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2011 WNBA Finals
The 2011 WNBA Finals was the championship series of the 2011 season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Minnesota Lynx, champions of the Western Conference, swept the champions of the Eastern Conference, the Atlanta Dream in three games. The WNBA Finals was under a 2–2–1 rotation. The Lynx held home-court advantage as they had a better regular season record (27–7) than the Dream (20–14). The 2011 Finals marked the first time the teams met in the championship round. The Lynx made their first ever appearance in the Finals while the Dream were making their second consecutive appearance, after appearing in the 2010 championship series. Prior to 2011 the Minnesota franchise had not won a playoff series. They had not qualified for the postseason since 2004. Only four players had postseason experience: Rebekkah Brunson, Alexis Hornbuckle, Taj McWilliams-Franklin and Lindsay Whalen. To advance to the Finals, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minnesota Lynx
The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team won the WNBA title in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. Founded prior to the 1999 season, the team is owned by Glen Taylor, who is also the majority owner of the Lynx' NBA counterpart, the Minnesota Timberwolves. The franchise has been home to players such as Katie Smith, Seimone Augustus, native Minnesotan Lindsay Whalen, Maya Moore, Rebekkah Brunson, and Sylvia Fowles. The Lynx have qualified for the WNBA playoffs in twelve of their twenty-one years. They currently hold a WNBA record ten consecutive playoff appearances. Franchise history Joining the league (1998–2004) On April 22, 1998, the WNBA announced they would add two expansion teams (Minnesota and the Orlando Miracle) for the 1999 season. The team was officially named the Minnesota Lynx on December 5, 1998. The Lynx started their inaug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2011 WNBA Season
The 2011 WNBA season was the 15th season of the Women's National Basketball Association. The regular season began on June 3 with the Los Angeles Sparks hosting the Minnesota Lynx, featuring 2011 WNBA Draft top pick Maya Moore, in a game televised on NBA TV. Four games followed the next day, with the marquee matchup, televised on ABC, featuring the defending champion Seattle Storm and the Phoenix Mercury in Seattle. The Minnesota Lynx finished the regular season with the best record in the league at 27-7, and were the top seed in the Western Conference. The Indiana Fever were the top seed in the Eastern Conference. The Lynx ultimately advanced to face the Atlanta Dream in the 2011 WNBA Finals. 2010/2011 WNBA offseason *The new television deal with ESPN continued during the 2011 season (runs 2009–2016). For the first time ever, teams will be paid rights fees as part of this deal. *As of the 2009 season, the maximum roster size per team was reduced from 13 to 11. Any team tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2008 WNBA Finals
The 2008 WNBA Finals was the championship series of the 2008 WNBA season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Detroit Shock, top-seeded champions of the Eastern Conference, defeated the San Antonio Silver Stars, top-seeded champions of the Western Conference, three games to none in a best-of-five series. This was Detroit's third title in six years. 2008 marked the first time since switching to a five-game format that the Finals series was swept. The Shock made their fourth appearance in the Finals in six years. The Silver Stars appeared in the Finals for the first time in franchise history. Going into the series, the Shock had won two championships, tied with the Los Angeles Sparks for second most in WNBA history. The now defunct Houston Comets hold the record with four championships won. The Silver Stars' 24–10 record gave them home court advantage over Detroit (22–12). It did not matter, however, as the Shock swept the series, winning the first two games o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2006 WNBA Finals
The 2006 WNBA Finals was the championship series of the 2006 WNBA season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Detroit Shock, second-seeded champions of the Eastern Conference, defeated the Sacramento Monarchs, second-seeded champions of the Western Conference, three games to two in a best-of-five series. This was Detroit's second title. The Shock made their second appearance in the Finals in four years. The Monarchs appeared in the Finals for the second straight time after having won the title in 2005. Going into the series, the Shock had won one championship, as had the Monarchs. The Houston Comets hold the record with four championships won. The Shock's 23–11 record gave them home court advantage over Sacramento (21–13), but a Mariah Carey concert meant that the fifth and deciding game had to be moved to Joe Louis Arena in downtown Detroit. Road to the finals Regular season series The Shock and the Monarchs split the regular season series: Game summar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Detroit Shock
The Detroit Shock were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were the 2003, 2006, and 2008 WNBA champions. Debuting in 1998, the Shock were one of the league's first expansion franchises. They were also the first WNBA expansion franchise to win a WNBA Championship. The team was the sister team of the Detroit Pistons and from 2002 to the 2009 season was coached by Pistons legend Bill Laimbeer. On October 20, 2009, it was announced that the Shock would be moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma to play in the new downtown arena, the BOK Center. Former men's college coach Nolan Richardson was named the team's new head coach. The Shock roster and history was retained along with the Shock name, but the team colors were changed to black, red, and gold. The franchise is currently known as Dallas Wings. Franchise history The early years (1998–2002) The Detroit Shock were one of the first WNBA expansion teams and began play in 1998. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diana Taurasi
Diana Lorena Taurasi (born June 11, 1982) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted by Phoenix first overall in the 2004 WNBA draft. Taurasi has won the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award (2004), three WNBA championships (2007, 2009, and 2014), a historic five Olympic gold medals (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020), one WNBA Most Valuable Player Award (2009), two WNBA Finals MVP Awards (2009 and 2014), five scoring titles (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011), and three FIBA World Cups (2010, 2014, and 2018). She has also been selected to ten WNBA All-Star teams and fourteen All-WNBA teams (including ten first-team selections). In 2011, she was voted by fans as one of the WNBA's Top 15 Players of All Time, and was named by the league to its 20th and 25th anniversary teams, respectively the WNBA Top 20@20 in 2016 and The W25 in 2021. Also in 2021, she was selected by fans as the league's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lindsay Whalen
