1997 Houston Comets season
WNBA team season
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The 1997 WNBA season was the first season for the Houston Comets. The Comets won the inaugural WNBA Finals.
| 1997 Houston Comets season | |
|---|---|
WNBA champions | |
| Head coach | Van Chancellor |
| Arena | The Summit |
| Results | |
| Record | 18–10 (.643) |
| Place | 1st (Eastern) |
| Playoff finish | Won WNBA Finals |
Transactions
WNBA allocation draft
| Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
|---|---|---|
| Cynthia Cooper |  United States |
USC |
| Sheryl Swoopes | United States |
Texas Tech |
WNBA elite draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Wanda Guyton | United States |
South Florida |
| 2 | 13 | Janeth Arcain |  Brazil |
Brazil |
WNBA draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Tina Thompson | United States |
USC |
| 2 | 16 | Tammy Jackson | United States |
Florida |
| 3 | 17 | Racquel Spurlock | United States |
Louisiana Tech |
| 4 | 32 | Catarina Pollini |  Italy |
Texas |
Transactions
| Date | Transaction | |
|---|---|---|
| January 22, 1997 | Drafted Cynthia Cooper and Sheryl Swoopes in the 1997 WNBA Allocation Draft[1] | |
| February 27, 1997 | Drafted Wanda Guyton and Janeth Arcain in the 1997 WNBA Elite Draft[1] | |
| April 28, 1997 | Drafted Tina Thompson, Tammy Jackson, Racquel Spurlock and Catarina Pollini in the 1997 WNBA draft[1] | |
| Hired Van Chancellor as Head Coach[1] | ||
Roster
| 1997 Houston Comets roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Schedule
Regular season
Playoffs
| 1997 playoff game log | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Semifinal vs. Charlotte Sting
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Championship vs. New York Liberty
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| 1997 playoff schedule | ||||||||||||||||||
Season standings
| Eastern Conference | W | L | PCT | Conf. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston Comets x | 18 | 10 | .643 | 6–6 | – |
| New York Liberty x | 17 | 11 | .607 | 8–4 | 1.0 |
| Charlotte Sting x | 15 | 13 | .536 | 5–7 | 3.0 |
| Cleveland Rockers o | 15 | 13 | .536 | 5–7 | 3.0 |
Statistics
| Legend | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
| APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage | TO | Turnovers per game |
| PF | Fouls per game | Team leader | League leader | ||||
Regular season
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cynthia Cooper | 28 | 28 | 35.1 | .470 | .414 | .864 | 4.0 | 4.7 | 2.1 | 0.2 | 22.2 |
| Tina Thompson | 28 | 28 | 31.6 | .418 | .370 | .838 | 6.6 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 13.2 |
| Janeth Arcain | 28 | 27 | 28.0 | .440 | .273 | .894 | 3.9 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 2.4 | 10.9 |
| Wanda Guyton | 25 | 25 | 26.7 | .467 | N/A | .559 | 5.4 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 6.1 |
| Kim Perrot | 28 | 24 | 24.7 | .364 | .283 | .405 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 5.8 |
| Tammy Jackson | 28 | 3 | 19.5 | .409 | .000 | .610 | 4.1 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 4.1 |
| Tiffany Woosley | 26 | 4 | 15.3 | .330 | .320 | .250 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 2.9 |
| Fran Harris | 25 | 1 | 14.8 | .346 | .333 | .710 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 4.2 |
| Sheryl Swoopes | 9 | 0 | 14.3 | .472 | .250 | .714 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 7.1 |
| Yolanda Moore | 13 | 0 | 7.2 | .250 | N/A | .500 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 1.2 |
| Catarina Pollini | 13 | 0 | 7.2 | .364 | N/A | .500 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.7 |
| Pietra Gay | 5 | 0 | 2.4 | .500 | N/A | .400 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0.8 |
‡Waived/Released during the season
†Traded during the season
≠Acquired during the season
- Janeth Arcain ranked second in the WNBA in Free Throw Pct with .894
- Cynthia Cooper ranked fifth in the WNBA in assists with 131.
- Cynthia Cooper ranked sixth in the WNBA in Field Goal Percentage (.470)
- Cynthia Cooper ranked third in the WNBA in Free Throw Pct with .864
- Cynthia Cooper ranked first in the WNBA in field goals with 191.
- Cynthia Cooper ranked first in the WNBA in points with 621.
- Cynthia Cooper ranked fifth in the WNBA in minutes per game with 35.1
- Cynthia Cooper ranked fifth in the WNBA in steals with 59.
- Kim Perrot ranked ninth in the WNBA in assists with 88.
- Kim Perrot ranked third in the WNBA in steals with 69.
- Tina Thompson ranked ninth in the WNBA in points with 370 points.-
- Tina Thompson ranked seventh in the WNBA in total rebounds with 184
- Tina Thompson ranked ninth in the WNBA in points per game with 13.2
- Tina Thompson ranked seventh in the WNBA in Free Throw Pct with .838
- Tina Thompson tied for fifth in the WNBA in blocks with 28.
Awards and honors
- Cynthia Cooper, WNBA Most Valuable Player Award
- Cynthia Cooper, WNBA Finals MVP Award
- Cynthia Cooper, Guard, All-WNBA First Team
- Cynthia Cooper: Led WNBA, Field Goals 191[2]
- Cynthia Cooper: Led WNBA, 3-Pt Field Goals, 67[2]
- Cynthia Cooper: Led WNBA, Free Throws, 172[2]
- Cynthia Cooper: Led WNBA, Free Throw Attempts, 199[2]
- Cynthia Cooper: Led WNBA, Points, 621 [2]
- Cynthia Cooper: Led WNBA, Points per game, 22.2 [2]
- Cynthia Cooper: Ranked third in the WNBA in minutes played, 982
- Wanda Guyton: Second in WNBA (tied), Offensive Rebounds, 76 [2]
- Tina Thompson, Forward, All-WNBA First Team
- Van Chancellor, Coach of the Year [3]