SPARKS CHOOSE NEBRASKA GUARD KUBICK PICKED AFTER L.A.'S AMBITIOUS TRADE ATTEMPT FAILS.Byline: Pamela Lewis Staff Writer After a last-ditch effort to trade for Cleveland's No. 1 pick fell through, the Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks are a Women's National Basketball Association team based in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1997, they are one of the 8 original WNBA teams and were one of the teams that participated in the league's inaugural game. waited patiently for the next-best option in the WNBA draft The WNBA Draft is an annual draft held by the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) through which WNBA teams can select new players from a talent pool of college and professional women's basketball players. The first WNBA draft was held in 1997. on Tuesday. They started small and got bigger. With the No. 15 pick, the Sparks selected Nebraska guard Nicole Kubick, who they hope will fill the gap left behind by Gordana Grubin, who was lost in the expansion draft. The Sparks then went for size, picking 6-foot-4 center Paige Sauer from the University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut is the State of Connecticut's land-grant university. It was founded in 1881 and serves more than 27,000 students on its six campuses, including more than 9,000 graduate students in multiple programs. UConn's main campus is in Storrs, Connecticut. and 6-4 center Marte Alexander, a 1998 graduate of Arizona who played in Italy the past two seasons. They wrapped up the day by selecting former USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. guard Nicky McCrimmon, who played briefly for the former Long Beach StingRays The Long Beach Stingrays was a women's professional basketball team. It existed for only the 1997-98 season, and was a member of the American Basketball League. The Stingrays played most of their home games at the Walter Pyramid on the campus of California State University, of the defunct American Basketball League American Basketball League is a name that has been used by three defunct basketball leagues in the United States:
Sparks coach Michael Cooper was satisfied with the selections. ``I think it's a happy day for the Sparks organization,'' Cooper said. ``As you know, we lost two great players . . . in Gordana Grubin and Nina Bjedov last year in the expansion draft, but I felt we kept the core of our team. But I think today we (rejuvenated re·ju·ve·nate tr.v. re·ju·ve·nat·ed, re·ju·ve·nat·ing, re·ju·ve·nates 1. To restore to youthful vigor or appearance; make young again. 2. ) ourselves.'' Sparks general manager Penny Toler, who retired as a Sparks player last year, said the team's needs were addressed. ``The huge difference from the past and this year is we had a high draft pick (before),'' Toler said. ``This year we're picking 15th. We're so excited about getting Kubick and Paige Sauer. We didn't want to duplicate what we have. We have slashers. It's the role players that are going to make a difference in the big game.'' Cooper's initial plan was to start drafting big to get some reserve help for centers Lisa Leslie and DeLisha Milton, and then work his way down. But when Cleveland held onto its pick and selected Ann Wauters, a 20-year-old 6-4 center from Belgium, as the first choice in the WNBA's fourth draft, Cooper had to change his plans. ``We offered Cleveland a trade and they turned us down,'' Cooper said. He declined to name the two players he offered to trade. Cooper feels Kubick is the answer to the team's vacancy at the point-guard position, which was created after Indiana selected Grubin as the top pick in the expansion draft. At 5-9, Kubick can make the switch between the point and shooting guard. She averaged 14.6 points and 6.3 rebounds for the Cornhuskers. ``I didn't really mind where I went, I just wanted to get drafted,'' said Kubick, who was born and raised in Cambridge, Neb. ``It's going to be a little bit of an adjustment for me coming from a small town in Nebraska.'' As expected, UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX 6-2 center Maylana Martin was chosen in the first round at the 10th spot by Minnesota, and 6-4 USC center Adrian Williams was the 21st pick by Phoenix, which is coached by former Trojan Cheryl Miller. CAPTION(S): box Box: WNBA WNBA Women's National Basketball Association WNBA World Ninepin Bowling Association WNBA Wannabe Nasty Boys Association WNBA Women's National Book Association, Inc. WNBA Warszawski Nurt Basketu Amatorskiego draft/First Round |
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