2004 New York Liberty season

2004 New York Liberty season
2004 New York Liberty season
Coach	Richie Adubato; Pat Coyle (interim)
Arena	Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall (6 games)
Attendance	9,886 per game
Results
Record	18–16 (.529)
Place	2nd (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Lost Conference Finals (2-0) to Connecticut Sun
	← 2003 season 2005 season →

The 2004 WNBA season was the eighth season for the New York Liberty.

Dispersal Draft

Based on the Liberty's 2003 record, they would pick 4th in the Cleveland Rockers dispersal draft. The Liberty picked Ann Wauters.

WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	5	Shameka Christon (G/F)	United States	Arkansas
2	17	Amisha Carter (C)	United States	Louisiana Tech
3	30	Cathy Joens (G)	United States	George Washington

Regular season

Heading into its eighth WNBA season, the club acquired veteran Ann Wauters in the dispersal draft and Shameka Christon in the college draft. The Liberty opened the season with a 6-1 record. Despite the strong start, Pat Coyle replaced Richie Adubato as head coach. Under Coyle’s guidance, the team registered an 11-6 mark and secured their sixth playoff appearance.

There were injuries to starters Ann Wauters and Tari Phillips. The Liberty played to a sellout crowd for six games at the historic Radio City Music Hall.^[1] At Radio City Music Hall, the Liberty posted a 5-1 record. The reason for the relocation was that Madison Square Garden was hosting the 2004 Republican National Convention. In addition, the Liberty hosted another unique game: The Game at Radio City, which featured the USA Women’s Olympic team vs. a WNBA Select Team.^[1]

Season standings

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
Connecticut Sun ^x	18	16	.529	–	10–7	8–9	14–6
New York Liberty ^x	18	16	.529	–	11–6	7–10	10–10
Detroit Shock ^x	17	17	.500	1.0	8–9	9–8	11–9
Washington Mystics ^x	17	17	.500	1.0	11–6	6–11	9–11
Charlotte Sting ^o	16	18	.471	2.0	10–7	6–11	8–12
Indiana Fever ^o	15	19	.441	3.0	10–7	5–12	8–12

Season Schedule

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Record
May 21	@ Indiana	67-69	Loss	0-1
May 23	Houston	68-62	Win	1-1
May 26	Detroit	64-52	Win	2-1
May 30	@ Minnesota	68-64	Win	3-1
June 1	@ Charlotte	63-53	Win	4-1
June 3	@ Houston	71-62	Win	5-1
June 5	@ San Antonio	62-57	Win	6-1
June 11	Indiana	68-72	Loss	6-2
June 13	@ Washington	60-62	Loss	6-3
June 15	Seattle	62-86	Loss	6-4
June 19	@ Indiana	65-70	Loss	6-5
June 22	Los Angeles	49-65	Loss	6-6
June 24	@ Phoenix	60-72	Loss	6-7
June 26	@ Seattle	67-62	Win	7-7
June 29	@ Los Angeles	65-69	Loss	7-8
July 1	@ Sacramento	47-73	Loss	7-9
July 6	Sacramento	73-66	Win	8-9
July 8	Washington	54-71	Loss	8-10
July 11	Phoenix	77-69	Win	9-10
July 15	Minnesota	66-69	Loss	9-11
July 18	Charlotte	75-58	Win	10-11
July 20	@ Charlotte	80-74	Win	11-11
July 24	Detroit*	78-69	Win	12-11
July 30	@ Detroit	79-88	Loss	12-12
July 31	Connecticut*	80-66	Win	13-12
September 2	Charlotte*	56-52	Win	14-12
September 3	@ Connecticut	43-61	Loss	14-13
September 9	@ Washington	59-71	Loss	14-14
September 10	Connecticut*	66-77	Loss	14-15
September 12	San Antonio*	64-62	Win	15-15
September 14	@ Detroit	71-82	Loss	15-16
September 16	Indiana*	77-71	Win	16-16
September 17	@ Connecticut	69-66	Win	17-16
September 19	Washington	79-75	Win	18-16

All six home games held between July 24 and September 16 were held at the Radio City Music Hall, due to the Garden being used for the Republican National Convention.

Player stats

Note: GP= Games played; REB= Rebounds; AST= Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points

Player	GP	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS
Becky Hammon	34	118	150	58	2	460
Elena Baranova	34	246	67	37	58	394
Crystal Robinson	28	83	58	24	8	339
Vickie Johnson	34	121	124	25	4	321
Shameka Christon	33	68	23	9	9	191
Bethany Donaphin	26	71	16	11	8	131
La'Keshia Frett	16	40	14	9	5	102
Tari Phillips	13	70	16	14	10	87
Ann Wauters	13	40	21	4	8	82
DeTrina White	31	118	9	8	10	82
Erin Thorn	17	8	8	4	1	34
K.B. Sharp	30	21	33	6	1	29

Playoffs

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Record
Eastern Conference Semifinals
1	September 24	@ Detroit	75-62	Win	1-0
2	September 26	Detroit	66-76	Loss	1-1
3	September 28	Detroit	66-64	Win	2-1
Eastern Conference Finals
1	October 1	Connecticut	51-61	Loss	2-2
2	October 3	@ Connecticut	57-60	Loss	2-3

References

^ ^a ^b "News Archive".

[wnba.com-1] "News Archive".

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