Shocking success for Laimbeer and his team

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Shocking success for Laimbeer and his team


By Judy Van Handle, Globe Staff, 7/9/2003

Bill Laimbeer was well-known for his hubris as the Detroit Pistons' preeminent
''Bad Boy'' of the late 1980s, but even by his standards, this was a bit much.



The day before his Detroit Shock played the Los Angeles Sparks last month,
Laimbeer told USA Today, ''Mark my words. The Sparks are going down.''

Whether it was excessive confidence or a motivational technique, Laimbeer's
prediction hardly seemed warranted. How could the perenially downtrodden
Shock, 9-23 a season ago, possibly defeat the two-time defending WNBA
champions?

But the Shock validated their coach's boast by rallying from a 16-point
deficit and posting an 87-78 victory in overtime, not only handing the Sparks
their first defeat after nine victories but also ending their league-record
18-game winning streak that stretched over two seasons.

''Coach put himself out there by saying we were going to win, so we had to
back him up,'' said forward Swin Cash.

Such talk -- and play -- would have been unthinkable a year ago. For a team
that ran the risk of folding after last season because of poor play and waning
fan interest, the win was nothing short of an extraordinary accomplishment --
especially when coupled with another victory three nights later over the New
York Liberty, the defending Eastern Conference champs.

Thus, maybe it shouldn't be so surprising that, on the strength of an
eight-game winning streak, Detroit is the Eastern Conference's first-place
team. But there is no doubt about the biggest shock of all -- Laimbeer has
become a lovable figure in the eyes of his players.

A more dramatic transformation is difficult to imagine. After posting one
winning record in its first five seasons, Detroit started last year 0-13,
prompting the dismissal of coach Greg Williams and the hiring of Laimbeer,
whose coaching style and personnel moves began to infuse Detroit with some
optimism.

''The first thing I had to let them know is that I wasn't going to turn them
into the bad girls,'' said Laimbeer. ''Do I want them to play like I did?
Absolutely. But I think the way I played was with great mental intensity and
with 100 percent effort for the whole game.''

The Shock's first signs of life came when they finished 9-13 under Laimbeer in
the second half last year. In the offseason, the front office made full use of
its prime draft choices by adding center Ruth Riley with the No. 1 pick in the
dispersal draft and selecting forward Cheryl Ford with the third pick in the
entry draft.

Riley, the 2001 collegiate player of the year from Notre Dame, and Ford, the
daughter of Utah Jazz star Karl Malone who ranked third in the nation last
season in rebounding at Louisiana Tech, have teamed with Cash in the
reconstituted frontcourt that has been the major factor in Detroit's success.

Cash, who as a rookie out of Connecticut was the Shock's only viable offensive
threat last year, has thrived with her new running mates. She's sixth in the
WNBA in scoring (17.4 points per game) and personally secured the win over New
York by scoring 15 points in the final nine minutes.

''There's no question that she's our best player and our leader and our
hardest worker,'' said Laimbeer of Cash, the second overall choice in the 2002
draft.

Ford inhales backboards, her 21-rebound game against Connecticut June 22
setting a WNBA rookie record, and her average of 11.2 ranks second in the
league.

In the backcourt, Deanna Nolan has improved her scoring average from 8.7 in
2002 to 13.2 points per game and thus lightened the load on the frontcourt.
Nolan, an early favorite for the WNBA's most improved player honors, Cash, and
Ford each were selected as reserves for Saturday's All-Star Game.

But everyone agrees Detroit wouldn't be where it is if not for the presence of
Laimbeer on the sidelines and his metamorphosis into a coaching icon.

''Everybody loves him to death and loves playing for him,'' said Ford. ''He
gives us all the confidence and he doesn't beat around the bush when he has
something to say. He'll tell it to you straight if you're messing up. I
haven't seen the bad boy side of him, and I'm not ready to see it. I love him
as he is.''

Trying to take flight

Sue Bird will be starting at point guard for the Western Conference Saturday
as the league's fourth-leading vote-getter in fan balloting, but it's been a
painful season in some ways for the former UConn standout. Bird has been
playing with a sore knee, diagnosed as patellar chondromalacia (a softening of
the cartilage behind the kneecap), and also has suffered a deep thigh bruise.
Nevertheless, her 7.4 assists per game are best in the WNBA and her leadership
has helped the young Seattle Storm into third place in the Western Conference
. . . Whatever the sport, All-Star balloting usually has proven to be little
more than a popularity contest, not necessarily based on the merits or skills
of the players. In a league such as the WNBA, that's even more true, given
that the vote totals of high-attendance cities such as New York and Houston
often skews the balloting. Cynthia Cooper played only four games for the
Comets before suffering a season-ending rotator cuff injury, but she was voted
in as a West starter. Teresa Weatherspoon of the Liberty, one of the WNBA's
original stars who plays about half a game on the downside of her career, will
bring her 2.2 points per game to a starting role for the East.

Interest in Sun not burning

Much anticipation surrounded the Connecticut Sun this spring as they began
their first season in the WNBA. Not only were they sure to be closely watched
by the league's front office as the first WNBA team to exist independent of an
NBA team, but they were playing in a region ballyhooed as perhaps the nation's
most rabid market for women's basketball. But halfway through the season, the
fans have yet to take a shine to the Sun. Though they have All-Stars in
Nykesha Sales and Shannon Johnson and are 9-9, the Sun are last in the WNBA in
attendance; after drawing a sellout crowd of 9,341 for their home opener at
Mohegan Sun Arena, Connecticut's home crowds have dwindled. And many fans'
loyalties aren't directed toward the Sun, but at former UConn stars who play
for the opposition. When Cleveland's Jen Rizzotti drew a standing ovation
after hitting a 3-pointer, Sun coach Mike Thibault turned and admonished the
crowd. Team management pins the lackluster gates to a lack of time needed to
advertise and promote the Sun. Or perhaps the fans only can relate to the word
''UConn'' and not ''Connecticut'' on the front of a jersey.

Thanks,

Steve
sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx