Shock update
July 21, 2005 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Detroit Shock News Release
ROME MEETS MARSHALS FIRST IN NIFL PLAYOFFS;
UNDEFEATED ODESSA HOSTS FEVER SATURDAY
THE DETROIT SHOCK:
- The Shock defeated the Connecticut Sun 66-57 on Sunday ... The Shock were led by Cheryl Ford's 12 points and 12 rebounds...
- The Shock will travel west to play the Seattle Storm (11-10) on Saturday, July 23 at 1:00 p.m...The Shock will also visit the Sacramento Monarchs (13-6) on Sunday July 24 at 6:00 p.m...
- The Shock now carry a record of 8-10... The Shock are currently fifth in the Eastern Conference ...
- The Shock are averaging 67.8 points per game, 36.8 rebounds per game, 14.6 assists per game, and 17.3 turnovers per game ...
- The Shock are led this season by Deanna Nolan with 16.3 points per game (5th in WNBA), Cheryl Ford with 9.7 rebounds per game (1st in WNBA), and Deanna Nolan with 4.0 assists per game (9th in WNBA) ...
- Shock opponents are averaging 68.7 points per game, 30.6 rebounds per game, 14.1 assists per game, and 14.7 turnovers per game ...
- Shock forward Swin Cash and center Ruth Riley were voted as 2005 WNBA All-Star starters...Forward Cheryl Ford and guard Deanna Nolan were selected as reserves...Deanna Nolan led all scorers with 22 points in the 122-99 West team win...
- The Shock traded Andrea Stinson and a 2006 second round draft pick to the Phoenix Mercury for Plenette Pierson...The Shock then resigned Andrea Stinson and released Ayana Walker...The Shock released Niele Ivey and signed former Shock guard Sheila Lambert...
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING: - "(Swin Cash) came out with a lot more intensity and a lot more energy to get us started on a good note. Our offense was being carried by Ruth and Swin, so that was a positive. Deanna didn't need to score, but when we had to have her down the stretch, she was there doing her thing." -- Shock Head Coach Bill Laimbeer after the Shock's 66-57 win over the Sun on Wednesday, Thursday, July 20, 2005, The Detroit Free Press.
- "We really needed this win. Bill's been getting after us about getting loose balls, and we're trying to do it. I just saw the ball (on an inbounds pass) floating in the air and went after it." - Shock forward Cheryl Ford after Wednesday's win against Connecticut, Thursday, July 20, 2005, The Detroit News.
- "I think she's more of a surprise to the league, and the league still doesn't give her the credit they should give. She's the fastest player in the WNBA right now at her position. She can't be stopped unless she stops herself." -Detroit Shock guard Elaine Powell on Shock guard Deanna Nolan, Wednesday, July 19, 2005, The Detroit Free Press.
- "For two-thirds, three-quarters of the game, it's the same old routine: We didn't play hard enough. We didn't want the game badly enough and it showed in our execution. We have a disturbing problem that needs to be addressed." - Shock Head Coach Bill Laimbeer after the Shock fell to the Indiana Fever on Sunday, The Detroit Free Press, Monday, July 18, 2005
- "That's been one of our plagues all season long. That's just from lack of focus. We don't have the determination to play 40 minutes of basketball. And they have to find that determination."- Shock Head Coach Bill Laimbeer after Sunday's ninth loss in 12 games, The Detroit News, Monday July 18, 2005.
TELEVISION:
- The Shock's next televised game is scheduled for July 23 when the Shock visit the Seattle Storm ... The game will be televised on ABC at 1:00 p.m. ...
- The Shock will have four games broadcast on national television in 2005 and twelve games on local television (WB20, Comcast, Fox Sports Net)... The Shock are among the leaders in the WNBA in most games broadcast on local television ...
- All Shock games this season will be broadcast on WDTW 1310 AM...The "Voice of the Shock" is Matt Shepard of WDFN and Fox Sports Net, and the color analyst is MSU Head Coach and National Coach of the Year Joanne P. McCallie ...
- The WNBA broadcasts content to 188 countries in 30 languages...
ATTENDANCE:
- 14,932 fans attended the Shock's home game against Connecticut on Wednesday, July 19...That game marked the largest crowd of the season... Our average attendance for 2005 is 9,136...
- The Shock will welcomed their 1,000,000th Fan in franchise history on Wednesday...Andrea Gorski of Livonia will be recognized at halftime at an upcoming Shock game...She also received two Shock season tickets for the 2006 season and a Shock prize package, including an autographed basketball, a Shock t-shirt, a Shock jersey, and other items...
- The Shock averaged 9,462 fans during the 2004 season...Over 10,000 Shock fans filled The Palace five times during the 2004 season...The Shock averaged 7,861 fans in 2003 and 5,886 fans in 2002 ...
