	0.7	0.3	0.7	2.3
Katie Gearlds	3	0	7.0	.333	.250	.500	0.3	0.7	1.0	0.0	2.0
Kelly Santos	2	0	1.0	.500	.000	.000	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0
Shyra Ely	2	0	1.0	.000	.000	.000	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Kimberly Beck	2	0	2.5	.000	.000	.000	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Seattle Storm Playoff Stats

Roster

Seattle Storm roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From SG 8 Beck, Kimberly 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 125 lb (57 kg) George Washington PG 10 Bird, Sue 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 150 lb (68 kg) Connecticut SF 2 Cash, Swin 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 162 lb (73 kg) Connecticut SF 0 Ely, Shyra 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 182 lb (83 kg) Tennessee G/F 4 Gearlds, Katie 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 184 lb (83 kg) Purdue F/C 13 Griffith, Yolanda 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 188 lb (85 kg) Florida Atlantic F/C 15 Jackson, Lauren 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 187 lb (85 kg) Australia PF 20 Little, Camille 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) North Carolina G/F 32 O'Neill, Kristen 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 158 lb (72 kg) Washington C 43 Robinson, Ashley 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Tennessee PF 9 Santos, Kelly 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 188 lb (85 kg) Brazil G/F 22 Swoopes, Sheryl 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 145 lb (66 kg) Texas Tech PG 30 Wright, Tanisha 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Penn State	Head coach Brian Agler (Wittenberg) Assistant coaches Shelley Patterson (Washington State) Nancy Darsch (Springfield) Legend (C) Team captain (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended Injured

Awards and honors

• Lauren Jackson, WNBA Player of the Week (June 30 - July 6)
• Lauren Jackson, ESPY Award for Best WNBA Player
• Lauren Jackson, WNBA All-Defensive Second Team (Forward)
• Sue Bird, All-WNBA Second Team (Guard)
• Lauren Jackson, All-WNBA Second Team (Forward)

References

1. Sports Illustrated, October 6, 2008, Inside the WNBA, p.80
2. http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/article/122975
3. "WNBA.com: Atlanta Dream". Archived from the original on 2009-08-20. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
4. The Storm acquired the fourth pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft and Roneeka Hodges from the Atlanta Dream Seattle for Iziane Castro Marques and the eighth pick in the draft.
5. Traded the No. 4 pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft to the Detroit Shock for Swin Cash.
6. Acquired Camille Little from the Atlanta Dream for a second-round pick in the 2009 draft.