New York Liberty
The New York Liberty are a team of North American women's professional basketball league the WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association). Play their home games from the team at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.
The team name comes from the Statue of Liberty.
The New York Liberty were up to now four times in the WNBA finals, won a WNBA championship until now but never before.
- 5.1 squads of the 2012 season
- 5.2 first-round choice in the WNBA Draft Rights
- 5.3 Retraction jersey numbers
History
The New York Liberty are among the teams that have been around since the inception of the WNBA this. In the initial player Allocation Liberty were lucky that they were allocated Rebecca Lobo. Lobo was at this time as one of the best basketball players in college. In the first WNBA season 1997 Lobo led the Liberty to the WNBA Finals, where they faced the Houston Comets. However, the Liberty had against the strong playing Cynthia Cooper and Sheryl Swoopes no chance and lost the final clear with 51-65. In the 1998 season, the Liberty could not qualify for the playoffs despite 18 wins in 30 games. The 1999 season began for the Liberty with a big shock, because in the first few minutes of the first game of the season, Lobo injured so badly that they had to stop for two whole seasons. In the absence of Lobo Teresa Weatherspoon matured becoming the new superstar of Liberty. She managed the Liberty without Lobo again in the WNBA Finals to lead. Also in this year, they met again on the Comets. Even if this series went through three games, the Liberty was little chance for the Comets to beat. Also in the 2000 season, they managed again a place in the WNBA Finals, where they failed again to the Houston Comets insurmountable. In the 2001 season, Lobo returned to the team of Liberty. However, they no longer managed to connect to the services from the first two seasons, and spent the most time on the substitutes' bench of Liberty. After that season, she was transferred to a second-round pick (26th overall) in the WNBA Draft 2002 on the Houston Comets. In the 2002 season, the Liberty managed to mark the entry into the WNBA Finals, where they met Lisa Leslie and the Los Angeles Sparks this time. However, as already three times previously this year in the finals remained the Liberty unsuccessful. As in the 2003 season, it became increasingly clear that Weatherspoons best days are over, pulled her replacement player Becky Hammon more and more into the spotlight of Liberty. After Hammon even drew up a place in the starting lineup of Weatherspoon during the season, Weatherspoons contract was not renewed after the season and Hammon was also in the entire 2004 season in the starting lineup of Liberty. Hammon managed jointly with Tari Phillips Liberty to the Eastern Conference Finals to lead where Me Go Liberty defeated the Connecticut Sun in the two games. After the season Tari Phillips extended at the Liberty not and instead signed with the Houston comets. However, as noted at Weatherspoon previously managed Liberty also this position with Ann Wauters to fill equivalent. However Wauters was injured during the season and could not play for the Liberty, which clearly failed in the Conference Semifinals to the Indiana Fever in the playoffs. Before the start of the 2007 season, the Liberty Becky Hammon transferred to the San Antonio Silver Stars for Jessica Davenport and a first-round pick in the WNBA Draft 2007. Liberty failed to qualify this season as the last team in the East for the playoffs. The Liberty were considered big underdogs in the playoffs, where they threw the reigning champion from Detroit almost out of the competition. After the Liberty could win the first game of the series, they lost the second game 73-76 with just under and the all-important first game in overtime with 70-71.
Achievements and honors
Sporting successes
The franchise reached in their first seven seasons four times the WNBA Finals ( 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002 ), where the championship was never recovered. In subsequent seasons, the Liberty reached three times the Conference Finals - the last in 2010.
Season statistics
Note: GP = Games, W = Wins, L = Losses
Owner
The first owners of the New York Liberty was Cablevision, who were also the owners of the New York Knicks at this time. In early 2010 founded the Cablevision the subsidiary Madison Square Garden, Inc.. With this foundation Cablevision gave the entire property rights to their sports teams ( Libery, Knicks, New York Rangers and Hartford Wolfpack ) to the subsidiary. Thus, since 2010 head of the Madison Square Garden, Inc. the business of Liberty.
Coach
Abbreviations: GC = Matches, W = Wins, L = Losses
Players
Squad of the Season 2012
Stand on 28 May 2012
First-round choice in the WNBA Draft Rights
Since 1997, the club had 13 draft rights in the first round of the WNBA draft. Only in the years 2001, 2002 and 2010 had the Liberty not a single draft pick in the first round.
Although the Liberty are among the oldest teams in the WNBA, they had yet no right to a draft of the first three positions. The earliest selected players are far Shameka Christon (2004) and Tiffany Jackson ( 2005) were selected in each case at the fifth position of the WNBA draft. In the lottery for the WNBA Draft 2010 the Liberty is the first draft law would have been awarded, but these before you draft law had a year delivered to the Minnesota Lynx. So far, all players who chose the Liberty since 1997 in the first round came, yet in the same season in the jersey of the club to their first use in the WNBA. In addition, with Kelley Cain, Essence Carson, Leilani Mitchell, Alex Montgomery, Kia Vaughn were still five players who were selected to 2012 by the Liberty in a Draft, in the 2012 season in the squad of the franchise.
Retraction jersey numbers
As the only jersey number has been retired the number 11 in honor of the US-American Teresa Weatherspoon.