1997 WNBA Champions

Some old school video of the 1997 Houston Comets. Enjoy.

WNBA Logos; Comets Coming Back?

Yet Another Bad Idea ranks sports logos from seven sports leagues: NBA, MLB, NFL, WPS, NHL, and MLS. And of course, the WNBA.

He puts the skills of the WNBA logo creators right smack in the middle. According to the author, the NBA has the best logos and MLS has the worst.

His ranking of WNBA logos from best to worst:

1. Indiana Fever (#9)
2. Seattle Storm (#12)
3. New York Liberty (#42)
4. Detroit Shock (#56)
5. Phoenix Mercury (#59)
6. Connecticut Sun (#66)
7. Houston Comets (#69)
8. Los Angeles Sparks (#90)
9. Washington Mystics (#99)
10. Minnesota Lynx (#117)
11. San Antonio Silver Stars (#120)
12. Sacramento Monarchs (#140)
13. Chicago Sky (#150)
14. Atlanta Dream (#155)

The Atlanta Dream: last again. He puts the New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Pirates and Oklahoma City Thunder as the only teams with worse logos. I disagree with his placement of the Monarchs at #140 - it's one of the more creative logos - but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

You might be asking "Why did he put the Houston Comets on the list? Doesn't he know that the franchise folded?" The answer is yes, he does know, but he writes:

"I did something controversial with the WNBA. Technically, the Houston Comets are not a current team: the team folded after the 2008 season. However, as the 2009 season hasn't started yet, I included them (plus, there's a push to bring the Comets back. It would be devastating to the WNBA to lose the most successful franchise in its short history). The first number you see for the WNBA above includes the Comets; the number in parentheses does not."

This is the first I've heard of such a push. I suspect this is just idle speculation, but it would be fantastic if it were true.

WNBA Team Capsules: 1997 Houston Comets

1997 Houston Comets

W/L: 18-10, first in Eastern Conference
Pythagorean W/L: 22-6
Points Scored Per Game: 71.8
Points Allowed Per Game: 65.5

Starters:

PG: Kim Perrot
SG: Cynthia Cooper
SF: Janeth Arcain
PF: Tina Thompson
C: Wanda Guyton

Last of the 1997 Comets to leave: Tina Thompson remained with the Comets until it was disbanded after the 2008 season. She was the only Comets player to play in each of the 12 seasons of the Houston Comets.

Last survivor: Tina Thompson is still playing in the WNBA, to begin playing with the Los Angeles Sparks in the 2009 season.




The Comets were the very first WNBA champions, and not only that, the Comets defined the WNBA from 1997 to 2000, where they won four straight championships. Fran Harris, a player on the 1997 Comets team, went to to write a book called "Summer Madness" about that first WNBA season.

I suspect - strongly - that David Stern and the WNBA would like to promote the myth that the WNBA was the first women's professional league, that before the WNBA came along there was nothing but desert and tumbleweed as far as women's pro basketball was concerned. (For example, the WNBA has an opportunity to honor the All-American Red Heads at the All Star Game in 2009, but the WNBA comes off as if it doesn't care about the history of the game before they were there.) What many don't realize is that there was already a pro league in existence - the ABL - and players were being forced to choose one league or the other, with agents trying to convince players not to sign with the ABL and sign with the new WNBA instead.

Finding out about the old Comets is an interesting task. Most newspaper articles about the Comets are either

a) Wow, isn't it amazing that women are playing basketball in Houston? God bless the WNBA, or
b) The Comets have won the first WNBA championship.

There really isn't much in between. So we have no idea as to how the 1997 season progressed for the Comets, or what were its highs or lows.

As it turns out, it was the New York Liberty that got the jumpstart in the season, starting off with winning its first seven games and 10 of its first 12 games. Houston at least kept a winning record, with Charlotte and Cleveland sinking below .500 initially - they would catch up. It turned out that every single team in the East would have a .500 or better record, and three of those teams would go to the playoffs, which were reserved for the two conference winners and the two best remaining teams.

Part of the problem was that Sheryl Swoopes of the Comets had given birth that year and that Houston initially struggled without her. She didn't come back until August 7 and after her first three games in a Comets uniform she had nothing to show for it. She would finally score 21 points against the Utah Starzz on August 13 to bring the Comets record to 16-7 and finally bump them ahead of the Liberty.

The Comets still had some work to do. In 1997, the semifinals and finals would be one game apiece. They found themselves playing against the Charlotte Sting in the first semifinal, and Wanda Guyton was injured. However, Cooper had 31 points for the Comets as they rolled over the Sting 70-54 at home.

This set up a Comets-Liberty final, as New York defeated Western Conference champion Phoenix in the other semifinal game. New York, which had struggled at the end of the year, found themselves in Houston to take on their rivals. New York had won three of the four games that year against Houston, and had reason to feel confident. Unfortunately, the 1997 WNBA Title Game mirrored New York's season - start out strong, and stumble at the end.

