# 2008 Connecticut Sun season

The 2008 WNBA season was their tenth season and their sixth in Connecticut. The Sun successfully advanced to the WNBA Playoffs for the sixth consecutive season. Lindsay Whalen was a key contributor to the club, averaging 14.0 points per game, 5.6 rebounds per game, and 5.4 assists per game.

## Offseason
### Expansion draft

The following player was lost in the Atlanta Dream expansion draft:
* Erika DeSouza

### WNBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| 1 | 9 | Amber Holt | United States | Middle Tennessee |
| 1 | 12 (from Indiana) | Ketia Swanier | United States | Connecticut |
| 2 | 23 | Jolene Anderson | United States | Wisconsin |
| 3 | 37 | Lauren Ervin | United States | Arkansas |

### Transactions

* August 27: The Sun signed Svetlana Abrosimova and waived Jolene Anderson.
* June 27: The Sun waived Kamesha Hairston.
* May 15: The Sun waived Cori Chambers.
* May 7: The Sun waived Jessica Foley, Tracy Gahan and Christina Quaye.
* May 6: The Sun waived Meredith Alexis and Natalie Berglin.
* April 28: The Sun waived Crystal Erwin, Laura Hall and Jessica Richter.
* April 23: The Sun waived Antoinette Upshaw.
* March 20: The Sun signed Tracy Gahan to a training camp contract.
* March 7: The Sun signed Sandrine Gruda.
* March 5: The Sun signed Jessica Foley to a training camp contract.
* March 3: The Sun signed Natalie Berglin and Kerri Gardin to training camp contracts.
* February 19: The Sun re-signed free agents Lindsay Whalen and Jamie Carey.
| Date | Trade | Trade |
| February 19, 2008 | To Connecticut Sun | To Indiana Fever |
| February 19, 2008 | Tamika Whitmore, Jessica Foley, 12th pick in 2008 Draft | Katie Douglas |
| March 6, 2008 | To Connecticut Sun | To Houston Comets |
| March 6, 2008 | Barbara Turner | Megan Mahoney |
| March 14, 2008 | To Connecticut Sun | To Minnesota Lynx |
| March 14, 2008 | Tamika Raymond | Kristen Rasmussen |

### Free agents
## Season standings

| Eastern Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
| Detroit Shock $^x$ | 22 | 12 | .647 | – | 14–3 | 8–9 | 16–4 |
| Connecticut Sun $^x$ | 21 | 13 | .618 | 1.0 | 13–4 | 8–9 | 13–7 |
| New York Liberty $^x$ | 19 | 15 | .559 | 3.0 | 11–6 | 8–9 | 11–9 |
| Indiana Fever $^x$ | 17 | 17 | .500 | 5.0 | 11–6 | 6–11 | 12–8 |
| Chicago Sky $^o$ | 12 | 22 | .353 | 10.0 | 8–9 | 4–13 | 10–10 |
| Washington Mystics $^o$ | 10 | 24 | .294 | 12.0 | 6–11 | 4–13 | 6–14 |
| Atlanta Dream $^o$ | 4 | 30 | .118 | 18.0 | 1–16 | 3–14 | 2–18 |

## Schedule
### Preseason

2008 Game Log: Preseason
GameDateOpponentTVScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
1May 1@ MinnesotaL 57-68Gardin (8)Gahan, Gardin, Holt (4)Carey, Hairston, Turner (2)Target Center 1,1550-1
2May 4PhoenixW 94-66Holt (15)Gahan (10)Swanier, Berglin (3)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,2521-1
3May 9HoustonW 88-80Whalen (18)Anderson (7)Whalen (8)Mohegan Sun Arena 4,4112-1 :

