2000 New York Liberty season

2000 New York Liberty season
Head coach	Richie Adubato
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Results
Record	20–12 (.625)
Place	1st (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Lost WNBA Finals (2-0) to Houston Comets
← 1999 2001  →

The 2000 WNBA season was the fourth season for the New York Liberty. The team reached the WNBA Finals for the third time, but they were swept by the Houston Comets.

Transactions

Portland Fire expansion draft

The following players were selected in the Portland Fire expansion draft from the New York Liberty:

Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
Coquese Washington	United States	Notre Dame

Seattle Storm expansion draft

The following players were selected in the Seattle Storm expansion draft from the New York Liberty:

Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
Sonja Henning	United States	Stanford

WNBA draft

See also: 2000 WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	13	Olga Firsova	Soviet Union	Kansas State
2	29	Desiree Francis	Antigua	Iowa State
3	45	Jessica Bibby	Australia	Dandenong Rangers (Australia)
4	61	Natalie Porter	Australia	Dandenong Rangers (Australia)

Transactions

Date	Transaction
December 15, 1999	Lost Coquese Washington to the Portland Fire in the WNBA expansion draft
	Lost Sonja Henning to the Seattle Storm in the WNBA expansion draft
April 25, 2000	Drafted Olga Firsova, Desiree Francis, Jessica Bibby and Natalie Porter in the 2000 WNBA draft
May 2, 2000	Signed Alessandra Santos de Oliveira, Marina Ferragut and Shea Mahoney
May 15, 2000	Waived Natalie Porter
May 28, 2000	Traded Carolyn Jones-Young to the Portland Fire in exchange for Tari Phillips
	Waived Alessandra Santos de Oliveira and Desiree Francis
June 2, 2000	Waived Venus Lacy
September 18, 2000	Traded a 2001 1st Round Pick to the Minnesota Lynx in exchange for Grace Daley

Roster

2000 New York Liberty roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G 22 Bibby, Jessica 5' 7" (1.7m) 139 lb (63kg) 1979-08-23 R F 13 Ferragut, Marina 6' 3" (1.91m) 190 lb (86kg) 1972-02-11 R C 0 Firsova, Olga 6' 8" (2.03m) 215 lb (98kg) 1976-04-23 Kansas State R F 42 Francis, Desiree 5' 10" (1.78m) 193 lb (88kg) 1975-08-24 Iowa State R G 25 Hammon, Becky 5' 6" (1.68m) 136 lb (62kg) 1977-03-11 Colorado State 1 G/F 55 Johnson, Vickie 5' 9" (1.75m) 150 lb (68kg) 1972-04-15 Louisiana Tech 3 C 5 Lacy, Venus 6' 3" (1.91m) 234 lb (106kg) 1967-02-09 Louisiana Tech 1 F 30 Mahoney, Shea 6' 4" (1.93m) 1977-07-03 Western Kentucky R F/C 24 Phillips, Tari 6' 2" (1.88m) 200 lb (91kg) 1970-03-06 Central Florida 1 F 3 Robinson, Crystal 5' 11" (1.8m) 155 lb (70kg) 1974-01-22 SE Oklahoma State 1 G 11 Weatherspoon, Teresa 5' 8" (1.73m) 161 lb (73kg) 1965-12-08 Louisiana Tech 3 F 44 Whitmore, Tamika 6' 2" (1.88m) 215 lb (98kg) 1977-06-05 Memphis 1 F 23 Wicks, Sue 6' 3" (1.91m) 174 lb (79kg) 1966-11-26 Rutgers 3	Head coach Richie Adubato (William Paterson) Assistant coaches Lisa White Jeff House Pat Coyle Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Schedule

