Shock win second WNBA title
Joe Louis Arena celebrated a championship title earlier today, although it wasn’t for the Wings. The Detroit Shock won its second franchise WNBA title in four years. The Shock pushed the best-of-three series to game five and beat the Sacramenta Monarchs, 80-75.
Deanna Nolan received the MVP award after scoring 24 points in today’s game.
The WNBA.com finals blog has more on today’s game.
The Shock had their second consecutive dominant half of the series and closed out the Monarchs with a sweet blend of timely shooting, athleticism, increased intensity and Deanna Nolan. While Detroit was inconsistent and lacked their full effort at times during this series, there is no denying that they tightened the screws when they had to and ran over the Monarchs. Maybe they were toying with Sacramento.
The rap against Deanna Nolan is that she does not always have the jets on, but when she does, look out. Well, the jets were misfiring in the first half, but kicked into turbo in that third quarter. Is this what she was waiting for? Did it take two elimination games to bring out the fire in this gifted, seemingly-aloof All-Star? Experts pick the Shock to win it all every year because of the talent on their roster, yet they had under-performed the past two seasons for myriad reasons.
Again, in the end, the Shock may just have been too good for the Monarchs all along. At their best, they have proven that they are the best team in the WNBA. We extend our most heart-felt congratulations to the Shock. Personally, it is great to see Katie Smith standing on the podium. As one of the most-decorated players ever, this just feels right, doesn’t it? Swin Cash showed the leadership tonight that may have been lacking at times this series, but she came through when it counted. And Ruth Riley may have struggled this postseason, but redemption is sweet (and spelled R-U-T-H).
I’d expect Women’s Hoops Blog to have some more coverage and analysis later today or tomorrow in regards to the Shock’s victory.
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