Cooper Seeks Spark That Lasts Longer

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — There is at least one game left in the 2003 WNBA season, two at the most. And Coach Michael Cooper is still looking for a total, 40-minute effort from the Sparks.

That was one of the things Cooper harped on Saturday, as the Sparks prepared for Game 2 of the WNBA finals today against Detroit.

“There are a lot of things we do better than we did in the first game,” Cooper said. “In the second half we came out lethargic, and we have to work on that because it could be our Achilles’ heal, if there is one.”

Cooper added that rebounding against the young and athletic Shock remains a top priority. He didn’t like the fact that Detroit had a 16-10 advantage on the offensive boards, and a 41-39 rebounding edge overall.

“We definitely have to do a better job on their post players in keeping them from the good low-post positioning. I’m sure [Detroit] is looking at that, and attack that more.

“It’s tough to stop Cheryl Ford, Swin Cash and Ruth Riley when they get down low. But once they take a shot, we can’t assume it’s going in because they weren’t shooting that well. We have to play until the ball goes in or we get the rebound.”

Detroit Coach Bill Laimbeer said his team had not lost any confidence despite Friday’s 75-63 loss in Los Angeles. But the Shock would have to make some changes for today’s game.

“The biggest adjustment -- we have to do a better job offensively,” Laimbeer said. “There’s no question that’s where our game was lost. We looked at the game tape and I’m thinking, ‘LA’s only got 22 points with seven minutes to go in the first half in their building. We should be winning.’ And we were losing by 10.

“I’d love to say we couldn’t buy a basket, but that’s not true. It happens to us on occasion, but the finals magnify the situation a little more. But I saw on the tape exactly what we did wrong offensively.”

Of course, the Spark defense also may have had an impact on Detroit’s 28.6% shooting percentage Friday.