WNBA: SPARKS OPEN WITH NEW LOOK INTRIGUING MIX HAS L.A. HOPEFUL.Byline: EARL WILLIAMS Earl Williams could refer to:
The impact of the Sparks' revitalization project over the offseason will not be known until about midway through the 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 season. Sparks general managers Penny Toler Penny Toler (born March 24, 1966) was a Women's National Basketball Association basketball player. She is currently the general manager of the Los Angeles Sparks. College years Toler attended Long Beach State and was a All-American basketball player. and team president Johnny Buss have added a good mixture of youth and veterans to go along with All-Stars Lisa Leslie She studied biology and chemistry at the Massamba School in Kinshasa. . The Sparks also brought back Kobe Bryant's father, Joe Bryant Joseph Washington "Jellybean" Bryant (born October 19 1954, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American former professional basketball player and the father of Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant. Until April 4, 2007, Bryant was also the coach of the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks. as coach after he took over for Henry Bibby right before the 2005 playoffs. The team's first test comes against the host Seattle Storm in its season opener today. Holdsclaw, however, might miss the game after leaving the team for personal reasons. Sparks public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most coordinator Ashley King said Friday that Holdsclaw left the Sparks last weekend with permission, and was currently at home with her family on the East Coast. ``All I can say is we expect her to join the team sometime during the next week,'' King said. What Bryant also won't have is the leadership of key veterans Temecka Dixon and Tamicka Whitmore, unrestricted free agents who departed for the Houston Comets and the Indiana Fever, respectively. Nor will he have the services of Nikki Teasley. Toler traded Teasley to the Washington Mystics for second-year point guard Temeka Johnson, veteran forward Murriel Page and the No. 5 overall pick in the WNBA draft. Despite this moves, Leslie and Bryant are excited about the new arrivals and about players entering the season injury-free. Johnson carved up the league with her blinding speed and timely passes, caused mayhem with her strong on-the-ball defense and earned 2005 WNBA Rookie of the Year Rookie of the Year may refer to:
``I think we are going to play more intense defense, picking up 94 feet with Temecka Johnson. She is so quick with her ability to push the ball and with her ability to defend,'' Leslie said. ``Hopefully, it will ignite us so we can get better defensively. I think that's where we struggled last year.'' The Sparks averaged 68.4 points per game, but gave up 69. Doneeka Hodges-Lewis did a solid job at point guard with Teasley out of the lineup, but will likely spend more time at her natural wing position, where Willis, a rookie out of 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 , will also see time. ``She can really shoot the 3-ball. That's what we needed last year because we really didn't have anyone to shoot the 3 (consistently),'' Bryant said. ``Our best 3-point shooter was Doneeka. Now, we have another player to stretch the defense so other teams won't have a chance to double- team Lisa as often.'' Even with third-year power forward Christi Thomas playing significant minutes off the bench last season, the Sparks had problems with guarding and rebounding against younger, more athletic forwards. Page isn't the offensive threat that Whitmore was, but her quickness and length should help Los Angeles improve in this area. ``I think our post defense is going to be definitely better,'' Leslie said. ``Christi has definitely improved by playing in Italy. Murriel is really strong inside and Jessica Moore is always solid. She is not giving up too many rebounds.'' Associated Press contributed earl.williams@presstelegram.com (562) 499-1338 CAPTION(S): box Box: SPARKS at SEATTLE |
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