A member of the WNBA since the 2000 season. The Sol have made the playoffs once, losing to the New York Liberty in 2001.
The Sol joined the WNBA as an expansion team in 2000 along with the Indiana Fever, Portland Fire and the Seattle Storm. Miami went 13-19 in its first season, then improved to 20-12 in 2001. However, the Sol's 2002 season has not gotten off to a good start; Miami is 4-8 at the time of this writeup, although starting center Ruth Riley has missed most of her team's games with an injury.
The Sol's top players, as of this writeup date:
- Riley, a second-year center out of the University of Notre Dame. Decent rebounder, but hasn't shown an ability to score in the WNBA. This is a problem in 2002, because ...
- Pollyanna Johns-Kimbrough, a the starting power forward. Johns-Kimbrough had never started a game in two years in the WNBA before the Sol traded Tracy Reid to the Cleveland Rockers for her (along with a draft pick swap). Johns-Kimbrough is a bit undersized (6-foot-3, 191 lbs), meaning that the Sol don't have a strong presence in either of their post players. Not a great defensive rebounder. Has pulled down 2.8 offensive rebounds per game this season, but that's partially because the Sol miss so many shots.
- Sheri Sam, the team's star scorer. Plays at small forward, though she might be better suited as 2 guard; leads the team in total points and scoring average. Was drafted in 1999 by the Orlando Miracle, but they waived her. Sam blossomed with the Sol, though; however, she jacks up a lot of deep shots, and her 3-point field-goal percentage for her career is a dismal 29 percent.
- Sandy Brondello, 2 guard. Like Sam, she throws up a lot of shots. The Sol's ... ahem ... undominant post hurts both Brondello and Sam, as they have to shoot the ball even though defenses are ganging up on them. Brondello's Australian, by the way.
- Debbie Black, the point guard. Adequate; nothing special.
The Sol's coach is Ron Rothstein. Their sibling NBA team is the Miami Heat.
January 12, 2004 update: The Heat decided in November of 2002 to get out of the women's basketball business, and the Sol folded. Its players were dispersed among the remaining WNBA teams in April of 2003.
Sources:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketba/wnba/teams/sol.htm
http://www.wnba.com