By the second half, Liberty C Rebecca Lobo was being checked by a dentist after she received an elbow in the mouth from Tina Thompson. The Comets won 65-51 and celebrated the first of their four championships.

Interesting Fact: The first president of the WNBA, Val Ackerman, predicted (so she says) that she thought attendance for WNBA games would be about 4,000 per year. If so, that prediction has been well exceed in each of the years of the WNBA's existence.

Houston Comets and Hardball

Kris Gardner of the Houston Roundball Review asks why the comets disbanded when Gardner's sources stated that at least two groups were interested in buying the Comets and keeping them in Houston.

The answer, as always, is money. My understanding is that even though the WNBA was operating the Houston Comets, Koch still owned the Comets. The WNBA was basically spending its money to keep the Comets alive and acting as his real estate broker, shopping the Comets around.

I'm sure, however, that months ago someone came up with the obvious conclusion. "We can either act as a broker, and sell the Comets - and all of the money ends up in Hilton Koch's hands. We might get a deal from Koch to recuperate the operating costs from him when we ran the team, but that's all we can hope for."

"Or, we can just let the Comets fold. Koch gets to take the entire loss. Furthermore, all of those binding agreements Koch made with other businesses like Reliant Arena also go under as well - no team, no agreements. We let the ground sit fallow for a year or two."

"We then let someone in Houston start a new team. The cost of the new franchise - $10 million - goes right into the league's coffers. Someone smart comes in, and they can negotiate a new set of deals and we look like winners. They can even call the team the Houston Comets. It's likely that Koch owns the 'colors and indicia' of the Comets, but he's hurting financially. If he owns those rights, we'll buy them back for a pittance. And if he doesn't want to sell those rights, then screw him, we'll just call the team the Houston Dynamos or something."

"Everyone's happy. The league makes cash. The Houston fans have a team. The new owners are happy. The press reports about the WNBA's renaissance. The only one who isn't happy is Koch, and who cares if he isn't happy?"

Gardner is right . Not ALL of the options to keep the Houston Comets alive were explored. Because the patient was worth more dead than he was alive.

Josh Bagriansky Reports on the 2008 Dream Offseason

At Score Atlanta, we have a massive update on the Dream, straight from the Coach's Mouth - Marynell Meadors. Among the highlights:

* Her opinions on Courtney Paris, Angel McCoughtry, Kristi Toliver
* About her expectations regarding Sancho Lyttle
* Her thoughts about the folding of the Houston Comets
* The two Dream players Coach Meadors believes have taken their game to the NEXT LEVEL!

What are you sitting there waiting for? Click the link! CLICK THE LINK!!

Welcome, Sancho Lyttle

...to the Atlanta Dream! Lyttle is a 6-4, 193 pound forward out of the University of Houston. Her defensive prowess instantly makes the Dream a better team. I suspect that she'll become a starter in Atlanta.

My Draft Analysis:

1. Dream - Sancho Lyttle. The best player available in the dispersal draft ends up in Atlanta.
2. Mystics - Matee Ajavon. Washington, as usual, heads right to the roulette wheel and puts it all on #1, Matee Ajavon. Why do I suspect that they're going to come out of the casino with empty pockets again?
3. Sky - Mistie Williams. Why no Shannon Johnson? Is she thinking about retirement?
4. Lynx - Roneeka Hodges. Best on the board if Shannon Johnson not available.
5. Mercury - Sequoia Holmes. Better to choose Erica White or Tamecka Dixon first.
6. Indiana - Erica White. The Fever get a small guard.
7. Monarchs - Renae Camino. Hey, if she ever decides to play in America, the Monarchs have got her.

Everyone else passed.

Not chosen: Shannon Johnson, Tamecka Dixon. I suspect they were not chosen due to cost or other factors.

Once again, a big welcome to Sancho Lyttle. She's a real A+ player!

Next Monday, a New Dreamer

Most WNBA fans are still in shock over the loss of the Comets. I've thought about the matter a bit now that the numbness is beginning to wear off.

I believe most of us knew from the beginning of the 2008 season that the Comets were in financial trouble. There were rumors of Hilton Koch not being able to pay the bills, which were eventually confirmed. There was the WNBA taking over the team in mid season. In short, if you had to put money on a team folding after 2008, most WNBA followers would have bet the Comets. If, say, we got news yesterday that the Liberty or the Sparks had just folded, we'd be having a very different discussion about the league's financial health.

The Comets weren't in a great arena. The team hadn't been managed very well. It had the advantages of a great foundation - you can't argue with four straight championships - but like a person spending through their inheritance, the maintenance wasn't done, the team got old and fell on hard times.

Some people are blaming the WNBA's management. My conclusion is that I don't know enough to make a conclusion. I'll probably never know enough, and we'll probably never know the truth until that great WNBA book comes out about twenty years from now.