Lindsay Marie Whalen (born May 9, 1982) is the head coach of the University of Minnesota's women's basketball team. She began her professional career as a point guard for the Connecticut Sun of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Whalen has won World titles and two Olympic gold medals with the United States women's national basketball team, as well as four WNBA championships with the Minnesota Lynx. Whalen was announced as a finalist for the Women's Basketball Hall Of Fame in 2022. In 2018, she took over coaching duties at the University of Minnesota, while continuing to play for the Lynx in the WNBA. She retired from playing professional basketball at the end of the 2018 season as the WNBA's career leader in games won (323). High school career At Hutchinson High School in Hutchinson, Minnesota, Whalen was a four-time All- Missota Conference pick, and led her team to three consecutive conference basketball championships. She was also a four-time honorable menti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taj McWilliams-Franklin
Taj McWilliams-Franklin (born October 20, 1970) is a former American professional women's basketball player. A two-time WNBA champion with the Detroit Shock and Minnesota Lynx and six-time all-star, McWilliams-Franklin's professional career has spanned three decades, and began before the WNBA was founded. She retired from the WNBA after the 2012 season. College years After attending T. W. Josey High School in Augusta, Georgia, McWilliams-Franklin attended Georgia State University in 1989 and played on the school's basketball team for one season. However, she had become pregnant during her senior year in high school, and after the coach who recruited her to Georgia State was let go, the incoming staff told her "school was no place for kids." McWilliams-Franklin moved to Austin, Texas, where a friend connected her with St. Edward's University coach Dave McKey. She enrolled at St. Edwards as a Rhetoric major. While at St. Edward's, she set school records and individual achievement ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexis Hornbuckle
Alexis Kay'ree Hornbuckle (born October 16, 1985) is an American professional basketball player who played several seasons in the Women's National Basketball Association. She is the only player to win an NCAA title and WNBA title in the same year (2008 - with the University of Tennessee and the Detroit Shock). High school years Born in Charleston, West Virginia, Hornbuckle attended Capital High School and later graduated from South Charleston High School Alexis was a high school teammate of Renee Montgomery (who currently plays for the Atlanta Dream). In addition to playing basketball, she also competed in her high school's female soccer team. Hornbuckle was named a WBCA All-American. She participated in the 2004 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored eight points, and earned MVP honors. College years Hornbuckle played four years for the University of Tennessee's Women's basketball team, graduating in 2008 with Candace Parker, Shannon Bobbitt, and Nicky Anosike. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rebekkah Brunson
Rebekkah Brunson (born December 11, 1981) is an American basketball coach, currently an assistant coach with the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Brunson is a former forward for the Lynx and is the only player to win 5 WNBA championships. She held the WNBA record for rebounding, which she ceded to Lynx's center Sylvia Fowles in 2020. Brunson was born in Washington, D.C. and attended Oxon Hill High School in Maryland. Brunson graduated from Georgetown University in 2004 as its women's basketball program's all-time leading rebounder. She also played on the U.S. team in the 2003 Pan American Games. College statistics Source WNBA career The Sacramento Monarchs chose Brunson in the 1st round of the 2004 WNBA Draft as the tenth overall pick. She played in Sacramento for six seasons and contributed to the Monarchs' 2005 WNBA Championship victory. She led the league in offensive rebounds per game (3.9) and total offensive rebounds (130) for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Home Advantage
In team sports, the term home advantage – also called home ground, home field, home-field advantage, home court, home-court advantage, defender's advantage or home-ice advantage – describes the benefit that the home team is said to gain over the visiting team. This benefit has been attributed to psychological effects supporting fans have on the competitors or referees; to psychological or physiological advantages of playing near home in familiar situations; to the disadvantages away teams suffer from changing time zones or climates, or from the rigors of travel; and in some sports, to specific rules that favor the home team directly or indirectly. In baseball and cricket in particular, the difference may also be the result of the home team having been assembled to take advantage of the idiosyncrasies of the home ballpark/ ground, such as the distances to the outfield walls/ boundaries; most other sports are played in standardized venues. The term is also widely used ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastern Conference (WNBA)
The Eastern Conference of the Women's National Basketball Association is made up of six teams. From the league's second season in 1998 through 2015, the WNBA operated separate playoff brackets for its Eastern and Western Conferences. Each conference's playoff was divided into two playoff rounds, the Conference Semi-Finals and the Conference Finals, with the Conference Finals winners receiving Conference Championships and advancing to the WNBA Finals to determine the WNBA champion. In the final years of this playoff scheme, all in-conference playoff series were best-of-three. Since 2016, the league has abandoned separate conference playoffs in favor of a single league-wide playoff bracket. The top eight teams in the regular season, without regard to conference affiliation, advance to the playoffs, which are seeded based strictly on regular-season record (with tiebreakers as needed). The bottom four playoff teams play single-elimination games (5 vs. 8, 6 vs. 7) in the first round, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
