San Antonio – “Katie Smith, Katie Smith, Katie Smith,” said the woman walking past the Shock radio broadcasters after Game 2 of the WNBA Finals.

Surely the San Antonio Silver Stars were saying the same thing after Smith torched them for the second time in as many games, this time for 22 points and a final fade-away jumper that put the game out of reach with 51.9 seconds left.

The woman was Diana Taurasi, the WNBA’s leading scorer in 2008 and a member of the All-WNBA First Team. During a halftime interview with Shock play-by-play announcer Matt Shepard, Taurasi said Smith deserved to be a part of the First Team – any year, every year.

At 34, Smith is no longer the chic pick, though her recent string of playoff performances would have you believe she’s still in her prime, 10 years younger. Dropping 47 points on 52 percent shooting in the first two games of the championship series said it all: “Katie Smith, Katie Smith, Katie Smith.”

Katie Smith was not named with Taurasi to the First Team when it was announced Friday, nor was she on the Second Team, which included teammate Deanna Nolan – a demotion of sorts from her First Team selection in 2007. The bedrock of the Shock’s three-year Eastern Conference reign, Nolan and Smith have not consistently received the league accolades that the best players on arguably the best team are generally afforded.

Smith (who played for Minnesota at the time) and Nolan were both First Team members in 2003. Since then, Smith has not received any First or Second Team honors. Nolan has been named to the First Team just once, in 2007. The influx of immediate superstars like L.A.’s Candace Parker, who was named 2008 MVP as a rookie, over the past five years has led to increased competition for the league’s loftiest honor.

Shock head coach Bill Laimbeer doesn’t buy that argument: “It’s because a lot of people don’t like us.”

The bias against the Shock by sports writers and broadcasters who vote for league honors may be more numbers based than personal. By nature, most members of the voting academy value individual performance and statistics over team play and unquantifiable contributions – an area in which the Shock have excelled at during Laimbeer’s tenure. But when a fellow competitor such as Taurasi – who was nobody’s friend in Detroit during a hotly contested, five-game WNBA Finals series in 2007 – makes a similar observation, maybe Laimbeer’s point is not far off.

In fact, the greatest slight to the Shock might not be the omission of Smith or Nolan from the First Team, but rather Alexis Hornbuckle’s absence from the 2008 All-Rookie team. And in this case, the numbers back it up.

Drafted fourth overall out of Tennessee, Hornbuckle led the entire WNBA in steals as a rookie, with 79 steals (2.32 spg). She beat out her Lady Vols teammate, Nicky Anisoke from Minnesota, who had 75 steals and did receive First Team honors. However, perception is reality when it comes to league awards. Playing behind Nolan and Smith, Hornbuckle averaged 22.0 minutes per game off the bench while other rookies like Anisoke played a more prominent role for less successful teams. Minnesota did not make the playoffs.

“I think she didn’t make the All-Rookie Team for two reasons,” Laimbeer said. “There’s an anti-Shock bias out there toward awards for our players and second, she comes off the bench behind two outstanding guards, so she’s not a starter in this league and people look at whether you’re a starter or not,” Laimbeer said.

The inclusion of two centers on the six-player All-Rookie Team is particularly curious. In addition to Anisoke, Chicago Sky center Sylvia Fowles, the No. 2 pick, received all-rookie honors despite missing more than half the season, playing in 17 games. Hornbuckle played in all 34 games.

The selection of Houston guard Matee Ajavon over Hornbuckle casts serious doubts over the voters’ diligence. Ajavon had a higher scoring average, 8.0 to 5.4 points, and shot better from the foul line. Outside of that, Hornbuckle vastly outperformed the Rutgers product in every statistical category (see chart). Hornbuckle’s numbers also relate favorably to those of Connecticut forward Amber Holt, who was named to the All-Rookie Team and deservedly so.

“She’s a great defender, she’s not counted on to score, which is part of the reason also why,” Laimbeer said of Hornbuckle. “She’s one of the top guards in the league defensively.”

Parker, the WNBA’s first Rookie of the Year to win MVP that season, recognizes her college teammate’s unsung situation in Detroit. “I think she plays a role where what she does for the team doesn’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet, but she’s very important to that team,” Parker said. “I think they’re doing a good job.”

Of course she does; the Shock in the Finals and giving Hornbuckle a chance to accomplish what many presumed for Parker: becoming the first player to win both NCAA and WNBA championships in the same year. If it takes a role that doesn’t “show up on the stat sheet,” so be it. As Smith and Nolan will tell her, it’s the only kind she’ll get in Detroit. And if she’s winning championships, it’s the only role she’ll want.