Montana Knights

Season 1: Domination & Disappointment

Season 1: Domination & Disappointment

The Los Angeles Stars completely dominated the WBA in season 1. LA took a different approach from many other teams in the league in its inaugural season. Instead of thinking about the future, the Stars built its team mainly around veterans and took a win now attitude. This is something that would pay off in season 1, but would later come back to haunt them in future seasons.

With the 13th pick of the inaugural draft, the Los Angeles Stars selected PF Joe Dempsey. Their next three picks were spent on solid role players in Ryan Hatfield, Ty Locke, and Pete Whitehouse. One or two other players that the Stars drafted contributed to the team, but the draft is not where the Stars truly built their team.

The Stars made a huge gamble when they made their only trade of the season, trading Woody Sommers and their first and second round picks for the next three seasons to Gabon in exchange for Ray Walters, Ed Williams, and Maury Starr. This is where the Stars' win-now philosophy showed, as they completely gave up their future in order to get three players who could help them win in season 1.

Los Angeles completely dominated Season 1. In a very strong Western Conference, they only went on to lose 8 games, winning 87% of their games and finishing with a record of 54-8, best in the entire WBA. The Stars were led by Joe Dempsey, who put up 17.2 ppg and 9.2 rpg while earning the All-Star MVP. Maury Starr was this team's other All-Star, putting up 10 ppg and 5.9 apg in only 26 mpg. This team was a true team, as 6 players averaged at least 10 ppg and they outscored their opponents by almost 18 ppg. All three players acquired via their trade with Gabon contributed significantly. Starr was an All-Star, Walters was 2nd in the team in scoring and 3rd in rebounding, and Ed Williams led the team in apg. Things were looking promising for the Stars going into the playoffs with the number 1 seed and a bye in the first round in the West.

The first round went by with Fernie destroying Marysville 3-0 to advance and face LA in the 2nd round. That is when disaster struck. LA's amazing season came to an extremely disappointing end. The team that had scored 101.9 ppg in the regular season lacked the team unity they had shown throughout the year and only managed to score 92.7 ppg in the playoffs. Because of this lack of team unity, they were easily defeated 4-2 by the eventual WBA Champion Fernie Fire Starters. LA fans were disappointed, but they were looking forward to season 2, where their team would come back and dominate again. At least, that's what they thought…

Season 2: The Downfall

After an amazing season 1 that ended in disappointment, the Los Angeles Stars and their fans were excited about coming back in season 2 and dominating once again. This time they were going to win it all. They were going to prove that their playoff series against Fernie was a fluke. LA was the best team in the league and they were going to show it. That's what the team and the fans thought…

The Stars' plan in season 1 to go with veteran players paid off that first season, but it killed them in season 2. Out of the 27 players retiring after season 1, LA had 4 of them! 15% of the total players in the league that retired were LA Stars. 2 of these players were Art Parker and Jake Beecher, who were bench players who never really did anything for the team. The other two players, though, were two of the core players in Los Angeles, including the team's star. These players were starting PG Ed Williams and All-Star game MVP Joe Dempsey. Williams led the team in apg in season 1 with 8.9 and played solid defense. Dempsey was the team's star, as he led them in scoring (17.2 ppg) and rebounding (9.2 rpg) in season 1. LA had lost two of their star players, but the changes wouldn't stop there.

After making 1 trade in season 1, the Stars made 4 trades in season 2, all of which were significant ones. Through these trades, LA parted ways with Ray Walters, Ryan Hatfield, Maury Starr, and Pete Whitehouse. All four of these players averaged 10+ ppg for the Stars in season 1. In these trades, they ended up receiving Mike Taylor (a promising young player), Bob Kennedy (an average player at best), 2 1st round picks and a 2nd round pick.

The Stars struggled badly during the season and finished with a 21-59 record, tied for 5th worst in the league, which was a major turnaround from the season before, in which they won 87% of their games. Mike Taylor led the team with 16.4 ppg and 6.2 rpg and John Hughes led the team with 5.5 apg. LA got outscored by an average of 14.4 ppg and just didn't seem to have the teamwork they had in season 1.

The Los Angeles Stars and their fans were disappointed with the team's season. The players weren't happy with the team and the fans were becoming relentless after having pretty much seen their team go from first to worst. The pressure to win was being felt by everyone in the organization, ownership to players. Dramatic changes needed to be made and they needed to happen soon. This happened in season 3, as new ownership took over and tried to get the team back to respectability.