Lynx-Shock Preview

By MATT BECKER
Posted May 14 2010 10:56PM

One of the WNBA's most successful teams has a new home, as the Tulsa Shock relocated from Detroit in the offseason.

While the franchise's championship banners have already made the trip, the team's top two scorers didn't.

With a revamped roster and a new city to call home, the Shock play their first game at a sold-out BOK Center on Saturday against the Minnesota Lynx.

After Detroit lost to Indiana in last season's Eastern Conference finals, an Oklahoma-based ownership group bought the Shock and announced plans to relocate to Tulsa in October.

The move ends a chapter for one of the most successful teams in WNBA history, as Detroit won titles in 2003, '06 and '08. Other than these championship banners that already hang in the BOK Center, most everything else about the franchise will be new.

Nolan Richardson, who won a national championship with Arkansas and led the University of Tulsa to an NIT title, has been hired as coach and general manager. He intends to mold the team in the uptempo, "40 Minutes of Hell" style he used to win the 1992 championship with the Razorbacks.

"We've got to upgrade from an athletic standpoint, people who can run the floor and play multiple positions," Richardson said.

One new player that is no stranger to running is former Olympic track star Marion Jones.

Jones won three gold and two bronze medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but later had those medals taken away for using steroids. She spent about six months in a Texas prison for lying about her use of performance-enhancing drugs and her role in a check-fraud scam, and is now set on returning to her roots as a basketball player. The 34-year-old Jones was the point guard on North Carolina's 1994 championship team.

"I've made the choice not to disappear, not to crawl up in a hole, not to be a hermit, but to put myself out there on the highest stage of sport again," Jones said.

While Jones will make her Shock debut, Deanna Nolan and Katie Smith won't be playing in Tulsa.

The Shock announced that Nolan and Smith had agreed to contract extensions before moving to Oklahoma, but neither had any intentions of playing in Tulsa.

Nolan, a four-time All-Star that ranked seventh in the league in scoring last season with an average of 16.9 points, is sitting out this year.

Smith, a six-time All-Star with an average of 13.7 points last season, has signed with Washington.

Minnesota hasn't enjoyed the same success as the Shock, who've made the playoffs each of the past seven seasons.

The Lynx, who went 14-20 last year, have qualified for the postseason only twice in 11 tries and they've never won a playoff series. There's a feeling things could be different this year, though.

Seimone Augustus is returning from a torn ACL in her left knee that limited her to six games in 2009. The two-time All-Star is the league's all-time leader at 21.2 points per game for her career.

She is joined by hometown star Lindsay Whalen, who was acquired in an offseason trade from Connecticut.

The All-Star guard, who stared at the University of Minnesota, averaged 12.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists for the Sun last season.

"We all expect a lot," Whalen said. "As far like a championship or things like that, I think that's in everyone's minds, but we have to go out there and earn it and prove it."

Jones has quiet WNBA debut as Lynx top Tulsa

By JEFF LATZKE
Posted May 15 2010 10:35PM

TULSA, Okla.(AP) Marion Jones' path to stardom in the WNBA won't be a sprint.

The former Olympic track star had little impact in limited playing time in her debut for Tulsa on Saturday night as the relocated Shock lost their inaugural game in their new hometown 80-74 to the Minnesota Lynx.

Jones, who won a national championship for North Carolina in college, made her return to basketball after more than a decade away. In between, she was stripped of her five Olympic track medals - including three golds - and served time in prison for lying to federal investigators.

Jones played less than 4 minutes and watched most of the action unfold from the bench.

Charde Houston scored 17 of her 21 points in the second half and Monica Wright added 18 points as Minnesota won in former Shock assistant Cheryl Reeve's debut as head coach.

The Lynx played without stars Candice Wiggins (knee) and Seimone Augustus (abdomen) but with Lindsay Whalen, the former University of Minnesota star picked up in an offseason trade. Whalen finished with 10 points, including two fadeaway jumpers to help hold off the Shock in the final 3 minutes, and six assists.

Jones was so amped up that she couldn't settle down enough after shootaround to take a pregame nap.

When she arrived at the sold-out BOK Center, video cameras were waiting to film her as she walked in, wearing a light blue shirt and a dark blue bandanna around her neck. Minutes later, she had changed into a black warmup and was fielding questions from reporters in an interview room.

She spoke of having the same kind of butterflies as before she would hit the track and called it the realization of ``a lifelong dream'' to play pro basketball. She's adjusting to the notion of having players 10 years younger make corrections to her game, and revels in the chance to play for a coach she's heard people around town refer to as a king and a god.

It takes away some of the spotlight that's been shined on her from around the globe, from people interested in the next chapter for a woman who was once among the most recognizable female athletes in the world.

``Certainly after being away from the sport for so long and how much the game has changed and improved, there are going to be some bumps in the road,'' Jones said. ``And whenever there are bumps, you kind of would like to do that quietly.''

Beyond the sellout crowd, WNBA commissioner Donna Orender flew in to see Jones and Tulsa make their debuts. She offered Jones an embrace and a simple message: ``Make magic.''

Then it was time to get ready for the game.

Jones started out on the bench but Richardson quickly went to a lineup of reserves as the Shock fell behind 10-2. Jones committed her first foul just 3 seconds into her career, while trying to guard Monica Wright on the right wing. Then, Wright bullied past her for a layup.

That 2-minute segment ended up being her longest stint on the court. She played only 3 minutes, 19 seconds and the foul was her only statistical contribution.

``It's a new beginning,'' Jones said before the game. ``Doing the sport that I love, that I'm passionate about. More than that, I mean, we can read into that as much as we want, but it's a new beginning for me.''

Tulsa rallied back with a 14-0 run late in the second quarter to get within one at halftime. Shanna Crossley's 3-pointer in the opening minute of the second half put Tulsa up 39-38, but that would end up being the only lead of the game for the Shock.

Hamchetou Maiga-Ba hit a pair of jumpers as Minnesota scored the next six points to go back ahead to stay.

Before the game, the Shock unveiled a banner in the rafters to recognize the franchise's three WNBA titles from its time in Detroit. But there's little else left from those teams. Leading scorers Deanna Nolan and Katie Smith didn't relocate with the team, and only four players are left from last year's roster.

Their highest-profile offseason acquisition was Jones, who at 34 is the league's oldest rookie.

``Thrilled doesn't even touch the surface of just how happy I am, and things are kind of coming together,'' Jones said. ``The first part of my journey, which was to make the team, has been realized. now we are on the road to trying to do the unthinkable - or what most people think is the unthinkable - bring a championship back to Tulsa.

``We don't think that is the unthinkable.''

• Lynx: --
• Shock: --

• Lynx: --
• Shock: Zellous

• Lead Changes: 2
• Times Tied: 2

• Arena: BOK Center, Tulsa, OK
• Officials: #21 Byron Jarrett, #31 Amy Bonner, #38 Lamont Simpson
• Attendance: 7806
• Duration: 2:7