Regular season

2000 game log Total: 15–17 (Home: 8–8; Road: 7–9)
May: 0–2 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 29 @ Houston L 68-84 Tamika Whitmore (15) Sue Wicks (6) Teresa Weatherspoon (13) Compaq Center 0–1 2 May 31 @ Phoenix L 48-51 Vickie Johnson (14) Mahoney Wicks (8) Teresa Weatherspoon (5) America West Arena 0–2
June: 7–5 (Home: 4–4; Road: 3–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 3 June 3 Utah W 87-76 Becky Hammon (23) Tari Phillips (7) Teresa Weatherspoon(7) Madison Square Garden 1–2 4 June 4 @ Washington L 67-79 Vickie Johnson (12) Vickie Johnson (7) Teresa Weatherspoon (6) MCI Center 1–3 5 June 7 @ Detroit W 73-69 Vickie Johnson (22) Vickie Johnson (12) Teresa Weatherspoon (8) The Palace of Auburn Hills 2–3 6 June 9 Sacramento L 56-77 Tari Phillips (25) Sue Wicks (12) Hammon Weatherspoon (3) Madison Square Garden 2–4 7 June 10 @ Indiana W 70-62 Crystal Robinson (19) Vickie Johnson (7) Teresa Weatherspoon (6) Conseco Fieldhouse 3–4 8 June 13 Washington L 56-57 Johnson Weatherspoon (14) Tari Phillips (12) Vickie Johnson (4) Madison Square Garden 3–5 9 June 18 Miami W 58-52 Crystal Robinson (18) Tari Phillips (10) Teresa Weatherspoon (7) Madison Square Garden 4–5 10 June 21 Detroit L 63-67 Tamika Whitmore (14) Tari Phillips (8) Teresa Weatherspoon (7) Madison Square Garden 4–6 11 June 23 @ Indiana W 69-60 Becky Hammon (16) Sue Wicks (10) Teresa Weatherspoon (8) Conseco Fieldhouse 5–6 12 June 25 Los Angeles L 67-72 Becky Hammon (18) Tari Phillips (11) Teresa Weatherspoon (6) Madison Square Garden 5–7 13 June 28 Phoenix W 82-69 Tari Phillips (22) Tari Phillips (10) Teresa Weatherspoon (8) Madison Square Garden 6–7 14 June 30 Indiana W 72-70 Tari Phillips (30) Tari Phillips (12) Teresa Weatherspoon (12) Madison Square Garden 7–7
July: 11–3 (Home: 6–0; Road: 5–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 15 July 1 @ Orlando L 57-69 Tari Phillips (21) Tari Phillips (6) Teresa Weatherspoon (10) TD Waterhouse Centre 7–8 16 July 3 @ Cleveland L 65-66 (OT) Tamika Whitmore (17) Tari Phillips (8) Vickie Johnson (6) Gund Arena 7–9 17 July 5 Portland W 62-45 Hammon Johnson (15) Tari Phillips (10) Teresa Weatherspoon (7) Madison Square Garden 8–9 18 July 7 @ Minnesota W 76-70 Tari Phillips (26) Tari Phillips (12) Teresa Weatherspoon (8) Target Center 9–9 19 July 8 Miami W 63-51 Tamika Whitmore (17) Sue Wicks (8) Teresa Weatherspoon (6) Madison Square Garden 10–9 20 July 12 Charlotte W 84-70 Vickie Johnson (19) Tari Phillips (7) Teresa Weatherspoon (7) Madison Square Garden 11–9 21 July 14 @ Orlando W 55-51 Vickie Johnson (15) Tari Phillips (7) Teresa Weatherspoon (7) TD Waterhouse Centre 12–9 22 July 19 @ Seattle W 78-55 Vickie Johnson (18) Tari Phillips (9) Teresa Weatherspoon (5) KeyArena 13–9 23 July 20 @ Los Angeles L 66-82 Vickie Johnson (17) Sue Wicks (6) Teresa Weatherspoon (5) Great Western Forum 13–10 24 July 23 Houston W 69-64 Hammon Phillips (17) Tari Phillips (11) Johnson Weatherspoon (6) Madison Square Garden 14–10 25 July 24 @ Washington W 78-64 Vickie Johnson (22) Tari Phillips (9) Teresa Weatherspoon (7) MCI Center 15–10 26 July 28 @ Charlotte W 66-56 Johnson Phillips (15) Tari Phillips (11) Weatherspoon Wicks (4) Charlotte Coliseum 16–10 27 July 29 Cleveland W 81-67 Crystal Robinson (17) Vickie Johnson (6) Teresa Weatherspoon (7) Madison Square Garden 17–10 28 July 31 Charlotte W 81-56 Vickie Johnson (20) Tari Phillips (9) Teresa Weatherspoon (5) Madison Square Garden 18–10
August: 2–2 (Home: 2–0; Road: 0–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 29 August 4 Orlando W 70-57 Tari Phillips (18) Tamika Whitmore (8) Vickie Johnson (8) Madison Square Garden 19–10 30 August 6 @ Miami L 41-57 Tamika Whitmore (10) Tamika Whitmore (10) Crystal Robinson (4) American Airlines Arena 19–11 31 August 8 Cleveland W 57-44 Tari Phillips (14) Tari Phillips (11) Teresa Weatherspoon (7) Madison Square Garden 20–11 32 August 9 @ Detroit L 63-66 Tari Phillips (14) Tari Phillips (5) Teresa Weatherspoon (7) The Palace of Auburn Hills 20–12