It looks like 14 teams is a "hard limit" for the WNBA right now, particularly with the economy. If I saw further contraction, I wouldn't be surprised. Before people out there start bemoaning the death of the WNBA (or gloating over it), I really don't think that's going to happen. We're over halfway through the first "generation" of the WNBA - I mark "generations" as 20 year periods - where to the 11 and 12 year olds growing up in America the truth is that there has always been a WNBA. In a few years, you'll have girls' high school players who have followed the WNBA since kindergarten. Ten years later, you'll have the first "second generation" WNBA fans.

Wow.

Some Comets fans are in the "denial" and "anger" stages of their loss. When you start talking about a Dispersal Draft of Comets players, they become very angry. I understand that. But for better or worse, the WNBA is a business and the former Comets players need to know what their futures are going to be so they can start planning.

The dispersal draft will take place Monday, December 8th. If this dispersal draft goes the way other dispersal drafts have gone, the Atlanta Dream will undoubtedly get first pick.

Some of the players on the Comets are "unrestricted free agents". They can't be drafted. That includes Latasha Byears, Mwadi Mabika, Hamchetou Maiga-Ba, Michelle Snow and Tina Thompson. For the most part, this isn't a loss as three of those players are positively ancient.

The following players are eligible:

Matee Ajavon
Renae Camino *
Tamecka Dixon
Roneeka Hodges **
Sequoia Holmes
Shannon Johnson
Sancho Lyttle
Erica White
Mistie Williams

(thanks to Richyyy for the list)

Camino is an Australian player to whom Houston holds rights. Roneeka Hodges is a restricted free agent, and she can be drafted.

So who do you take if you're the Dream?

My player grades:
Sancho Lyttle: A+
Shannon Johnson: A-
Mistie Williams: C+
Roneeka Hodges: C-
Erica White: D
Tameka Dixon: D
Sequoia Holmes: F
Matee Ajavon: F

The player grades are based on the Wins Score metric. The obvious choices are either Sancho Lyttle or Shannon Johnson.

Lyttle is a 25-year old three year pro. Furthermore, she's a 6-4 forward, and if there's any place where the Dream has a gaping weakness, it's the 2 and 3 positions. She hit 58 percent of field goals this year, but her 2006 and 2007 performances weren't that impressive. Her rebounding has gotten better year after year after year, and I think she'll only get better.

According to Basketball-Reference, Lyttle had the #1 Defensive Rating of any player in the WNBA in 2008. Even if you think that basketball statistics are less useful than say, baseball statistics that number should make you stand up and take notice. Lyttle would undoubtedly improve the Dream defensively.

Two concerns: a) when she started 25 games in 2007, her performance was worse than her 2008 performance when she started only nine. The lower usage for a player, the better the reflected performance. However, her minutes in 2008 weren't that far off from her 2007 minutes.

b) Her tendency to foul is pretty high. In 36 minutes, she averaged 4.7 personal fouls.



Now let's look at Shannon Johnson. She's 34 and will become 35 in the 2008 season. She's a short guard (5-7), and how many guards do we have already? She has played a lot of minutes - seventh in active career minutes, 14th in active career games. (And we're not even counting ABL minutes.) She's great at assists, but she tends to be great at turnovers too (2nd in career assists, 4th in career turnovers).

Her pluses are that at least with Shannon Johnson, you know what you're going to get. Furthermore, there are intangibles to consider.

"Leader" is a word often applied to Shannon Johnson, but not so often to Sancho Lyttle. One problem with the Dream last year, sad to say, was the clubhouse. I don't think there was a player that other players could look to and say "take the reins". Betty Lennox was too busy sorting out her own head to run a first year team. Johnson could step in and run the offense immediately.

So who do you take? Lyttle or Johnson? I think our needs are pressing enough at forward to take Lyttle over Johnson. All the experience in the world won't matter if we can't agressively rebound. And how do we know that Johnson wouldn't retire immediately if she were drafted by the Dream? Leuchenko, Anderson, Wauters - the Dream had enough problems with injuries, Milos and no-shows. If Shannon took a pass on the Dream, what would that say about Atlanta?

In short, take Sancho Lyttle. I think it would be a good fit. Guess we'll know next Monday.

Houston Comets Cease Operations

The very sad news is here.

I never remarked on it, but today is the first day that teams can actually talk to players to whom they hold the rights but have not signed. In effect, December 1st is the first day of the 2009 season.

The article states that on December 8, 2008, the dispersal draft will take place. Undoubtedly, Atlanta will have the first pick in that draft. But to paraphrase what someone once said, "I'd rather there be a Houston Comets team than for there to be a dispersal draft where the Dream got the first pick."

Major shock.

The Great Dream-Comets Merger

Note: The following is a work of fiction, and hopefully not a premonition.

