LOS ANGELES – One of the bright spots of the Los Angeles Sparks season was the great guard play of both Erica Wheeler and Te’a Cooper. In a year that saw veteran guard Kristi Toliver miss 13 games with injuries, there were more opportunities for both Wheeler and Cooper to play significant minutes and put their potential on display.
(Courtesy of Women Hooping)
In her first season with the Sparks, Wheeler was thwarted into a leadership role especially in the first half of the season when both Toliver and Nneka Ogwumike missed significant time.
She played well in her first year in LA often delivering clutch late in games. Not to mention, Wheeler delivered some eye-popping ankle-breaking crossovers late in the season to send fans and social media into a tizzy.
Overall, Wheeler helped navigate the Sparks through adversity with her tough, no-excuses leadership on the court to keep the team competitive. She believed head coach Derek Fisher helped empower her into that leadership role.
“When you believe in your coach and the system he’s trying to build…for him to give me the trust early on, for him to put that much trust in me, allowing me to lead my team even though we had quite a few injuries, really our back was against the wall from the start,” Wheeler said during her exit interviews. “Not having Nneka, not having Chiney or Kristi, it was tough. At the end of the day, as a leader, when your back is against the wall, you have soldiers step up. I think the other eight, nine, seven (players) at times stepped up, and did what they needed to do.”
“For me, I’m a leader,” Wheeler continued. “Whatever gets thrown at me, I’m going to step up to the plate and that’s what Fish believes in me to do so that’s what I did.”
For her good friend and backcourt mate, Te’a Cooper, it was an up-and-down season. In her second year, Cooper showed stretches of brilliance but would struggle with consistency. However, her last three games, she was on fire averaging 19 points on 55 percent shooting and 42 percent from three-point range and keeping the Sparks in the playoff mix.
When Toliver went down with a hand injury, Cooper was inserted into the starting lineup more often in those final games and seemingly took off. She spoke about how playing more freely allowed her to be more productive.
“I think just playing free, believing in myself and then this offseason just really focusing on being consistent and finding ways to stay consistent throughout the season,” Cooper said. “I think it was a little up and down…when everything is all over the place you never know, but still finding consistency in myself and keeping that going.“
She also spoke about whether starting helped her more than coming off the bench.
“I don’t know, I think it would look like that,” Cooper said with a smile. “I had one of my best games off the bench, so I honestly don’t know.”
Both Wheeler and Cooper provided a spark for the team throughout the season and both were able to make an impact at the same time in those final games. If they can build on that dynamic next year, the Sparks could have a more potent backcourt.