### Regular season

2008 Game Log: Regular Season :
May
GameDateOpponentTVScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
1May 17AtlantaCSSW 100-67Whitmore (22)Whitmore (10)Whalen (8)Mohegan Sun Arena 7,4201-0
2May 18@ New YorkWCTX NBA TVW 77-63Whitmore (17)Whalen, Raymond (6)Whalen (8)Madison Square Garden 10,4602-0
3May 24SacramentoW 87-64Whalen (21)Holt (7)Whalen, Whitmore (5)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,4023-0
4May 27IndianaESPN2L 46-75Whalen (11)Jones (7)Whalen (5)Mohegan Sun Arena 5,2453-1
5May 30New YorkMSG NBA TVW 89-84Whitmore (18)Whalen (6)Whalen (7)Mohegan Sun Arena 7,0524-1 :
June
GameDateOpponentTVScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
6June 1@ ChicagoW 75-73Whalen, Whitmore (19)Whalen (7)Whalen (7)UIC Pavilion 2,2765-1
7June 6MinnesotaW 78-77Jones (25)Whalen (9)Anderson, Gardin (5)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,3276-1
8June 8WashingtonWCTX NBA TVW 87-79Jones (16)Whalen (7)Whalen (7)Mohegan Sun Arena 7,1747-1
9June 10@ MinnesotaESPN2W 75-66Jones (18)Whitmore (12)Whalen (6)Target Center 7,1868-1
10June 13@ Los AngelesL 93-98 (OT)Whalen (20)Whalen (7)Jones (3)STAPLES Center 8,7028-2
11June 16@ SeattleWCTX NBA TVW 74-67Jones (15)Raymond (9)Whitmore (4)KeyArena 6,8729-2
12June 18@ PhoenixL 81-102Jones (18)Turner (5)Whalen (5)US Airways Center 4,4789-3
13June 20@ SacramentoW 72-56Jones (14)Whalen, Anderson (6)Whalen (5)ARCO Arena 5,89510-3
14June 24DetroitWCTX NBA TVW 85-68Jones (20)Holt (8)Whalen (6)Mohegan Sun Arena 7,50111-3
15June 26@ DetroitFSN-DL 61-70Jones (14)Jones (7)Whalen (4)Mohegan Sun Arena 7,50111-4
16June 27AtlantaW 109-101 (OT)Jones (30)Jones, Whalen (10)Holt (8)Mohegan Sun Arena 7,61212-4
17June 29PhoenixL 80-87Jones (16)Jones (9)Whalen (8)Mohegan Sun Arena 9,518 (sellout)12-5 :
July
GameDateOpponentTVScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
18July 1HoustonW 78-68Jones (15)Turner (9)Whalen (9)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,35713-5
19July 5@ IndianaFSN-I NBA TVL 74-81Jones (20)Gardin (9)Jones, Whalen (3)Conseco Fieldhouse 6,32913-6
20July 8@ DetroitFSN-DL 82-88Jones (21)Whalen (7)Jones, Whalen (8)Palace of Auburn Hills 7,62313-7
21July 13@ WashingtonABCL 64-69Whalen (33)Whalen (8)Jones, Whalen (6)Verizon Center 9,61013-8
22July 15New YorkESPN2L 71-77Whalen (19)Jones (9)Jones (5)Mohegan Sun Arena 8,24413-9
23July 18@ ChicagoWCTX NBA TVL 65-73Jones (18)Gruda (11)Jones, Swanier (3)UIC Pavilion 3,37913-10
24July 20ChicagoW 74-67Jones (23)Jones (10)Whalen (6)Mohegan Sun Arena 7,36714-10
25July 24Los AngelesWCTX NBA TVW 87-61Whalen (22)Jones (8)Whalen (4)Mohegan Sun Arena 9,518 (sellout)15-10
26July 27@ WashingtonCSN-MA NBA TVW 82-60Jones (27)Whalen (8)Whalen (7)Verizon Center 9,35716-10 :
August
GameDateOpponentTVScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
Summer Olympic break
27August 28@ IndianaFSN-I NBA TVW 84-58Whitmore (15)Turner, Raymond (5)Gruda, Jones (4)Conseco Fieldhouse 6,43517-10
28August 29@ AtlantaW 98-72Whitmore (27)Whitmore (6)Whalen (8)Philips Arena 11,442 (sellout)18-10
29August 31SeattleABCW 80-76Jones (20)Holt (5)Gardin (4)Mohegan Sun Arena 9,518 (sellout)19-10 :
September
GameDateOpponentTVScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
30September 5ChicagoW 80-75Whitmore (17)Jones (6)Whalen (6)Mohegan Sun Arena 8,08820-10
31September 7San AntonioABCL 73-85Jones (22)Jones (9)Abrosimova (6)Mohegan Sun Arena 7,95620-11
32September 9@ HoustonWCTXL 68-75Jones (22)Whalen (8)Whalen (5)Reliant Arena 5,76920-12
33September 11@ San AntonioL 74-78Jones (18)Gardin (14)Carey (7)AT&T Center 6,79120-13
34September 13WashingtonWCTX NBA TVW 87-81Phillips (18)Phillips (8)Gruda, Swanier (4)Mohegan Sun Arena 8,65221-13 :