In the later months of 2008, the WNBA realized that it had a problem with the Houston Comets - there were no takers. A planned relocation to Dallas had unfortunately fallen through, and it looked like the Comets would be forced to disappear as a franchise, its players scattered in a dispersal draft.

WNBA President Donna Orender had been told by NBA Commissioner David Stern that given the choice between only 13 teams and the Houston Comets existing in some manner, he wanted the Comets to exist. Many of the WNBA's hardcore fans - who posted at the Rebkell Message Board - were of the opinion that if the Houston Comets disappeared, it would be a disaster. The Comets had won the first four WNBA championships. Some posters marked that it would be "the end of the league".

With a declining economy, however, it looked to Orender that saving the Comets was impossible until a football playing friend suggested a radical solution. The Comets would not be dissolved. Rather, they would be merged with an existing franchise until the nation's recession/depression faded and some new owner arose. At that point, the merged team would be "demerged", and the Houston Comets part of the team would go off to Houston, or wherever. The Comets would still exist - maybe not in Houston, but somewhere.

He pointed to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who, to help the NFL survive during World War II, merged first with the Philadelphia Eagles (becoming the "Steagles").

Granted, Houston would only exist in the sense of a technicality - the team would be only theoretically alive - but it was better than nothing. Donna Orender proposed the solution in December after the deal with the new Dallas owner fell through (he was facing serious insider trading charges).

The first problem was which team would have to merge with Houston. Everyone turned to Atlanta, since a) Atlanta's fans were very supportive of the Dream despite its poor record, and b) Atlanta had the least clout, having only been in the WNBA for one year.

The matter went to a league vote, which voted in favor of the idea - 7 to 6. Furthermore, the league would only allow the merger to exist for one year. Teams were afraid that the new Atlanta-Houston team would be a juggernaut, combining the best of the Dream and the Comets.

Since Ron Terwilliger was paying the money, he had a large say in how the team would operate. The new team would be called the Atlanta Dream, much to the dismay of Houston fans. The Comets-Dream combination was called "Come-D" (pronounced "comedy") by the fans of the WNBA on Rebkell.

It would wear the powder blue, red, white combination associated with the Dream, and there would be no addition of either Houston insignia or colors. Houston fans were very unhappy and turned their anger towards the Dream organization.

The team would play 10 of its scheduled home games at Philips Arena in Atlanta, and seven games would be played at the Reliant Center in Houston. Houston, still sore over the absorption of their team, would only cheer Houston players and boos could be heard from the rooftops at Reliant whenever Betty Lennox or Ivory Latta were announced in the lineup. Fans of neither the Dream nor the Comets liked the new schedule. Furthermore, the teams that were the best draws in the Western Conference - San Antonio, Los Angeles, Seattle - would all have their home games in Atlanta and not Houston. Houston was particularly unhappy about not playing San Antonio at home and viewed the Dream organization as a bunch of poachers.

The team would have co-head coaches for the only time. It might have worked in theory but not in practice. Marynell Meadors and Karleen Thompson did not see eye to eye and clashed. Meadors would have control over the offense with Thompson given the defensive duties.

Players from Houston felt no loyalty to Meadors, and the Atlanta clique saw no need to obey Thompson. There were also clashes between players. Tina Thompson and Betty Lennox did not get along. Michelle Snow and Kasha Terry got into a fight during practice that brought players from the merged teams to blows. It ended with Terry being traded to the Sky for virtually nothing. The Houston press fueled fan anger and the Atlanta press viewed the proceedings as proof that the WNBA was a joke league.

Oddly enough, attendance went up in both Atlanta and Houston. Scarcity drove up the need to attend games - there were only so many home games in either Atlanta or Houston. The "Atlanta Comedy" finished at 18-16, good enough to send the Dream to the playoffs for the first time...where they were swept by the Connecticut Sun.

Houston would find a new buyer, and the next year the Comets would move back to Houston, taking their coaching staff and their players with them. Of course, in 2010 the Chicago Sky was in trouble. Once again, the league turned to the Dream....

The Cryptic Comets

The Houston Roundball Review reports on an update regarding the status of the Houston Comets. He received a message from a Houston Comets fans who received a message from a Houston Comets account executive.

You should go to the link above to read the entire thing. The relevant quotes:

As a team we needed to have 85% of our current season ticket holders return by November 15, 2008. I personally have the greatest number of season ticket holders and only 45% of them have turned as of today (November 3, 2008).

Next, as a team we needed 1200 new season ticket holders to commit to the 2009 season, with each season ticket holder representative commit to 200 new season ticket holders. Currently I have the most new season tickets, but I only have 30 of my 200.

The letter is not so much about what it says then what doesn't say. This is what I'm gleaning from the letter.

1) There is a potential new owner for the Comets.
2) My guess it that he'd rather move the team somewhere else - although he's perfectly willing to make money in Houston.

I wonder if this is a case of setting an impossible goal that can't be reached. But it looks like there is an owner for Houston, the only question is...will the Comets stay?

