Cooper has tirade after the Sparks’ 80-68 loss
Sparks Coach Michael Cooper couldn’t contain his anger, much as the Sparks could not contain the New York Liberty.
The Sparks will be going back to the drawing board today, facing perhaps an hours-long practice session, and Cooper’s wrath after their newfound defense fell apart and the sharp-shooting New York Liberty made 10 of 21 shots from three-point range and dropped the Sparks for an 80-68 loss in front of an announced crowd of 8,031 Friday night at Staples Center.
“ ‘Disappointed’ is not the word,” Sparks Coach Michael Cooper said. “You can’t print the word I feel for our team.”
Cooper threatened a lengthy Saturday practice and said the possibility of trades looms after former Harbor City Narbonne High standout Loree Moore made five of eight three-point shots and finished with a game-high 20 points for the Liberty, which shot over 50% from the field for most of the game and finished 28 of 60 (46.7%) overall.
“Our whole defensive concept was down, and bad, and horrible. They shot through it, they ran through it, they bulled through it, they kicked through it, they did whatever they wanted to on our defense, and I’m not happy about it,” Cooper said in a postgame tirade in front of reporters.
“There’s nothing Michael Cooper can do. It was our players that did it, and I usually take credit for losses and stuff. But this was not our coaching staff’s loss. This was an L.A. Sparks players’ loss.”
All five Liberty starters finished in double figures in scoring as New York rebounded from its lowest-scoring game of the season, a 59-46 loss to Sacramento on Tuesday.
The Liberty (8-7), which shoots 48.6% from three-point range as a team, was hot from the start, making eight of 14 shots from the field, including four of seven from three-point range, to help New York jump to a 12-point lead.
“Our problem was done in the first quarter,” Cooper said. “It wasn’t like rocket science out there. It’s moving the basketball, dribble penetration and kick through it. But we did what we always do when we get a little intimidated by anybody. We settled for jump shots.”
It didn’t work.
The Sparks (7-7), who missed 10 of their first 11 shots in the game, never got much better the rest of the way.
They shot 32.9%, making 23 of 70 shots to go under 38% from the field for the fourth time in six games, and they trailed by as many as 18 points at 70-52 with 5:37 left in the game.
Until that point, the Sparks had managed to stay within six points much of the time, but they never led.
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