On Saturday, Laimbeer made the biggest decisions yet to comprise the ’08 roster he hopes can deliver a third consecutive Finals appearance. The Shock cut three players - center Valeriya Berezhynska, guard Natasha Lacy and guard Tyresa Smith - to bring the training camp roster to 12.

Lacy and Berezhynska were each selected by Detroit in April’s draft. Smith was a first-year player who joined the Shock late in 2007, appearing in one game.

Lacy, drafted No. 28 overall out of UTEP, performed well in the Las Vegas scrimmage Apr. 28, Laimbeer said, but suffered a hamstring injury that may have hampered her chances to win a reserve spot in the backcourt.

Berezhynska, drafted No. 42 overall, had the size (6-foot-4) to replace 6-foot-8 Katie Feenstra as the backup center, but that opportunity may be going to the No. 18 pick, Olayinka Sanni. The 6-foot-2 rookie from West Virginia has impressed Laimbeer.

"She is much better than we thought she would be at this time," Laimbeer told the Detroit Free Press. "She's still a raw talent. She's very strong, very athletic, rebounds well and posts up well."

Laimbeer said after the first cut on Apr. 26 that he’d stick with the rest of the roster for a couple of weeks. But it took less than 10 days for him to shift into team-building mode. Laimbeer, who laments the absence of veterans playing overseas at the beginning of camp because it hinders chemistry, likely did not want to wait any longer with the season opener a week and a half away.

The Shock roster is now within the league’s regular-season guidelines of 11-13 players. Barring a new signing that raises the total to 13 or releasing one player to sign another, the Shock now have the roster that they’ll take into the regular-season opener on May 17.

The veteran core assumes seven roster spots that were never open for debate: Kara Braxton, Cheryl Ford, Deanna Nolan, Plenette Pierson, Elaine Powell, Katie Smith, and first-year Shock forward LaToya Thomas, who replaces Swin Cash.

Also assured of a spot were first-round draft picks Alexis Hornbuckle and Tasha Humphrey. The fourth overall selection, Hornbuckle likely will be the first guard off the bench. Humphrey and Sanni provide depth in the frontcourt.

That leaves the two “survivors” who signed training-camp contracts and avoided the first two cuts: Chrissy Givens and Michelle Campbell.

Givens, a 5-foot-11 guard Middle Tennessee State, was Second Team All-America in 2007 by the Associated Press. Givens, who did not play in the WNBA last season, may be the extra scoring guard Laimbeer has been looking to add. She averaged 22 points per game as a senior.

Campbell, a 6-foot-2 forward, graduated from Rutgers in 2006. She was the Big East Conference Most Improved Player in 2005, when she led the Scarlet Knights in rebounding (5.7 rpg).

AfterShocks: 2007 All-WNBA First Team guard Deanna Nolan joined Shock camp on Saturday. With Nolan now in the fold, only Plenette Pierson and Kara Braxton are the last to report -- and they'll do so Wednesday, just in time for the team's media day.