Toyota to Reliant

I found a blog post from a Houston Comets fan that details her decision not to follow the Comets from the Toyota Center to the Reliant Arena.

It might have been the change of venue that doomed the Comets. Interesting theory.

P. S. As a thought exercise, would you attend Dream games - or the games of your local WNBA team - if they were played elsewhere? Would certain venues be off-limits?

Houston Comets Update

This is from Randy's Rants, written by a radio journalist in Houston.

We have some more info on the Houston Comets.

1. Hilton Koch will officially step down as Comets owner this morning in Houston during a press conference.
2. Jim McIngvale has declined interest in purchasing the franchise. McIngvale, known locally as "Mattress Mack", is in the furniture business and is a competitor of Hilton Koch. He had expressed interest in acquiring the Comets in years past.
3. If no new owner is found by November 2008 or January 2009, the Comets will either a) relocate, or b) fold, according to WNBA sources.

More news as it develops.

P. S. This is the 200th post of the Pleasant Dreams blog. Here's hoping that we can make it to 400!

Not Vultures, but the Noble Order of "Coragyps atratus"

More info regarding the Houston Comets. Links provided by Rebkell posters.

Link one is from Fox 26 in Houston, so there's no guarantee how long it will stay up on the website. I'll quote:

HOUSTON -- WNBA President Donna Orender was in Houston last month meeting with Harris County Judge Ed Emmett and Houston Mayor Bill White to solicit their help in finding a new owner or ownership group for the Houston Comets.

"We are told they are seeking a change of ownership and they would like us to help them find a person, or a group of persons, to take over ownership of the team," said Emmett in an interview with FOX 26 Sports.

Mayor White concurs.

"We will be looking for some new local ownership of that team and that's what she wanted to talk about." White said.

Mayor Bill White of Houston has confirmed that the WNBA is now operating the Houston franchise.

Link two is from the Houston Roundball Review. From the article, the writer says sources have told Kris Gardner that there are two groups in Dallas that want to purchase the Comets and move them to Dallas.

Link three is from the Houston Chronicle. It is the only link with comments, some poignant, some smart, some douchebag.

Here are what the options are for Houston.

1. The WNBA remains in control of Houston. This is not a good idea. As a part-time baseball fan, I remember when Major League Baseball took control of the Montreal Expos for a while. As the General Manager of a WNBA-operated team, you're very restricted. The WNBA will want to keep expenses down and will forbid you from acquiring any costly player whose salary the WNBA'll have to pay. Furthemore, every other GM will call the WNBA and ask, "why should player X be trapped in Houston when I can trade player Y who is "just as good" and I can aquire player X for my own team?"

Houston would become a dumping ground for the WNBA. I'm sure Bill Laimbeer has Donna Orender on speed dial with his hand poised above the button. Meanwhile, the team would move sooner or later and Houston fans would be treated to some awful B-ball from a lame duck franchise.

2. The team finds another owner in Houston. The best option. However, if this owner doesn't have deep pockets - one Rebkell poster wrote "(T)eams can not operate with millionaires as owners. You need multi-millionaires...." - we could have the same problem two or three years down the line.

3. The team finds another owner elsewhere. The team moves. We have the Dallas Comets. Or the Baltimore Comets. Or the San Francisco Comets. Or the Tulsa Comets. Hey, Utah relocated to San Antonio and that seemed to have worked out quite well. Orlando's relocation worked well, too.

4. The team folds and is disbanded. There is another dispersal draft. However, given the weaknesses of the teams in the Eastern Conference, my suggestion would be that either a) the Comets be merged with the Dream, or b) the dispersal be limited to the non-playoff teams.

It's too early in the game to say how things will turn out. Houston was sort of the #1 candidate for the kind of team that would face financial trouble. I knew that Hilton Koch was in trouble in Houston. I remember reporting about some member of the staff who had not been paid. The team blogger sort of disappeared. They were not just running Houston on a shoestring, they were running it on an aglet (you can look it up).

However, given that this blog loves to play with statistics and given that we also like to speculate, let's assume option #4 is in effect. Houston has a dispersal draft. Who should the Atlanta Dream take, given that they have first pick?

Here is the Houston Comets in order of descending Wins Score:

1. Sancho Lyttle - 184.5
2. Michelle Snow - 183.5
3. Tina Thompson - 105
4. Shannon Johnson - 79.5
5. Hamechetou Maiga-Ba - 56.5
6. Roneeka Hodges - 35
7. Mistie Williams - 26.5
8. Erica White - 17.5
9. Tamecka Dixon - 14
10. Latasha Byears - 4
11. Sequoia Holmes - 3.5
12. Mwadi Mabika - 0.5
13. Marcedes Walker - minus 2.5
14. Ashley Shields - minus 8
15. Matee Ajavon - minus 8.5

So it seems that the players to grab are either Sancho Lyttle or Michelle Snow. Myself, I'd take Snow. Snow produces more points and furthermore, she's a Tennessee alum. Although that means more orange jerseys at Philips Arena. Ugh.

