Detroit Shock post game notes and quotes
August 27, 2006 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Detroit Shock News Release
--With tonight's win over the Connecticut Sun, the Detroit Shock has won the WNBA Eastern Conference Finals for the second time in four years. They also won the Eastern Conference Finals, going on to win the WNBA title, in 2003. Three nights ago, Detroit defeated the Sun, 70-59, in Detroit. Last night, the Sun turned the tables, winning 77-68, here at Mohegan Sun Arena.
-- The Shock thus advances to take on the defending WNBA Champion Sacramento Monarchs in the WNBA Finals. The dates for this year's Finals are as follows: Game 1: Wednesday, August 30th; Game 2: Friday, September 1st, Game 3: Sunday, September 3rd, Game 4 ( if necessary): Wednesday, September 6th, and Game 5 ( if necessary): Saturday, September 9th. Games 1, 2, and 5 would be at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Games 3 and 4 would be at Sacramento's Arco Arena. Times have not yet been determined as of this writing. All games will be televised on ESPN 2. -- This was the third time in four seasons that the Sun and the Shock met in the post season - with each team sweeping a series in the playoffs. Detroit defeated Connecticut, 2-0, in the 2003 Eastern Conference Finals, while the Sun topped the Shock, 2-0, in the first round of the 2005 playoffs. -- With the victory tonight, the Shock has won 4 games to the Sun's 3 in their three playoff battles. (The Shock owns a 16-13 edge in regular-season play).
-- Overall this season, Detroit won all three regular-season games played between these two teams. The Shock then won the first and third games of this series, giving Detroit a 5-1 advantage in games played between the two teams in 2006.
--Tonight's starters for the Detroit Shock included: Swin Cash and Cheryl Ford at the forwards, Ruth Riley at center, and Deanna Nolan and Katie Smith at the guards. For the Sun, the starters were: Nykesha Sales and Taj McWilliams-Franklin at the forwards, Margo Dydek at center, and Lindsay Whalen and Katie Douglas at the guards.
--With tonight's loss, the Sun now owns a 10-3 all-time postseason record at home.
--AFTER ONE QUARTER, the Shock led the Sun, 23-18. The Shock was led by Swin Cash with 10 points (she had 4 all of last night), followed by 6 for Katie Smith (she had 2 all of last night). Cheryl Ford had 4. For the Sun, Lindsay Whalen led with 5 points, followed by Taj McWilliams-Franklin and Margo Dydek with 4 each. Detroit led in rebounding, 7-6. Ruth Riley pulled down 4 caroms for the Shock. Dydek had the same number for the Sun. Detroit shot very well in the period, .600 (9-for-15). Connecticut shot .444 (8-for-18). There were 6 lead changes. The Shock led by as many as 7 points, the Sun by as many as 1.
--AT THE HALF, the Shock led, 46-37. Swin Cash led Detroit with 12 points, followed by Kara Braxton with 10 (all 10 in the second quarter). Katie Smith added 9 and Plenette Pierson 6. For the Sun, both McWilliams-Franklin and Asjha Jones had 8 points apiece. Dydek, Whalen, and Douglas had 6 each. The Shock led the rebound battle, 18-13. Dydek led all rebounders with 5. Riley and Pierson had 4 each for the Shock. The Shock was shooting .545 (18-for-33). The Sun was shooting .405 (15-for-37). The Sun was shooting just .267 (4-for-15) from 3-point range. The biggest Shock lead was 11 points. Detroit never trailed in this period.
-- The 18 field goals made by the Shock in the first half was the most against the Sun in any half in any Sun playoff game. The old record versus the Sun was 17, achieved three times, twice by Detroit here on Sept. 5, 2003, then at Detroit on Sept. 7, 2003, and by Sacramento here on Sept. 15, 2005.
--AFTER THREE QUARTERS, the Shock led, 63-45. The Shock outscored the Sun, 17-8, in that quarter. Swin Cash led Detroit with 16 points after three periods. Katie Smith had 14, Kara Braxton 10. The only double-figure scorer for Connecticut was McWilliams-Franklin with 10. Katie Douglas and Asjha Jones had 9 each, Whalen 8. Detroit's top rebounder was Cash with 7. Riley had 6. For the Sun, Dydek had 7, McWilliams-Franklin 6. The Shock was shooting .472 (25-for-53). The Sun was shooting .353 (18-for-51). The Sun shot just .214 (3-for-14) in the quarter. The Sun was shooting .250 from 3-point range (5-for-20). The Shock scored the first 6 points of this quarter, and led by as many as 20 (63-43 with 1:32 left in the quarter). --Kara Braxton's 12 points are a career playoff high. Her old career high was 9 versus Connecticut on August 31, 2005 at Detroit. --Detroit led by as many as 27 points in the 4th quarter, 77-50. --There were 6 lead changes and 0 ties in this contest. --This was the Sun's second-worst loss (24 points) in their playoff history. The worst was a 29-point loss vs. Cleveland on August 15, 2000 (72-43).
