2003 Record 20-14, .588 (2nd in West) Points Scored 2244 (9th overall, 5th in West) Points Allowed 2142 (1st overall, 1st in West) Scoring Differential +3.0 (3rd overall, 2nd in West) Offensive Efficiency 98.1 (8th overall, 4th in West) Defensive Efficiency 94.1 (2nd overall, 2nd in West) Possessions per 40 min. 67.0 (10th overall, 7th in West) What are these stats? Award Winners & Honorees Defensive Player of the Year Sheryl Swoopes All-Stars Tina Thompson Sheryl Swoopes Cynthia Cooper All-WNBA Second Team Sheryl Swoopes 2003 Draft Recap Rd. 1 – 12, Allison Curtin Rd. 2 – 19, Lori Nero Rd. 3 – 38, Constance Jinks Playoff History Seven out of seven years Last Appearance 2003, lost in first round

The Comets advanced to the playoffs for the seventh time in as many seasons, albeit with the lowest winning percentage in their history.

Figgs

The Houston Comets rolled the dice in the 2003 Dispersal Draft, gambling that Ukari Figgs would rather play for the Comets than retire. Figgs did decide to play, if only for a season, and filled Houston’s point guard spot nicely once she broke into the starting lineup five games into the season. She finished the year ranked 19th in the WNBA in three-point field goal percentage.

Although Houston’s defense wasn’t as dominant as it was the year before, they still boasted the second best defense in the WNBA. The Comets were 18-9 when holding opponents to under 70 points

For the third time in as many years, the Comets failed to make it out of the first round of the playoffs, falling to the Sacramento Monarchs two games to one. Houston actually outscored Sacramento during the series 196-183, but while Houston won Game 2 in a blow-out, 69-48, the Monarchs squeaked out six- and two-point wins in Games 1 and 3 respectively.

For the third consecutive season, the Comets offense ranked in the bottom half of the league. One of the primary reasons for their struggles was their inability to grab an offensive rebound – Houston ranked 13th in the league in offensive rebounding percentage (27.3) in 2003.

Cynthia Cooper’s much publicized return to the WNBA ended after just four regular season games as she injured her shoulder and was done for the year.

Head Coach
Van Chancellor
2003 Starting Line-up
G	Ukari Figgs
G	Janeth Arcain
C	Michelle Snow
F	Sheryl Swoopes
F	Tina Thompson
Key 2003 Reserves
C	Tiffani Johnson
G/F	Dominique Canty
Key Additions
G	Kedra Holland-Corn (trade)
G	Gordana Grubin (FA)
Key Losses
G	Janeth Arcain

Snow

Has the window of opportunity on Houston’s shot at getting “One For The Thumb” closed? Cooper is 41; Sheryl Swoopes is 33; Tina Thompson is 29; and Janeth Arcain is skipping the 2004 WNBA Season. The addition of Kedra Holland-Corn and the expected improvement of a 24-year-old Michelle Snow will offset some of the loss of Arcain and the expected decline in Houston’s aging Big-Three, but the rest of the West isn’t standing pat.

What does Cynthia Cooper have left to offer? In four regular season games last season, Cooper showed that she can still be a dominant offensive player, but four games isn’t much of a sample size. With Arcain gone for the year, Houston needs a solid season out of Cooper.

Can Sheryl Swoopes come close to regaining her all-world form of 2000? The 2000 season was a special one for Swoopes as she was named league MVP and Defensive Player of the Year, and asking the 33-year-old to repeat that performance is probably asking a bit too much. But she needs to play better on offense than she has over the past two seasons if Houston is going to have a legit shot at the title. Over the past two years, Swoopes has connected on 42.0 percent of her field goal attempts and 29.6 percent of her three-pointers while averaging 4.7 rebounds per game. In the three seasons before that, she hit 46.7 percent of her field goal attempts and 35.1 percent of her three-pointers while grabbing 5.9 rebounds per game.