Houston Comets Now Without an Owner?

From Rebkell at this link.

Dear Comets fans and supporters,

As you may have heard, the WNBA, Mayor Bill White and I are working diligently to find a new owner or ownership group for the Houston Comets. I wanted to take this moment to express my sincere gratitude at having had the opportunity to be an integral part of this storied franchise and thank you for the continued support that has made the Comets such an integral part of the wonderful Houston community.

As a longtime Comets fan and season-ticket holder, I understand and appreciate the significance of this team to the city of Houston and the WNBA. Since the league’s 1997 tip-off, the Comets have been core to the exponential growth of women’s basketball. By winning the WNBA’s first four titles, the team established itself as one of professional sports’ great modern dynasties and became a point of civic pride for Houston.

The fact that the energy, passion and commitment of Houston’s tremendous fan base no doubt ignited much of this success is something I was keenly aware of prior to purchasing the club. My tenure as owner has only served to enhance my longstanding admiration for the extraordinary atmosphere that takes over the stands at Comets games.

As we work to find an owner that will uphold the Comets’ tradition and guide this organization to great heights once again, please be assured that absolutely nothing about the experience of attending Comets games will change. The team is in the midst of a winning season and will be back home after the Olympic break to deliver more thrilling basketball action. Your support to date has led to an 11-2 home record, the second best such mark in the WNBA. The players will be counting on your energy and passion to help them secure a playoff berth.

Thank you for all the support that you have given the Comets before and during my tenure. My experience owning this team has been a great thrill, and I will continue to sit alongside you in the stands and cheer on our team.

Sincerely,

Hilton Koch

More on this as it develops.

2008/17 - Comets 72, Dream 65

Climbing the mountain to our first win.

This might be a very brief writeup. After all, I play on attending the Sky-Dream game tonight. If I stop typing, or if this seems strangely incomplete, well I just ran out of time...just like the Dream did in the game against Houston.

1) With Chioma Nnamaka and Kasha Terry, we now have two Georgia Tech players on our roster. Go Ramblin' Wreck.

2) There were a few Houston fans in the audience. Two guys were whooping it up whenever Houston did something noteworthy on the floor. They were carrying the Lone Star flag and waving it about. I saw one guy with a Sheryl Swoopes jersey. I didn't have the heart to tell him that Swoopes wasn't on the team....

3) An horrible first quarter. I think we went 1 for 17 from the floor, and it wasn't until 2:20 to go into the quarter until Kristin Haynie scored a free throw that finally put the third point on the scoreboard for Atlanta.
3a) I believe the real reason Kristen Mann was traded is because Coach Meadors kept confusing her with Kristin Haynie.

4) An odd sight -- Kasha Terry trying to "back it in" from the front of the basket.

5) What the hell happened to Betty Lennox and Ivory Latta? They had three turnovers each and no points at the end of the first quarter. Coach Meadors suspected that something was stinking up the joint and put their asses back down on the bench.

6) Ann Strother appears in a game! Amazing! I didn't know she was still alive! I thought her face was on a milk carton somewhere!

7) Coach Meadors threw the reserves out on the floor. "You've probably been @#$#ing all year about not getting a chance to play. Well do something!" And they did! They started to haul our asses out of the pit! Betty Lennox's only significant contribution to the second quarter was finding out on the Jumbotron that her favorite food was crab legs.

8) The Dream bring it to 22-16. Houston calls a full timeout. The fans collectively smile.

9) At one point, Katie "Fencepost" Feenstra was leading with 6 points. The guy who writes for SPMSportspage.com said that Feenstra and Meadors had been working together over the season, and it looks like it finally paid off.

10) During halftime, we learned that someone had climbed Mt. Kilomanjaro and unfurled a banner of the Atlanta Dream. My guess is that he must have displeased the mountain gods. Find this man's name and burn him.

11) Then they put the starters back in. The score was 35-25 going into the third quarter. By the time that Coach Meadors swapped out the starters and put the reserves back in, it was 44-28 Houston.

12) Haynie. Izi. Kit. Lacy. Strother. This is a lineup that exists only in people's nightmares, but it was a nightmare for Houston. We brought it back to 51-45 by the end of the third quarter.
12a) Feenstra actually got a rebound, and declined to let one of the Houston players rip it out of her hands. Simply amazing.

13) During the beginning of the fourth quarter, there were all sorts of bogus calls. There was some bizarro backcourt violation call at the end of the third. Coach Meadors and one of the referees exchanged words at the beginning of the fourth and she got a technical foul.

All year, there have been complaints about the refereeing in the WNBA. I've figured it out. These are young referees wanting to earn a shot in the "bigs", so when a game gets very close, they begin to call every conceivable foul just to show the powers that be that they are on top of things. This screws everything up.

