Katie Smith looked great last night, and carried her team in the second quarter, when it otherwise flagged. She's on track for finals MVP, as Voepel says.
The series moves to Ypsilanti now-- it's been displaced from the Palace by Disney on Ice. The Shock need one more win. Katie's basketball IQ is up there in the stratosphere: she won this game for them (after the hot team start), and Taj-- whom you might say won game one-- is overdue for the praise she now receives. And yet...
Unless you live in, or hail from, the Motor City, this probably isn't the finals you wanted to see. If you work in Secaucus, you might just be tearing your hair out. And I'm thinking-- with apologies to Ted-- that we might have the worst Finals series ever.
Though the games have seemed close on paper (Detroit +3 om the boards in game one, +7 in game two; more game one stats from Paul) neither one felt close.
San Antonio might have done wonders at full strength, but without Darling or Lawson-Wade they have one experienced point guard, who's also their chief offensive threat-- they needed one late comeback and one crazy buzzer-beater to get to the finals, and they seem overmatched now that they've arrived.
In the first quarter last night, Detroit led 19-2. Then the Shock somehow stopped playing and let the Silver Stars tie the score; the home team even led, briefly, around the 40s, thanks in part to a series of Shock turnovers.
But Becky Hammon seemed to run around and try to do everything herself: no other Star except Ann Wauters made many shots, no other Star except Sophia wanted to take many shots, and the disparity in team defense was just silly. Detroit shot over 50% as a team; the Stars couldn't even make it to 33%, and the shot chart says they were 3-for-15 from layup range.
Detroit were the second best rebounding team in the regular season; the Stars were the second worst. Part of that has to do with possessions per game (can anyone send me the rebounding percentage comparisons?) but it doesn't inspire confidence. What do the Stars need to do to force a game four? And who thinks, on the Shock's home floor, they can do it?
The series moves to Ypsilanti now-- it's been displaced from the Palace by Disney on Ice. The Shock need one more win. Katie's basketball IQ is up there in the stratosphere: she won this game for them (after the hot team start), and Taj-- whom you might say won game one-- is overdue for the praise she now receives. And yet...
Unless you live in, or hail from, the Motor City, this probably isn't the finals you wanted to see. If you work in Secaucus, you might just be tearing your hair out. And I'm thinking-- with apologies to Ted-- that we might have the worst Finals series ever.
Though the games have seemed close on paper (Detroit +3 om the boards in game one, +7 in game two; more game one stats from Paul) neither one felt close.
San Antonio might have done wonders at full strength, but without Darling or Lawson-Wade they have one experienced point guard, who's also their chief offensive threat-- they needed one late comeback and one crazy buzzer-beater to get to the finals, and they seem overmatched now that they've arrived.
In the first quarter last night, Detroit led 19-2. Then the Shock somehow stopped playing and let the Silver Stars tie the score; the home team even led, briefly, around the 40s, thanks in part to a series of Shock turnovers.
But Becky Hammon seemed to run around and try to do everything herself: no other Star except Ann Wauters made many shots, no other Star except Sophia wanted to take many shots, and the disparity in team defense was just silly. Detroit shot over 50% as a team; the Stars couldn't even make it to 33%, and the shot chart says they were 3-for-15 from layup range.
Detroit were the second best rebounding team in the regular season; the Stars were the second worst. Part of that has to do with possessions per game (can anyone send me the rebounding percentage comparisons?) but it doesn't inspire confidence. What do the Stars need to do to force a game four? And who thinks, on the Shock's home floor, they can do it?
posted by Stephanie at 8:46 AM