- The Shock ranked fourth in the WNBA in attendance in 2004, behind the Washington Mystics (12,615), the NY Liberty (11,310) and the LA Sparks (10,428) ...
- The Shock hold the WNBA attendance record of 22,076 for the September 16, 2003, game where fans watched the Shock defeat the Los Angeles Sparks for the 2003 WNBA Championship...
- The WNBA topped the Two Million mark in attendance in 2004 for the sixth consecutive year ...
TICKETS AND SPONSORSHIPS:
n The Shock have a special offer for full-time employees to share the Shock experience with their friends and family ... You can get up to six courtside VIP tickets, backstage press passes, and a VIP welcome on Palacevision ... If interested, email Kristin Bernert with your top three choices of games ...
n Fan giveaways this year will include a Cheryl Ford bobblehead courtesy of Ford (7/31), a WNBA CD case (8/7), a Shock drawstring backpack (8/21) and a Shock t-shirt (8/25) ...
n Theme Nights for this season will include Grandparents' Day (7/31), Girl's Night Out (8/7), Back to School (8/21) and Fan Appreciation (8/25) ...
n Lennox signed as the new presenting sponsor of the Detroit Shock ...
n New sponsors for 2005 include Michigan Hand and Sport, Michigan Steps Up, and Medical Weight Loss Centers ...
n Ford is the official car of the 2005 Detroit Shock... Cheryl Ford shot her second commercial for Ford, promoting the Ford 500 ... Spots are currently airing during Shock broadcasts ...
IN THE COMMUNITY:
- The Detroit Shock honored Adam Rose, Kizzie Adams, and Mary Bartel before Sunday's game against Indiana...Adam Rose, 11, is a student at Duncan Elementary in Sterling Heights who was diagnosed with Leukemia at age 4...He is an honorary hero for the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society of Michigan...Kizzie Adams, an 11 year old student at Bates Academy, is active in the Alternatives for Girls program...She also helped her mother and brother recover from a traumatic car crash two years ago...Mary Bartel, a seven year old triplet, was born premature at 30 weeks and diagnosed with hydrocephalus or "water on the brain"...This volunteer soccer coach also takes time to spend with other sick children and seniors...This marks the fifth time the Shock have honored someone from the community as part of the "My Personal Heroes" program...
- The Shock will host their fourth annual Tip-a-Shock on Wednesday, July 27 at Kalloway's Restaurant in Oxford...Shock players and coaches will act as wait staff, with all tips being donated to the March of Dimes...There will also be a silent auction and photo and autograph opportunities...
- The Year-Round Hoops Truck will visit Charlevoix for the Venetian Festival from Thursday 7/21 through Saturday 7/23...
- The Detroit Shock are hosting the "My Personal Heroes" program to honor members of the community who have gone above and beyond the call of duty ...
- Ruth Riley will host a basketball camp July 26-27 ... The camp will take place at Detroit Country Day ... It is open to all kids kindergarten to 11th grade...
- The Shock are inviting fans to have a bigger part in the game-day experience by featuring halftime acts that were all Born In Michigan ... All interested fans can apply online...
- During their eight years in Detroit, the Shock have made over 2,000 community appearances...
THE PALACE OF AUBURN HILLS:
- DTE Energy Music Theatre: Lynyrd Skynyrd 7/21, Dwight Yoakam wsg Josh Turner 7/22, Dennis DeYoung: The Music of Styx with Rock Symphony 7/23...
- Palace Sports & Entertainment and Hillside Productions have entered into a cooperative management agreement for the Jerome-Duncan Ford Theatre in Sterling Heights, MI... Lonestar wsg The Hummingbirds 7/22, Tom Jones wsg Tower of Power 7/23, Break! The Urban Funk Spectacular 7/29...
- Upcoming Events at Palace: Detroit Shock vs. Phoenix Mercury 7/31...
- Meadowbrook Music Theatre: Richard Jeni 7/21, Celtic Woman 7/22, Loretta Lynn 7/23...
DETROITSHOCK.COM WEB SITE:
- To date, for the first six months of 2005, www.detroitshock.com has had over 330,000 visits, nearly 60% of the total from 2004...The site averages more than 41,000 unique visitors per month and has had more than 1.1 million views...
- Just to give you a perspective, this SHOCK UPDATE is pretty long, but it is only 2,455 words...Can you imagine having to fill 1,000,000 words?
- New website feature: Orange & Oatmeal, the WNBA's first-ever internet exchange between the Detroit Shock and the Seattle Storm ...
- Links to the WNBA Fantasy Game ... choose a player daily and collect points based on their points, rebounds, and assists in that day's game...Shock Lockerroom ... Find out some of the players' favorite things by looking in their lockers...