### Playoffs

In the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, the Sun had to face the New York Liberty. Since the Sun had the better record, the series would be played with game 1 at New York, game 2 at Connecticut, and game 3 (if needed) at Connecticut. The Liberty won the first game, but the Sun won the second to force a game three. The Sun were upset on their home floor by the Liberty and were eliminated from the playoffs.
* For the sixth consecutive season, the Sun advance to the playoffs.
* For the second consecutive season, the Sun do not advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
2008 Game Log: Postseason :
Eastern Conference Semifinals
GameDateOpponentTVScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceSeries
1September 18@ New YorkMSG NBA TVL 63-72Whitmore (16)Jones, Whitmore (6)Whalen (6)Madison Square Garden 7,6490-1
2September 20New YorkMSG NBA TVW 73-70Jones (16)Whitmore (6)Whalen (4)Mohegan Sun Arena 7,2341-1
3September 22New YorkESPN2L 62-66Whalen (19)Jones (11)Whitmore (4)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,0111-2 :

## Depth

| Pos. | Starter | Bench | Inactive |
| C | Tamika Whitmore | Sandrine Gruda | Danielle Page |
| PF | Asjha Jones | Tamika Raymond | |
| SF | Kerri Gardin | Barbara Turner -- Amber Holt | |
| SG | Svetlana Abrosimova | Erin Phillips | Ketia Swanier |
| PG | Lindsay Whalen | Jamie Carey | |

## Regular Season statistics
### Player statistics

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Svetlana Abrosimova | 6 | 0 | 17.8 | 3.3 | 2.0 | 1.33 | 0.00 | 5.7 |
| Jolene Anderson | 24 | 7 | 15.3 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 0.29 | 0.04 | 4.0 |
| Jamie Carey | 33 | 3 | 15.1 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 0.24 | 0.03 | 4.2 |
| Kerri Gardin | 34 | 15 | 15.9 | 3.3 | 1.2 | 0.85 | 0.21 | 4.0 |
| Sandrine Gruda | 31 | 1 | 15.4 | 3.5 | 0.9 | 0.61 | 0.84 | 6.2 |
| Amber Holt | 34 | 34 | 21.0 | 3.1 | 1.9 | 0.44 | 0.15 | 6.5 |
| Asjha Jones | 33 | 33 | 29.2 | 6.1 | 2.5 | 0.61 | 0.79 | 17.0 |
| Danielle Page | 3 | 0 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.0 |
| Erin Phillips | 8 | 0 | 10.8 | 2.1 | 0.4 | 0.50 | 0.13 | 5.1 |
| Tamika Raymond | 34 | 1 | 11.0 | 2.9 | 0.4 | 0.29 | 0.03 | 2.5 |
| Ketia Swanier | 25 | 6 | 9.2 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.56 | 0.04 | 1.6 |
| Barbara Turner | 34 | 6 | 19.5 | 3.2 | 1.5 | 0.35 | 0.41 | 8.0 |
| Lindsay Whalen | 31 | 31 | 29.3 | 5.6 | 5.4 | 1.45 | 0.03 | 14.0 |
| Tamika Whitmore | 34 | 33 | 26.8 | 4.7 | 1.4 | 0.59 | 0.38 | 12.6 |