--In Sun playoff history, the 55 points scored tied for 3rd worst. The low was 43 in a 72-43 loss vs. Cleveland on August 15, 2000. The second worst was 54 on August 13, 2000 vs. Cleveland. The Sun scored 55 on Sept. 18, 2005 vs. Sacramento.
--The .309 field goal percentage was the second worst by the Sun in their playoff history. The worst was .276 (16-for-58) at Cleveland on August 15, 2000.
--The 21 field goals scored for the Sun in a game tied for 4th-worst in Sun playoff history. The worst was 16, then 20 twice, and 21 as many as 5 times.
CONNECTICUT SUN QUOTES
Head Coach Mike Thibault Opening statement: "At the risk of stating the obvious, we got our butts kicked. Detroit played as well as I've ever seen them play, at least against us. They are a highly talented team. They came out and manhandled us. They earned everything they got. I'm proud of my team for the season that we had but obviously disappointed that in a game that gave us a chance to get back to the Finals, we got beat. I've always told our team that you'll have regrets if you don't do the right things or play hard. I've never had to reprimand my team about playing hard, or at least not very often. Tonight we just got beat. Detroit took it to us from the very start. They rammed it down our throats. They posted us up. They ran their plays and made the game very simple. We struggled. They took away the paint from us. They made us shoot outside shots and we ended up shooting 6-for-25 from the three point line. That's not a good sign when you are trying to beat a team that good."
On what disappoints him about tonight: "Just about everything. I hate losing at anything. My family will tell you that. I'm most disappointed that in the first half we didn't match them in transition. I told our players after what I saw last night, I felt that their game plan was going to be to take Katie Smith and run her right down our throat as hard as she could to see if she could draw some fouls. (I also thought) that they would just throw it in the post and throw it out and try to pound us on the boards. Basically, they did that from the start. I was most disappointed that we didn't get offensive rebounds, but we also didn't get back. You've got to do one or the other, and we got caught in the middle. They were running, throwing over the top of us and getting layups. We let Braxton come off the bench and get plays in the paint. Swin (Cash) had her best game against us all year running the floor. I knew Katie Smith was going to play the way she did after last night, that's he was going to just put her head down and go and see I she could get Lindsay (Whalen), or whoever guarded her, into foul trouble. Given all that and as bad as we played, at halftime, I felt like if we got a good start to the third quarter that we could get ourselves back into the game. But, we were even worse. Between turnovers, shot selection, you could make a laundry list of things. We didn't do anything right tonight. We picked a bad night to have one of our worst performances of the year. I really can't tell you way other than Detroit played like they were supposed to play. They don't always do that, but they played like they're supposed to play. I think the consensus in the league is that they are physically, if not the most talented them then one of them. They played like that tonight and we didn't match them."
Lindsay Whalen On the start of the second half: "It started with our first four or five possessions. There were three turnovers and a missed three. They got some run-outs and a couple more loose balls in the lane, and the next thing you knew it was a 6-0 run. Down nine at halftime, all of a sudden it was a 15 point game. We called a quick timeout to try and regroup ourselves but, for whatever reason, we had a tough time scoring there in the third quarter. It was not the start of the half you want. After being down at the start of the half, you want to come out and start (well). It just didn't happen for us."
On losing five of six to Detroit this year: "They're extremely athletic. Inside, they walled off the paint on us and made us take 25 threes. They're real athletic. They've got players who can jump. They're one of those teams that really pushes it back at us. We feel that one of our strengths is getting it up the floor and playing at a fast tempo. That's what they like to do too and they've got some athletes on the wings as well in (Deanna) Nolan, (Katie) Smith and (Swin) Cash. They can come at you a lot of different ways and they're a talented team."
On Swin Cash: "She comes out aggressive to start and tonight she got some things to go. She got a couple from the baseline and made a couple of strong post moves and got herself going tonight. She came at it from the start and she played well tonight."
On how to describe how the Sun played "I think flustered is the word to (describe how) we were playing. I don't know what it was. Shots that we normally hit, we just weren't hitting. I can't really tell at this point. I might have to watch the game to really tell (what went wrong). Katie Douglas On what to contribute the loss to "It's tough. It's a three-game series. We played here just 24 hours earlier. It's more about the little things than the x's and o's. They pounded us inside. They just took it right at us."
On if the team assembled here is enough to win a championship "Obviously I thought that and the other players felt that we had the right pieces to the puzzle to win the title. Coach had confidence in this group. But, anytime you fall short, you've got to start tinkering and make some moves. Teams don't stand still. They don't remain stagnant. Even when you're a championship team, you've got to continue to work and continue to find ways to get better. We need to start figuring out what it is we need to do."
Nykesha Sales On if the Sun expected Detroit to adjust from game two "I think we knew (Detroit) would be different. Obviously, not every one on their side had played very well (in the last game). We knew that they had something to prove, and I think they hyped up themselves throughout most of the year. (They felt) they had something to prove. They just played very aggressive. They played very hard. They dug deep. They did the little things. They made it happen."