- Shock player favorites, Did You Know Trivia, One-on-One Features, Dear Swin, Generation 'S' and downloadable Shock Wallpaper...
- The website features an on-going diary of Shock rookie Kara Braxton...
MERCHANDISE:
- Stores have home and away jerseys for the starting five ...
- Girls' sweatpants and sweatshirts as well as hats and t-shirts for all Shock fans...
- Show your support with an I Love your favorite player tee ...
- Shock golf shirts are also available in red, light blue, and peach ...
- Check out all of the items with the new Pistons logo...Hats, shirts, and caps are all in stock....
DETROIT PISTONS - The Pistons.com website set franchise records for traffic during June's run to the Finals...Nearly 11 million pages were viewed during June...That is over 1.2 million more than June 2004 and ten times more than June 2003...
- The Pistons and Larry Brown have parted ways...The team has announced Flip Saunders as its next head coach
- The Pistons selected Jason Maxiell, Alex Acker, and Amir Johnson in the 2005 NBA Draft...
- The Pistons finished the Reebok Vegas Summer League with a record of 3-2...
- The Pistons lost to the San Antonio Spurs in Game Seven of the 2005 NBA Finals ...
- The Pistons captured their sixth Central Division title and their fifth Eastern Conference championship...
AWARDS/ ACCOLADES - The Pistons were rated by NBA season ticket holders as having the best customer service...67% of season ticket holders rated the Pistons as a six or seven on a seven point scale...The NBA average was 47%...
- DTE Energy Music Theatre was named Favorite Outdoor Venue at the 2005 Detroit Music Awards...
- The Palace was ranked number five in USA TODAY Greg Boeck's rankings of NBA Arenas...Denver, Indiana, Philadelphia, and Phoenix ranked ahead of The Palace...
- The Pistons and Olson + Company have been awarded an EFFIE Award from the New York American Marketing Association ...The 2003-04 "CREW Draft" campaign was recognized as one of the most successful marketing campaigns of the year...The EFFIE Award is the advertising equivalent of an Emmy Award...
- The Pistons ranked Number One in the 2005 ESPN the Magazine Ultimate Fan Rankings of Major Professional Sports Franchises...The Pistons ranked Number 4 in 2004 and Number 13 in 2003...
- Pistons Owner William Davidson was named Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal 2004 Sports Business Executive of the Year for his overall impact on sports throughout the year... Mr. Davidson also owns the Detroit Shock and the Tampa Bay Lightning...
- The Pistons were included in Brand Week Magazine's list of 2004 Marketers of the Year for its "Goin' to Work" campaign...The Pistons are the only team ever to be included on the list...
- Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal's 2004 survey of NBA General Managers, the Pistons were recognized as having the best owner and team marketing efforts...
- DTE Energy Music Theatre was listed as the world's most attended outdoor concert venue in 2004 for the 14th consecutive year...DTE was also nominated as "Best Major Outdoor Concert Venue" by Pollstar magazine for the 12th time...Over 834,000 guests attended 68 shows in 2004...
- The Palace of Auburn Hills was named best Sports Venue by readers of Real Detroit...Also recognized were the Detroit Pistons as Best Professional Team and Ben Wallace as Best Athlete...
HOOP CITY GRILLE:
- Hoop City Grille is the place to be for all Shock games ... All games will be broadcast at Hoop City Grille this summer...
- Check out the recently installed fiber optic line that allows Hoop City to broadcast the game directly from The Palace feed...Hear all the action as it happens with this line...
- Hoop City Grille now features new memorabilia and new murals from every era of Detroit Pistons and Detroit Shock basketball...And be sure to look up...Does it remind you of someplace??? ...
- Check out the new menu...Try the Cash Chicken Stir Fry or maybe EP's Cajun Shrimp Scampi...For the kids, order the Shock It's Personal Cheese Pizza or Zap's Chicken Strips ...
- The outdoor patio will be open soon for great summer dining...
MISCELLANEOUS:
- Did you know that Shock forward Cheryl Ford and Storm guard Betty Lennox played together on the 2000 Sun Belt Conference Championship team? Ford was a freshman, averaging over six points and five boards per game. Lennox, a senior, was the conference's player of the year, averaging 13.7 points...
- Did you know that Shock forward Swin Cash and Storm guard Sue Bird played four years together at UCONN? They averaged a combined 29.3 points, 12 assists, and 8.1 assists per game during their senior year (2001-02), a year in which both were named First Team Kodak All-American's...
- Did you know that Gavin Maloof, owner and Vice Chairman of the Monarchs, was the youngest owner and operator in the history of major professional sports history? After the death of his father, Gavin took over operations and ownership of the Houston Rockets in 1980 at the age of 24. The Rockets made the NBA Finals in 1981...
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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.