14) Michelle Snow earned a technical foul for throwing a basketball at Kasha Terry's face. It was funny to see the Dream all grab Kasha and drag her in the other direction. "Hold me back, now!"

15) Meadors, probably having no other choice, unleashed Lennox and Latta for a third time. This time, they did the job. Lennox hit a three. Then Latta answered with a three. Then Terry scored a basket. Within an eyeblink, the score went from 62-49 Comets to 62-57 Comets.

16) With only nine players, any fouls were going to hurt Houston more than they'd hurt Atlanta. Michelle Snow got her sixth foul and fouled out. That was when I got to hear this sweet music for the first time....

Na na na na
Na na na na
Hey hey hey
Goodbye!

17) We managed to close the score to 66-62, then 68-65. Houston called a full time out. Unfortunately, there were 18.7 seconds left and the only way we'd get the ball was to foul. Houston made their shots, end of story.

18) The crowd of 7400 enjoyed the hell out of that game. People were dancing, shouting, getting down. It was like a church social. Once again: Dream fans are the best fans in the WNBA.

God help the league if we start winning games. We'll be insufferable.

Thompson, Dixon, Mabika All Out for Tonight's Game

Some good news heading into tonight. The following players should be out for the Dream/Comets game tonight.

Tina Thompson -- fractured finger. She is currently on the inactive list according to the Houston Roundball Review.
Tamecka Dixon -- sore Achilles tendon. Will be in uniform, but will not play.
Mwadi Mabeka -- has a right knee cartilage tear. Underwent arthroscopic surgery. Out for 4-6 weeks.

The last time we played Houston, we lost at Houston 88-79. Thompson and Mabika were both active in that game. They won't be active in this one. Furthermore, as the Houston Roundball review points out, Latta and "Noox" combined for 50 points in that game.

It Happened Elsewhere!

Liberty 89, Sparks 78. Scoring 38 points in the fourth quarter will definitely break up a tight game, with the Liberty (8-7) erasing an 11-point gap to win the game. The Sparks (10-5) would miss 10 of 15 fourth quarter shots wile Shameka Christon of the Liberty scored a career high 28 points. Candace Parker had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Sparks.

Sun 78, Comets 68. Despite being behind by 14 in the first quarter and drawing three technicals in the second half, the Sun (13-5) hung on for a win. The Comets (7-9) managed to cut the Sun lead to one with 5:37 remaining, but Jamie Carey of the Sun would hit a three pointer and the Sun would never look back. Asjha Jones led the Sun with 15 points. Lindsay Whalen had nine assist to set the Sun career assists record.

Sky 73, Lynx 71. In a game where both teams shot under 70 percent from the Line, the Sky (5-9) managed to edge the hometown Lynx (8-8). Candice Dupree led the Sky with 26 points and 10 rebounds. The Sky managed to overcome 16 turnovers in their win.

Silver Stars 79, Shock 72 (OT). Becky Hammon of the Silver Stars (10-6) scored 10 of San Antonio's 14 overtime points to beat the Shock almost (12-6) by herself. Eight of Hammon's 19 points came on overtime free throws. Deanna Nolan missed a shot with one second left in regulation that might have won it for the Shock.

Monarchs 87, Mystics 81. The Monarchs (8-8) beat the Mystics (6-10) for the eighth straight time they've faced each other. Despite Alana Beard's 31 points for Washington, Ticha Penicheiro of the Monarchs made the difference, putting the Monarchs ahead for good with a basket at 1:30 left in the fourth quarter, then adding the next bucket and two more free throws.

It Happened Elsewhere!

Sky 76, Shock 59. It's rare that the Shock (11-5) get rebounded, but Detroit lost the battle of the boards to the Sky 36-28. The Shock's starting five had a grand total of 21 points. Four Sky (4-9) scored in double figures, with Candace Dupree leading with 18 points to help the Sky break a five-game losing streak.

Silver Stars 73, Lynx 65. The Silver Stars (9-6) starters played almost the entire game, but you don't need much bench help when you're shooting 46.2 percent. Sophia Young led the Silver Stars with 20 points. Seimone Augustus of the Lynx (8-7) was out with a sore toe, and the Lynx were never in the game. Some fans suspect that Ann Wauters of the Silver Stars attempted to become the third WNBA player to dunk late in the game.

Comets 75, Fever 61. The Comets (7-8) continue their sudden winning ways, with Matee Ajavon scoring a career high 24 points and tying a Comets rookie record. Tina Thompson is still out with the broken finger, but three other Comets scored in double figures. The Fever (7-8) closed to within four at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but the home town Comets went on a 19-3 run that gave Houston their fourth straight win. The Fever committed 26 turnovers and 29 personal fouls.