Playoffs

2000 playoff game log
First round vs. Washington Mystics Won Series: 2–0 Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 August 12 @ Washington W 72–63 Johnson Phillips (20) Vickie Johnson (8) Teresa Weatherspoon (9) MCI Center 1–0 2 August 14 Washington W 78–57 Becky Hammon (19) Tari Phillips (10) Teresa Weatherspoon (10) Madison Square Garden 2–0
Conference Finals vs. Cleveland Rockers Won Series: 2–1 Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 August 17 @ Cleveland L 43–56 Tari Phillips (11) Tari Phillips (6) Teresa Weatherspoon (3) Gund Arena 0–1 2 August 20 Cleveland W 51–45 Becky Hammon (13) Tari Phillips (6) Teresa Weatherspoon (5) Madison Square Garden 1–1 3 August 21 Cleveland W 81–67 Tamika Whitmore (19) Sue Wicks (7) Vickie Johnson (10) Madison Square Garden 2–1
Championship vs. Houston Comets Lost Series: 0–2 Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 August 24 Houston L 52–59 Tari Phillips (24) Tari Phillips (15) Teresa Weatherspoon (5) Madison Square Garden 0–1 2 August 26 @ Houston L 73–79 Tari Phillips (20) Tari Phillips (7) Teresa Weatherspoon (8) Compaq Center 0-2
2000 playoff schedule

Season standings

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	Conf.	GB
New York Liberty x	20	12	.625	14–7	–
Cleveland Rockers x	17	15	.531	13–8	3.0
Orlando Miracle x	16	16	.500	13–8	4.0
Washington Mystics x	14	18	.438	13–8	6.0
Detroit Shock o	14	18	.438	10–11	6.0
Miami Sol o	13	19	.406	9–12	7.0
Indiana Fever o	9	23	.281	7–14	11.0
Charlotte Sting o	8	24	.250	5–16	12.0

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
Teresa Weatherspoon	32	32	33.7	.438	.250	.741	3.4	6.4	2.0	0.2	6.4
Vickie Johnson	31	31	33.0	.441	.380	.882	4.4	2.5	0.7	0.2	12.3
Tari Phillips	31	30	31.5	.467	.250	.654	8.0	0.9	1.9	0.7	13.8
Crystal Robinson	27	14	26.7	.428	.353	.909	2.5	1.8	0.9	0.4	8.8
Becky Hammon	32	16	26.1	.472	.369	.884	2.0	1.8	0.9	0.0	11.0
Tamika Whitmore	32	16	21.5	.431	.000	.702	3.3	0.6	0.5	0.5	8.7
Sue Wicks	32	12	21.3	.385	.200	.726	4.7	0.7	0.8	1.2	4.9
Shea Mahoney	15	3	10.5	.289	.200	.500	2.0	0.3	0.1	0.1	1.8
Venus Lacy	2	2	9.0	.400	N/A	.500	2.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.0
Marina Ferragut	23	4	6.7	.434	.300	.500	0.7	0.2	0.0	0.1	2.2
Jessica Bibby	17	0	4.1	.167	.333	.846	0.3	0.6	0.2	0.0	1.1
Olga Firsova	9	0	2.1	.400	.000	.800	0.4	0.1	0.0	0.1	1.3
Desiree Francis	1	0	2.0	.000	N/A	N/A	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

^‡Waived/Released during the season
^†Traded during the season
^≠Acquired during the season