On the injuries the team endured during the season "We have a lot of players who have to do so much in order for us to be good. I know personally, I just couldn't really get back in the swing of things for whatever reason. It's been kind of a tough year for me, personally. KT (Douglas) had a tough ending to her year. She did her best, but a lot of players stepped up. For the majority of the year, we played really well. I guess things like that happen. They've just never happened to me before."
DETROIT SHOCK LOCKER ROOM QUOTES
Bill Laimbeer Opening statement: "This team makes me look good every now and then. It was a very fun and enjoyable experience to be associated with them today. You could tell from the locker room before the game started that they were focused and ready to play basketball. We were a little put out on our performance yesterday. From Swin Cash starting out the game with all the energy in the world, to our bench coming in with Kara Braxton performing like she did... We were just so quick to the ball, defensively. We dug a lot of balls out. We got all the loose balls in the second half when the game was being decided. We came out of the locker room in the third quarter with determination that this was our game and that we were going to go to the Finals. Everything about this game was a pleasure to be with except for the one time when I had the melt down and lost my brain right before the half. They'll tell me about that for a long time. But, other than that, it was a great game for our players. I'm very happy for Miss (Katie) Smith here sitting next to me. It's her first Final. That's why we brought her here, was to play in Finals. We had an enjoyable game. I give Connecticut a lot of credit. They've represented the Eastern Conference well for the last couple of years but now it's our turn. We're prepared to go into this final against Sacramento, the defending champion. We talk to them all the time. We're good friends as coaching staffs and we kid each other, but this is business now. We're coming to do some business."
On dominating the game: "You never expect to come into a game as have as successful of a game as we had and win by this margin. But, that's how it works a majority of the time in a close out game. When you seize control of a game, the other team gets a little bit flustered and put their heads down for a moment and that even energizes your team more. A lot of close out games are blow out games because one team keeps the hammer down and drives and the other team fades off into the sunset."
On adjustments between games two and three "There was no adjustment. We put in a couple of plays that were insignificant. There as no adjustment except in the players' attitude and how they approached this game."
Katie Smith On adjustments between games two and three: "The only adjustment was our energy. Transition-wise, we began to push the ball for the beginning of the ball game and really took it at them. They got a little tired. That's et the tone for us. We played a smarter ball game. For myself, yesterday I was more of a floor general. I didn't look for myself and just tried to run the team a little bit too much. It's a fine line. So, tonight, I was playing for my shot but also running this team. I think everybody came with the mindset and the energy was just huge. We came out and were ready to play and ready for whatever was thrown our way."
On pre-series hype about top-seeded Connecticut: "I've been around a while so not much surprises me. I've kind of been-there done0that in a lot of ways. The only way that you can prove yourself and get past some of that stuff is by winning. The way you can talk the loudest is by winning. We have a phenomenal team from top to bottom. They've gotten a lot of credit and give them credit because they're the most consistent team in this league. They've won games with people hurt. But we came in here and played well. I'm happy that we've hit that stride a little bit and I hope that we continue. They set the standard for a couple of years but we were up for the challenge this past season."
Swin Cash On her 10 point performance in the first quarter "I just give credit to my teammates they were just finding me positions, making passes and I was just able to hit down some shots, but we just wanted to come out and set the tone. I thought everyone came out defensively and offensively we were running, it was a beautiful thing to be a part of."
"We just came in with a mindset and everyone was like whatever it takes win at all cost and we didn't care who got the credit, who did whatever it was about doing the little things to win the game."
On looking ahead to the WNBA Finals "We have a little bit of experience in this room, but we are just gonna enjoy the moment right now and wake up tomorrow and go prepare for Sacramento. I like our chances, obviously Sacramento has something that we want, so its gonna be a battle."
On how the Shock set the tone early and never let the Sun back in the game "We just came with our foot on the gas and defensively we just wanted to get out there and be aggressive for the whole 40 minutes. Our bench came in and played great. I thought Kara Braxton did an excellent job. Cheryl was down low on the boards and we were making open shots and that is what Detroit basketball is all about and if we play like that its hard for a lot of teams to beat us."
Cheryl Ford On how the Shock set the tone early and never let the Sun back in the game "We knew that we had to do, what we were suppose to do and that was limit our turnovers, don't give them any second shots and run. He (Coach Laimbeer) told us that was the main thing, push the ball and run."
On the play of Braxton off the bench "Man!. Coach challenged her yesterday after the game and she came out and responded in a great way. She played big tonight, I'm proud of her and if she can do that every game, give us that off the bench, we are gonna be the champs."
On what they have to do to win the WNBA Championship "Stay focused mentally. They (Sacramento) love to play tough, they are a very physical team and we need to limit our turnovers, rebound and don't give them any second shots."
• Discuss this story on the Women's National Basketball Association message board...
Women's National Basketball Association Stories from August 27, 2006
- Detroit Shock post game notes and quotes - Detroit Shock
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
