Who's Next To Go?

Originally Published: Jul 17, 2010 7:24 PM CDT

Bobby Lewis
Oklahoma Sports Mobile Journalist

TULSA, Oklahoma – Amidst all the losing, the Shock has also done a lot of dealing. Since the team’s disappointing 1-13 streak began back on June 5th against Chicago, Tulsa has made a couple of bold moves.

“That’s what you’ve got to continue to try and look at when you’re trying to build a basketball team,” said head coach Nolan Richardson.

But it hasn’t seemed to work. Tulsa (4-16) is buried at the bottom of the Western Conference standings and the locker room has been a revolving door for players all season.

Back in early June, Tulsa waived Ashley Walker less than a week after signing her. The same day the team waived second-round draft pick, and former Sooners standout, Amanda Thompson after she struggled to adjust to the WNBA pace.

Tulsa signed Keisha Brown and Jennifer Lacy to fill the roster spots vacated by Walker and Thompson, and then dealt one of the team’s top scorers, Plenette Pierson, to New York for Tiffany Jackson. The not-so-secret feuding between Pierson and Richardson probably played into her being shipped out of town. Pierson was never really a smooth fit in Richardson’s system.

The Shock followed that move up by waiving rookie guard Natasha Lacy, replacing her with Ivory Latta (whom they cut after training camp).

All the moving has definitely caught the attention of the players who are still here.

“That’s definitely harder because you can’t build that chemistry,” said Shock guard Shanna Crossley. “You haven’t played enough together to get a feel for each other.

“But, that’s done. Hopefully we’re just building on what we’ve got now and just move on from here.”

The team is 1-3 since Latta rejoined the squad.

Tulsa has until July 26th to add or release any more players. The league rules don’t allow any more roster transactions after that date. Despite making over a dozen moves already this season, Richardson didn’t rule out additional changes before the mandated deadline.

“You’ve got to look at who is available and what you need to try to help,” he said.
The lack of successful deals to date makes the transaction pills tough to swallow. In hindsight, Tulsa may regret some of its moves from earlier this season.

They traded guard Shavonte Zellous to Indiana on May 27th for a draft pick in 2011. She scored 16 points against her old ‘mates in a mid-July win.

The Shock told Pierson to hit the road and she returned Tulsa’s hospitality by thumping them to the tune of 11 points in a Liberty win on June 25th. Jackson, the player Tulsa swapped Pierson for, has averaged 6.6 points per game in gold and black.

But the biggest head-scratcher might be why the team cut Natasha Lacy loose.

The rookie irritated opposing teams with her tenacious defense and timely scoring. In 16 games with the club, Lacy was second on the team in steals and assists per game, and she was serviceable on offense, chipping in over six points per game. For all that, the team rewarded her with a pink slip.

She played with great instincts; something that her former head coach says “is something you don’t teach.”

The team has three games remaining before the July 26th decision day.

“Whatever we can control is all we can worry about,” said Crossley. “Our own play on the court, how we hold each other accountable ? when we’re on the floor together, that’s all we can control. So, we’ve just got to worry about that.”

The Shock will wrap up its longest road trip of the season against the LA Sparks on Tuesday at 6 p.m.