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September 8, 1999
Comets Remain
WNBA’s Only
Champion
B a M ICHAEL A. L I T Z ____________
© T he A sso ciated P ress
HOUSTON (AP) - The Houston
Comets found a rallying cry for their
third WNBA title: three for 10.
The Comets completed a trag
edy-marred season Sunday with a
59-47 victory over the New York
Liberty, giving Houston its third
straight WNBA championship.
The victory in Game 3, which
came after a buzzer-beating loss
on a 52-foot 3-pointer by the Lib
erty, was dedicated to guard Kim
Perrot, who wore No. 10 and died
Aug. 19 after a seven-month battle
with cancer.
“These players o f ours, they
stayed tough. They won it after the
most heart-breaking loss I’ve ever
been involved in," Comets coach
Van Chancellor said, referring to
Saturday’s defeat.
“This has proven to be one of
the great teams in the history o f
sports. And this trophy is for Kim,
whose heart and determination will
never be forgotten.”
Nor will they forget the season
filled with emotion. Cooper lost
her mother to cancer before losing
her best friend, Perrot. All-Star
teammate Sheryl Swoopes got a
divorce before the season began.
"I think it’s especially sweet with
everything that this team has gone
through, emotionally, mentally, all
the personal things that we have all
gone through, all the sacrifices we
have had to make,” Swoopes said.
“Obviously, Kim not being here,
Katy Steding Visits the
Newly Formed Girls Midnight
Basketball League
that was very emotional.”
Everything finally came to
gether in the closing seconds of
Sunday’s championship game.
From the free-throw line, Coo
per raised her hands, showing the
index finger with her right hand
and a fist with the other - a referee’s
signal for No. 10.
Tears welled in the players’
eyes, and the sellout crowd of
16.285 began chanting “three for
Kim, three for Kim.”
"This championship was the
hard one because o f everything
going on," forward Janeth Arcain
said. “ It’s been a very emotional
season watching Kim fight her
battle. We won this championship
for her, and we know she was
watching us.”
Brandon Stays with
T’wolves for $58M
tension last spring, saying he
wanted to test free agency for the
first time in an eight-year NBA
career that included six seasons in
Cleveland.
“It was nice,” Brandon said of
flirtations with other teams, in
cluding the Toronto Raptors. “And
I think people really didn’t under
stand where I was coming from,
just having the opportunity to go
through it once in my career. Just
being free. I had never been one
before.”
Still, Brandon said his inten
tions all along were to stay put.
“I don’t think it got very seri
ous with other teams: phone calls
here and there and possible sign-
and-trades, it came up a lot,” he
said. “As far as putting it in writ
ing, my agent knew I wanted to be
B n AR M E STAPLETON
C T he A sso ciated P ress
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Now
that he knows what it’s like to be
courted as a free agent, Terrell
Brandon wants to experience the
thrill o f finally playing for a con
tender.
"There really w asn't another
team that 1 could say really inter
ested me as much as Minnesota."
the two-time All-Star point guard
said Tuesday after signing a six-
year, $59 million deal to stay with
the Timberwolves.
Brandon arrived from Milwau
kee last March as part of the three-
team trade that sent disgruntled
point guard Stephon Marbury to
New Jersey.
Brandon refused to sign an ex
Holmgren Faces
New Challenge
in Seattle
B a C hris P alochko
SroRTs T icker
JERSEY CITY, New Jersey
(T ic k e r) — W hen
M ike
Holmgren left Green Bay for
Seattle in January, he did not
just leave behind one o f the most
storied franchises in sports. He
also left behind one o f the best
quarterbacks o f this decade.
Holmgren was named coach
and g en eral m an ag er o f the
Seahawks on January 8. That fol
lowed one o f the most impressive
coaching stints in league history
with the Packers from 1992-98.
In Green Bay, Holmgren posted
a 75-37 record, a 9-5 postseason
mark, and two Super Bowl ap
pearances, including a 35-21 vic
tory over the New England Patri
ots in Super Bowl XXXI.
However, that record was with
three-time NFL MVP and future
Hall o f Famer Brett Favre at his
disposal to run the West Coast
offense. H olm gren can say
goodbye to Favre and say hello to
unknown Jon Kitna, who has
started all of six games in his ca
reer, with five of those starts com
ing last season.
Like Favre, Kitna has also won
a Most Valuable Player award in
his career. But that was in NFL
Europe as MVP of the World Bowl
in 1997 while playing for the
Barcelona Dragons. The quarter
back returned from that stint in
Europe and remained on the bench
for the Seahwaks before finally
getting his chance last season.
In nine career games, Kitna has
completed 129-of-217 passes for
1,548 yards with eight touchdowns
and 10 interceptions.
Even with the little experience
Kitna posseses, Holmgren, who is
known as a quarterback guru, was
still impressed enough to name him
the starter heading into this season
(Ebe ^¿ìartlanb (Observer
Portland’s New WNBA Head Coach pays a surprise visit to
Blazer’s Boys and Girls Club to discuss the importance ofw om en's
athletics and to congratulate the participants o f the newly formed
Girls Midnight Basketball League.
Katy Steding, Portland WNBA Community Liaison distrib
uted awards to participants/volunteers of the newly formed league.
Both were accompanied by the V. P. o f Business Operations ot the
WNBA, Sandi Bittler.
here.”
Bill Duffy, Brandon’s agent,
said his client wanted dearly to
pick his place to play for the first
time since choosing to attend Or
egon in 1988, even though few
teams could afford his asking price.
“He played the first eight years
o f his career without being able to
determine that,” Duffy said. “Now,
the marketplace changed. It wasn't
like there were 12 clubs that could
have paid him whatever. So, it
would have been on a sign-and-
trade basis. We could have ma
nipulated his destination, but he
chose to be here.”
Duffy said Brandon valued his
short-term exposure to coach Flip
Saunders, owner Glen Taylor and
vice president o f basketball op
erations Kevin McHale.
“1 think he trusts them and he
knows Kevin McHale is all about
winning championships and that’s
what Terrell wants to do,” Duffy
said. “H e’s had a lot of individual
success. Now he has the financial
security and the only thing left is
to reach the top.”
Venus Williams Advances
to U.S. Open Semis
NEW YORK, Sept 7 (Reuters)
- Third seed Venus Williams ad
vanced to the semifinals o f the
U.S. Open for the third consecu
tive year with a 6-4 6-3 victory
over 12th seed Barbara Schett of
Austria on Tuesday night.
Williams used her overpowering
groundstrokes and superior court
speed to hold Schett at bay and set
up a semifinal showdow n with world
number one Martina Hingis — a
rematch of the 1997 final, which
was won by the Swiss sensation.
Hingis earlier crushed Anke
Huber 6-2 6-0 to grab a final-four
berth for the fourth year in a row.
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W H A T IS H A P P E N IN G
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to capture the first set and three
more in the second.
The third seed also drilled
27 w inners com pared to ju st 10
for Schett.
“She just played better on the
big points,” Schett said.
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Schett had enjoyed a remark
able run to her first Grand Slam
quarter-final, dropping just nine
games in four matches and losing
her serve only once.
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