### Team statistics

| Team | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PF | PPG |
| Connecticut Sun | .422 | .330 | .746 | 36.4 | 17.9 | 6.2 | 2.8 | 14.3 | 18.5 | 79.1 |
| Opponents | .418 | .321 | .740 | 35.3 | 16.3 | 7.4 | 3.1 | 14.7 | 20.7 | 74.7 |

### Team Ranking

This table shows how the Sun rank compared to the other teams in the league (14 total teams):
| FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PF | PPG |
| 8th | 8th | 12th | 3rd | 2nd | 14th | 12th | 13th | 13th | 3rd |

## Playoffs statistics
### Player statistics

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Svetlana Abrosimova | 3 | 2 | 21.0 | 3.7 | 1.3 | 1.33 | 0.00 | 8.0 |
| Jamie Carey | 1 | 0 | 00.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.0 |
| Kerri Gardin | 3 | 3 | 19.0 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 1.67 | 0.33 | 3.7 |
| Sandrine Gruda | 3 | 0 | 8.7 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.33 | 0.00 | 2.7 |
| Amber Holt | 3 | 1 | 18.3 | 4.0 | 1.3 | 0.33 | 0.00 | 3.7 |
| Asjha Jones | 3 | 3 | 32.3 | 7.3 | 1.3 | 0.67 | 0.33 | 15.0 |
| Danielle Page | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.0 |
| Erin Phillips | 3 | 0 | 12.0 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 1.00 | 0.33 | 3.0 |
| Tamika Raymond | 3 | 0 | 9.3 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0.33 | 0.33 | 1.3 |
| Ketia Swanier | 0 | 0 | 00.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.0 |
| Barbara Turner | 3 | 0 | 19.0 | 3.3 | 0.3 | 0.00 | 0.33 | 5.3 |
| Lindsay Whalen | 3 | 3 | 30.0 | 4.7 | 4.0 | 1.33 | 0.00 | 13.3 |
| Tamika Whitmore | 3 | 3 | 29.0 | 4.7 | 2.0 | 1.33 | 0.00 | 10.0 |

### Team statistics

| Team | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PF | PPG |
| Connecticut Sun | .360 | .218 | .800 | 34.3 | 13.7 | 7.3 | 1.7 | 12.3 | 15.7 | 63.0 |
| New York Liberty | .448 | .433 | .606 | 33.7 | 16.3 | 6.7 | 5.0 | 18.7 | 18.7 | 69.3 |

## Awards and honors

* Head coach Mike Thibault was named 2008 WNBA Coach of the Year.
* Lindsay Whalen was named to the All-WNBA First Team.
* Asjha Jones was named to the All-WNBA Second Team.
* Amber Holt was named to the All-Rookie Team.
* Lindsay Whalen was given the Peak Performer award (for assists) for leading the league in assists per game (5.4).
* Lindsay Whalen was the second player in WNBA history to average at least 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game for the season. Only Nikki Teasley has previously accomplished this feat.
* Lindsay Whalen was named WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the week of May 27, 2008.
* Asjha Jones was named WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the week of June 30, 2008.
* Lindsay Whalen was named WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the week of July 14, 2008.
* Asjha Jones was named WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the week of July 28, 2008.

## Attendance

* A sellout for a basketball game at Mohegan Sun Arena is 9,518.
Regular Season Attendance :
| Year | Average: Home | Average: Away | High | Low | Sellouts | Total for Year | WNBA Game Average |
| 2008 | 7,644 (11th) | 7,132 (14th) | 9,518 | 5,245 | 3 | 129,951 | 7,948 |