Detroit Shocked
May 18, 2008
A crowd of nearly 10,000 spectators at Target Center saw three talented rookies kick off the Minnesota Lynx’s 2008 season with a resounding 84-70 win over the Detroit Shock, last season’s Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Eastern Division champions.
Detroit finished the 2007 regular season at 24-10. In contrast, the Lynx finished last in the Western Division at 10-24. If Sunday’s game is any indicator, Minnesota will not finish as cellar-dwellers in 2008.
Sparked by first-year players Candice Wiggins, Charde Houston, and Nicky Anosike, Minnesota took a 21-18 lead in the first quarter and increased it to 42-34 in the second. Detroit was playing the second game of back-to-back contests, but coach Bill Laimbeer refused to use that as an excuse. “We just didn’t play smart,” he grumbled after the game. “We didn’t take care of the ball.”
The Shock rallied to take the lead in the third quarter on a pair of free throws by Alexis Hornbuckle, but she subsequently fouled Wiggins who sank both free throws to regain the lead for the Lynx, one they never relinquished. Minnesota finished the quarter leading 68-60, then proceeded to outscore Detroit by 16 to 10 in the final canto. The win was highlighted by a steal and a layup basket by Anosike and a Kobe Bryant-like move by Wiggins en route to the basket. The latter resulted in a 61-58 Lynx lead. Houston led all scorers with 21 points, followed by Wiggins with 15. Anosike scored 11 from the pivot position and grabbed four rebounds.
Wiggins was a first round pick (third overall) in the 2008 WNBA draft. Anosike was drafted by the Lynx in the second round (16th overall), and Houston was taken in the third round (30th overall).
“These players,” said Roger Griffith, chief operating officer of the Lynx, “are as ready as you can be to make the leap from the college game to the pro game because of the programs the played for (Wiggins at Stanford, Anosike at Tennessee, and Houston at Connecticut).
“These are rookies who can come in and make the adjustments and learn how to play the game at our level. We got three players from three great programs and three great coaches (Tara VanDerveer at Stanford, Pat Summit at Tennessee, and Geno Auriemma at Connecticut).” All three coaches were in the 2008 NCAA Final Four. (VanDerveer was courtside at Target Center to view the debut of her star pupil.)
Wiggins, daughter of the late Alan Wiggins, San Diego Padres baseball player, is the most talented of the trio, showing off athletic moves not previously seen by the WNBA home team at Target Center. She was able to take the pressure off Lynx all-star forward Seimone Augustus, normally Minnesota’s go-to player. This accomplished, Augustus was able to slip the Shock defense for 10 of her 14 points in the second half.
According to Lynx coach Don Zierden, we haven’t seen anything yet. “We played hard, but we’re taking baby steps. We have yet to put in half of our offense.” The coach acknowledged that during the course of this game, his team “might have run only three plays.” This came as a surprise to one observer who didn’t think the Lynx playbook contained three plays.
After the game, Laimbeer complained bitterly about not being warned about the lengthy pre-game fireworks and show staged by the Lynx. “Our players had warmed up, were nice and loose, and then they had to stand around when all the nonsense was going on. They stiffened up.”