Lots of coverage for today's game five: the Shock praise the Joe and claim the Mo. Coach Laimbeer says the downtown Detroit arena will fill up; his team is even bringing a "Palace of Auburn Hills" banner to make sure it feels like home.

Katie Smith has two ABL championships and two servings of Olympic gold; today she can win her first WNBA ring. (Even those of us who aren't Shock fans like that idea.)

Nancy Lieberman answers Bill's critique: "My job is to state my opinion and state my analysis. I'm well entitled to tell you that Ruth Riley and Swin Cash haven't played well at some points." The Freep's Chris Silva breaks down matchups.

Kara Lawson says it's an effort-and-character test for the Monarchs, which strikes me as admirable but mostly wrong. Few folks doubt the Monarchs' determination; it's their offensive skills, and their physical endurance, that Detroit has tested most.

Voisin says coach Whisenant must pass his own endurance test. Whiz himself tries to make sense of "the most unusual series I've been involved with ... One team has played really, really well or another poorly. It's our turn to play well, but I'm sure Detroit doesn't feel that way."