Shock Sweep Silver Stars 3-0; Detroit Wins Third WNBA Title

By David Nows: SPM Detroit Writer
Posted Monday, October 6, 2008

Members of the Detroit Shock celebrate their third title in six season. Photo by Lynn Gregg.

YPSILANTI, Mich. - "It’s a players’ game, and we have the best players in the world -- no doubt about it."

The quote from Detroit Shock coach Bill Laimbeer couldn’t be argued by anyone who witnessed Detroit’s fourth-quarter explosion en route to a Game Three victory over the San Antonio Silver Stars and a third WNBA title in six years. The Shock is the first team in WNBA history to sweep a Finals series.

San Antonio led most of the way through and only trailed by four heading into the final quarter, but a 27-15 Shock fourth quarter, including a 14-0 run did the Silver Stars in. In the end, Detroit emerged victorious 76-60 in front of a sellout crowd at Eastern Michigan University’s Convocation Center.

"I thought we played a pretty good basketball game for about two and a half, three quarters, but their physicality showed through, especially in the fourth quarter," Silver Stars head coach Dan Hughes said.

San Antonio got off to a solid start, beginning the game on an 8-2 tear. But the Shock soon gathered themselves and went on an 8-2 run of their own to tie the game at ten. From this point on, neither team led by more than six until the fourth quarter of play. San Antonio controlled the tempo of the game, outshooting the Shock by a margin of 48 to 30 percent in the first half. However, the Silver Stars couldn’t capitalize because of their inability to keep Detroit off of the offensive glass. The Shock had ten first-half offensive rebounds, leading to 11 second-chance points.

Detroit maintained its dominance in the rebounding column in the second half, outrebounding San Antonio 24-9. The Silver Stars couldn’t maintain their advantage in the shooting department, hitting only 33 percent in the second half compared to Detroit’s 47 percent. Most of this disparity came in during the fourth quarter, when Katie Smith, the eventual Finals MVP, took over, scoring 11 of her 18 points. On the other end of the floor, San Antonio couldn’t buy a bucket, as center Ann Wauters was the only Silver Star to score a field goal in the fourth until under a minute left to play. At that juncture, the game was well out of reach.

"You don’t want to take anything for granted," said Smith of her team’s mind set in Game Three, "We wanted to finish this thing out."

Alongside Smith, Detroit was led by mid-season acquisition Taj McWilliams-Franklin, who scored 13 points and added eight rebounds, as well as center Kara Braxton, who contributed a near double-double with nine points and nine rebounds. The Shock survived an unusually off performance from four-time WNBA all- star guard Deanna Nolan, who shot five-for-21 from the field, scoring 12 points.

For the Silver Stars, Wauters lead the way with 19 points and nine rebounds. Forward Sophia Young was the only other key contributor for the Silver Stars with 15 points. The Shock held star guard Becky Hammon to five points on one-for-ten shooting, and former teammate Ruth Riley to one field goal and two points. Riley started in place of struggling forward Erin Buescher, who scored three points, giving her a total of ten for the three games series.

This WNBA title is the Shock's third in six seasons, including four conference championships. Bill Laimbeer is the active leader in playoff victories for a head coach with 27, and Detroit’s three WNBA titles puts them in second place behind Houston’s four, all of which came in the WNBA’s first four seasons (1997-2000).

"You have to look at the reality of it, they’ve been [to the Finals] three straight years now," Hughes said when asked if Detroit had established themselves as a dynasty. "The simple reality is that they’re playing at that level."

The Shock will now celebrate the title with a rally Monday at noon in downtown Detroit. Mayor Kenneth Cockrell Jr. will be on hand, among others, to honor the champions at Campus Martius Park.

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