Monarchs 82, Liberty 78. If the Liberty (7-7) hadn't gone 11-24 from the free throw line, they might have won. The Liberty managed to close to within three points with 2:14 to go, but Kara Lawson would score the next six points for the Monarchs (7-8).

It Happened Elsewhere!

Liberty 102, Fever 96 (3 OT). Shamkea Criston of the Liberty (7-6) had six of her 23 points in the third overtime during a three-hour nationally televisioned game at Madison Square Garden. (The longest game? a four-overtime Mystics-Storm game in 2001.) Janel McCarville had a career high 31 points as the Liberty came down from a 13 point deficit in the second quarter. Ebony Hoffman of the Fever (7-7) also scored a career-high 26 points.

Shock 70, Sun 61. The hometown Shock (11-4) restored the balance to the Eastern Conference, beating the Sun (11-4) at home after the Shock lost to the Sun in Connecticut two nights earlier. Five players for Detroit would score double figures, with Deanna Nolan the high scorer at 13 points. The Shock outscored the Sun in the paint 40-19 and shot 43.9 percent from the field. However, Plenette Pierson suffered a knee-strain in the third quarter and did not return.

Lynx 80, Monarchs 76. The Monarchs (6-8) have now lost four of their last five games. Kara Lawson of the Monarchs managed to close the gap to two points despite dislocating her shoulder in the third quarter. Seimone Augustus (23 points) and Candace Wiggins (17 points) scored half of the Lynx's (8-6) total points, with Augustus scoring eight of Minnesota's last nine.

Comets 77, Silver Stars 71. With Tina Thompson out with a fractured left ring finger, Sancho Lyttle scored a career high 23 points to lead the home team Comets (6-8) to victory. It is the Comet's fifth win in the last six games. Ann Wauters of the Silver Stars (8-6) was responsible for seven of the Silver Stars's 16 turnovers.

Mercury 89, Sky 79. The Sky (3-9) dropped its fifth game in a row this season, this time to the visiting Mercury (6-7). The Sky had 17 turnovers which led to 20 Mercury points. This time, Taurasi and Pondexter spread the love around and five Mercury players finished in double figures. Chastity Melvin of the Sky scored a double-double with 19 points and 15 rebounds, but the Sky only shot 35 percent from the field.

Mystics 77, Sparks 74 (OT). The sole basket scored in overtime was Monique Currie's three point shot as the Mystics (6-8) won their fourth game over the last five tries. Currie would finish with 24 points for the Mystics. Lisa Leslie of the Sparks (10-4) scored her 3,000th rebound in overtime, the only player in WNBA history to have 3,000 rebounds. Unfortunately, the Sparks went 0-for-8 for shooting in overtime.

It Happened Elsewhere! (or, Dunkalicious, Part II)

Sun 85, Shock 68. The Sun (11-3) -- losers of their last five games against the the Shock (10-4) -- finally break a streak extending into 2006. The win puts the Sun in first place in the Eastern Conference. Amber Holt scored a career high 19 points for the SUn. Cheryl Ford of the Shock had 13 points and 11 rebounds for yet another double-double. The Sun took away Detroit's rebounding strength, beating them on the boards 42-32.

Mercury 98, Mystics 90. Once again, it's the combination of Diana Taurasi (31 points) and Cappie Pondexter (28 points) as the Mercury (5-7) beat the Mystics (5-8) in Washington, obviously enjoying the mojo of the Rose Garden ceremony from the day before honoring them as 2007 WNBA champs. Washington's Taj McWilliams-Franklin scored 31 points, a career high, in the loss.

Fever 78, Monarchs 73. The Fever (7-6) came back from an 18 point deficit to beat the visiting Monarchs (6-7). Katie Douglas of the Fever scored 20 points after starting 0 for 6, and 10 of Douglas's points were in the fourth quarter. Ebony Hoffman had 23 points for Indiana.

Lynx 91, Liberty 69. A five game losing streak comes to the end as the Lynx (7-6) beat the Liberty (6-6) back home in Minneapolis. Seimone Augustus came one short of a double-double, scoring 21 points and nine rebounds. The Lynx were motivated by a comment from Janel McCarville of the Liberty (four points, seven rebounds) who implied that Minnesota should have taken her in the 2007 dispersal draft.

Comets 82, Silver Stars 81 (OT). Tina Thompson of the Comets (5-8) hits a 13 foot jumper with 1.2 seconds left in overtime to get the victory on the road against the Silver Stars (8-5). Thompson scored 16 points for Houston (despite a fracture suffered to a finger on her non-shooting hand) and Michelle Snow scored 17 points with 11 rebounds for the Comets.

Sparks 76, Storm 72. You thought there were two dunks in regular season history in the WNBA? Make it three. Candace Parker dunked for her second consecutive game as the Sparks (10-3) beat the Storm (8-7) for theirr sixth win in their last seven games. The Sparks scored 17 offensive rebounds against the visitors, with Parker collecting 22 points and 11 rebounds.